Destin Fishing Report 1-12-26
Much to my surprise, there is still a little live bait around. There has been a mix of cigar minnows and pinfish showing up near the bridge at times, with a few also at the pass. Nothing like summer numbers, but enough to work with. A few can also be found on the nearshore metal wrecks.
Seminars will restart Tuesday, February 3rd at Legendary Marine. We will be covering Spanish and king mackerel, along with some discussion on the new FADs. As a reminder, seminars are free and we will have free pizza and soda.
I hope everyone was able to take advantage of the nice temperatures this past week and get in a few fishing days. The forecast looks chilly for the next 7 to 10 days.
Bottom Fishing
With several species closed, the focus has been on vermilion snapper and flounder. For flounder, target the leeside of reefs and wrecks in 40 to 90 feet of water using live bull minnows, FishBites, and mullet strips. For mingo snapper, fish a 2 to 4 hook chicken rig with squid strips and FishBites.
Pier Fishing
A local angler claimed the free season pass for the first pompano of the year caught off the pier this week. Other catches included flounder, redfish, and whiting. Several mornings saw anglers able to collect a limit of flounder using bull minnows and FishBites.
Surf Fishing
Much to my surprise, there were several social media posts this week showing anglers catching a limit of early season pompano. Others reported a mixed bag of whiting, redfish, black drum, and bonita.
Bay Fishing
There have been occasional Spanish mackerel and pompano in the back of the harbor, with redfish and sheepshead around the Destin Bridge and jetties using live shrimp and live fiddler crabs. Fishing the creeks and river systems feeding the north and east end of the bay produced an excellent speckled trout bite on soft plastics and live shrimp. There has also been plenty of mullet to cast net around local docks and bridges.
Offshore Trolling and Deep Drop Bottom Fishing
No reports here this week.
