# Pensacola Beach pier 7/14



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Last week, which was bad for me....looked good compared to this week.

A few small spanish and bluefish were caught just at sunrise ( as normal, I saw the sunrise while driving across 3 Mile Bridge) until Flipper and friends showed up. Got halfway down the pier...figured out I left my bag of frozen LYs and threadfin in the car, along with my lunch. Went back and grabbed that bag and finally made it out to the end, after stopping to watch 2 schools of BIG redfish in a ball and a school of big black mullet up in the shallows.

There was no bait...no LYs, no cigs...just empty water and jellyfish. Tried all around the end with a sabiki. Threw way off the end where the cigs sometimes hide. Got a hardtail on....Flipper got it off the sabiki. Tried a few lures. Nothing.

Drug all my gear back up almost to the pompano hole. Found a school of big threadfin. Not only were they spooky, but caught about 30 moon pies for each of the 5 threadfins I finally caught, plus quite a few really small bluefish..who ate all the flies off 2 sabiki rigs and the 2 middle flies off the 3rd sabiki. 

Drag everything back to the end. Now there is zero current...which meant no kings at all. Saw a couple of nice spanish eat cigs. Gave up at 130, decided I had enough heat for the day. Came home and did what us old men do...took a nap in the a/c.

There's always next week.


----------



## Brick88slam (Jun 19, 2020)

I just moved here. Haven't had much luck out there other than small bluefish. Have had more luck at Bob sikes. I'm curious about you all down at the end fishing for Kings. I want learn.


----------



## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

High tide was around 0800 this am. Outgoing all day, so I'd say this was your main culprit. Kings, snapper, etc like the incoming tide way more than the outgoing.


----------



## HighCotton (Oct 2, 2007)

See any Tarpon?


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

CurDog said:


> High tide was around 0800 this am. Outgoing all day, so I'd say this was your main culprit. Kings, snapper, etc like the incoming tide way more than the outgoing.


Actually, kings don't care about tides. Current is the key to kings. 99% of the time, kings run INTO the current. Twofold on that. Number one...more water over the gills so more oxygen for less effort. Kings have fairly small gills for their size and weight. Number two...dead and dying bait and oils off fish like menhaden and LYs go down current ....natural chum. Days with no current of very little current, you will either see no kings or might see a stray.


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

HighCotton said:


> See any Tarpon?


Just a couple. I went to the northeast corner of the T looking for bait and saw one of the lethargic tarpon I think I've ever seen.
I was told that Okaloosa had multiple hookup on them yesterday.


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Brick88slam said:


> I just moved here. Haven't had much luck out there other than small bluefish. Have had more luck at Bob sikes. I'm curious about you all down at the end fishing for Kings. I want learn.


Because of my work schedule, I usually fish the pier on a Tuesday or Wednesday. If you ever make it out on one of those days, look for an old guy who looks like he'd be yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

I can show you the basics, but a lot is going to be figuring out bait drift, peoples wind loops throwing bait so you dont get tangled...very much...and basic pier etiquette, like moving for someone coming down with a fish...or how to do the " pier dance" when multiple fish are on. One of the keys to it all is being able to throw straight.


----------



## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

kingfish501 said:


> Actually, kings don't care about tides. Current is the key to kings. 99% of the time, kings run INTO the current. Twofold on that. Number one...more water over the gills so more oxygen for less effort. Kings have fairly small gills for their size and weight. Number two...dead and dying bait and oils off fish like menhaden and LYs go down current ....natural chum. Days with no current of very little current, you will either see no kings or might see a stray.


If you say so, so you fish the outgoing current, I'll stick with the incoming high tides. I can't remember ever seeing a king motionless in the water. Not saying they won't at times, just saying I've never seen it, Now this is just a guess, but I bet if a king is moving, he is producing that "current" you're talking about. I'd also bet that current has zilch to do with his appetite cravings as does the tide. g/l


----------



## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

CurDog said:


> If you say so, so you fish the outgoing current, I'll stick with the incoming high tides. I can't remember ever seeing a king motionless in the water. Not saying they won't at times, just saying I've never seen it, Now this is just a guess, but I bet if a king is moving, he is producing that "current" you're talking about. I'd also bet that current has zilch to do with his appetite cravings as does the tide. g/l


Kings never sit still...they die. Sure, he is producing flow through the gills moving, but he produces more moving into the current. Watch sometimes and see which way kings move...you'll see they swim against the current. You are mistaking tide for current. Tide ebbs and flows...into shore or into estuaries and away from shore or out of estuaries. Current is different and independent of tides on the coast. This time of year on the pier we have a predominate west to east current, no matter what the tide is doing. That means the kings come out of the east, into the current. The days the current is running from east to west, the kings come out of the west, against the current.

You may be right, though. 55 years of king fishing might not be enough to have learned anything about them. I bow to your expertise( but I'll continue to keep fishing down current for them). Snapper are follow different rules than kings do.


----------



## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

X2 tides do not matter... current is needed. No wind+no current = no kings. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


----------



## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

i totally agree with mr. kingfish. 
when i fish under the bridge at alabama point, the majority of the time i catch spanish, which is a relative of the king, is when the tide is coming into the pass which is causing a fast moving current. the ladies are on top, feeding on the surface, the spanish and blues are under them, feeding on the ladies. a killer bait for the spanish and blues is a gotcha silver or gold. if you don't have a gotcha, strip the ladies you catch with just a thin, long piece of skin. sometimes i wait until 2 or 3 in the morning when the tide is coming in but it's worth it cause you can load up with spanish and blue fish.
jack


----------

