Florida Kayak Fishing | Pensacola

January 07, 2020 • 1 Comment

This features photography taken over a period of two days fishing Bayou Chico in Pensacola, Florida on early January afternoons. During the winter months I like to kayak on the warmest part of the day regardless of what the tide or wildlife charts tell me are the best times to fish. I work on the theory water temperatures are a major factor with fish activity and I just like being comfortable on the water. These back to back days of fishing did coincide with a minor peak on the fishing charts. The first day was very windy so I found areas to fish off the bank and not fight the wind since I didn't have an anchor. I caught 4 speckled trout that day. There isn't one spot in Bayou Chico that is always consistent. I look for areas with moving water that have ambush points for fish. During the winter the most consistent bait for me has been a 4" Zman paddle tail grub.

The next day I had the same result, 4 specked trout. I tried the same spot from the previous day and no luck. The wind wasn't as strong and the wildlife in the bayou were having a lazy day. The birds were just perched in trees, on sailboats or just casually swimming around. I was about to give up and the wind picked up just slightly, enough to start pushing water around. This created a different ambush spot for the speckled trout than the previous day. It was also a bright day so the fish were held up in a shaded spot as well. I can't tell you which was more important to the specks, an eddy or shade, but I managed to get 4 speckled trout on a day the charts said would be slow.