# p cola beach pier



## jeff912 (Nov 1, 2011)

can anyone tell me if i will be able to catch sum bonito tomarrow i was there Monday and there where alot of big ones but they woulden't bite me everyone else was catching them any tips?:thumbsup:


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## MrPhoShiz (Sep 22, 2010)

gotchas and free lined frozen cigs are how i catch them.


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## GruBZ (Sep 13, 2009)

what where u using on trying to catch em??


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## PAWGhunter (Feb 3, 2010)

Listen to MrPhoShiz...go out and buy a bunch of gotcha plugs(yellow/red head and silver body) and some thin wire/thick floro...bonitas all day when they are around! You will lose gotchas, but its worth it.


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## osborne311 (Aug 1, 2011)

Is the pensacola beach pier the one close to crabs?


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## jeff912 (Nov 1, 2011)

thanks for all the advice :thumbsup:


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Dont throw expensive gotchas. Throw the cheap bonita jigs you can get at bait shops. The looks kind of like pompano jigs. For me, a bubble rig works best and its even cheaper.


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## MrPhoShiz (Sep 22, 2010)

i usually wire them in ive lost maybe 3 in the past 2 years of fishing with them catching kings, spanish, bonito and blues. anything flashy works really ive caught bonito on gold spoons before.

Osborne yeh thats the one on pensacola beach.

JD is right those cheap bobo jigs work also


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## jeff912 (Nov 1, 2011)

what are 2 good dead baits i can use on the wire rig


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## nb&twil (Oct 2, 2007)

Tough to beat a plain white bucktail jig. When they're active just throw in front of a school and burn it across the top of the water. Can be jigged as well. Absolutely no need in spending money on natural bait or gotchas for winter bonita. 1/4 - 1/2 oz crippled herring work well also (or any spoon type bait that can be worked fast). White or chrome have been my favorite colors. But i bet any color would work.
Good luck to ya!


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## nb&twil (Oct 2, 2007)

Please don't use wire and dead bait to try and catch bonita in the winter time.
If there are small sharks around, sure, throw a frozen cigar minnow or herring. But for bonita you do not need a wire leader.


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## nathan70 (Jul 12, 2011)

Just use like a 30lb-50lb floro leader. Pretty much anything a spanish or king will eat, will work. With a floro leader you will loose some fish, but will have way more hookups.


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## jeff912 (Nov 1, 2011)

well what else can i get out there fishing carolina rigs or the freelined bait?


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Right now, I wouldnt waste my time free lining a bait. Id either sight fish for bonita with a bonita jig or bubble rig or I would drag a bonita strip on a Carolina Rig for flounder/redfish. 

After a good cold front swings in the whiting will be thick again as well.


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## nathan70 (Jul 12, 2011)

Bubble rig, now thats something that I haven't uesed it years. lol They work well though.


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## osborne311 (Aug 1, 2011)

Mind giving those of us new to salt fishing a 101 on what a bubble rig is?


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## PorknBeans (Nov 21, 2007)

*http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117638&stc=1&d=1203355 843*

http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117638&stc=1&d=1203355843


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## MrPhoShiz (Sep 22, 2010)

gooood ole bubble rig. I remember when i first saw them ppl were lobbing them a country mile.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

The bubble rig is king at Navarre pier. More people that actually know what they are doing throw them then gotchas. Ive caught spanish that would turn on gotchas many times. They are also really fun when the barely legal kings are thick and they just sky on your straw over and over again.

Ive seen people add chart. colorer food coloring to the water in the bubble and Ive seen people feel them with BBs for extra weight and sound too. For the bonita though, a small streamer for fly fishing with some crystal flash seems to work better then the tubes/straw. They are eating on these small 1-2" minnows so a fly that is about that size and color really gets them fired up.


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## kingling (Apr 10, 2008)

if you come to the pier, buy a few bonita jigs from one of the tackle shops, if you are using 10lb line and above you dont need a leader, just tie on the lure and cast infront of the bonita nd reel fast, you dont need bubble rigs, cigar minnows or any type of wire leader


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## stargazer (Oct 6, 2007)

I like to use #90lb sevenstrand so I dont lose my jig.


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