From Indian Pass Back to Grayton Beach

Got back from a week at Indian Pass so I can start Red Snapper fishing for a few weeks. My first trip over there was a scallop trip with some folks that wanted to get in on the last of the season (it closed the 24th of Sep). Two of my folks had been before and love it and the other couple had never been.

By the end of the trip our newcomers were saying they wanted to come every year for as long as they could swim. Just like I tell folks...it's an Easter egg hunt for big kids...while swimming in the most wonderfully stocked aquarium you can imagine.... We got our 10 gallon limit so everybody got some great groceries to take home as well.

And it's not even over your head!
 

The next day I went fishing myself to "scout out" the trout prior to running some fishing trips. I went out for a couple hours in the afternoon and did great, catching 15-18 fish and finding a good bite everywhere I looked. That night a front came through, it rained buckets and the wind blew and switched...... and the trout bite slowed way down.. My folks the next day had fun but we worked hard for the 10 trout they caught. The gal got the glory fish of the day with a speck just under 24"

A fine bragging fish

The next day the trout bite was still slow so I went and poled around some flats to see if we could see any redfish. It was too muddy to see a 5-7# fish but....we did find some BIG Black Drum up in the skinny water that made it a great sight fishing experience ! A few nice trout for dinner and we made it a good day

A good tussle on 10-pound tackle!

My folks the next day pretty much just wanted to sight fish Reds and that wasn't happening with the muddy conditions we had so we caught a couple trouts and called it a day. With Saturdays forecast of 20 knot winds blowing straight down the Bay out of the NE I told my anglers not to bother driving the 2 hrs over from Seagrove. Some days it's better to let mother nature have her way than try to fight!

I got to run a couple trips off Grayton the days prior to going over to the Pass and the bite here was still as good as it's been. I had one fellow on a 2 hr where we just trolled within a couple miles of the truck.

A fine board for a 2 hour trip with 1 angler!

The bottom bite is still hot with all the usual suspects - Triggers, Groupers, Vermillions etc.

A Mixed Bag to Smile About!

Red Snappers open tomorrow for 3 weeks (in State waters) so I'll be slip lead fishing Snappers primarily for the next 21 days. I'm sure there will be time to catch a few other critters deliberately and have a few "surprise" bites as well. As many Snappers as we have been throwing back there isn't any shortage of 'em!