A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Use this area to post inshore fishing reports from the area. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
So we went to the cape for an end of summer fishing, scalloping, beach trip. But of course the algae bloom nixed the scalloping. So we fished pretty hard for trout and your other normal flats fish but absolutely no luck. But We were able to boat 7 different species though. And the kids had a blast so I'll take it. The third day after being completely skunked we ran out to be bouy line and fished some bouys with pinfish. Picked up 2 lane snapper and 1 Black Sea bass. Then next day I spent the morning early by myself trying to find a redfish on topwater but all I could find was a really random African pompano! Go figure. Then later that morning we were heading across the bay and noticed some fish busting the surface. So we stopped and tossed out the Spanish rigs and bam, within 20 min we had 7 fish in the box. Then we ran over to some trout holes with no joy. Then while trolling motor-ing to the next spot my son is letting his gulp on a jig head troll along and he hooks into a Florida pompano. Again, random. So Later back at the house we see some mullet swimming by the dock and we toss the cast net and grab a really nice one. Perfect for the fryer. So last morning comes and while my son and I are running back to the state park to take the boat out we stop at a shark hole and pick up 2 really nice blacktip sharks. Probably the highlight of his trip. Both were prob 2.5-3ft long. I talked with a few guys on the way off the cape that when I told them I wasn't able to catch a single trout, they really acted very surprised. All they would say was that "yeah we've been catching some" . oh well. Guess I wasn't holding my mouth right!
Those blacktips are an absolute favourite of mine!!!
Nice work on the pompano as well! Any time on the water, fish or not, is better than being stuck at the house!
Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn. ~Chuck Clark
Nice report, thanks for posting. Did you happen to get a pic of the African pompano? I've never heard of anyone catching one inshore. Quite a catch. Congrats
Catholic girl pray for me, you’re my only hope for heaven
It was definitely a fun trip. We tried all colors of gulp, some under corks, some just on jigheads. Fished all depths 3-10 feet. Even used bull minnows and pinfish in same fashion. Nada on the trout. I did not get a pic of the African pompano. I know it sounds crazy and honestly if I had the id wrong I really want to know what the fish was. Pretty stupid of me not to get a pic. Description of it was that it looked exactly like the pompano my son caught, but with very little to no yellow on the belly( all silvery/white in color) and it had hard bony nodules on side of the tail portion kinda like a Spanish. I honestly thought it was just a regular pompano until I was looking at some fish id pics later that day. The bony tail is what got my attention.
ya never know what you may catch out there. I caught a permit out of Econfina a few years ago. I caught it at the end of Sept about 4 years ago, and still waiting on the next run of them. Did Robbie tell you about our scalloping trip this past weekend? He had an appointment w/ you Wednesday morning. See you soon
Hey redbelly, I was still fishing wed am so I think I missed him! Hope y'all did well on the scallops. Silver king, those are the pics I've been looking at. Hard to remember now. I don't remember it having a prominent forehead as the African pompano shows. Don't think it had as large a mouth as the blue runner and not as much yellow as the jack crevelle. But now I'm definitely leaning away from the African. Dang guys, my bad. Lesson learned. Always take pics! I'm thinking it was a blue runner.
Then we ran over to some trout holes with no joy. Then while trolling motor-ing to the next spot my son is letting his gulp on a jig head troll along and he hooks into a Florida pompano. Again, random. 
So Later back at the house we see some mullet swimming by the dock and we toss the cast net and grab a really nice one. Perfect for the fryer. So last morning comes and while my son and I are running back to the state park to take the boat out we stop at a shark hole and pick up 2 really nice blacktip sharks. Probably the highlight of his trip. Both were prob 2.5-3ft long. 
I talked with a few guys on the way off the cape that when I told them I wasn't able to catch a single trout, they really acted very surprised. All they would say was that "yeah we've been catching some" . oh well. Guess I wasn't holding my mouth right!
so I think I missed him! Hope y'all did well on the scallops. Silver king, those are the pics I've been looking at. Hard to remember now. I don't remember it having a prominent forehead as the African pompano shows. Don't think it had as large a mouth as the blue runner and not as much yellow as the jack crevelle. But now I'm definitely leaning away from the African. Dang guys, my bad. Lesson learned. Always take pics! I'm thinking it was a blue runner.