PC/PCB Fishing Report 5-2-25
Mostly good weather with a little wind, but overall it has been a really great week.
Water temperatures are climbing up and are a bit warm with mostly sunny days and no rain. The temperatures are around 78-79 degrees.
Bay Fishing
There have been plenty of trout and redfish in all areas of the bay. Work various flukes in the flats or fish live bait around the bridges and drops. These areas are all holding fish at times based on the tides. The tides this weekend are early afternoon with those moving later each day. That should allow for great opportunities for fishing flats late in the day. After dark the docks will be more active later in the week as the tides move later each day. Lights close to the water bring the bait fish in close and the trouts and reds are usually nearby.
Spanish mackerel are still here too and there are good numbers feeding on minnow schools. Early morning should find incoming tides and more clear water. Great conditions for an early morning trip.
*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 pompano bite is still good, but many anglers are getting slot reds this time of year. Live sandfleas seem to be the trick. Some are succeeding with a piece of FishBites as well or without it. The flavors that are working are the EZ flea, chartreuse shrimp, and ghost shrimp flavors. Mornings and evenings have been good. Most fish were out past the bar, but there are some that run close to the beach. Therefore, it is good to do both.
One of our customers has been getting his pompano over the bar, but most redfish are really close to the beach. Catch your own sanfleas with an Angler's Fish-N-Mate all-aluminum sand flea rake. They are built to last forever and kids and others love to discover things with them, so it is more than just a single use investment. A good strategy is to show the kids a sandflea and then allow them to play with the rake and bring you any fleas they catch!
2 to 4 pompano are very common with some limits. There are still some nice whiting, but not any large numbers of them of late reported.
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 king mackerel are back! Not only are they back, but there are some big ones swimming around. There were reports of numerous king in the 20+ pounds, and one in the mid 40’s that would win most tournaments!
As far as the rest of the available species biting, take your pick of what you want to catch and they are being caught! Spanish mackerel are numerous and some in the 20” plus size to the fork are being caught on all types of methods. Pompano are still running and it has been a great run. Limits are still being caught. Early is best, but later day may improve with tides shifting to late afternoon and evening as the week goes on! Redfish are being caught, some sheephead, and an occasional mahi comes in with patches of sargassum weed.
Bottom Fishing
What would you like to catch? The bite is fantastic! Captain Johnathan “Chewey” Hartsfield has been reporting a nice uptick in red grouper catches! Of course the vermillion, white snapper, and triggerfish are all in the mix. Catch and release species like the red snapper and amberjack are cooperative. The red snapper are currently closed, but just this week they announced the next recreational gulf red snapper season!
Open dates:
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
It is time to catch a big king mackerel for the smoker, there are some big ones here now! A couple of flat lines with live cigar minnows or big herring bump trolled outside of the pass or along the outside of the sandbars is a great way to get after them. Standard trolling will work as well with dead cigar minnows and dusters along with various trolling plugs. There have been some nice sized mahi caught too.
The spanish mackerel are eating it up as well. A good strategy to catch big spanish and still catch kings too is to go with a smaller lipped plug that looks like a small cigar or a small bonita. Troll in that 5mph range and set the drag light!
Offshore
There were some nice wahoo, mahi, and some blackfin tuna caught, but many reported stopping at a bottom spot to fill out the box.
Odds are good it picks up soon. Hopefully we get a push of blue water to bring them closer!
