UTERJanuary
Sheepshead on every piling; trout and reds deep in the bayous
Fiddler crabs or shrimp tight to bridge and dock pilings; slow jigs in the deep bayou bends on the warmest afternoons.
Pensacola to Apalachicola
The Florida Panhandle fishing
What's biting in The Florida Panhandle in October: pompano, king mackerel and Spanish mackerel at their peak, with whiting, bluefish and striped mullet around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 36 fish here month by month, from Pensacola to Apalachicola.
Bull red month, the fall pompano run, Spanish on the beach
Deep bays behind long barrier islands — Pensacola, Choctawhatchee, St. Andrew, St. Joseph, Apalachicola — with grass flats on the bay side, bayous and creek mouths, and the passes cut through to the Gulf. Emerald water on the beach side; the surf is a real fishery here.
PensacolaDestinPanama CityApalachicola
Updated
Now · October
Bull red month, the fall pompano run, Spanish on the beach
The best month of the year on the Panhandle: bull reds in the passes, pompano back in the surf, Spanish everywhere, flounder staging at the pass edges.
RedfishPompanoSpanish mackerelSpotted seatroutFlounderBlack drumKing mackerel
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakSpawningPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingArrivingArrivingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAround
Pompano
The fall run: fish back in the surf and the passes as the water cools into the 70s.
King mackerel
Big smoker kings on the nearshore reefs and the pier ends before they head south.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish everywhere on the beach and in the passes on the glass-minnow schools.
Redfish
The best month on the Panhandle: bulls in the passes, slot fish on the flats. Bulls are catch-and-release in practice — big, old spawners; check MyFWC.
Spotted seatrout
Back on the flats as the water drops past 80.
Flounder
Staging at the pass edges.
Gag grouper
Fish moving shallower as the water cools.
Greater amberjack
Wahoo
On the rigs and the edge.
Blackfin tuna
Little tunny (bonito)
Whiting
Bluefish
Striped mullet
Tripletail
Jack crevalle
Blue marlin
White marlin
Blacktip shark
Bull shark
Bonnethead shark
Atlantic sharpnose shark
Cobia
Fall fish on the wrecks before they slide back south — some stay on the northern Gulf all winter.
Sheepshead
Mangrove snapper
Goliath grouper
Black drum
Sand seatrout
Red snapper
Vermilion snapper
Black sea bass
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
Yellowfin tuna
The water
The tide here
Diurnal, 1–2 ft
One high and one low a day, and a small range — so a moving tide matters twice as much and wind can push more water than the moon does.
Snook
No real snook fishery this far north; the calendar here is reds, trout, flounder, sheepshead and the beach.
Structure that matters
Pass / inletGrass flatDock / pilingsBridgeBeach / surfArtificial reefWreckChannel edge
After a cold front
The coldest water in the state — mid-50s in January. After a front, trout and reds pile into the deep bayous, canals and the ICW; fish slow and deep for two days, then the flats reload on the first warm afternoon.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Sheepshead spawn stack up on the passes and reefs
Big sheepshead move to the pass jetties and nearshore reefs to spawn. Reds school in the bayous; sight-fish them on sunny afternoons.
March
The first pompano hit the beach; cobia start the run
Sand fleas and pompano jigs in the surf troughs; scan the beach from a tower for cobia riding the rays. Trout push back onto the flats.
April
Cobia month, and the Spanish are in the pass
Sight-cast cobia on the beach and the nearshore wrecks; Spanish and the first kings on the pass tide lines. Topwater trout at first light on the flats.
May
Kings on the wrecks, trout on the grass, tarpon start to show
Slow-troll live bait over the nearshore wrecks and reefs for kings; early and late on the flats for trout; watch the beach for the first tarpon pods.
June
Beach tarpon, snapper on the reefs, trout before the heat
Tarpon cruise the beach at dawn; mangrove snapper are on every nearshore reef and wreck with live shrimp. Fish the flats before nine.
July
Dawn or nothing: tarpon and jacks on the beach, snapper on structure
Beach tarpon at first light, snapper on the reefs and bridge pilings, tripletail on the crab-trap floats. The flats are a night fishery.
August
Hottest water of the year — structure, shade and moving tide
Fish the shade lines under bridges and docks on the strongest tide; snapper and reds under the structure, trout only at dawn or after dark.
September
The first bull reds in the pass; bait moves and everything follows
Big bull reds stack in Pensacola Pass and off the beaches on the fall bait run; trout come back to the flats as the water cools past 85.
October · now
Bull red month, the fall pompano run, Spanish on the beach
The best month of the year on the Panhandle: bull reds in the passes, pompano back in the surf, Spanish everywhere, flounder staging at the pass edges.
November
Flounder run through the passes; trout and reds on the flats
Flounder move out through the passes on the outgoing — drag a jig along the sand edges. Trout school on the grass edges as the water drops through the 60s.
December
Winter pattern: sheepshead, drum and trout in the deep bends
Slow down. Docks and pilings for sheepshead, deep bayou bends for trout and reds, live shrimp on the bottom for drum.
Fish guides for The Florida Panhandle
When, where and what to use, fish by fishBlack drumBlackfin tunaBlue marlinBluefishCobiaFlounderGag grouperGoliath grouperGreater amberjackJack crevalleKing mackerelMahi-mahi (dolphin)Mangrove snapperPompanoRed snapperRedfishSailfishSand seatroutSheepsheadSpanish mackerelSpotted seatroutStriped mulletTarponTripletailWahooWhitingYellowfin tuna
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