Pensacola, Perdido Key, Navarre Inshore Report

<p>Is the calendar really at August already? Summer has flown by as it does every year. Of course, they say that time flies when you're having fun, and on the Mega-Bite this season, time has definitely been flying! I have had a very successful season this summer as I've got the inshore fishing dialed in. First, the inshore redfish bite has been off the charts for the past 3 weeks. I found 3 separate spots that are holding some quality fish, not big fish; mostly in the 20 – 25" range, but on light tackle they are great fun. We've been catching the reds on a variety of baits, such as Mirr0lure's Catch2000 and their Mirr0dine in a few secret colors that have even helped out with the trout bite. Another great inshore bait is Rapala's Subwalk; it's been producing some quality redfish on the flats in 2 –3 ft of water.

Staying inshore, I'm still catching some quality specks, and mixed in with the specks are big bluefish and fun jumping ladyfish. I've hit the shark hole a few times this week and it's been slow, but we've managed to pull on a few sharks, just not like we did back in early June. (Perhaps all the publicity from Shark Week has them laying low). In the pass with an incoming and outgoing tide, the big bull redfish bite has been decent. For these big reds, I'm using my new Boca 30's by Quantum spooled with 30 lb braid. Let me tell you, these reels are smooth and can handle these reds with no problem. I've only been offshore twice and both times I did well. We caught our limit of snappers and managed to boat a few nice kings. Red snapper season closes on August 14th, so after the 14th I'll only be going out off the beaches for kings.

Just off the beaches, I'm catching some quality Spanish and some big skipjacks. I haven't hooked up any big jacks yet this season, but I'm sure I will in the next few weeks.

So to summarize the past few weeks, the inshore bite is still red hot. Summer may be almost over, but if you're looking to have some great inshore light tackle action, give me a ring.

Tight Lines.

Capt. John