Good Morning...,
I have never fished Destin, however all the inshore area(s) have taken a beating because of the fuel costs. Fish may still be there, but they have been knocked in the head with sinkers all summer long...
Pensacola bay has fish, and structure, I have no clue about Destin...

Good luck, go for a boat ride, and fishing is a bonus....

 

With the way fuel prices have been it's more like go take a drift in the wind or current 😅

There is more boats inshore now for sure.
When we could fish weekdays we would always fish the edge of the channels north of crap island and we would catch many many large spanish and lady fish with the occasional bullred mixed in.
However since the last 2 years only fishing weekends we have not caught a single redfish doing this. I suppose all the boat traffic has maybe pushed them away from there.

 

Haven't fished the area in a few years but this time of year, we would do a lot of night fishing. Launch your boat at Marler Park and head west into the ICW. Shouldn't need to go more than a couple miles then drift down and hit the lights. Pay attention to your chart plotter or at least launch hour or so before dark. Familiarize yourself with the terrain.

 

Pensacola Bay is one of the deeper inlets on the Gulf Coast. There are a few 50-60+ holes. I feel a lot of people forget that depth is just as much of a factor as surface area when determine where/how to fish a bay. In my opinion, that gives Pensacola Bay a slight edge in terms of fish-ability.

 

Destin has a good bit of deeper structure marked on my navionics app out towards the middle of the bay I've never tried.
I'm going to give those areas a go our next time out and maybe learn something new

 

Big Lagoon in Perdido key usually has a bunch of trout. Tosssing a jerk bait or twitch bait around the channel markers out from Big Lagoon State Park kayak launch & observation tower usually produces.

 

Mid Bay Bridge, fish the west side of pilings because of traffic from marina.
Be careful while going between pilings because of the same.

 

Whichever bay you can establish a pattern on is the best. Some bays are easier than others to find that pattern.

 

It's also hit and miss. Sometimes the bays are really active and then other times the fishing seems quieter. Right now with all the rain the water is stained up and probably lower than average salinity, which for me has historically not made the fishing better. I've never fished Destin or PC bays so I can't compare. Let us know if you gain any insights!

 

Will be headed down Saturday, hopefully will have something to report!
I enjoy throwing a cast net on bait almost as much as fishing so maybe we will atleast find some bait 😅

 

Santa Rosa Sound.

 

Where is Destin Bay? Is that Choctawhatchee Bay? Have they changed the name?

 

Yea the choctawhatchee, but we have always stayed near the Destin area of it.
And my friends and family that live up here in Alabama always called it the Destin bay so it's just what has always stuck with me 🤷‍♂️