This is my first ever post on this wonderful site, so I feel a little guilty. I've been reading info about South Walton through all of your words since the beginning of hurricane season. But, I just haven't answered the call to post a message until now. So, I'm sorry for just browsing ... and for not joining in on the discussion sooner.
My wife and I have vacationed in Seagrove Beach for the past nine years, and we're currently on Day 10 of a two-week stay. Each year, we wait later and later to come down (mainly to avoid the crowds ... and the storms), but this is the first November we've experienced. It's just like the October Smiling Joe described in a post a few months back ... nothing but biting flies, freezing cold temperatures and rain ... ;-)
Seriously though, the weather
and the fishing have been equally great. Bait is everywhere down the beaches ... monstrous schools of glass minnows, pods of cigar minnows and the traditional schools of mullet have attracted everything that eats them. In the past 10 days, I've caught little tunny (bonito), redfish, bluefish, black drum, ladyfish, jack crevalle, whiting and the persistent and slimy hardhead catfish. The pompano are spotty and have avoided my bait and presentations, but I'm hoping to catch a couple before we leave.
Today was a bad day to be a glass minnow. At 3 p.m., the ocean exploded as huge schools of ladyfish, jack crevalle and bluefish assassinated everything that was an inch-and-a-half long and silver. What they missed the pelicans and shore birds cleaned up. Underneath all of the action, I'm sure that the redfish had their share of the little fish that couldn't.
I caught a bunch of fish on 3/4 oz. silver spoons cast from a medium-weight spinning rod, and had an absolute blast on a flyrod using a small white and chartreuse clouser minnow. A 40-lb flourocarbon leader was a must on both rods, as everything had teeth (except for the ladyfish, who have pretty abrasive skin -- I guess to match their attitude). The ladyfish, in particular, are the biggest I've seen. Just an incredible rush on spinning or fly tackle.
During the past few days, we've also caught redfish, black drum and whiting on dead shrimp. Most of the bites have occurred near rocks and stumps (look for the darker spots near the beach -- you'll know when you see it). If you can find a section of the beach which has an "outflow," meaning a flow that moves in the opposite direction of the waves, and the rocks, you've found a good spot to soak some bait.
The only downside to fishing today was the pervasive smell that seemed to flood the beach late in the day. We've avoided the dreaded "rt" (I shall not use the former name to avoid invoking its presence) so far, and I'm hoping to finish the vacation the way we started it ... outside on the beach. At any rate, whatever the smell was, it didn't interfere with the fishing.
If you're interested in fishing with a guide, please check out Gordie Hinds at Angry Fish charters (
http://www.angryfishcharters.com/rates.html). He's the best around and a terrific companion on the water. You'll catch a bunch of fish and get to meet one of the more interesting (and multi-talented) characters in South Walton.
I hope this info is helpful. When I get back home (sadly) in a few days, I'll post some photos of our stay in Seagrove. From the great food, to the incredible fishing, to the monarchs in the trees, to the incredible double-rainbow on day two of our trip ... it's been a tremendous last week and a half.
C'mon down, the water's still warm!
, we would have brought the Pompano to him but instead we released him for another day.
