Nearshore - Feb 23

[Srbenda]

I had a limited time window this morning, and with low winds forecast for the early part of the day, I thought I would try some deeper water.

We did stop quickly in the west flats, as the water temps there were 69f, and we thought we might pick up some trout, but no luck. We fished in about 5' of water, with live shrimp under a cork, and drifting on the bottom.

I did see a small turtle, which seemed a bit unusual for the month, but perhaps not.

Then we headed out to deeper water.

We worked two separate spots, with limited success. I did land a nice bonita on a white paddletail, albeit on some pretty light tackle, he almost spooled me twice and we did have to chase him a bit with the boat.



We tried shrimp on knocker rigs, on the bottom as well as jerk baits, and paddle tails. No black sea bass or grunts.

Oddly, I did catch a squid. He latched onto my shrimp, and so we added him to the bait cooler for some other trip.



Water temps were around 66 to 67 in about 20' to 22' of water, and visibility was around 6', but the water is stained brown.

[silverking]

Thanks for the report. With water temps that warm, the other pelagics won't be far behind.

You could have cut that squid up for calamari.

[Srbenda]

Thanks for the report. With water temps that warm, the other pelagics won't be far behind.

You could have cut that squid up for calamari.

You know, I thought about it...

So, what is your expert opinion on the arrival of kingfish, spanish and cobia?
We have a cold front coming in next week-

I know we beat it to death here, but this is really warm weather...

http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpBB3/vi ... =1&t=43236

[GaryDroze]

Dang straight. I've been fishing St Marks Refuge creeks for 20 years. This is the first winter the reds and trout never left the shallow creeks en masse for deep holes in the Aucilla & St Marks rivers. If you can wade/kayak without shivering in February, the fish will be there. It just never got too cold this winter for them (or me).

[silverking]

The mild cold front is still going to produce above normal highs during the day. A couple water temperature reports of mid-70s already.

I would expect Spanish mackerel, pompano and bluefish in the next couple weeks if not sooner and kings 10 days to two weeks later.

I agree with Big Bend Gyrene, Woopty and others on the cobia predications. The Panhandle beach migration always starts mid- to late March, depending on weather, and goes through April. We may pick up some stragglers from that, but I also think we have a sub-set population that comes in from offshore and hangs around structure in the Big Bend. They obviously move around and others could head on west off Mississippi and Louisiana. Cobia are a nomadic species and there's still a lot we don't know definitely about them, similar to tarpon.

[Srbenda]

Pensacola NOAA buoy is reading 64.9f this afternoon, with a normal February average at 58f. So, that's 7f above normal...pretty significant difference in water temps.

[rebel10]

Thanks for the report. I plan on heading to some nearshore "reefs" Saturday in search of sheepshead, BSB, etc. if the rain holds off. Has anyone found the sheepshead thick yet? I will report back Monday.

[4reels]

Thanks for the report. I plan on heading to some nearshore "reefs" Saturday in search of sheepshead, BSB, etc. if the rain holds off. Has anyone found the sheepshead thick yet? I will report back Monday.

Pretty thick in the river about 10 days ago. Live shrimp on bottom around structure.



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