PC/PCB Fishing Report 5-16-25
Rain was the big downer ending last week and starting this week. The rain has moved on, but the wind has lingered. That has kept many from going out into the Gulf of America this week. The bay was a better option. Winds and seas are supposed to drop back, and fishing conditions should drastically improve. Read on for each area of interest below!
Bay Fishing
Trout are out early in the morning in really shallow water. They are generally feeding on bait fish there. If you get out early and get to a grassy flat near a drop, quietly work yourself into the shallow areas. It maybe necessary to actually get out and wade so be prepared with proper shoes to do so.
Working a free lined live bait up in the shallows is a great way to find those over slot trout. Using a large pinfish is a great way to avoid some of the smaller trout and the big ones love them! Soft plastics may work as well.
As the sun rises and high tide approaches, try shifting to redfish. Working a grass flat a bit deeper using a Carolina rig with a 1oz lead and 20lb fluorocarbon is a great choice. Get in knee deep water and fan cast out working a live shrimp or pinfish slowy back though the grass. The action you want is like slow bouncing or hopping the rig back. Slow is the key. The bait will be adding the action. Both boater and shore based anglers can do all of the above.
There are some mangrove snappers in the pass, as well as redfish. The redfish can be caught in various ways. We are approaching the summer full moon periods and an awesome way to catch redfish is with large floating plugs from MirrOlure, Yo-Zuri, and Rapala. Most anglers look for plugs that have similar colors as a blue crab. The plug is thrown out into the pass with an outgoing current. Strong tides are best. Once the lure is out they let it sit mostly with an occasional light bump. This mimics bait fish and crabs especially that are floating out with the tides.
You can enhance your lure by adding a feather/hair to the back end. The feather moves slightly in the current and can be the difference in a strike or a no bite at all. A customer once came in the store with a lure he bought from us earlier. It was as described with the feather/hair that came from the factory that way. He was the only one catching fish that day and he was wearing them out! He wanted to buy all those lures we had in the store and in the warehouse! He wanted to ensure he was the man on his week of vacation!
*BRAND NEW* Ghost Shrimp FishBites
Get 'em while they're hot! We now have Ghost Shrimp FishBites to pair with your bait.
In May they handed out samples to try that were actually early batches. Reports were excellent. They tweaked and improved a few things and now you absolutely should be using some on your next fishing trip to the beach.
Surf Fishing
The surf came up and then the wind shifted to more from the southwest. When we get southwest winds and west winds that are substantial and continuous, it tends to stir up the surf water and make it look brownish. That generally is not great surf fishing. As of the writing of this report, it is still rough and brown in the surf. It should be tamed down and improved soon. The weekend should find the much better fishing. One of the best things you can do when the waves are up is do your recon on your spots. Identify the cuts and pocket locations now so when it is calm you get in the right spot quickly!
Sandfleas still seem to be the bait of choice and there should be plenty near your spot. If you do not know how, come into the store and grab a sandflea rake. We can walk you through the basics of using one successfully.
Beware of intermittent sargassum weed lines coming onshore through the surf. There is no predicting this and it generally is just temporary. No June grass reported as of now.
Fish-N-Mate Rake and Spike Carrier
This easy to attach accessory will make your next trip to the beach a whole lot easier! This Rake and Spike holder fits 4 Fish-N-Mate Sand Spikes and a Fish-N-Mate Sand Flea Rake.
Pier Fishing
The winds and waves made the conditions poor around the pier with brown water. There were still some king mackerel caught and various other fish, just not in big numbers.
As conditions improve the bait and fish will return as the water clears. There has still been some cobia caught but most are really small. Overall, it has been a terrible year so far for cobia! The kings have been a little slow as well.
Bottom Fishing
Weather and seas kept most on land. The bite should still be great this weekend. There are a lot of red grouper inshore and some big ones too! The vermillion are cooperative as well.
Red snapper opens next weekend on the 24th. This weekend would be a good time to scout out your spots for next week. See the open season dates for red snapper below:
May 24-26
June 1–30
July 1-31
September 1-14, 19-21, 26-28
October 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, 31
Novemeber 1-2, 7-9, 11, 14-16, 21-23, 27-30
December 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 25-28
Nearshore Trolling
Not much to report this week. Weather was bad and the wind was worse! The king bite should rapidly improve as well as some spanish mackerel trolling outside the pass as soon as this weekend.
Offshore
Nothing much to report since it was big seas and bad weather. One notable thing is that there seems to be a lot of sargassum this year. If you get out, definitely check the weed lines if you see them. Mahi up top, but maybe a wahoo down below it!
