There were reports from the new pier this week of several pompano being caught, but only one ling. The whiting and drum were biting, but since the water temperature at the pier was 64 degrees it was short of that mild 68 degrees we need for everything to bust lose.
With the air temperatures staying in the high 60s it won’t be long before we will be in business. Also, some Spanish mackerel were caught in the past two days.
Roy Ledbetter from Salty Bass in Fort Walton Beach had good gulf and river reports. Roy said that on the Okaloosa Island Pier four ling were caught along with many pompano. In the Choctawhatchee River, big speckled trout are being caught on topwater plugs at daylight.
If you want to catch speckled trout you can bet most of them will be caught at daylight. Roy said one of his friends watched an osprey swoop down and two away a two-foot alligator.
Brent Romiti of Bluewater Outriggers staff said there still was not a lot of action to talk about in St. Joe Bay. He said he fished from sunup until sundown to no avail this past week. He said he tried everything in the tackle box and even live bait.
The water temperature was 61 degrees and the wind was from the west. Sightfishing is very challenging, to say the least and may not improve until the water warms and the wind lies down.