In this week’s Northwest Florida Fishing Report, host Joe Baya covers a remarkably consistent late-summer pompano bite along the beaches, strong billfish and swordfish action 40 to 60 miles offshore, and an abundant inshore mangrove snapper bite around Pensacola. This episode features Blake Hunter with Reel30A, Capt. Adam Peeples with One Shot Charters, and Evan Wheeler with Tall Pines Tight Lines.
Joe also joins Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report host Butch Thierry for a special conversation with Daniel and Ed Bejrowski, the father-and-son team behind SlipSki. They explain how their aluminum dock-cover systems are designed, how the removable fabric changes hurricane preparation, and why the company’s Dorado Oasis has become a popular option for covering an entire dock rather than only a boat slip.
Conditions Recap
Extreme heat remains the most important condition across Northwest Florida, but the shortening days are beginning to hint at the coming fall transition. Surf anglers are still finding the best comfort and productivity during the first three hours of daylight and the final three hours of the day. Inshore, shade, moving water, deeper structure, and areas influenced by passes are helping fish cope with hot, stagnant conditions.
Along the beaches from Destin through Walton County and into western Bay County, high salinity appears to be one factor supporting an unusually consistent pompano bite. Fish have remained in the surf since June and are being caught before, during, and after the full moon rather than only during the short moon-related windows anglers often expect in summer. Sand fleas remain scarce, but the fish are feeding heavily on coquina clams and responding well to prepared baits and shrimp.
Offshore conditions are producing pretty water, favorable current, and large concentrations of very small bait. Those ingredients have brought sailfish, white marlin, blue marlin, dolphin, and swordfish within practical range of Destin. Wahoo have not been a major part of the current catch, but the nearshore FADs could become more productive as water temperatures begin falling later in the season.
30A Surf Fishing Report – Blake Hunter With Reel30A
Blake Hunter with Reel30A says 2026 has produced the most consistent spring-through-summer pompano bite he has seen in several years. The fish that settled into their summer pattern have remained along the beaches since June, and the bite has continued across moon phases. Anglers are not only catching legal fish but also encountering unusually large pompano, including one reported at 20 inches to the fork and potentially more than six pounds.
Blake is finding fish throughout his normal footprint from the Destin area through Walton County and toward western Bay County. The basic location is the drop-off behind the sandbar. Anglers do not need to cast excessively deep or fish tight to the beach. The goal is to place a bait in that transition zone and let the concentration of fish do the rest.
With few sand fleas available, Blake is keeping the presentation simple with a two-drop pompano rig baited with shrimp and Fishbites. Pink has been a consistently productive color, along with pink-and-white, orange-and-white, chartreuse-and-white, and yellow-and-white combinations. Because the pompano are full of crushed coquina clams, the orange coquina or clam-scented Fishbites have been especially effective. A large sand flea is still worth using when available, and blue crab can be saved and frozen for more difficult winter and early-spring fishing.
Time of day matters mainly because of the heat. Blake is doing most of his fishing during the first three hours of the morning and last three hours of the afternoon. He believes fish can still be caught during the middle of the day, but early and late trips have been consistently productive and are far more comfortable.
The next major change should be the arrival of slot redfish with the fall mullet movement. Based on previous seasons, Blake expects the first meaningful opportunity from the second or third week of September into October. When the reds arrive, he will add cut or butterfly-rigged finger mullet to a single-drop rig with an orange or pink bead. A two-drop rig can also cover both opportunities by carrying a pompano bait on the upper drop and cut mullet or shrimp on the bottom. If bull reds appear, Blake will increase the bait size and move to approximately 25- to 30-pound leader.
The unusual timing of this year’s fish movements makes the current bite worth taking advantage of now. Pompano could remain into October, but Blake cautions that a cold front or another environmental trigger could move them abruptly.
SlipSki Dock Covers – Daniel And Ed Bejrowski
Joe and Butch speak with Daniel and Ed Bejrowski of SlipSki about the company’s aluminum cover systems for boat slips and full docks. Daniel says the business began after his family installed a galvanized boat cover and saw opportunities to improve both the materials and structural design. Working with his mechanical-engineer brother, he developed a welded aluminum system intended to remain rigid even when the fabric cover is removed.
That removable cover is central to hurricane preparation. SlipSki recommends taking the fabric off whenever a named storm threatens the property. Daniel says an inexperienced owner and a few helpers can generally remove the cover in less than two hours by releasing the bungees and pulling the fabric from the frame. That leaves an open aluminum structure with far less surface area for the wind to catch. The company’s warranty covers storms other than named storms, and the Bejrowskis recommend removing the fabric for a named system to preserve full warranty protection.
The company uses 6061 aluminum, fully welded joints, and stainless hardware selected for the installation environment. The aluminum itself requires little maintenance beyond optional cleaning for appearance. On a lag-bolted installation, owners should periodically confirm that the fasteners remain tight as the wood changes over time.
The SlipSki Dorado Cover is designed primarily to protect the boat and boat lift. The larger Dorado Oasis Dock Cover extends shade and weather protection across a broader dock area, allowing families to fish, relax, clean the boat, or entertain beneath it. Daniel and Ed say the shade can create a felt temperature difference of roughly 15 to 20 degrees during extreme summer heat, especially when a lighter fabric color reflects rather than absorbs sunlight.
Every system is built from customer measurements rather than treated as a one-size-fits-all product. SlipSki can install on new docks, older docks with suitable mounting points, floating docks, and pilings left after a conventional roof is damaged. Peak height can be adjusted within structural, building, and HOA limitations, and Daniel recommends using the greatest height an installation legally allows so a future boat or tower is less likely to outgrow the cover.
Joe’s installation uses EcoPile composite marine pilings from Shoreline Plastics. Daniel worked directly with the piling manufacturer to develop a mounting approach that combines internal aluminum supports with exterior straps and through-bolts. SlipSki also offers boat garages, custom aluminum stairs, fillet tables, kayak racks, and other waterfront products.
Destin Offshore Fishing Report – Capt. Adam Peeples With One Shot Charters
Capt. Adam Peeples with One Shot Charters reports excellent billfishing in blue water approximately 40 to 60 miles from Destin. Sailfish, white marlin, and blue marlin are all present, with a few dolphin mixed into the catch. On one three-day trip, his crew caught two billfish slams.
The fish are following massive concentrations of tiny bait. Adam watched a hooked blue marlin cough up roughly a gallon of half-inch forage beside the boat, confirming what the sonar and surface activity suggested. The combination of favorable current, pretty water, and abundant food is holding the fish, although the sheer volume of bait and high water temperature can make some billfish reluctant to commit. Adam has watched marlin follow teasers or appear on sonar without ever attacking the spread.
His standard presentation includes dredges, teasers, and four rigged ballyhoo. He likes chuggers ahead of the ballyhoo on the outriggers because the smoke trail helps attract white and blue marlin. When the boat is marking fish and the water looks right, his advice is to stay confident and continue working the area. A slow stretch does not necessarily mean the boat is in the wrong location.
For the mixed billfish fishery, Adam is using Shimano Talica BFC reels on light rods with 30-pound main line, 60-pound fluorocarbon leaders, and small circle hooks. He keeps a heavier 50-class pitch outfit ready when a blue marlin appears on a teaser, but the lighter gear makes sailfish and white marlin more enjoyable and can still handle many blue marlin when the crew uses the boat effectively.
Adam normally sets the light outfits at about eight pounds of drag at strike. With circle-hooked ballyhoo, the angler holds the rod in free-spool, allows the fish four or five counts after it takes the bait, and then advances the drag. His all-around bait is a medium Baitmasters ballyhoo. Peewee ballyhoo and smaller hooks can help when small sailfish are difficult to hook, while horse ballyhoo are reserved for blue marlin pitch baits.
Wahoo have not been a significant part of the current bite. If one bait is cut off while Adam is billfishing, he generally continues with the same spread rather than changing the entire program. If repeated cutoffs show that several wahoo are present, he may add a long shotgun bait or shift tactics.
The nearshore FADs are another opportunity to watch as fall approaches. Adam expects them to improve when water temperatures fall into the low 80s, upper 70s, and below. If bait collects around a FAD, live bait becomes attractive. Without a visible bait concentration, he would troll a general wahoo spread around one FAD for roughly 20 minutes before moving toward the next. Historically, the best close-to-shore wahoo and pelagic bite has often arrived from late October through the first half of November rather than early fall.
Swordfishing is also improving. Adam recently caught two fish weighing more than 200 pounds during a multiday trip, then went three-for-five on another trip with two keepers and a larger fish lost. Daytime swordfishing remains more consistent, but a good nighttime catch showed that carefully selected water can also produce after dark.
Pensacola Inshore Fishing Report – Evan Wheeler With Tall Pines Tight Lines
Evan Wheeler with Tall Pines Tight Lines says anglers looking for steady action can chase Spanish mackerel and ladyfish around schools of small bait in open bay water. For a better table fish, mangrove snapper are currently one of the strongest inshore options. Evan’s notes from previous seasons show a repeatable increase in mangrove abundance around the July and August full moons.
Deeper docks, bridge pilings, jetties, and other vertical structure are holding fish. Shade can help during the hottest part of summer, but current, depth, bait, and bottom contours all influence where mangroves set up. The fish may hold above, below, up-current, down-current, or in the seam beside the structure as conditions change.
Evan approaches a new piece of structure methodically. Electronics and side scan can quickly confirm whether fish are present, but anglers without that information can work the outer edge first and then test different depths and current positions. If a bait reaches the bottom without being hit, touched, or cut in half and there is no current or visible bait, it is usually time to move. If current is moving and bait is present, a missed bite or damaged bait can justify staying and refining the presentation.
His rigs range from Carolina and knocker rigs to split-shot and completely free-lined baits. A practical searching setup is 20-pound braid with a 15-pound fluorocarbon leader. If fish nip the bait without committing, Evan will downsize to 15-pound braid, 12-pound fluorocarbon, a No. 2 light-wire circle hook, and a seven-foot medium-light, fast-action rod with a smooth reel and drag.
Leader length matters with line-shy fish. Evan’s normal fluorocarbon leader begins just beyond the rod tip and extends to the hook keeper near the reel seat, which gives him a long leader without forcing a stiff bend into the fluorocarbon while the rod is stored. In exceptionally clear, deep, slow-moving water, he may add 20 to 40 yards of monofilament between the braid and fluorocarbon because mono travels onto and off the reel spool more easily than a very long section of fluorocarbon.
Live menhaden are his first natural-bait choice because mangroves are already feeding on small baitfish. Anglers can throw a few menhaden as chum, then free-line one on a small hook and light fluorocarbon. Live shrimp and sand fleas also work, but pinfish and other non-target species can quickly destroy shrimp.
Evan also catches mangroves on artificials. MirrOlure hard baits imitate the small menhaden and can draw aggressive strikes. When toothy fish are quickly ruining ordinary soft plastics, he switches to durable Z-Man ElaZtech plastics treated with Pro-Cure Super Gel. He pairs them with Eye Strike Trout Eye or Texas Eye jig heads, which have bait keepers suited to the stretchier ElaZtech material.
Larger artificials can help select bigger mangroves before smaller fish become agitated and alert the school. Evan referenced a roughly 22-inch mangrove caught beneath a dock on a croaker-colored Pure Flats SLICK lure rigged on a 4/0 Owner Beast Hook. His preference is to make the first presentation large and aggressive, catch one or two quality fish, and move on rather than sorting through a pile of undersized snapper.
Mangroves are more forgiving than trout about time of day, which makes them useful for extending a summer trip. Moving water helps in shallow areas, while slower current makes deep bridge and pass structure easier to fish. Night fishing may also be possible around the same structure, though Evan has limited experience targeting mangroves after dark. His starting point would be a small, weedless, weightless presentation that can flutter naturally in the current without scattering fish holding near a light.
