Wade, Andrew, and myself went on a search for snapper today. We quickly found our limit at about 20 miles south of Pensacola pass. It took about 10 seconds for our live pinfish to get smashed on the bottom. The bonita and Aj’s were everywhere too. At around 85ft, the aj’s were bustin on the surface. A couple of times, we could see some 40lbers chasing our snapper to the top. We jigged up a couple dozen with the biggest at around 35in. Not too bad of a day
Wade with a beauty
The limit.
20 miles out, we could see small globs of oil. Most were quarter size but we did see some bigger masses. We decided to head in once we saw our lines and boat were turning brown.
Then coming into the canal, we were greeted with this awesome site. Wow…
I have done a lot of bottom fishing running both private boats as well as my boat this month. Running Private boats we have been running 50-70 miles offshore and finding a great Scamp bite! Most of the scamp have been 10-15 pounds and have been caught in 260-300ft of water. Shimano Butterfly jigs and live bait have both been productive while looking for the scamp. The Red Snapper bite in 300ft of water has been steady as well.
While running several trips in my boat this month we have found that the Mingo Snapper have been giving it up on almost every spot we have been at. It is a challenge to get away from the “nearly extinct” Red Snapper, but if you can get away from them you can expect to catch your limit of Mingo Snapper very quickly. Cut Bait and small hooks will do the trick for catching the Mingo Snapper. The triggerfish have also been biting well this month but it seems like when you find one that is 13 1/2 inches you will find 1,000 that are 13 1/2 inches. Just keep at it and you will find a few legal ones.
The 2010 Cobia Migration has been one of the better ones I can remember during the last 5-6 years. There has not been a 100 pounder caught yet this year, but the amount of 50-60 pounders has been rediculous. We have had plenty of days when we have caught 10 or more fish this month. The migration will come to an end during the next 2 weeks or so, but there will be plenty of cobia taking up residence on wrecks. While bottom fishing keep an eye our for that cobia that is curious and comes swimming up to your boat to check you out. You should always have a rod rigged and ready for this to happen.
