# Choctawhatchee bay fishing



## Floridaboater (Aug 25, 2016)

Started off buying live shrimp that were monsters (4 inch long or bigger) then fueled up my boat and headed to the ramp. Got in at 10:20 and the fog was thick. Lucky i got a new garmin echomap so i was able to navigate in the fog easily. Hit rocky bayou bridge first. Caught lots of small mangroves and sheepshead. Then hit midbay and caught a slot 26.9 inch redfish, 2 black drug both around 25 inches long, 13 mangrove snapper, 3 bluefish, lots of pinfish, and a single big sheepshead. Went to destin bridge next i search of more sheeps and maybe a grouper. First drop my friend hooked up to a giant and almost broke my star seagis rod because it was bent in half with 25 pounds of drag on it trying to keep the fish out of the pilings. After a 10 minute fight it finally broke off. Looked to be a gag grouper around 30 inches as we got it a foot below the surface before it did one last ran and frayed the line. Hooked up with about 6 more sheeps then ran out of bait and hit a barge in the middle of the bay on way back to boat ramp. Caught some large squirrelfish, 2 mangrove snapper, and a decent jack crevalle off the barge then headed in for the day.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

That was a heck of a day on the bay. Great photos and report.


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## OHenry (Apr 28, 2011)

A very good day! Thanks for sharing. Those sheeps should be more plentiful soon.


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## cmg76 (Jul 5, 2014)

may i ask if those barges are easy to see on your graph? gonna hit them from my yak one of these days and been wondering if they show up good..thx


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## Flounder Hounder (Nov 9, 2008)

Great Post! Good day on the water.
Thanks


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## Floridaboater (Aug 25, 2016)

cmg76 said:


> may i ask if those barges are easy to see on your graph? gonna hit them from my yak one of these days and been wondering if they show up good..thx


Yes they come off the bottom about 8 feet on some of them. Plus right now there is currently a rope tied to a water bottle thats on the surface thats directly ontop of one of the barges in the middle of the bay pretty much. At 37 feet deep. Ive caught juvenile gags off the wreck, red snapper, redfish, sheepshead, and lots of different types of bait fish.


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## kanaka (Oct 3, 2007)

cmg76 said:


> may i ask if those barges are easy to see on your graph? gonna hit them from my yak one of these days and been wondering if they show up good..thx


They show up great but I gotta warn you, where they are is the most direct route for boaters to get to the East pass from the northwest end of the bay. Lots of major wakes, folks not paying attention cause it's open water.


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## Floridaboater (Aug 25, 2016)

OHenry said:


> A very good day! Thanks for sharing. Those sheeps should be more plentiful soon.


I hope so! Ive been trying to target them lately but the numbers arent high enough to catch 30 a day like i normally do in february and january! Heres a pic of my rod bent in half on the gag at destin bridge!


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## Floridaboater (Aug 25, 2016)

kanaka said:


> cmg76 said:
> 
> 
> > may i ask if those barges are easy to see on your graph? gonna hit them from my yak one of these days and been wondering if they show up good..thx
> ...


Thats true. I havent had much of an issue since i dont really stop to fish them during summer. During the winter there really isnt many boats out and about in the bay like there is summer so youre generally fairly safe. Ofcourse im in a 17 ft white boat with plenty of power to move out of the way of people who dont pay attention and he would be in a kayak though.


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## kanaka (Oct 3, 2007)

I'd love to give the spadefish there a try in the summer, midweek of course. :yes:

And that's a chopper blue you caught there.


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## Floridaboater (Aug 25, 2016)

Id love to spearfish the barges. But its super murky and honestly im more afraid of the bull sharks that cut me off alot on the barge more than other boaters running me over haha. And i caught a 25 pound bluefish the other day on a 3 pound mullet in the destin harbor. Found a big school of about 30 of them and they just tore and live mullet tossed on the top of the water.


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## stc1993 (Nov 23, 2014)

A good day of fishing is fun anytime.


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