In this week’s Northwest Florida Fishing Report, host Joe Baya covers a strange but productive early-summer pattern from Pensacola to Panama City, with heavy rain, stained bay water, dune lake outflows, sargassum, June grass, nighttime surf fishing, summer pompano, inshore trout around mullet schools, offshore mahi, and swordfish timing all part of the conversation. This episode features Blake Hunter with Reel 30A, Brandon Barton with Emerald Waters Kayak Charters, and Capt. Adam Peeples with One Shot Charters.
The big theme this week is working around less-than-perfect conditions. Surf anglers are dealing with sargassum, leftover June grass, stained water around dune lake outflows, and inconsistent bait. Inshore anglers are adjusting to dirty water and relying more on sound, contrast, bait schools, and timing. Offshore anglers are finding fish, but floating grass is making trolling and boat operation difficult across much of the Gulf.
Conditions Recap
Northwest Florida has had a lot of rain, and that has pushed stained, tea-colored water into the bays, bayous, and some surf areas. Along 30A, several dune lakes recently opened and temporarily dirtied the water near those outflows, but a stretch of southeast wind helped clean up some areas faster than expected. June grass has eased in places, but sargassum has become the bigger problem, forcing surf anglers to scout beach cams, move around, and fish the cleanest water they can find.
Inshore, the Pensacola area has been heavily stained after the rain. Brandon Barton says the water has been some of the dirtiest he has seen in a while, and that has changed his lure selection and presentation style. Redfish can handle more freshwater influence, but speckled trout often become more sensitive to sudden changes in salinity, clarity, and temperature, so finding bait and fishing the right feeding windows has been important.
Offshore, the weather has been fishable but not consistently slick. The bigger issue has been sargassum. Capt. Adam Peeples says grass has been widespread from Destin westward and has made trolling extremely frustrating. Bottom fishing has still been productive, mahi are around larger grass patches and offshore structure, and swordfish have been fairly consistent when trips line up with the right major feeding periods.
Surf Fishing Report – Blake Hunter With Reel 30A
Blake Hunter with Reel 30A starts the report with one of the more unusual surf catches Joe Baya has heard about on the Northwest Florida Fishing Report: a large tarpon caught from the beach at night. Blake says they specifically rigged heavier tackle for the possibility, placed a mullet out deep near the second sandbar, and initially thought the fish was a spinner shark in the dark. After about a 30-minute fight, they landed what Blake estimated to be a tarpon of more than 130 pounds.
That nighttime tarpon catch was a low-percentage play, but it confirms that there are big fish moving along the beach after dark. Blake says nighttime shark fishing has also been strong, especially when trips start just before dark and move into the night. Blacktips have been more active around the evening transition, while bigger sharks such as sandbars, bulls, and other larger fish tend to become more likely after the beaches clear and the night bite settles in.
For shark fishing from the beach, Blake says they are using both castable rigs and heavier setups depending on the target. On spinning gear, he likes braid to a 120- to 200-pound shock leader, with a shorter bite leader where needed. On larger conventional gear, he mentioned heavy braid backing with a mono topshot and heavier leader material for bigger sharks. Stingray has been one of the hottest baits, even when bonito, ladyfish, and other shark baits are available.
In the daytime surf report, pompano remain the bright spot. Blake says this has been a strange year, with an excellent spring run and the possibility of a stronger-than-normal summer bite. Even after the full moon, anglers are still grinding out pompano when they can find clean, fishable water. Sand fleas have been the top bait, and Fishbites are also producing. Blake says the fleas have not been as easy to find as he would like, but when anglers can get good fleas and fish behind the bar, the pompano are still there.
Redfish have been harder to come by in the surf, even with stirred-up water that can sometimes help that bite. Blake says finger mullet, shrimp, and ladyfish are all worth using when targeting reds, but the main beach action has been pompano, a few ladyfish, hardtails, some bluefish near dark, and early signs of baby sharks moving in. Spanish mackerel have not been as consistent in the surf as they were this time last year, though plugs, shiny lures, and Gotcha-style baits are still worth keeping ready when birds or bait show up.
When sargassum gets thick, Blake says there is no magic fix. Anglers need to scout beach cams, look for openings, fish around the edges of the grass, watch for places where it is sitting on the bottom instead of fouling lines, and take advantage of north winds when they make a stretch of beach more fishable. The best surf fishing right now comes from moving until you find clean water instead of forcing a bad stretch.
Gear and baits mentioned in this section include mullet, stingray, bonito, ladyfish, shrimp, sand fleas, Fishbites, Gotcha-style plugs, shiny casting lures, 60-pound braid, 120- to 200-pound mono shock leaders, cable bite leaders, 50-wide conventional reels, and heavy shark leaders.
Inshore Kayak Fishing Report – Brandon Barton With Emerald Waters Kayak Charters
Brandon Barton with Emerald Waters Kayak Charters gives the Pensacola inshore report, where heavy rain has left the bays stained and dirty. Brandon says the water looked very different from the clear water many Northwest Florida anglers are used to fishing, and that kind of sudden change can affect confidence as much as it affects the fish.
Instead of giving up when the water gets dirty, Brandon adjusts his presentation. In clear water he often prefers natural-looking lures that closely match local bait, but in stained water he goes louder and more visible. He looks for lures with contrast, flash, vibration, or sound, including topwater baits, wake baits, brighter soft plastics, and possibly a popping cork with a soft plastic or artificial shrimp underneath it.
Timing was also a big part of Brandon’s approach. On a recent inshore trip, he lined up a falling tide, a peak feeding window, and low-light conditions near sunset. Even after covering a long stretch of docks without much action, he kept moving until he found mullet schools concentrated around several docks. Once he heard trout feeding and saw mullet activity, he worked through several presentations before the topwater bite turned on.
Brandon says the trout seemed keyed in on the mullet schools. Instead of simply fan-casting randomly, he threw past the mullet and worked his bait back through the school. That was the pattern that produced bites. His topwater of choice was a white bone Southern Salt Apex, a medium-sized, loud-knocking bait that matched the mullet well while still giving fish enough noise and presence to find it in stained water.
For topwater fishing, Brandon prefers spinning gear because it allows him to make longer casts than he can with a baitcaster. He says long casts matter from the kayak because they keep the bait in the strike zone longer and draw fish before the lure gets too close to the boat. His main line is usually 20-pound braid, which he considers a good balance between casting distance and fewer wind knots when twitching and hard-casting topwaters.
Brandon also uses 20-pound fluorocarbon leader with topwater baits. He says the leader is important not only for stealth, but because the stiffness of mono or fluorocarbon helps keep the lure’s hooks from fouling in the braid. When he ties an FG knot, he is comfortable reeling the leader into the guides and using a three- to four-foot leader. If he has to tie a quicker, bulkier knot such as an Alberto, he shortens the leader so the knot does not interfere with casting.
Gear and products mentioned in this section include topwater baits, wake baits, jerk baits, swim baits, twitch baits, soft plastics, artificial shrimp, popping corks, scent, 20-pound braid, 20-pound fluorocarbon leader, FG knots, Alberto knots, spinning rods, baitcasters, and the Southern Salt Apex.
Offshore Fishing Report – Capt. Adam Peeples With One Shot Charters
Capt. Adam Peeples with One Shot Charters gives the Destin offshore report, where fishing has been good when boats can work around the weather and the grass. Joe Baya reported catching fish on public numbers and small pieces of structure, including black snapper, scamp, red snapper, Almaco jacks, and even a bonus cobia. Adam says the bite has been fishable, even though calm summertime days have not fully settled in yet.
The biggest offshore challenge right now is sargassum. Adam says the grass has been widespread and has made trolling nearly impossible in many areas. Teasers, hook baits, and trolling spreads are getting fouled quickly, and the grass has been thick enough that anglers often have to shift away from trolling and look for other ways to target pelagics.
Mahi are still around, especially offshore in 500-plus feet of water and around larger grass patches, birds, floating debris, or fish-attracting structure. When trolling is not possible, Adam recommends pulling up on likely areas and creating a steady feed with cut squid, cut Ballyhoo, chunks of live bait, or other small pieces of bait. The goal is not to overfeed the fish, but to draw dolphin to the boat and then pitch them with spinning tackle and circle hooks. Even a simple pompano jig can work when mahi are visible and willing to eat.
Adam says keeping one mahi in the water can help hold a school around the boat in open water, especially when only a few fish show up. If the fish are locked onto a FAD, floating debris, or a big patch of grass, that may not matter as much because the structure itself is holding them. When the fish are fired up, speed matters, and anglers should focus on landing fish, clearing hooks safely, and getting another bait back in the water.
Bait has been strong outside Destin Pass, with Spanish sardines and big cigar minnows available. Adam likes large Spanish sardines because almost everything eats them, especially when running offshore. Cigar minnows are not always his first choice for offshore runs, but they are useful when available. He also noted that Destin anglers have the option of buying live bait from local bait boats when they want to save time.
The sargassum is also creating boat-operation issues. Adam says grass can collect around outboards, props, and motor intakes. Before taking off after idling or trolling through grass, he recommends putting the boat in reverse to clear the running gear. On his Invincible with V10 Mercury 400s, grass has been clogging cooling-water intakes at cruise and causing overheating concerns. He also warns anglers to avoid large mats when possible because they can hide rope, dock line, trash, and other debris that could create serious problems.
Swordfishing has been Adam’s main offshore focus with trolling so difficult. He says the swordfish bite has been fairly consistent and is starting to act more like a summertime pattern, with fish keying heavily on major feeding periods. On a recent 36-hour trip, the fish bit for a couple of hours around daylight and a couple of hours around dusk, then shut down between those windows. Adam says swordfish activity often improves around the full moon and new moon, especially in the two to five days leading up to the moon, but outside those windows he pays very close attention to the major feeding periods.
Gear and products mentioned in this section include pompano jigs, cut squid, Ballyhoo, live bait, circle hooks, spinning rods, Spanish sardines, cigar minnows, Sabiki rigs, 46 Invincible offshore boats, V10 Mercury 400s, 25 Contender nearshore boats, FADs, and offshore planning tools such as Hilton’s Realtime Navigator.
