# Pensacola



## TheFrequentFlier (Feb 17, 2016)

Hey Milt, welcome.

I was actually browsing a bit to see if anyone was lurking on this site from the Pensacola area. I've been fishing/stationed in Beaufort SC for the past four years but I believe I may be moving to Pensacola next fall. Curious as so whether guys are doing much fishing there out of flats boats/microskiffs. I.e. my HB Pro doesn't seem like the standard setup for guys that run offshore around there, but curious what the inshore fishing (particularly tarpon fishing) is like from a smaller skiff.


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## Milt deReyna (Dec 14, 2016)

You have a Hell's Bay, do I read that correctly? You'll do very well Inshore, around here. Now, Pensacola Bay is 70' in places, you can catch Red Snapper and Grouper when you find the spots. Pensacola Bay is basically a huge fish bowl. You have very few creeks and bayous, like you find in Louisiana, so the Trout and Redfish are mostly caught on the flats, which can be very skinny, too skinny at times for my Frontier, especially in the winter. Good fishing at the bridges, and good winter fishing above I-10 bridge in the rivers feeding Escambia Bay. The Bay can get very rough, obviously. But your skiff will get you a lot of fishing around here. My boat, I'll take into the Gulf, but only on very mild days, I'll run out to the 9 mile limit. Not sure I'd want to be out there in a flats skiff, but I know a couple guys that'll take kayaks 5 miles out on the right day. Not saying they're sane, of course. Josh Lim just got out of the Navy here, and is now an Inshore Charter Skipper. Look for Joshua Lim on Facebook and send him a friend request.
Added: Tarpon fishing around here isn't impossible, but VERY spotty.


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## Padre (Jul 29, 2016)

Welcome Milt. 

@tgjohjnson - I am in Destin about an hour east of Pensacola but I am very familiar with P'cola. The bays and flats are very similar. You don't need a super skinny boat around here (a bay boat will do) but flats boats are just fine. I fish out of an Aknona. I take it out in the Gulf during the summer when the Spanish are running and when the tarpon get here. There are good flats with deep channels near the pass that hold lots of reds. Plus like Milt said, back in the backs of the bays, are lots of creeks and tributaries. Plus, you are only 2 hours from Biloxi and 3 hours from Louisiana.


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## Jason Cooper (Dec 6, 2016)

Welcome. I was born and raised in Pensacola. Live in Milton now. Currently rebuilding my skiff so no fish stories.


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