Snapper season is in full swing but all of the near rigs and public numbers are picked pretty clean, so it's best to target your energy elsewhere.
In the mouth of the bay and in the shipping channel there have been large schools of Glass Minnows and the Bonito are taking full advantage of them! This is real run and gun fishing! These fish are very sensitive to the size of the flies as the bait source is TINY! Also these fish are taking the flies that are being retrieved in as fast as you can. Before you come down to take advantage of these schools make sure you have mastered the hand over hand or rolly polly method of stripping in your fly!
All of the near shore rigs have been holding Spanish Mackerel and they have been very leader shy, nothing over 30# mono! Again tiny glass minnow immiations are the ticket. I suggest epoxy flies for durability. But you can get several fish out of an EP fly if you want to burn them up that way. Think surf candy.
8 and 9 wt's are great for both species. Also do yourself a favor and make sure you have a good intermediate line for the job at hand!
Triple tail are under a good number of mats that are making their way in, so make sure to put a fly on those guys too!
The rigs that are further out are holding Barracuda! I suggest 9-10wt rods and steel leaders! Big streamers thrown at the legs of those rigs in the 50'+ area need to be stripped out as fast as you can. Be ready to have a freind get you away from those legs ASAP otherwise he will wrap you up in them!
Kings should start moving in soon, they are appearing in Pensacola pretty heavy and should make their debut in Alabama after this weeks tropical system moves through, then all bets are off at the rigs!
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