Category: General


Started out to a VERY foggy bay this morning. It was slow leaving bayou chico but pretty soon we had shrimp in the water. Trout action was ok and we put a few keepers in the box in the 16″ to 18″ range. We lost a bigger fish at the boat. We fished slowing from spot to spot and finally found a great bite of nice quality spanish. Live shrimp under popping corks got us lots of bites and we left with 10-12 nice fish. The weather looks great for the weekend, good luck everybody! 

Captain Matt Mcleod

www.hotspotscharters.com

www.hotspotstackle.com

matt@hotspotstackle.com

850.418.5333

I had to break in a new powerhead on the Blazer Bay today so I thought we’d look around on the beach while we went through the breakin procedure. It’s about the only fishing you can do while constantly riding around and changing rpm’s the whole time so we brought a couple rods and a couple eels. We were riding around in the tower doing more talking than looking when tyler yells “fish”! I didnt even take the boat out of gear cause I thought he was messing with me….till I looked over and saw he was serious! Well we were heading east and going faster than I would normally when cobia fishing so we both made a rushed throw as the boat slowed down and the fish went down. Damn. Turned around to look back west and he popped right back up! One shot with an eel and he was on…Awesome and very unexpected! 50 lbs!

Matt Mcleod

hotspotscharters.com

hotspotstackle.com

matt@hotspotstackle.com     850.418.5333

Outcast Seminar Series

Outcast Fishing and Hunting
Gulf Coast Fishing Seminar Series
With host Bob Sharp

March 5th Saturday

Time12:30pm-2:00pm
Subject: Cobia Fishing
Guest Speakers: Capt. Myles Colley, and Capt. Chad Linkous along with Bob Sharp will show you the tricks of the trade for landing that Cobia of a lifetime..
Time 2:30pm –4:00pm
Subject: Offshore Trolling and Natural Bait Rigging
Guest Speakers: Captain Myles Colley and Captain Chad Linkous will show you their secrets of offshore fishing, chunking for tuna, and the proper ways to rig lures and natural baits including; Balao, Mullet, and Spanish.
Time 4:30pm-Until
Subject: Bottom Fishing/Deep Drop Fishing
Guest Speaker: Capt. Jake Adams of the charter boat Nothin’ Matters along with Bob Sharp will show you their tricks to locating and catching bigger Snapper, Amberjack and Grouper.

March 6th Sun
Time 12:30pm-2:00pm .
Subject: Shimano Butterfly Jigging System and Light Tackle Offshore fishing Guest Speaker::Capt. Chad Linkous. With the limits being what they are lets learn how to make every catch a memorable one by mastering the technique of light tackle fishing and Capt. Chad Linkous will show you his proven methods

Time 2:30pm-3:30pm
Subject: Marine Electronics
Guest speakers from George’s Marine Electronics will tell you all about today’s electronics. They will instruct you on the proper operation of your equipment. Don’t miss it.

Time4:00pm-Until
Subject:Pompano/Surf Fishing and Inshore Fishing Secrets
Guest Speakers: Donnie Rozier and Captain Wes Rozier, local experts with over 40 years experience; will show you the proven techniques in locating and catching your favorite surf species, as well as your favorite inland species such as redfish, trout, and flounder.

I’ve got a quick report for the last week of January. Temperatures have been warm and the weather has been great this week, looks like some rain will be coming up but not a big deal. Sheepshead and redfish have been biting pretty good for the last couple weeks. Live shrimp will work great for both, throw in some fiddler crabs for some of the picky sheepshead and you should have it covered. Rocks jettys and bridges are producing very well and this pattern will continue through the end of the winter and early spring. Good luck and have fun everybody!

Capt Matt Mcleod

Hot Spots Charters and Hot Spots Bait and Tackle

mcleodfish@yahoo.com    850.418.5333

Fishing continues to be great both inshore and near shore. You can still find good numbers of speckled trout near inshore grass flats and drop offs around 3-6 feet of water. I’ve heard some good flounder reports lately, seems deeper drop offs and structure in Pensacola bay are holding some keeper fish. I have a couple charters coming up soon so I will have some reports to post. I am going to spend some time grouper and flounder fishing in the bay so we’ll see how that goes. The weather is improving and fishing is great so go get ‘em!

Matt Mcleod

850.418.5333

Hot Spots Charters www.hotspotcharters.com

Hot Spots Bait and Tackle www.hotspotstackle.com

Beaches, bridges, piers, bays, bayous, and state waters along the Florida Panhandle currently do not have any fishing closures. They are wide open for fishing, swimming, or boating.   
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have expanded the “off-limits to fishing” zone in federal waters to the west due to the wind and current pushing the spill that direction. 
Even if you are planning on making a trip offshore to do some deep bottom fishing there is plenty open area out there to fish, but you may have to change your game plan a little.    

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