Captain Chris Phillips
Inshore –
Redfish are being caught pretty good in a number of different areas including around the Pensacola Bay Bridge. At the bridge you’ll want to fish out near the channel using live bait like mullet and pinfish or cut menhaden if you can’t find any live bait.
The speckled trout reports have varied from one angler to another, but the warm weather definitely doesn’t help the bite this time of year. The bayous, canals, and rivers mouths continue to be the best bet to find them.
Offshore –
With red snapper, gag grouper, triggerfish, and amberjack all closed most anglers are turning their attention to vermillion snapper and scamp. As usual look for the vermillion snapper on the big wrecks using cut squid and Boston mackerel on a two-drop rig.
The best scamp fishing will be found around natural bottom rocks in 180-280 feet of water, but unfortunately the weather has kept most people inshore lately. You’ll want to fish close to the bottom using live baits like cigar minnows, sardines, or small hardtails.
Piers and Beaches –
The Pensacola Bay Fishing Bridge continues to be the best spot for land locked anglers. People are seeing good action from white trout, redfish, and black drum. Be sure to take a variety of baits when you go fishing on the bridge.
Surf fishing will be hit or miss this time of year, but if you don’t have anything else to do it’s worth giving a try. Whiting will likely be what you catch, but there’s always a chance you come across a pompano or redfish. Fort Pickens and Johnsons Beach are both currently closed due to the government shutdown.