PC/PCB Fishing Report 8-1-25
Bay Fishing
The fishing in the bay has been a battle against the heat! People are getting up super early to beat the sun and/or going late. Going late is fine, as rising tides overnight should make dock light fishing excellent this week. Going in the late afternoon with intentions of hanging out after might be a good plan while beating the heat a bit! Live bait freelined under a dock can work really well, but usually after a couple of fish they back off a bit. Just go to another dock and in 20 minutes it will be game on again.
The fishing has been good at the bridges including the Hathaway. Redfish have cooperated on moving tides, and are hungry on an outgoing tide. There is still good redfish action going on in the pass as well as some mangrove snapper up near the rocks. On the mangroves, move around and find an irregular gap on the edge of the rocks near where they meet the sand. A 1oz egg lead on a carolinla style rig with a light wire circle hook and a small live bait will get their attention. These fish can spit out the bait, so give them a few seconds to get that hook in the mouth before you go tight.
*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
It has been HOT and that has had the water temperature in the 86-87 degree range! There has been some sea grass in pockets on the beach, it can still be fished, but usually there are clear areas very near. There are plenty of sandfleas along the water line. A single rake might be all you need for the day since they are thick right now.
All of this said, it is a tough time to get a lot of fish, but if you are ready to shift gears, there have been some guys in the shop that have been getting a few nice Spanish mackerel on their pompano rigs. They said they threw lures at them, but they would not touch them. They reported Spanish up to 25”.
There are still some redfish, pompano, and a few whiting to be had, but you might have to work and wait for them.
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
It has been an interesting, but hot week. Water temps are around 86-87 as mentioned above. This week has seen a continuation of big bonita, fish in the 2-14lbs range have been very common.
The king mackerel bite was there this week, but a number of undersized kings got into the mix. There were keepers too and most were 8lbs of so with some bigger.
There have been some tarpon hookups, but not a lot of them. There also have been some redfish working around the pier and some spanish mackerel.
An interesting note from the west in Okaloosa County, there were 2 sailfish caught from the pier this week and 1 cobia. Perhaps we will see some of those come our way soon?
Bottom Fishing
The bottom fishing has still been good if you get out there away from the pass. Especially deeper areas. Red snapper limits and some nicer red groupers have been had. Mangrove snappers have gotten active and more and more anglers are reporting catches of those as well.
Captain Eric Wilkas got a 2nd mutton snapper this season on a recent charter. We do not see many of those up this far north. Vermillion snapper are continuing to help fill ot a nice box of fish as well. There also has been an uptick in porgies, aka white snapper, as well.
AS OF TODAY RED SNAPPER ARE CLOSED until September 1st
Reamaining Red Snapper Days:
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
Fishing outside the pass early in the morning with flatlines is still continuing to produce. This is a great way to get some fish in the box on a budget. You have to get out early and find the buoys holding bait and work them.
Trolling diving plugs between bottom spots is also a good idea as well as dusters with frozen cigar minnow.
Offshore
There are still some nice marlin being caught out deep! Along with wahoo, and some tuna as well.
There also are some sword fish for those dropping deep. A nice variety of bottom fish are out there as well. Various snappers, groupers, and other species.
