Royal Fishin' with the Kings
April 12, 2012 by Larry Pentel
The Kings showed up in force along with all the Spring break folks last week. We were able to limit out on several trips and still have plenty of time to add other critters to the box even on the 3 and 4 hr trips.
Right after the Kings came in we were fortunate enough to have a nice weedline come in within 5 miles of the beach for a few days. Sargasso weed means Mahis any time the water is warm and this was no exception. While there was 1 day when the brilliant blue, green & yellow critters wouldn't eat anything we threw at 'em my anglers on the next few days had a great time catching the the color changing acrobats. The last cold front pushed the weedline away and dispersed the Kings some but the Triggerfish seem to have come in to fill the gap.
Just to prove the old adage that you never know what you are going to catch in the Gulf running off the beach we got a Tuna on Easter morning! I had taken my wife and son out to look for cobia for a couple hours before an afternoon charter and we saw some bait activity about a mile and a half off the beach. I stayed in the tower to look and my son went down and put out a live herring to slow troll around the action. It didn't take 3 minutes for the 30 pound Blackfin to skyrocket on the bait 5 feet out of the gulf.
A Happy Tuna Catcher
Here are a few pics of the past 10 days or so just to prove the talk...
These guys were double trouble on the fish !
Happy Kids always make for a great trip
Get out the Smoker !
And Heat up The Grease!
The cobia are coming through but not in the numbers we are used to. I ran my first all day dedicated (6 hr) cobia trip of the year today and we only saw 1 fish. We caught 'em but I really expected to see more. As many fish as were seen (and caught) further South this spring the general thought is they are just running late for some reason. It may all happen starting Tomorrow!
Lots of Pompano being caught by the shorebound anglers. With all the different species around right now you are bound to find something to catch! Get out there and wet a line.
Tagged
Captain Larry Pentel is a native of South Walton, growing up just 300 yards from the beach. Having fished the local waters for over 40 years, he is very familiar with all the different types of local fish, their habits, and most importantly - their habitats. Captain Larry is the owner of Dead Fish Charters.
