Dead Fish report - Capt. Larry Pentel

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
April 15, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

Boy. it has sure been a blowy spring! We have had some great days on the water but I think I have had to cancel as many days as I have got to run. The fish don't care and will bite as long as you can hold on though!
The cobia run has been hit and miss so far this year mainly due to weather. We finally had a pretty day today and they showed up good and hungry. Today was the opening day of Red Snapper season. My crew and I went bottom fishing 1st and then fell back inshore to search for cobia. One of those days when it all came together. My anglers got a limit of Snapper in the 6 to 10# range along with 2 nice Groupers. We found a single cobia on a big turtle that charged a bait as hard as I have ever seen. After doing battle and intoducing him to a nice icy fish box we went on and found a "wad" of at least 8 more fish. We somehow managed to get all our fish to the boat without any major mishaps other than lots of exited yelling. I was wanting to hook up more fish (one stayed with the boat for a half hour while we fought the hooke ones) but with a limit in the box my folks opted to go in, take pictures and drink some celebratory beers. A wonderfull opening day.

The fish box wouldn't quite shut !
Yesterdays crew was mostly novices that wanted to catch big fish more than fill the box. We were fortunate and found a big school of Jack Crevalle in the 15 to 30# range. As anybody who has tangled with 'em knows, thay are a great sport fish on spinning tackle. We stayed with the school for over 2 hours and were able to sight cast to 'em landing 12 and losing several more. Those and a few bonita gave my anglers and good workout.

Is it a fish or a bulldog?
The spanish bite has been pretty ferocious. Lots of limit catches and lots of happy fishermen. I had a cobia trip last week that drew a blank after looking for a few hours so I switched gears and put out the spoons- we had a limit of mackeral (45 that day) in less than 2 hours. Some fast fishin'.
On the beach the pompano have showed in force. While I spend lots of time on the water I don't get to catch fish myself most days. In the past couple weeks I have made it back to the beach 'bout sunset 8 days after the boat and gear are cleaned and put up. Six days out of those times I have caught fish (pomps and redfish). Gotta love springtime!!!
The bite will just get better over the next few weeks. The cobia seem to finally have shown in numbers. We can keep some Snappers instead of thrown' back all the big uns and the Kings have shown up also. While there is always something to catch it dosn't get much better than the next month !!

This one bit a grouper bait a couple days before the opening. Throwning him back was easy with some groupers allready in the box though!
Get up and go!!! Try as I might I can't seem to catch 'em all. I need some help!
Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
April 28, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

The weather and the fish have finally decided it's full on Spring. I have run 13 days out of the past 2 weeks and the catches have just been getting better and better right along with the weather.
Day before yesterday was a trip I won't forget anytime soon. A couple of cobia season regulars with some buddies from Louisiana that want to fill the box with bottom fish and then find a cobia or 2. We were in the middle of a snapper rally 1st thing in the morning with the bull sharks stealing most of our biggest fish. One of my crew gets a big bite and after 10 minutes is convinced he has a shark. I had watched the bite and said it sure didn't act like a shark when it hit. After a 2o minute fight with the angler wearing down and the crew wanting to cut of the "shark" the fish finally came up to the top where we could see what it was. What a fish! A huge cobia that wasn't really tired yet- just wanted to see what was ruining breakfast. My angler suddenly had a burst of second wind energy and things got chaotic with lots of yelling by the crew and me looking for the perfect shot with the gaff. All the stars lined up just right and after another 10 minutes I was able to stick the fish solidly enough to drag it (with some help !) over the rail. I was calling it 100# and was probably more exited than the angler. We went on to catch a great limit of Red Snapper, 4 Black Snapper (including 2 over 10#) a grouper, a king and then went to the beach and found a "regular cobia" sight fishing that was more than willing to co-operate. When we made it to the beach at 1PM and hung the fish she pulled the scales down to 104#. The first cobia over 100 I have ever had the pleasure to be involved with and, as I said, the fish of a lifetime!

What a Fish!!
While that one was exceptionally huge the fish count was pretty average for last week!!. We had several days where we had a great catch of bottom fish and then came in to the beach to successfully catch cobia by sight fishin' 'em. It's hard to say which bite is better right now!!

What a board! and it was a 4 1/2 hour trip! Back on the trailer at noon!

Another "perfect" 1/2 day trip! This fellow flew over just to go fishing for the day !
Not everybody likes to cobia fish (I know, hard to understand). I ran one trip last week where they just wanted to bottom dig- We ran out a little deeper and found the groupers starvin' on several spots. We landed 4 nice ones along with our snappers and some banjo sized triggers.

This one made it to the boat- we probably lost 4 to every 1 we landed this day!
And, as if it wasn't hard enough to decide what to chase already--- The kings have shown up in force! The past couple days have had HUGE schools of herring and cigar minnows all up along the beach. The toothy predators are right behind 'em sending showers of scales in the air. We have seen several (big ones) swimming right down the bar while we were looking for cobia. I've flipped a "flyline" out several times and been hit almost immediately
If all this doesn't get you excited enough to get off the couch and get out there I figure you must be a golfer!
Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Kurt]

Added to home page - http://SoWal.com

 

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
May 9, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

All the skinny kids with surfboards are out today so I get a day off to fix all that tackle and write a report. The only "bad" day of fishin' this time of year is the day the surf is too rough to launch the boat----.
The cobia run seems to have wound down. The last couple days we went and looked I did not see any. I have heard a few reports of fish being caught but the big push of fish seems to have come through. I'll keep a rod rigged with a big jig and another with a mono leader and a big live bait hook for the next few weeks still. You never know when you are going to come across that wad of a dozen just milling around. It seems like it happens to me at least once every May!

These ladies had a great time catching these bottom dwellers and then got to tussle with a fine cobia. Unfortunately the angler got out horse-powered and gave out before the fish did!
All the other species are right on schedule and more than willing to play. We are catching Red Snappers darn near everywhere we fish and releasing most. The nice thing about the smaller limit is we can be a little selective and just keep a few bigger fish. I had one group last week that said they figured they came out with the same weight in snapper fillets as they would have had the limits not changed-- We just kept fish that were twice as big as the past few years!
The kings are here with a lot of the fish being a good grade. Being Kings they have that on/off switch that gets flipped fairly regularly but when it's in the on mode there are a lot of 20#-30# fish ending up in the box. We quit bottom fishin' with about 45 minutes left on a half day last week and my client said I was being optimistic to chase kings in that time -- We quickly boated 3 and missed 2 more before heading back to the trailer. He was quite pleased and took one straight from the boat to the kitchen-- said those snappers would freeze just fine and he was looking forward to fresh fried mackerel for lunch!

Snappers, Groupers, Triggers and Kings. Not much time to do anything but wind!!

Another species that has shown back up are the triggers. Kind of conspicuous in their absence this winter the past week they have shown up right back on the beach. Three days ago I had a fellow run a 3 hook rig and catch 6 keepers and a bunch of shorts. Two days ago we came in with 19 keepers, about half were in the "large" grade. Yesterday we had one that was pushing 10 pounds. I was calling it a 15# snapper from the way it was fighting!! They should stick around 'till the water gets hot in July or so. A few of those tasty critters are a welcome addition to any box of fish!!

Those triggers will be might tasty after marinating in hot p-nut oil! The lanes and the big vermillions sure make some great "bonus" snappers as well!
The hardtails have shown up on the beach this past week as well. While this make it WAY harder for me to have a tank full of live cigar minnows and herring in the well in the morning it should bring a push of amberjacks in close. Most years the jacks show up in force a week to 10 days after the 'tails. If there is a better bait to get an AJ to eat than a hardtail I sure haven't found it!!!
Fishing is great, the forecast is just for it to get better with more options in easy reach of the beach as the water warms. Get on out there and catch something!!
Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
May 20, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

For the past week the King Mackerel have been ferocious. There were a couple mornings where you about had to hide the hooks and bait under the rail before you threw it over! Alas, this morning they just didn't want to chew. They are still there as we had several "short" strikes where the kings just clipped the tail off the baits but somehow managed to elude the 6 hooks back there. Kings have that on/off switch that is either one way or the other in the summer. It sure was fun this week when it was in the ON position!

A limit of Kings first thing and then off to bottom fish- the perfect half day trip!
Still lots of Snappers around and the grouper bite has been pretty good as well. If we didn't bring in a grouper or several lately it hasn't been the fishes fault. They are crafty though and we fried all the dumb ones years ago. The smart ones are all that are left and the bigger they are the smarter they are!

This crew of locals (and wannabe locals) managed to outwit a great board of fish on a 6 hour
Still a few cobias around though not really running the beach. We have been fortunate to catch several the past couple weeks that just swam up to while bottom fishing or were on the top in the same area as the boat--- yesterday we were running in (at 20 knots) and I glanced over and saw one cruising along about 4 miles offshore. I throttled down, turned the boat and climbed up the tower as fast as I could. After about 10 minutes of looking we found him, right back cruising on top. I pitched a live cig and he inhaled it. My angler did a great job of fighting him but when he came to the boat I grabbed the leader rather than gaff him and threw
'em on the cooler lid. Sure enough- about an eight inch short of the magic 33" fork length. Oh well- we'll get 'em next year when he weighs 50 lb.s!

A nice cobia is a welcome addition to an already great catch
There has also been a lot of grass floating around inshore with schooly dolphins bunched up around any big piece of trash in the weed lines. We have had a couple trips where we wore 'em out. Not only are they beautiful colors and acrobatic jumpers but they fry up pretty darn good too!
Lots of different choices. Just be ready for anything this time of year. While I'd ALWAYS rather be lucky than good a lot of luck is being prepared for your opportunities!
Only 5 weeks till Tarpon Season!!!!!-- All these fish and so little time!

Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
June 1, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

Last report my fishing forecast was "getting better all the time". I got lucky and nailed it! The end of May, beginning of June is usually one of the times when EVEYTHING bites. This past 10 days has been proof. We have been getting getting our usual assortment of bottom fish every day but the King Bite has been incredible as well and a big push of Sargasso weed has a lot of pelagics up inshore also. I think we either limited out on kings or quit fishing for 'em to chase other stuff everyday the past week!

This was today's catch- limit of kings- some snapper a grouper, spanish and 2 nice dolphin- on a 4hr!
Yesterday I started out slow trolling live baits for kings and was getting frustrated when we missed the first 3 bites. The 4th pass around the bait school we hooked up and quickly realized why we were missing the strike-- we had a Sailfish up and jumping!! Not but a mile from the truck the fish put on a great acrobatic show on a spinning rod before I leadered 'em up and my folks took pics. About 5 1/2- 6 feet long and probably 40# he sure made our day.

Not in this pic is the Sail we released first thing. We caught the limit Kings right after---
This group of "cajuns" said "Darn Straight" when I asked if they wanted to eat the Bull Shark that ate a grouper on the way up. So we put 'em in the boat and filleted that bad boy right up.

I think they needed a bigger cooler for the fillets---The great thing about a cajun is I know they'll eat it all!

This family has fished with me for years and just came back from a year in New Zealand- The 2 girls that are my "students" are capable anglers and probably caught 1/2 the fish on the board, with little help other than advice!

Another group that I've fished with for 10 years or so and a fine 4 hr catch
The bite should stay good till the water gets hot or the weather changes --- at least for another week or so!
Capt Tim Harvey called me this afternoon from Indian Pass and said the Tarpons have arrived!!!!!
I'm booked here till the end of June but will be there July 1st to start launching those big silver missiles. I still have some days open in July -if you want a shot at a trophy Tarpon give me a call,
So many Fish-- Not enough hours in the Day!!!
Get off this computer and go!!!

Capt Larry Pentel

 

[kathydwells]

Hey!!! There is Tim and Dominique, and Jack and Cale. Some of my Florida Vacation group!!! I knew they were in Grayton last week, and I knew Tim was going fishing!! Looks like he caught a few. Yeah, because I will get to eat some of them next month while we are down. Thanks for the report Daddy-O!!!!

 

[Kurt]

 

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
June 15, 2008
Destin - Saltwater Fishing Report

The weather has turned to full on summer but the fishing is still as hot as the air. The King bite remains as good most days as it ever gets and there are still quite a few pelagics up in close to the beach.
I ran 2 dads and 2 boys who had never been with me before last week and we had "one of those days". Luckily it was one of those GREAT days. We had the usual assortment of bottom fish and Kings but we also landed a Wahoo 'bout 40# while King fishing. Quite the surprise as we were only 3 miles off the beach! An hour latter we were fishing for some (big) Black snapper and landed a 34# cobia, right after a pair of 12# Blacks! I think these folks will be back----

One of the best and most assorted 4 hour catches of the season-
As I said- the Kings are still HOT! I love a good Mackerel rally and it's even better when I've got kids on the boat. A young teenager and a hot bite has everybody yelling and scrambling and learning how to fish real fast! Great "on the job training" when they bite as fast as you can get the bait out. Plus we can fit a LOT of catchin' in a half day!

This group caught 17 kings (we released several that were not hooked bad)before going bottom fishing. The boys caught 'bout all of 'em.

These folks fish with me several days every year. They said they had 22 to feed and wanted a box full for a couple fish fry's. Mission accomplished!
Still some Grouper around as well. Just smart ones though-. We lost several fines ones yesterday and a REAL one today. If you are not ready when that bite happens or you make one mistake, it's all over quick. catchin' 'em in "shallow" water is way harder than deep. My crew 2 days ago had a couple anglers that did everything just right on some good bites tho and added 4 nice Gags to an all ready great 1/2 day catch.

Check out the "partial" Grouper- A bull shark almost got 'em all!
The kings will stay good till we get a different batch of water in from a weather change. The snappers will probably start to move off a little pretty soon as the water temp is up to 86 on the beach now. Probably be having to fish more in 80 feet plus 'stead of less pretty soon-. As long as we keep getting these pushes of Sargasso weed in the mahis and other offshore critters will be in on the beach for a while.
Less han 2 weeks and I'm off to chase Tarpons. As great as the fishing is here I'm looking forward to launching some fish over 200#! Not to mention tripletails. With the possible exception of sight fishing cobias tripletail fishin' gets me more excited than anything-. My son (capt William Pentel) called 2 days ago and said he had a 15# tripletail at the end of a trout trip in the bay- said capt Dan Davis went huntin''em in the Gulf and came in with 4 that were pushin' 60# total!!!!
Did I mention I'm excited?!!! Last year I had anglers land quite a few 'tails over 20#. If the "grass" keeps pushin' in the big fish should keep stackin' up over there-
I still have a few days in July including a couple 'round the 4th-. Give a call if you want to see "old Florida" at Indian Pass!
Capt Larry Pentel

 

[Kurt]

Capt. Larry Pentel
July 14, 2008
Apalachicola - Saltwater Fishing Report

I have been here at Indian Pass for 2 weeks now and the fishing has been fantastic. The weather has had us running from the thunderbumpers a little but we haven't lost a day (or a fish) to the squalls yet--.
The Tarpon are here !! All sizes from 75# "easy" fish to the 200#+ "OH NO !! " fish. We have had a fish to the boat everyday but 2 since the 1st of the month. Both those days we had (big) Fish on but they won the battles. Remember, they jump for a reason and anything that can fight you for over an hour without tiring is trying it's best to get away!!
Yesterday we did not boat a Tarpon (had a good one on for 6 jumps but he won). My angler did however fight a tripletail for over 30 minutes that we did boat. A great trophy of a fish that weighed 26#!!!! Caught on 12# test and a light spinning rig it made the day. My angler made a great cast and did a perfect presentation. He had whipped a 115# Tarpon the day before in under 45 minutes so I knew he was up to "trophy" fishin'!
I took the 4th off and play fished with my son , capt Will. Naturally we went sight fishing for 'tails. We found 16 and boated 6 in 4 hours. He had a 15# and a 17# fish on 8# tackle and I landed a 22# fish on 12# !!!. We kept the big fish for table fare and tagged the other 5 before releasing 'em. That is the biggest 'tail I have ever got to catch myself. All the other fish over 20# I have ever hooked I had to hand off to a client. Needless to say I am very proud of that fish.
The Tarpon fishing should just get better and better as the water warms, same with the 'tails. We have not had a "banner" day with the Tarpon yet averaging 2 fish a day in the air. I can feel it coming soon though and hope to be in the middle of one of those double digit days of silver rockets over 100#.
I'm afraid I don't have access to upload pictures over here. When I get back to Seagrove in August I'll post pic's of some of the monsters. Just to show off if for no other reason !!
Give me a call and come spend the night at the fish camp. I'll put you next to some fish that'll have your heart pounding for hours!!!
Capt Larry Pentel