• Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
New posts

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,648
1,773
Same. So it's legal to induce lead poisoning?
I don't think the lead bullet resulted in much pain and suffering for the Bull Shark, but I'm not sure on the hunting season for Bull Sharks, or if they have requirements on how you harvest your catch. Captain Larry is one of the kind of guys who follows the rules, so my guess is that shooting the shark was within the means of the law. Who knows, maybe he used a lot of lead on the sinker, weighting down the hook. :dunno: :funn:
 
Last edited:
Apr 16, 2005
9,496
160
59
Buckeye Country
I don't think the lead bullet resulted in much pain and suffering for the Bull Shark, but I'm not sure on the hunting season for Bull Sharks, or if they have requirements on how you harvest your catch. Captain Larry is one of the kind of guys who follows the rules, so my guess is that shooting the shark was within the means of the law. Who knows, maybe he used a lot of lead on the sinker, weighting down the hook. :dunno: :funn:

My thoughts too...that would have to be one heavy sinker.:lolabove:


I woul love to go out with the Capt someday. Of course Mr OL would insist on chaperoning.:D
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: July 14, 2007.


"Houston, we have ignition !!"


The Tarpon show the past 5 days has been as good as it gets. There are LOTS of fish and they are coming in all sizes. My son, Capt William (Fried Fish Charters) leadered one up 2 days ago about 60# while the day before I pulled a scale off one 'bout 180# for my angler. Not just one or 2 year classes of fish here. Most fish are still in the 120-130# range but I have allready seen several over 200#
I took the first 4 days here at Indian Pass "off". This just means I didn't get up early and run charters- I still went fishin' for at least a couple hours every day! I love to sight fish so I chased the tripletails with pretty good success. Got 2 to the boat in the 18# class that first week. I tagged about a dozen and killed a few for the dinner table--they do eat good!.
Naturally the weather turned about when my charters started and the first couple Tarpon trips I ran the fish were not on the feed. Everybody still had fun tho catchin' sharks and tripletails.
When the fish showed back they came on fierce. We have put at least a couple fish in the air everyday lately. Now this is Tarpon fishin' so we don't get to touch everyone we hook. There is a lot that can go wrong in a fight that can last 3 or 4 hours. These big fish jump for a reason and that's to try to get free of that pesky hook. Quite often they succeed! Capt Tim Harvey (who has done real well on the 'poons this week) had one tail whip the line yesterday over an hour and half into the fight. They had allready pulled a scale from a 110# fish tho and went on to jump several more but---- after over an hour you usually figure you got 'em with anything but a Tarpon !
Some of the of the high points of the past week were the Tarpon "show" yesterday that lasted almost all morning. You could look around the boat for several hours and see dozens of fish over 100# with some part out of the water if not completely airborn! What a feeding frenzy! The other was getting a call from Capt Pete White on the radio 2 afternoons before that the Tarpon had just turned on like gangbusters and he had jumped 2 fish in the past 5 minutes. My anglers had allready boated a fish 'bout 125# earlier in the day so we had gone up the bay lookin' for 'tails. I hit it up on a plane as fast as we could go listening to Pete give me details. He got one stuck good and had to stop talkin' and drive the boat. My son had picked up and ran to where Pete was and radioed saying they had hooked immediately upon getting to the fish and had one up and jumping. After a 15 minute run that seemed like an hour we made to where they were fighting fish,pitched out baits and we hooked up right away! The 3 of us played dodge boats with lots of good views of the other guys fish jumping as well as our own. Lots of cheers every time one would sky rocket. With almost perfect timing we each leadered up our fish and got pictures made for perfect releases- all 3 fish around 125#!
Not that I want to chase 'em right now but William ran a redfish trip yesterday (in my flats boat- whats a son for if not to borrow dad's stuff) and did pretty good. The trout reports have not been that great from the guides I spoken with. A few keepers and lots of shorts.
Who wants to chase a 2# trout when you could jump a 200# Tarpon with a mile or 2 anyway!!!

Capt Larry Pentel
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: October 14, 2007.




In the 10 days since my last report I have run a trip everyday. Some days were a lot calmer than others but it was fishable!
The red tide has moved over from Panama city and now extends all the way to Pensacola. Not one solid Gulf full of bloom but spotty and at different depths. There are a few areas offshore where the fish were stacked up pretty good and are now devoid of life on the bottom. If you move a couple miles everything seems pretty normal. Hopefully these fish are swimming off and are not just lying dead on the bottom. There have not been many fish washing up on the beach here.
The King bite got pretty hot on the beach right after my last report but the red tide has moved them on. I caught bait real good the past two mornings after not having any around for few days so hopefully the kings will come back in close chasing the cigar minnows. We caught a 20# king day 'fore yesterday on a grouper bait on the bottom in 90 feet so I know they are still here.
Todays trip was a half day with 4 folks that come every year. Started out a little sloppy and ended up downright rough. On top of that we had 2 dolphins that attached themselves to us eating every big snapper we could get off the bottom. Pretty frustrating when you finally get the big bite just to feed that fish to a freeloader! My crew persevered and we came in with 14 nice Red Snappers. I hate coming in 2 short of a limit but we were all tired of battling the seas. A lot harder to hold the boat on a spot in a 20 knot breeze and a swell than when it's slick!
Still quite a few groupers around. We have been getting a lot of good ones to bite (lost 3 today and more than twice that yesterday)- as always most of 'em catch the angler unaware -expecting a snapper and not ready for a freight train that runs straight into the reef. About a week ago I ran a group of regulars that are experienced anglers on a half day. We got our 20 fish snapper limit, everybody took a turn on the grouper rod and landed a good one including a Red pushing 20# and 3 nice gags. It was getting sloppy (been a lot of that lately!) so we ran in to the beach to finish out the last hour and half trollin' and added 5 kings to the box. A fantastic box of fish for half day. I always say I'd rather be lucky than good but it does make a difference when you have some experience at both ends of the fishing line! I figure we fried all the dumb fish years ago- just the smart ones left now!
Get on out-- if you pull up to your favorite spot and don't see show just move inshore or offshore a few miles. Chances are you'll find 'em stacked up!
Capt Larry Pentel
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Fishing Report for:
Destin, Florida (nearshore).
Updated: January 15, 2008.




Today was a beautiful day in the middle of January. I got to take advantage of it by running a couple of regulars from New Orleans. They flew in this morning , got on the boat at 10 AM and by 3PM We were making fish pictures on the beach. It was slick calm and let me run to a few spots that I hadn't been to in a while. After a slow start we hit a couple that were packin'. The amberjack bite was strong enough that I beat my anglers into submision. They called it quits---Luckily we hit a grouper spot first.
3615.jpg

The proof is in the pictures. The groupers are a great grade and a 36# cobia is a fantastic bonus fish any day!
3617.jpg

Of course you have to wade though some fine Red Snappers to catch a few Groupers!Uncle says they all have to back!
I ran a little trout trip at Indian Pass on Sunday. Plenty of fish but most were short as is normal for winter. We did find a few nice ones mixed in including 3 in the 20" range. I got to look for redfish on Monday AM before having to come back to Grayton to run Tues.. Even poling the boat and casting from the platform by myself I managed to get 4 to eat. A pretty good trick in a 20 knot wind ! I was supposed to run a flyfisherman that morning but we cancelled, a good call. Trying to hit the 6 inch strike zone of a red with your line blowing back in your face would have been frustrating !
3616.jpg

If you get the weather- you otta go!
Capt Larry Pentel
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
2/5/08

It's still winter even in Florida which means the weather is unpredictable. I got to run offshore with some locals Sunday and we found the Amberjacks more than willing to play. We caught a pile, most of 'em legal size and threw back all but our limit of 1 per person. When everyone was sufficently wore out Iwent and tried a couple grouper holes. Unfortunately they were not as eager to bite as the jacks and we only landed one. A nice red though that was all this gal could pick up! We hit the beach before noon and got to enjoy one of those beautiful days that makes it all worth while.



A couple of the Jacks, We caught over a dozen-

I ran a Father son trip up the intercoastal yesterday and one of my regulars tagged along as well. We found the trout after a bit bunched up pretty good in a 12' hole at a bend in the channel. We landed around 35 but no big ones. As they are closed in Feb. it didn't matter much as the goal was get a young angler into some fish. We released all the trout along with 3 redfish that joined the action. Always great to take a kid and watch 'em figure it out. This young man had casting down QUICK but had to work through the usual timing issues of setting the hook with a lure. By the end of the trip he had it down was catching fish on artificials as well as the adults.



Another happy angler

I had run up the "ditch" about a week ago when trout were still open but we couldn't get 'em to bite very well. The ones we got were a larger grade than yesterday but we only landed 6. My 2 anglers still got to stretch thier strings tho as we found a pretty good school of reds. We managed to boat 15, releasing 'em all and just keeping trout for dinner.

The inshore fish are in the on again/off again mode this time of yesr. Just because your usual honey hole dosn't draw a sniff don't despair. With the barometer bouncing like a pinball along with the temps this time of year the bite can turn on a dime. Hit a range of spots in the areas you know there are fish. They may be in the bottom of a deep hole one day and 200 yards away on a flat the next. Same school of fish, just reacting to the rapidly changing winter weather-. Once you find an area with fish they are pretty much going to be close by there till the water warms in the spring.

Good luck and keep your tackle ready. If the weather gives you a pretty day off; run, don't walk to the nearest fishin' hole!

Capt Larry Pentel
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Capt. Larry Pentel
February 17, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
hrule2.jpg


We have been fortunate to have had some very pretty days for February. I have had folks wanting to take advantage of the opourtunity so we have been blasting offshore. The amberjacks are in thier usual wrecks for mid winter and are more than willing to play tug-o-war. A school of healty AJ's makes my life a lot easier. Any time I can beat down my anglers and put a few nice fish in the box at the same time I get to look good!

The beach water has warmed up about 4-5 degrees since I wrote last. Still way to cold (64) for there to be any fish up in close but spring is right around the corner. In the meantime I'll keep running a little further and fishing a little deeper.



This was right before Groupers closed in Federal waters on the 15th. A nice rack but we broke off over a dozen big groupers !

Remember-- if you make that run offshore you can't keep a grouper till March 15th!



This fellow caught a bunch of Aj's and kept his 1 limit. Told me he didn't care to keep anything else, just catch and release so I put him on the Snappers! He had a blast



Another nice thing 'bout Jack fishing-- There can be cobias mixed in! No the run hasn't started, but there will be scattered fish mixed w/the AJ's for the next couple months



This father son team had never been before. When they got on the boat I asked 'em if they wanted big fish, lottsa fish or a freezer trip. They wanted it all; on a half day! We went and did the AJ thing till they were tired and then caught pinks and trigs and released a bunch of Red Snapper and a dozen scamps. Still made it back to the beach at lunchtime.

With Trout, Red Snappers and Groupers ( federal water) all closed right now it kinda limits the options a little. Don't fret what you can't keep, plenty of fish out there for dinner. You can only eat so many anyway. AND the more you let go now the sooner the freezer is empty and you'll have to go again!

Speaking of freezer fishin'. I have heard some great reports on the sheepshead bite. I have not been yet this year but am trying to get a trip up to chase 'em. A pain to clean but boy do they taste good! So many fish, and only 2 or 3 pretty days a week in February. Don't waste a one!!!! Get out there and catch something!

Capt Larry Pentel

Dead Fish Charters
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Capt. Larry Pentel
March 4, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
hrule2.jpg


Trout season opened in Northwest Florida to a beautiful spring day. I took a couple out at Indian Pass to see if the fish were in a cooperative mode after all the recent rains. The tide was pouring in and the fish just happened to be in the first spot I tried. We caught about 30 or so keeping 7 and then went looking around to see if we could get some oysters. The tide had come in too much and all the good bars were under water so we went back to throwing jigs and got a repeat on the action finishing out our 15 fish limit. No big fish but lots of 'em. Every fish we caught was in the 14 1/2 to 17 inch range with most of 'em about 14 3/4. They seem to know when to stop growin'!

A keeper!

The fruits of opening day.

we went out again the next morning (early) and picked up our oyster limit while the tide was low. Threw a few times for trout but only had a couple bites. I think the water was still a little too fresh for 'em to feed- my folks didn't want to keep any more anyway so we went back to the fish camp and had oysters for lunch!

Out in the Gulf the Jacks are still doing thier thing. This was part of a fine box of fish from a week ago. We caught a couple fine grouper (one over 25#) while Jack fishing in Federal waters that had to be released along with a 17# Red Snapper. After everybody was beat down from the Amberjacks we moved up in shore and found some groupers to bite where it's legal to keep 'em along with 8 Triggers and this small shark. The trigger bite seems to finally be improving a little.
No excuses now- Trout are back open, the sheepsheads are thick at any big inshore structure- the AJ's'll hit anything that wiggles and a triggerfish fillet is one of the best things you can put in your mouth. Get out there and fish!
capt Larry Pentel
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Capt. Larry Pentel
March 27, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report
hrule2.jpg


Sorry I haven't had a report up sooner but I did go through the effort and wrote one a week ago--- The computer ate my homework I reckon !
The weather has been very blustery the past few weeks. I'm on the hill today 'cause the weathermans' forecast of 10 to 15 with 1 to 3 foot seas turned into 15 to 20 with 3 feet of chop on top of the sea. I told the 2 Dads and 2 boys that were going to go that it was supposed to be fun ! We have had some pretty days mixed in that have produced some great fishin' trips. Some have been warm and spring like and others cold and blustery but we have managed to come in with a good box of fish everday none the less.

It was blowin' 30 knots out of the NorthWest this day so my crew and I stayed right on the beach and caught a fish fry worth of Spanish and blues. These young anglers had a blast on a day that was unfishable a mile offshore!

This Dad and Son crew show off some fine Groupers they tagged teamed. Dad would hook 'em up- get 'em 10 ft. up and hand off the rod. This young man also caught a bunch of Red Snappers on his own including one at 12#

These 4 young men were on a Birthday Party trip. They fillied the box with Pink Snappers along with some Vermillions and Triggers and a big Red Grouper.

This crew from Ohio kept talking about catching Perch in Lake Erie when we started. They decided that Snappers, Triggers and Groupers bit a lot faster and pulled a lot harder!


It dosn't matter that you can't keep for another couple weeks- They sure are fun to catch!
The cobia run still hasn't really started. All this cool weather has the beach water stil around 63. It is supposed to be close to 80 for an air temp for the next week so I imagine that the flood gates will open up here right soon. The Pompano have shown up and in good numbers. I went down to the beach 2 evenings right at sunset and got fish both days. Some of the "beach boys" puttin' the time in have racked 'em up. The Spanish are still hit and miss with more on the miss side. Once again this is a temperature thing and will show in force in the next week. While I have not been on the "inside" myself for the past 2 weeks the neighbors I have have talked to say the trout are slow also. The fish started to move out of the rivers and holes and then the temps fell again putting 'em into a holding pattern. They are looking for a little warmth too I think--
Put new line on if you haven't allready 'cause it's fxin' to get stretched a bunch. We are right on the start of another spring fishin' bonanza!
Capt Larry Pentel
 
New posts


Sign Up for SoWal Newsletter