Redfish fishing in The Florida Panhandle

In The Florida Panhandle, redfish peak September–May and are around year-round, spawning in September–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. January: Schools in the deep bayous, canals and the ICW in the cold; sight fish them on sunny afternoons.

1. JanuaryPeakSchools in the deep bayous, canals and the ICW in the cold; sight fish them on sunny afternoons.
2. FebruaryPeakSheepshead 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.
3. MarchPeakThe 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.
4. AprilPeakCobia 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.
5. MayPeakKings 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.
6. JuneAroundBeach 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.
7. JulyAroundDawn 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.
8. AugustArrivingBulls begin gathering off the beaches and in the passes.
9. SeptemberSpawningBull reds stack in Pensacola Pass and off the beaches on the fall bait run — spawning runs August into November in the passes and nearshore.
10. OctoberSpawningThe 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.
11. NovemberPeakSlot fish schooled on the flats; bulls moving offshore.
12. DecemberPeakWinter 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.

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.

Fish Scouter charts 783 grass flat, 32 dock / pilings, 25 bridge, 12 pass / inlet spots in the The Panhandle map area — the kinds redfish hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–3/0
• Jig head1/8–3/8 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 58–90°F water, best at 65–82°F.

All about redfish · The Panhandle, the whole year