kmarv

Hey all,

I'm new to the board, and this is my first post. I lived in the ATL for a few years, and primarilly fished out of Destin, but moved back to my homestate of Texas a couple years ago. It is rough over here. You have to travel at the very least 30 miles to get into good fish, and typically I'm heading more like 50-70 mi. out. Given the rising cost of gas, I've decided to tow my boat over to P-Cola April 17th. I can drive to FL, fish for 3 days, and drive back for less than a one dayTX trip cost me if you can believe that. Anyway, I have family in P-Cola and am going to leave the boat there and come back a few times throughout the year. I'm just in my planning stage, but was hoping y'all could help me with a few questions. I do not have any of my old spots in Destin, and never had any GPS locations in P-Cola. I fish for snaps, grouper, AJ's, and the bluewater species in the Summer, and plan on hitting the Nipple, Oriskany, and any other closer spots I can gert numbers to. Here they are:

Are any of the public knowledge spots worth while (i.e. those that canbe found on websites) or are they all fished out, as is the case in Texas?

Where can I find some good numbers for P-Cola and Destin?

Is the Oriskany producing any fish?

What can I expect for my fist trip as far as species April 17-21?

Any other advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! Kevin

bellafishing

Some of the public numbers are very overfished. Especially the one's closer to shore. The further out you go, the less traffic you find. Keep an eye on the forum in the offshore and bluewater reports as many people will tell you where they were fishing. As far as private spots go, you should probably join the RFRA and start building your own reefs and deploying them. You'll have all the private numbers you need in no time. Some spots are just broad generalized areas, like the nipple, or yellow gravel. These numbers get you close, but you have to get out there and motor around to find the rocks or ledges. April is prime season for Cobia. You don't have to go offshore, just cruise the beaches with the other 10,000,000 boats and look for shadows. Another great way to find some local knowledge is to just invite some forum members on your boat. Most are more than willing to share knowledge about all types of fishing. Welcome to Pensacola, and the forum, hope to see you out there!

Bob

lobsterman

to our nitemare I fish out of Destin and use loran.

__________________
AKA Jiggin Junkie
II Chronicles 7:14

Randy's Canvas & Marine Vinyls

850-279-4140
850-855-5314 cell

Custom Awnings - Repairs
Boat Cushions - Curtains and more

Tuna Man

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">ALABAMA[/B]</st1lace></st1:State><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=30.240191156622643&amp;lon=-88.01619690783505&amp;scale=17716535&amp;zoom=50&a mp;type=0&amp;icon=0&amp;searchscope=dom&amp;CFID= 1847674&amp;CFTOKEN=19441105&amp;scriptfile=http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm&amp;latlontype=DM.MM<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/where/artificial-reefs/reef_brochure.pdf<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/where/artificial-reefs/dgps.cfm<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/where/artificial-reefs/obfa_modules.pdf<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://myfwc.com/marine/ar/reef_locator.asp<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://www.mbtdivers.com/<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Florida</st1lace></st1:State><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> Reefs<o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://www.co.escambia.fl.us/departments/nesd/documents/Artificialreeflist9Oct06.pdf<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #335570; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="COLOR: red">http://www.myescambia.com/departments/nesd/documents/ArtificialreeflistSept06.pdf<o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o></o>[/B]<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">http://www.electricbluefishing.com/wrecks_reefs_of_florida.htm<o></o>[/B]

TOBO

MBT Divers has a very good list.

__________________
19ft Cape Horn " Something Catchy "

kmarv

Thanks guys! I just bought a second power cord for my GPS units so I can plug in numbers from the comfort of my living room. I'll be busy for a while, but should be ready to go when I head over that way.

Bryan Bennett

Here's what I like to do in April. If you don't have a tower on the boat, you can kill a lot of time chasing cobia on the beach with little success and lots of frustration. It's tempting to think you can chum for them on the bar like they do in Mississippi, but what happens is the boats with towers just pluck fish off your chum slick before they ever get to you (they're fair game, after all.) However, you can still catch cobia from your boat in that late April time frame, and I'll tell you how. Just head west to Bama waters and fish the rigs off Fort Morgan in as little as twenty feet and on out to sixty feet. There is not a piece of structure that won't potentially hold a fish or as many as a dozen. There are some tricks. Cobia like shadows and rigs, buoys, pallets, etc. will likely hold more fish than underwater reefs. One trick is to fish during the week when fewer boats are out. Get out on the water as day is breaking and haul boogie to the rigs and try to be the first to the spot so as to get first crack at the fish. Bring every cobia trick you know to the plate--live eels, pinfish, jigs, catfish if you can get them, squid, maybe a crab--and try all levels of the water column. Drop to the bottom and slowly work to the surface. Fish all corners of the platform, up current and in the shadows. After you hop around a little the code will become evident. What I mean is that once you find the fish at a certain depth on a certain side of a rig, you can usually count on the cobia to follow the same pattern on every rig that you come to that particular day. Work them over pretty well and if you don't find them within twenty minutes or so, move on. Go all the way to Mississippi if you have to (there are rigs all down the coast that way.) Best we did this way last year was ten fish to sixty pounds, keeping six and releasing the rest. It is a blast.

You can troll up Spanish on the beach if that's your thing. Pretty reliable in April. Clark spoons and planers are the ticket for them.

Offshore, if the water is clean and blue you can find wahoo in water as shallow as 100 feet this time of year. Get a bathymetric chart and look at the drop-offs, hills, and cliffs north of the nipple and over to the elbow. You don't have to go to the 100-fathom curve; in fact it's usually that 200 foot depth that you find wahoo. Look for bait on your fathometer and stick with it. Don't count on dolphin in April unless an unusually warm eddy swoops down off the loop current over the "shallows" of the nipple, elbow, etc. A blue marlin's not out of the question, but focus on the wahoo. Drag some plugs like yo-zuri's, braid marauders, stretch's, etc. or troll some high speed stuff.

Amberjack will be in 80 feet or deeper, usually. The liberty ships off Perdido Pass will hold them. Catch some rubylips on two hook rigs and drop 'em back down on a typical jack rig. Will they all be legal? Probably not, but keep picking. A diamond jig will work, too.

Good luck. Hope this advice helps.