chase4556

Recently got stationed at Fort Rucker. Corona lockdown has lifted and it’s time to get on the water and try to put some fish on the deck.

Looking for some general info on the area. Decent boat ramps? Is there normally bait in the area to catch(either sabiki or cast net)? Is there a “bait guy” that you can just pull up to and buy bait if I’m feeling lazy?

I have heard that Harbor walk marina sells barrels of ice... anyone know how much that barrel weighs and the cost? Couple hundred pounds would be needed to fill fish boxes and top off coolers.

I am looking forward to learning the area and hopefully finding some fish.

cdrhoek

Elgin AFB and Hurlburt Field both have marinas and boat ramps.

chase4556

oh that’s good to know. I will have to look into that and their on post lodging. Would be nice to have a spot to stay the night for a decent price.

Boogan1

There is usually bait around the mouth of the destin pass. There is also a bait boat out there that has bait for sale, fresh fish live bait channel 80. Get on channel 80 as you come under the bridge and you will usually hear someone ask where he is and he will give his location. If you don't hear anyone call him on the radio. During snapper season he is pretty easy to locate by the line of boats. You will want to leave early, he sells out almost every morning.

chase4556

We were out there on Saturday. Harbor walk marina is the way to go for ice, that’s for sure.

Found a weed line after catching bait and threw out our spread. Hooked up with a wahoo right off the bat. Plenty of short dolphin with only 4 of about 30 making the cut to keep. We threw out the kite while we ate lunch and had a decent size mahi come up, but I think our threadfin was just too big for him to eat.

Tried for snapper. We just suck. We found a couple bottom spots, and people would pull up while we were there and bring them up. Don’t know if it was our bait choice(squid and large Live thread fin that were probably TOO big) or what, but it was aggravating. A head boat pulled up on us once and pulled 3 up in about 5 minutes and we were still at zero after 20 minutes of trying. In time we will figure it out.

HuntersDad

for snapper: use fluorocarbon if possible and live bait when possible. I found it helps. flouro it not necessary all the time but when the fish are finicky it helps. don't put your bait on the bottom. most people drop their bait all the way to the bottom and then wind up a little. I've found that the bigger and more aggressive red snapper can be higher up in the water column. try varying the depth you fish. put out a fly line with only a hook (with live bait): stick that rod in a rod holder while you bottom fish. . top water snapper are fun to fight...

chase4556

good info. We were doing just as you described, dropping down and either bumping I off the bottom or feeling up a few turns. Will try varying it more next time.

I think some live bait of the smaller type would be a gam changer as well. The threadfin we got on the sabikis were about the size of my hand. I think they were just too big.

HuntersDad

the threadfin were running a little larger this last week. try cutting in 1/2. I prefer cigar minnows over squid for snapper but you have to fish with what you have. try frozen boston mackeral sometime if you can find it. half hitch usually has some. livebait for me is always better. we limited out on RS pretty quick and had all threadfin. they will work. also try to adjust your hook size. no need for shark hooks - pin fish traps can be a game changer too..

chase4556

Thanks again for the info. We will put it to work and see if we can have a change of luck next go round.

chase4556

We are getting back after it tomorrow. Might be a little bumpy, but hopefully it’s manageable. We have a little better game plan this go round, so hopefully we can connect with these snapper and other bottom fish. We are going to try a little trolling as well to see if we can’t pick up some mahi again.

Smitty_81

If you are coming down for the 4th... and are into being on the water after dark. There will be a fireworks show near wherever you decide to launch. I launch from Postl Point (Eglin AFB Outdoor Rec), and the Boggy Bayou fireworks are a 5 minute idle speed ride away.

I'm not sure where you launch from but in case you haven't realized it quite yet, Eglin AFB has two boat ramps, the one at the Yacht Club (Bens Lake Marina) is quite a bit closer to the East Pass.

bluescholar

Enjoy it while it lasts! 7th group base is already locked down and Eglin and Hurlburt are ramping up the restrictions, and they closed the marina and launches during the last go round. Go to pensacola fishing forum and use the search function for popular reefs to see some excellent advice. Check out https://www.fishingdestinguide.com for a ton of numbers for natural bottom and public artificial reefs. Bring a few different baits and I'm a big believer in long flourocarbon leaders with smaller hooks when the bite slows down, and frequently moving around to hit a lot of spots to find the fish. Good luck!

chase4556

We have been launching at Joes Bayou. We have been talking about checking out the ramp on Eglin. Mainly thinking about driving down the night before, throwing up hammocks and sleeping so we don’t leave Rucker at 2am to be on the water at a decent time.

I might bring my boat down on Friday to check out the inshore situation, but probably won’t stick around the the 4th festivities. I’ve seen how busy it is on a regular Saturday. Crazy out there, especially around Crab Island. Jesus.

yeahhh... there are talks that Rucker might throttle us back to a 50 mile radius again. Joy.

I will check out those websites and do some reading.

chase4556

We got our butts kicked today. On the water around 4:30, grabbed ice and live bait from the bait boat and headed out before 6am.

Couldn’t find any weed lines, so we hit some of the spots we had found last weekend. One was loaded with rather large Bonita, so that at least gave us a little fun. Couldn’t get a bite to save our lives on any of the reefs we hit. On our way in we hit some public numbers to see what happened, again coming up short. So short of playing around with a couple Bonita, we didn’t catch a single thing. Off the water around 3 and headed home. At least the weather was awesome.

There is always next time.

Smitty_81

yes the area around crab island and the harbor is a CF every weekend. Stay in one of the Bayou’s or the ICW and it is much better. We rarely ever go to the crowded areas, and there are plenty of spots to hang and restaurants to visit without ever going down to the harbor. Fishing in the bay requires a fair bit of local knowledge so fishing outside the pass tends to be better. The base doesn’t allow overnight parking but I don’t think that rule gets enforced considering outdoor rec has overnight slip rentals for $10... so... lol.

chase4556

I headed down there today by myself and with my boat. My buddy needed to “study” so he was staying at the house. The original plan was to stay inshore and scout that situation out. I have a 20ft Bluewave and have not taken it offshore.

I decided to sabiki up some live bait just so I had some on hand, and when I got to the inlet it was just too calm not to send it. With some large threadfin, some cigar minnows in the livewell and some frozen squid... I went for it.

Ended up about 16 miles out. Hit a public number I had and as soon as my squid and threadfin hit the bottom I was on. I was only out there for four hours or so, including the run out and back in, but every time I dropped bait I was pulling up fish.

Ended the day with a grouper and my two snapper.

Spot lock on the trolling motor makes all the difference when you are trying to stay on top of a spot.