# Mexico Beach



## Wishicaughtmore (Jun 17, 2013)

Heading there in July for a week. We have a house right on the beach near the pier in Mexico Beach. I am a bass fisherman and I know nothing about the sea. I have a sweet Wilderness ride 135 Kayak and I want to do some fishing. I do not want to bait fish, I would rather lure fish. Where to go, rod and real to use, precautions, what to fish for? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## baldona523 (Mar 2, 2008)

Have you ever been to Mexico Beach? Mexico beach is going to be basically surf fishing, but if you go east to St Joe's Bay you'll be able to bay fish for reds, specks, and flounder no different than you would in PCB, Choctaw bay, Pensacola Bay, etc so just read the reports from these areas and use the same techniques over there. 

I have never fished the beach in Mexico Beach so I can't give you any tips on that. 

FYI July will be peak Scallop season, I would highly recommend looking into that.


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## Foulhook (Apr 26, 2010)

Look up the Forgotten Coast Kayak Fishing Association. They are the "Big Bend" experts and their forum covers from Mexico Beach eastward.


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## rustybucket (Aug 18, 2011)

We were there a couple weeks ago. On a boat of course. Most of these came 4-6mi offshore. If you paddle out to the tip of Cape San Blas (approx 2-3mi) there is always something running out there. A gotcha plug would be a good seeker.

Without knowing what kind of gear you have, it's hard to make any recommendations. There are always sharks in the area, depending on what size you want to target your location should vary. There are always fish in the mouth of Mexico Beach inlet/canal.


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## FLfishR (Oct 3, 2007)

When in July are you going to be there?


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

I've been going there for about 15 years and will be there from 06/28-07/07. I am about to come off of lunch, so I don't have time to answer your questions now. I will get back to you when I get off work at 5. Lots of info for you.


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

You can go to cape San Blas to fish. Anywhere inside the cape. Good spots are anywhere around or behind Pig Island or put in at the State Park on the tip. That is awful big water to paddle across from Mexico Beach. Especially if the tide is running in or out of the bay. It gets real turbulent through the mouth there for a yak.

Another place would be to paddle and fish the Mexico Beach boat canal. Just don't get run over.

Probably the best place is to put in at the Air Force boat ramp in Crooked Island. LOTS of great fishing in there. Lures will get you redfish and trout. Lots of little sharks in there too. http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?1637

I will be down in a week or so and we will be shuttling my yak straight out about 6-8 miles. I plan to troll for some Kings. Or whatever else may be hitting. We have heard of Tuna in that close and have seen some Dolphin/Mahi. We even saw a Sailfish in there once.

I any of the areas that I described, you can use heavy bas gear and should be fine. Maybe take an extra spool of line in case something big grabs you. haha. It happens every now and then. I will say that you are going to have better luck on live or cut bait.

If you go off of Cape San Blas or just off the beach in Mexico beach, you can toss a 3/8oz jig head with a 3-4" white grub. You will slay the ladyfish. No good to eat, but great fun to catch. They jump ALOT! They vary with what they like in a presentation. I've mostly had good luck with letting it hit bottom and making long sweeping pulls with the rod. They will hit it on the fall, so don't let any slack in the line. Sometime they like you to burn it back on the top though. You can also catch Spanish mackerel this same way. They WILL cut you off if you don't have a heavy mono or light steel leader. But they are GREAT to eat.


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## Wishicaughtmore (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks so much for the help guys. I am heading down on July 20th for seven days. I was going to rig it with braided line and thought I would use jigs and flutter spoons. If you just paddle out from the beach early in the morning can you do any good? How much will the wind and tide affect me within a mile of shore?


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## slayerextreme (Jan 10, 2012)

go to the Mexico beach artificial reef association.....mbara...lots of good info there


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

If you are wanting to venture off the beach, you should be able to get into Lady fish, and mackerel. Blues too. Fish past the second or third sand bar. You will see them. Also, look at a satellite photo. There is sort of a clover leaf shaped area of deeper water off the end of the pier/boat canal. I generally see a decent amount of bait being "balled" there.

also, if you fish the sand bars. Try a pompano jig, bumped on the bottom. you may pick up a pompano. A tad late in the season for them, but I sometime manage to catch a stragler in July.


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## Yellowrivermudder (Dec 22, 2012)

I limited out on straggler pomps on Saturday. lol. They'll be around most of the summer season. Not on lures though...baited set-lines. Good luck fishing Mexico Beach! Post what you catch! We'd like to know. Tight lines! YRM


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