Seaclusion Fishing with Captain Larry

We've had several days of beautiful weather (finally) the past week - just in time for the big vacation crowds to have gone home. The folks that have been here have been treated to uncrowded beaches, clearer water, and great fishing.

A front coming through today and tomorrow has me on the hill, but the forecast goes back to wonderful again on Wednesday. September has traditionally been that time of year when the water's calm and clear, mornings are cool, the beaches are almost empty, and you can fish all morning and never see another boat offshore. We are sure due for a month of that kind of life!

There are still plenty of Groupers around on the inshore spots. We have caught all the dumb ones though, and as usual, only the folks that are paying close attention get to land the bigger bites. A "just short" grouper pulls plenty hard to give most folks a tussle, and a big one will get back in his house before a lot of anglers realize just what is on the other end of that string! A few Kings around but they haven't been real thick- lots of Pinks and Vermilion's, a few Triggers, and the Flounders are just starting to show. Here's proof---

"Wind Harder Mommy!"

These are some locals from Panama City with a great board of Groupers-- even knowing what they were fishing for, they still had more "get them" than they got. The trick is to get enough bites that you can have a board like this at the end of 4 hours...

A Great Catch of Groupers

These folks got on the boat and quickly told me that 3 of 'em had never been in saltwater and 2 of 'em had never fished before--

Not bad for an Afternoon Trip for First Timers!

I take lots of folks that haven't been fishing though, and they are amazed when they find out just how much fun it is---

"Yes, I caught That! "

While we have quite a few Groupers around, we also seem to have an abundance of Bull Sharks as well-- and they do like to eat a hooked Grouper.

A fine board of six ( and a half) Groupers on this 1/2 day.

These folks got as good a mix of critters for the table as you could want- a regular seafood platter

Kings, Lanes, Groupers, Triggers, Vermillions

The next couple of months should have some of the best shots at a wide variety of species. As the water starts to cool a bit, the bait will start to pile up in close. All the toothy critters will be close behind, and on a lot more of a feed than when the water's hot. More fish- fewer folks- sounds like my kind of fishing!