Navarre Beach -- Pompano Fishing

Friday morning sunrise.

The morning before last, sunrise on the fishing pier here at the campground started with lots of clouds that prevented the sun from making an appearance -- no dolphins either and a couple with two granddaughters were having about the same results I had while fishing off the end of the pier (may have caught that same catfish).  Later, the weather turned worse as the winds picked up in intensity -- not good for fishing as the spray from the waves blew over the seawall and combined with blowing sand through the afternoon and into the evening.  That was only an indication of what was to come.

Navarre Beach

During the night and most of the following morning, we were pounded with heavy rain, lightning and thunder but, the clouds finally disappeared around noon and the sun and beach beckoned to me and my fishing rods.  I had checked some during the morning on how to catch Pompano from the surf as I didn't feel like giving the $6 to the fishing pier for another day of not catching a thing or getting a bite -- besides, the beach looked really more inviting too.

I first went over to the beach in the state park to check out the conditions and had on my jeans and sandals and a long-sleeved shirt because the wind still blew right off of the ocean.  I made the left at the stop sign after going over the bridge to Santa Rosa Island and pulled into the first set of buildings where there seemed to be a bridge over the sand dunes (and some public restrooms and showers).  After walking the beach briefly and checking with the only fishermen to the far right of the beachgoers, I decided I might have better luck if I came back and went to the next set of buildings and accesses to the east -- which is exactly what I did (except my luck wasn't any better than the two guys I talked to).

Catching some sun anyway

When I arrived back at Navarre Beach, I headed to the east beyond any of the beachgoers and sunbathers, trying leave a safe distance between me and them as I attempted to catch some of those tasty Pompano.  You can see in the picture above that some folks were walking the beach farther to the east looking for shells and there was lots of space between me and them as I setup my surf casting rod with the three hooked Pompano rig.

To begin with, there was as much space to my right (west) and after getting the hooks baited with some frozen sand fleas, I cast it out and set it in my rod holder as I attempted to locate some signs of live sand fleas (these frozen ones had cracks in the shells and I knew they wouldn't last on the hooks).  I checked the shallow, clear waters and the soft, white sand for signs of the little critters but, didn't seem to locate any so, I decided to use the tougher, dehydrated shrimp and some "Fish Bites" -- with no results but, who can complain when you can just sit in a chair and enjoy the surroundings.

Navarre Beach -- Fishing Pier west.

Later, the families with small children began to appear and fill the empty spaces, which I had hoped would remain as a buffer between me and those looking to jump in the inviting waters.  Well, I fished the incoming tide as recommended and only wish I had found some of those live little mole crabs to see if they could have changed my luck.  I did see one angler come with a group to my right and he had one of those wire mesh nets with him and he seemed to get a few of the preferred bait from the sand in the surf -- I didn't see him catch anything either as he joined others in his group to swim in the surf.

I also noticed a guy that showed up a little later and positioned himself to my left and he brought one of those same metal nets for collecting sand fleas -- no fishing poles though (just his girlfriend or wife).  He also put on a wet-suit and went into the surf and tried to collect some fleas but, ended up putting on a snorkel mask and swam through the surf and out onto a sandbar a little farther east of where I had been fishing.  My thoughts are that this sandbar may be the right spot to try if I go there today -- maybe more distance between me and the swimmers too.

As I left (in time to come back and watch the NCAA semi-finals), I noticed a wedding being set-up on the beach just below the access point to the beach -- beautiful setting for somebody's special day.