Panhandle Report – The Sunjammers Watersports Kayak

Inshore/ Bayside  –

May is one of my favorite months to fish! The dog days of summer arent upon us yet but the water is steadily warming which gets those reds & trout in feeding mode! This month pull out your topwater plugs and hit your favorite inshore spot . Live finger mullet, suspending lures and jerk baits all work. I normally have 3 rods rigged and ready –  a topwater, a spoon and a 1/16 hook rigged weedless with a plastic bait. If I’m fishing on the flats I use a long piece of 15lb floro carbon leader and if I’m fishing near docks or structure I will tie on 20lb. I like 10lb braided line for most inshore applications. Dont forget a long stakeout pole, that is one of the most important things I own. I use it to keep from drifting over a school of reds and spooking them, getting pulled into a dock and broke off by a fish and also instead of paddeling a long stakeout pole with some flex doubles while standing and poling from your yak, which is an effective yet quiet way to move through shallow water.

 

Offshore/Gulfside

The kings spanish & pompano are here! The only fish that didnt seem to get the memo were  the Cobia. I believe a combination of a very mild winter, fishing pressure & also contamination of their spawning grounds(BP oil spill) all contributed to a terrible Cobia season for the panhandle. I would still have a rod rigged with a Cobia jig for the rest of this month on any adventure into the Gulf. You never know when one could pop up. The kings will hit freelined cigar minnows, frozen cigars with a red & white skirt work well, and deep diving lipped lures. There have been reports of quite a few dolphin fish (mahi) caught and even a sailfish this week while king fishing . Red snapper & gag grouper are still catch & release this month.