# Red Fishing last week in October



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

We bought our first time share at pensacola beach because I have family in the area and we want to come down every year and fish and visit with family. we are staying at the sunset holiday beach resort. Anyway I want my wife to catch her first big Red. She has never caught anything over 5lbs and she gets really excited when she catches even a small fish. I have most of the gear and I have been researching the best time of day to fish ( outgoing tide ) but where is the best location to fish there around the beach? We would also consider surf fishing. We really want to do some serious fishing this coming week so if you know anything worth doing shout out .


----------



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

Best idea- hire a local guide like Wes Rozier. Cheapest idea- fish the point at Ft. Pickens at night with cut bait on bottom. You should have NO problem getting into some bull redfish. PM me if you just have to pick my brain.


----------



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

I have a guide for Tuesday but we will be at the beach Friday night and I am trying to get a big red for my wife. She loves to fish and she gets so excited you know I could charge admission when she catches a fish. seriously , I appreciate any help you can be, we will be fishing off bob sikes some and I would like to fish ft. pickens. where do I have my best chances? ft pickens sounds good. what do I need to bring with me? what rig and how far out etc.. Thanks for any help.


----------



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

You have a lot of questions so this may be a long response...
I am no expert on Bob Sikes, but people on this forum are and they may see this and respond. In the mean time here is what I would do at Sikes- look in the channel and see if the bridge fenders have lights on the clearance signs at night- if they do get some super line (braided) on a big spinning outfit and put a live bait in the light on bottom or free lined and hold on for Mr. Bull. Any time at night you have structure like a bridge and any kind of light on the water when it is deep water you have a shot at a bull.

Your guide- who is he? There are certain guys you should use if you want to target bulls- some that I like or have fished with include- Wes Rozier, Brant Peacher, or Matt McCloud- not sure if I spelled the last guy's name right- not personally fished with him but know of him.

Ft Pickens- both piers hold big a$$ed reds- I caught my most recent near the old pier back when you could approach it in a boat without getting in trouble. My thinking on heavily fished pier reds is run a flouro leader below a swivel with a sliding sinker above it and a circle hook with a live bait on it. Use the same rig for fishing the point at Pickens. Heavy spinning rod with super line on the reel (braided line). Use a reel with a good drag system. If you get bit while the tide is ripping out the pass the tide will whip your a$$ as bad as the fish. You could end up walking all the way around the point as the dang red uses the current to help his cause in the fight. Make sure you spool quality line so you can bring the fish in and not exhaust/kill it due to under gunning your tackle- that is not ethical angling since you know in advance you can't keep the fish and they don't taste great anyway when they get big from what I am told. Travel light at Pickens- if you have to walk to the point, which I HIGHLY recommend, you will have to carry all your sh-t with you. Bring the rod I described above rigged the way I described it, a sand spike for each rod, a hook remover to help release the fish humanely, cut bait like mullet (live bait too hard to keep alive and transport to the point, unless you bring a light rod and catch bait around the rock jetties- also a good spot to fish for reds), a flashlight, extra terminal tackle like pre-rigged leaders, leads, etc. Layer your clothing in case of cold or wind. If you see lightning haul a$$ home- it aint worth dying for. A bull red will eat any dang thing you put in his face, but I have seen dead menhaden kick the mess out of dead catfish as a bait, and I was sitting there in the boat telling the other anglers dead catfish would catch reds since cobia sometimes eat catfish- not true that night! Bring a net if you want to catch a sand crab for bait- don't dull your hook point hooking the crab.

As far as how far out- visit Ft Pickens during the day and park at the pier and walk to the point- where the bay opens to the Gulf. Observe bottom contours and depth changes and mark them in your head- hell, mark them with a stick on the beach if you want, but just get back out there that night and put a bait ina deep hole adjacent to shallow water. Reds will be there without fail. You don't have to throw your rig a country mile- ever notice how anglers spend half an hour putting their boat in a spot then cast as far away from that hole as they can? Think like a fish instead of a person and put the bait in moving deep water and hold on for your red. Remember to coach your wife- show her how to handle the rod so it doesn't wear her out and not to reel when the fish is running drag, which they inevitably will. I have written a novel here- hope it helps...Mike

Forgot to mention- during the day look for bait on the surface, especially if you see messy blow ups in the bait that indicate a normally bottom feeding red trying to bust fish on the surface. Throw a heavy spoon or soft tail (large) jig and hold on. I fully expect a report based on all the feedback provided here!


----------



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

Lastly- you are likely to encounetr other, more experienced anglers, while out there. Don't crowd them. Be courteous- offer a beverage from your cooler, terminal tackle, whatever. They have on the spot current knowledge and may help you. I will try to attach a pic if I can so you know I have been there done that...


----------



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

I do believe I owe you one of those beverages if I see you out this weekend or next week. I am actually from Pensacola but work led me to SC and I shuffle back and forth a lot. I never did fish too much when I was there but I married this woman who loves to fish and well I got back into it again. Anyway your information is what I was looking for and my wife will be tickled pink if she catches anything over 5lbs as that is her current record. I will tell you what I have so far. WE have 3 brand new walmart special rod and reels. They are what I consider medium duty but they are the biggest walmart sells. We bought brand new Braided Spider Wire for two of them 30lb test and its green in color. I have some 1ounce sinkers and some 4 ounce. could not find anything in between to grab. the one ounce are round with the hole through them, the 4 ounce are pyramid with the brass eye on the end. The rig you are referring too i believe is a carolina rig where the weight slides up and down allowing the fish to run with your bait. I do have some steel leaders and I have some 100lb mono that I can also make leaders with. What would work best? if the fish dont care I prefer the steel leaders. We bought some mullet last night to use as cut bait. I will pick up some shrimp when I get down there. Everything is more expensive here. I paid $3 a pound just for mullet here. I also have a bait net and a few lures that are shiny and look like LY or silver minnows.


----------



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

oh and I have the high tide low tide report also.


----------



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

The spider wire you bought will be fine. Use the one ounce egg sinkers to flip live baits into the current eddies around the rock jetties at Pickens. They just roll in any kind of current otherwise. Buy some fish finder rigs from Hot Spots for your pyramid sinkers- they consist of a plastic sleeve that slides on your line above your swivel with a metal piece to hook the sinker to. You are correct in that I was describing a Carolina rig for you. You don't need 100 lb. mono- you can use 50 lb. but I would get flourocarbon for the abrasion resistance and lack of stretch. You can rig one rod with steel. If you start getting a lot of cut offs re-rig with steel because cut offs have to be sharks, not reds. Still sharks are fun to catch and can get quite large in the area I described for you to fish. Don't use shrimp for bait unless you are using it as bait to try and catch live bait- it doesn't stay on a hook worth a $hit and attracts trash fish like catfish and rays. Use squid instead, or buy some bags of whole frozen menhaden. Cut up your mullet into bait chunks before you leave to fish and just have it in a bag in your cooler. A bull red can eat a big piece of mullet- don't make 'em too small. Use those lures for spanish mackerel on a smaller combo if you have one (wire leader for mackerel). You will notice the spanish because they tend to jump completely out of the water when they are busting bait. They are good to eat fresh but I do not freeze them. Lastly- observe the limit laws- lots of LEO's at Pickens and it's the right thing to do anyway. Don't worry about the tide- if you are fishing long enough to put sufficient effort in at catching a bull the water will be moving at some point anyway. And lazy fish eat at slack tide anyway. They won't pass up a free whole menhaden just sitting there.


----------



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

Went out to Bob sikes bridge 1am Sat morning in the spot the local bait shop said to go on the west side in the corner. Staid until 7am and nothing, went to the bob sikes pier for about and hour, again nothing. Got one good hit but did not hook it or see what it was. I hope the fishing gets better cause we could not even get a spanish mackerel or really anything but a few white trout.

We did drive out to pickens pier and you could see a lot of bait fish and birds and activity but nobody was catching anything. Where are the Reds? 

Desperately want to hook up with a red. Anyone want a fishing buddy tomorrow that would pay for Gas?


----------



## F|nz (Sep 16, 2008)

In my opinion you catch the least in the east. Old saying but true in this area. In my 35 years of fishing a direct east wind has gave me poor results. Stick with it the fish will come around.


----------



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

If it was me I would abandon fishing at Sikes and fish Ft. Pickens Point at night as much as you can. I would be shocked if you did not end up with some memories. I have to work or I'd be out there in my boat- this is the peak time of year for bull reds in the Pass.


----------



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

We are going out tomorrow and see what we can do.Will report back with photos. Going Red fishing in a boat.


----------



## finaddict (Oct 25, 2010)

Gene, another option for tasty fish at Pickens are flounder. Try bumping a fresh dead shrimp on a jighead or Berkley Gulp shrimp along the bottom around the jetties or any kind of structure. The flounder may not break you wife's record, but they sure would be tasty with some fried potato. This wind and rain may stain the water a bit...be patient, the fall migration is right around the corner. Tight lines! Finaddict


----------



## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

Here is a link to another forum that you might like including a report with pictures from a guide I suggested for you that said they were catching (quote) "more bull redfish than we could count." I have found that when dealing with fishing guides if you catch one on a day when he is not booked and offer to pay cash they may cut you a deal, so you might want to call Matt if your trip tomorrow does not work out. Good luck! Hope you guys catch some fish- they are out there right now. 

http://www.gulfcoastfishingconnecti...water-Bull-Reds-big-bay-Snappers-and-Groupers!


----------



## User13776 (Oct 20, 2010)

Got a few more today, on Menhadin live. total of 7 Red Fish 20 lbs and up, 10 or so Red Snapper that where 12-15 lbs , had to let them all go  , then about 8 grouper , 4 of which we kept over 10 lbs and a 4 foot shark. Nice day all together.


----------

