Hunting & Fishing Inland shore fishing advice in destin Florida

[anthonylapoint]

Hey guys, I just got down to Destin Florida on Sunday and I'm crashing with a buddy at his place on choctawhatchee bay for a few months to fly tours. He's right on the water and every morning I see fish jumping 2' out of the water and now I really want to do some fishing. There is a couple shitty poles in e garage with some 30 or 40 pound test it looks but no gear. I'm gonna run to the tackle store to get some stuff to rig it with but I'm looking for advice first. What do I need to pick up for fishing a brackish water bay from the shore? Live bait? Spoons? More info the better.

Can I get Snapper or trout from here?

 

[Tackleberry]

Go the Half Hitch Tackle, right on the main highway. The guys there will set you up either to fish on your own or help find a great local guide. I have done business with them for 30 years!

 

[Anvil_X]

Other than seconding tackleberry, I'd say go Live. I always had the best luck on live shrimp when I lived there, working the grassbeds for speck trout. I rolled 12 pound test on the East Bay, and 20 when I went pier fishing. But be advised, those jumping fish are Mullet, they are jumping either just for the hell of it or they're being chased by dolphins. Don't chase after them because they don't bite (They'll bite floating corn occasionally, but it's a lot faster to get em with a castnet).

If you need bait, throw out a bare gold hook whenever you're by the dock. Pinfish are so stupid they bite anything shiny, and make for a fantastic live bait. There's even pinfish rigs with 3 or 4 little gold hooks on em that work pretty well. Finger sized mullet can be had with a castnet.

Have fun, and if you go partying, avoid the Swamp.

 

[Anvil_X]

your target species:
inland-
Red Drum (Known locally as "redfish")
Speckled trout

in the pass and around structures:
Sheephead (don't bother, they'll eat fiddler crabs and such, but you'll snag your line more than anything)

deep holes(Pensacola pass has a lot of them, I dunno about destin pass) usually have Jewfish (a Volkswagen-sized grouper)

snapper hang out on structures in deeper waters.

make sure to be versed in the regulations around red drum--there's several different cutoffs, and you don't want to ruin your vacation by taking a breeder.

 

[Fredo0621]

I would concur with most of this but Sheepshead will be one of the easier fish to target and catch. Also, IMO the best table fare out the group. Just find any vertical structure ie. pillings and bulkheads; and just cast live or dead shrimp on a jighead with a poppin cork and just flip these areas like for bass You have a good chance of catching them along with reds and trout.

your target species:
inland-
Red Drum (Known locally as "redfish")
Speckled trout

in the pass and around structures:
Sheephead (don't bother, they'll eat fiddler crabs and such, but you'll snag your line more than anything)

deep holes(Pensacola pass has a lot of them, I dunno about destin pass) usually have Jewfish (a Volkswagen-sized grouper)

snapper hang out on structures in deeper waters.

make sure to be versed in the regulations around red drum--there's several different cutoffs, and you don't want to ruin your vacation by taking a breeder.

 

[Opticsspecialist]

i've had good luck with salt and pepper deadly dudley's Academy - Soft Baits

i havn't done a ton of surf fishing, but i would think a 6-8ft rod with 30 lb test specks. i catch a lot of specks and reds in south pass in lake ponchatrain and a lot in leeville, but when i go to the beach, i do more beer drinking than fish catching unfortunately.

 

[redirt78]

10 to 15 pound mono or braid with 15 to 20 pound fluorocarbon leader. 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig heads with small paddle tail minnow/grubs. Bass assassin makes some good ones. Gulp shrimp on those same jig heads and either one of those under a popping cork. 1/4 oz gold Johnson's spoons and top water lures like Rapala skitter walks or mirolure top pups works good for most inshore game. Reds, trout, flounder, snook, tarpon, spanish makeral, lady fish and jack crevall can be caught on most of those lures. Everyhthing eats shrimp or mullet chunks. Your normal bass type spinning rods and bait casters work fine for just about any inshore species, every now and then you might hook a beast... I miss the hell out of it in case you can't tell

 

[redirt78]

The spoons and top waters are good search baits, you can catch or move fish with them and cover a lot of ground. It also never hurts to fish in and around those mullet you see jumping. Reds and trout follow schools of mullet and eat what they kick up and spook. Concentrate on the irregularities. If where you are fishing is mostly grass, hit the sand patches or potholes. If where you are is mainly sand, fish the ledges, depth changes and grass patches, oyster beds, docks and or rocks. Cast to anything that looks different or catches your eye. Never cast directly on top of whatever you are targeting, work your lure or bait through the target area after casting at least 5-10 feet past it. Work on your accuracy, get good at placing lures where you want them. Once you can do that then fish under the mangrove under hangs or docks or whatever structure you can find. Work on landing baits as light as possible to avoid spooking pressured fish. If all of that is out of reach or fails you then cast out some chunk mullet on a circle hook and crack a beer.

 

[Tackleberry]

Destin is really pretty but if you really want to fish go to the butthole of the earth, Venice, LA. There is not a better fishery than south LA in the US as far as I am concerned. You can have fun in Destin but be really serious in south la. In shore or off shore

 

[Aimsmall55]

Destin is really pretty but if you really want to fish go to the butthole of the earth, Venice, LA. There is not a better fishery than south LA in the US as far as I am concerned. You can have fun in Destin but be really serious in south la. In shore or off shore

Tackle is spot on with his assessment as it being the butthole. I'd go farther and say its beneath the buthole.... That being the shitter. But if your looking for close in marlin , tuna, wahoo, dolphin fishing .. You can't beat it. Tacckleberry and my dad owned a boat together and we fished together many times.
Vietnamese hookers... They got em....
Coon ass is an understatement....
You Mississippi Mother Fuckas was our group name to the locals......

It was all in good fun and there was some seriously good fishing .... From reds and specs to tuna. I remember going out the first time as a 15 year old kid and blue water was at the 7 mile rigs.

This is a hundred pounder caught out of south west pass

 

[redirt78]

Yeah, if you want to scrap even attempting to fish where you asked about then go with what they are saying because its all true. Buy bushells of oysters straight off of boats for cheap, catch fish until you're tired of reeling them in, eat good and see south Louisiana. If you go out on your own its good to have a back up GPS. As far as inshore goes, in most places the reds eat anything that moves and can easily be sight fished or caught blind casting with crankbaits, top waters, popping cork rigs and spinnerbaits. Plenty of trout also. I haven't been offshore there, never had time during tournament weeks but I know it is world class.

 

[redirt78]

Just noticed the date this thread was started and that your probably back in Connecticut by now. How did it go? Lots of no see ums and mosquito bites? Catch anything other than a buzz?