BigBendFishing.Net

Is that the ramp at Bull Headley? Last time I was there you could walk on dry lake bed 50 yards past the dock.

Those excited kids were probably in my boat. I had 5 with me on Sunday, and they were hyper at times! Impossible to keep them quiet.

Today was even better than Saturday! One of the twins landed a 14” black drum by himself and the other twin caught two trout. It was fun showing how to read the Garmin and all the controls in the boat. I think I have some new fishing partners! We caught our fish in the vicinity of marker 40. The fis...

In spite of a late start we did fairly well today. We stayed in the river and anchored near oyster bars within casting distance of the grass banks. We caught two keeper flounder, one short trout, one puppy drum, and a pinfish. All of the fish were caught on ⅛ oz jig heads tipped with frozen shrimp a...

My outboard engine caught on fire today! Recently, the tilt & trim unit was malfunctioning, so I had it worked on. It looks like the solenoid overheated and caught fire. I was able to quickly put out the fire...thank goodness I keep two fire extinguishers on board. No other damage was done to th...

I fished Lake Talquin for the first time in many, many years. I should have gone on a nicer day. The wind was ferocious! I put in at Blounts landing around 1:00, and put the boat back on the trailer 30 minutes later after a wave crashed over the gunnel. Not one to give up early I decided to try Coe ...

My boys and I have been fishing the East flats and west flats Saturday and Sunday. First, we hit the sandbars and load up with pinfish and grunts. Then, we anchor near channels and troughs and set out some free lined bait and cut bait on the bottom. Saturday we landed two four foot blacktops, three ...

It’s hard to beat a lively pinfish about the size of your hand, 24” under a cork rig, for catching tarpon. I experienced the same thing Saturday. We were drifting in 9’ near the sandbar when we noticed rolling tarpon within easy casting range. We tossed a couple small pinfish (2” long), but didn’t g...

I’ve been doing lots of freshwater fishing lately. Been catching bass on Rebel PopR’s, gold Rapala minnows, and Bass Assassin jerkbaits. On Lake Jackson anything that floats and stays above the hydrilla and looks like a minnow produces strikes. On Lake Lafayette the cypress trees hold nice fish that...

I took my boys scalloping for their first time. We found enough for dinner and left some for another day. We only had to make one stop to find them, near the big sandbar about ½ mile south. Then, we drifted for a while and fished one rod with pinfish under a cork and one rod bouncing jigs. We caught...

I took my ProLine to Mike’s Marine Ways to have some damaged gel coat and exposed fiberglass repaired. Wow!!! Mike and his crew do great work. Quick turn around too. The boat is 20 years old, so naturally the gel coat is no longer factory original. Somehow, they matched the color perfectly. I will b...

Drifted the east flats this afternoon. Landed a dozen short trout during an hour long drift. I used pinfish and live shrimp under corks. Every pinfish got slammed within a minute of hitting the water. The shrimp did okay, but not as good. No puffer fish today! The water was 4 feet deep and the tempe...

How accurate are the applications like Windy at forecasting the wind and wave conditions? I use Windy and have found it to be accurate only half of the time. I am lucky to get out on the water once a week, so I don’t know if Windy is the best application?

Some of the local(ish) YouTubers I watch are: Angler Up with Brant. He fishes primarily the Pensacola area, but his enthusiasm and content make him worth watching. Brent Schirmer is pretty good. He fishes the Tampa area, but many of his techniques work in our ‘neck of the woods’. Salty Fins is good....

I enjoy your reports and trying to put your shared knowledge to use. A couple of suggestions for future reports...where to find and catch sheepshead; where to find and catch black drum; and, more tips about proper etiquette (I liked your comment about “if you can’t cast into the other guys boat, you...