# New to the area, looking for a few answers



## Wegl12 (Sep 20, 2013)

I am moving to the Pensacola area next week and have a few questions in terms of offshore fishing. I have fished off the east coast (Charleston) my entire life and the gulf will be a new experience for me. About how far out do you have to run to get to dolphin, wahoo and tuna? I plan to make as many trips as possible while I am stationed at Pensacola. Also I normally troll with ballyhoo mostly with iland lures and catch decent fish consistently. Do these produce decent results in this area as well? Thanks for the help. Heard good things about gulf fishing and hope to see y'all on the water soon.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Kayak fisherman occasionally catch mahi, wahoo, sailfish and black fin tuna within a mile of the beach. Even the local piers land mahi, sails and blackfin tuna yearly. 

However, to get on these fish consistently you would at least need to head to the edge which is about 25 miles SE of Pensacola pass.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Pretty much the same baits will work here. It's always important to have a good variety of artificial and natural baits onboard.

Pelagic species like dolphin, wahoo, etc can be found as close as within a mile to 50+ miles but I'd say from P'cola on the average day you will be running 20+ miles to get into reliable action with most pelagic species. Reliable bill fishing starts around the 50 fathom line, about 25 miles out and productive areas vary throughout the year. We also usually get a decent beachfront run of sailfish and blackfin tuna from pcola beach to panana city in the fall. Keep up with both pier and kayak reports to know where and when this occurs.
Pay attention to the blue water reports and (I highly suggest) subscribe to a satellite imaging service like Hilton's realtime navigator to keep you updated on surface temps, chlorophyll (water color aid), altimetry, etc


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## Wegl12 (Sep 20, 2013)

Chris V said:


> Pretty much the same baits will work here. It's always important to have a good variety of artificial and natural baits onboard.
> 
> Pelagic species like dolphin, wahoo, etc can be found as close as within a mile to 50+ miles but I'd say from P'cola on the average day you will be running 20+ miles to get into reliable action with most pelagic species. Reliable bill fishing starts around the 50 fathom line, about 25 miles out and productive areas vary throughout the year. We also usually get a decent beachfront run of sailfish and blackfin tuna from pcola beach to panana city in the fall. Keep up with both pier and kayak reports to know where and when this occurs.
> Pay attention to the blue water reports and (I highly suggest) subscribe to a satellite imaging service like Hilton's realtime navigator to keep you updated on surface temps, chlorophyll (water color aid), altimetry, etc


Thanks for the info. I have never had much luck with just artificial baits. I will try them more while I am trying to learn the hotspots around here. Nice to know the ledge is only 25 miles out, I am used to running 50+ just to get to 200' of water. Seems like the season runs a little more into fall as well which will give me a chance to get out there before winter.


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## Scruggspc (Mar 20, 2013)

You can catch just about every pelagic fish in the gulf in any month of the year minus dolphin which follow the warmer water south during the winter months. I think you will find the gulf much more of a pleasure than the Atlantic.


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