Pompano and Cobia are being caught

[Kurt]

Outdoor Life: Anglers looking west for pompano and ling - Columnists - The News Herald

March is here, and so are the fish ? sort of. West of Destin, pompano are being caught. It seems to happen that way every year, pompano and ling being caught far to our west.


That runs contrary to the popular belief that pompano and ling follow the coast from Key West past Tampa and arrive here fresh and ready to bite. We better rethink the route these fish take if every year they first catch them west of Destin. If anything, they should catch the first pompano in Mexico Beach, but they don?t.


The gulf has cleared some. All the rain and wind last week stirred the bay and gulf to the point it looked like chocolate milk. The bay has cleared tremendously, but it still has a red tint and will as long as we get an inch or two of rain every week.


Saturday a pompano was caught at the city pier and also on Sunday, but one of not much size. These might be the first ones caught this year. To consistently catch pompano the water temperature has to be in the middle to upper 60s. The perfect temperature according to pompano and ling fishermen is about 68 degrees.


The pompano will be spawning as they pass through this area and will continue to spawn all the way to Louisiana.

 

[DD]

where's Kitty?

 

[tistheseason]

I love Pompano!! As soon as they start biting with regularity, will someone please catch me a few and send them to me???

 

[Captain Larry]

The first pompano caught every spring are usually fish that had wintered in the bays and have stuck thier noses back outside to wait for the migratory schools coming by. The first fish (which were caught a while ago already this year) are usually caught off Ft. Pickens as they come out of P-cola bay. There have been a few years that the first ones were caught near the Destin Jetties but Pickens is the best "bet". I sure haven't heard of a cobia being seen yet this year in the panhandle-These fish have been doing this for a living for thousands of years, they aint gonna change patterns just 'cause everybody's antsy for a fresh fish dinner!

deadfish