# Sat 10/30 - Ft Pickens & the Pass



## need2fish (Oct 2, 2007)

First time fishing in the yak from Ft. Pickens - found out you have to wait till 7 AM to get in unless you have a night pass with the gate code. 

Put in with Kreg, Brandon, and Alex near the pier and the outgoing current was ripping. Drifted with it to the pass and found a bull red on a stretch 25. 










Sorry about the lousy pic - first time trying to use the camera on the yak - Have a mount for it but should've figured out the timer feature before launching - oh well. Kreg picked up a bull about the same time but wasn't near him for a pic.

Current dumped me out in the shoals outside the pass by the time I had him dehooked and back in the water. Pedaled to the east side of the pass - bad decision. Got hammered in the washtub and it took forever to get back near shore for a smoother ride. 









After a TIRING pedal back in, I got a small (2') blacktip on my small rod and called it a day.


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## chaps (Aug 31, 2009)

Nice Red! How did the others do? Did you actually fish the pass?


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## need2fish (Oct 2, 2007)

Kreg and I fished more of the pass than we wanted to - getting back in was a bear. Kreg caught a bull red also. I'm not sure what Brandon and Alex caught - they were also thinking about fishing 3MB tonight too.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

Crappy that you can't go into Ft. Pickens earlier like in the good ole days when we fished until the wee hours of the morning without being told to leave.


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

I'm not exactly the shining example of safety myself, but are you fishing on a kayak in the pass on a swift outgoing tide with no life jacket on???


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## Yaksquatch (Mar 23, 2009)

Hey Mark, what's up man?!

Yeah, definitely not the best fishing game plan I've made either. Brandon and I didn't catch jack! But considering what happened to you and Craig while you were dealing with your fish, it's probably a good thing we didn't. That's a solid bull right there man, looks like a 40+ incher?

I hit up 3mile for a couple hours just before sunset, had to break in a new rod and reel combo. Got a bunch of white trout and a 26inch red.

Alex


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## need2fish (Oct 2, 2007)

Sweet Alex - something to keep.


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## gottafish (Oct 6, 2007)

That is a highly respectable "first fish in your new Hobie Kayak!" Congrats on your bullish bull!!! 

Here is my 36-incher. It was fun to catch, but it came with a price. I ended up further than you and almost a mile out of the pass with the wind and ridiculous current and just not realizing how far I went in a short time. With the current and 2-4 foot swells out there where the current met the gulf, I stand by what I have always said. The pass is not a good place for kayaks. We probably should have stuck to our original plan of fishing around the pier and then heading east, but it was so much easier going west! I think I will be going back to the Destin wrecks where the fishing is much better.


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## chaps (Aug 31, 2009)

I have briefly thought about trying the pass but after reading this post, I will avoid it.


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## 20simmons sea skiff (Aug 20, 2010)

when the tige goes out sometimes the sea buoy lays over avouy 40 degrees, last wk i came in speed showed about 5 or 6 mph, but we werent moving when i was stationed at sherman cove in 1970 a friend was going to try to swim from mas to pickens, but we talked him out of it,just like my friends diving last yr came up boat 300yds away


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