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Santa Rosa fishing?

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Cache

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Anyone familiar with it? We're heading down for the kids fall break in a week and I've never been to the area. I've got everything to fish from the beach but I've been watching videos from the sound. Also not opposed to hiring a guide for a day.

Appreciate any tips yall throw my way!
 
Speckled trout on the sound side should be good. Great eating fish too. Gulp shrimp or any good plastic shrimp bait behind a Cajun Thunder or any popping cork should get you connected. The beach side I have been seeing has been loaded with lots of fish from Pensacola to PCB (more fish toward Pensacola end, of course the hurricane) Less swimmers have kept them closer to shore but it is all fall break week next week, so that will probably change. The pier should be great for Kings and Spanish right now, I am guessing you are going around Navarre?
 
There are some bull reds and really large trout in the surf right now. I have a friend down that way who has been whacking them on a Yo-Zuri 3D Inshore Popper in the 90mm size. Both the clear silver and pilchard colors are working well for him.

If you are interested in a guide, I can highly recommend Capt. Jason Stacy. I fished tarpon with him for several years and found him to be VERY patient and VERY knowledgeable. He lives at Santa Rosa, and is really dialed into that fishery (inshore species, not tarpon). I have some friends that have taken family trips with him and had a ball. Most are now a many time repeat customer like I was with him. His number is (850) 419-7697. If interested, I would call him pretty soon as he stays booked up.

Have a great trip!
 
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90% of the folks i see fishing from the surf are chunking dead shrimp above a pyramid sinker. I guess they do ok, but I just can't stand that style of fishing.

For surf fishing, I prefer to cover ground to find the ledges close to the shore with current breaks, throw a 3.75in paddletail on a 1/4 oz jighead and bounce down the ledges. Flounder usually sit right off the ledges in the early morning hours. You will also pick up reds and trout.

Get there EARLY and start fishing as soon as you can barely see. Fish will be in close, but 1.5h after sunrise will move well off the beach.

Fish surf side if you have a north wind and green flag conditions on the beach. If the ocean has 2 to 3 ft seas, I would head over to the sound side (again early) and work around docks. You will likely need to wade out to knee deep water there to be able to reach 3 to 4ft depths with your casts to get to the target zone.

I'm on Dauphin Island now with my youngest daughter. We went out last night around 830p on the sound side and fished under a dock light. We caught probably 40 white trout and 3 specks (largest was 16in) on paddletails and 1/8oz heads for a slower fall. Released all,
 
bowtechgump said:
Speckled trout on the sound side should be good. Great eating fish too. Gulp shrimp or any good plastic shrimp bait behind a Cajun Thunder or any popping cork should get you connected. The beach side I have been seeing has been loaded with lots of fish from Pensacola to PCB (more fish toward Pensacola end, of course the hurricane) Less swimmers have kept them closer to shore but it is all fall break week next week, so that will probably change. The pier should be great for Kings and Spanish right now, I am guessing you are going around Navarre?
Click to expand...
We will be east of Destin.
 
If you are fishing the beach a fish finder rig with fish bites is hard to beat. Also called pompano rigs. You can also tip them with small pieces of shrimp or sand fleas if you can get them.
 
I have had luck with a Carolina rig and shrimp flavored fish bites. I use a pyramid weight on the rig and just slowly drag it across the bottom in the surf. Most people just throw it out and put it in a rod holder. I prefer fishing it like I would for bass. I've caught redfish, flounder, pompano, countless number of whiting, sting ray, and various other species.
 
Most of the bait stores have dried sand fleas. That with shrimp or sand flea flavored fish bites worked for us last year for pompano.
 
megalomaniac said:
90% of the folks i see fishing from the surf are chunking dead shrimp above a pyramid sinker. I guess they do ok, but I just can't stand that style of fishing.

For surf fishing, I prefer to cover ground to find the ledges close to the shore with current breaks, throw a 3.75in paddletail on a 1/4 oz jighead and bounce down the ledges. Flounder usually sit right off the ledges in the early morning hours. You will also pick up reds and trout.

Get there EARLY and start fishing as soon as you can barely see. Fish will be in close, but 1.5h after sunrise will move well off the beach.

Fish surf side if you have a north wind and green flag conditions on the beach. If the ocean has 2 to 3 ft seas, I would head over to the sound side (again early) and work around docks. You will likely need to wade out to knee deep water there to be able to reach 3 to 4ft depths with your casts to get to the target zone.

I'm on Dauphin Island now with my youngest daughter. We went out last night around 830p on the sound side and fished under a dock light. We caught probably 40 white trout and 3 specks (largest was 16in) on paddletails and 1/8oz heads for a slower fall. Released all,
Click to expand...
You have any color preferences? I usually put out a pompano rig and then walk the beach with my other rod.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. Ended up not getting to fish as much as I wanted but my son and I both caught our first redfish.
IMG_3774.webp
IMG_7156.webp
 
AWESOME! Crazy how silver they get when living in the ocean instead of the backwaters.

So... If they were your first... how do you feel they fought compared to largemouth pound for pound? :)
 
megalomaniac said:
AWESOME! Crazy how silver they get when living in the ocean instead of the backwaters.

So... If they were your first... how do you feel they fought compared to largemouth pound for pound? :)
Click to expand...
It was incredible how hard they fought. We had just seen about a 4 foot shark and the kids were convinced that's what I had. Can't wait to go back down and do it again. This time I'll have a better assortment of paddle tails.
 
I'm not sure there are many fish that fight harder pound for pound than Redfish. Def nothing I've ever encountered in freshwater. I guess Jacks fight harder than reds pound for pound, but they just pick a direction and haul ass. Reds make blistering runs, cut 90-180 degrees, run again, then when you think you have them whipped, they get a 2nd wind and do it all over again!
 

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