Miramar Beach Fishing Charters & Guides

Fishing in Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach, located in the Florida Panhandle on the Gulf of Mexico, provides a welcome balance of traditional beach town and modern amenities. Being in Northern Florida, a weather is agreeable year round, which is great for tourism, and even better for fishing. From redfish and trout in the bay to mahi and amberjack offshore, Miramar Beach can help check a few fish off of any angler’s bucket list. Booking a professionally guided fishing charter is the best way to experience all that this area has to offer.

Miramar Beach Inshore Fishing

Miramar Beach sits on the eastern edge of the Florida panhandle. To the north is Choctawhatchee Bay and to the south is the Gulf of Mexico. Inshore fishing here is excellent with reds and trout plentiful in the bay and estuaries. Miramar Beach charter fishing guides recommend crankbaits and jigs to anglers who fish regularly and can stand up to making cast after cast. Those who are not as experienced should use live or cut bait under popping corks. Drift these rigs across bars and holes in the bay where the fish hang out. With cup-style popping cork, the line is jerked every so often, causing the cork to partly submerge and "pop" the surface. That noise is like ringing a dinner bell for a hungry trout or red. Two causeways at each end of the bay provide structure for oysters and barnacles, two favorite foods of the sheepshead. These fish with a set of human-like teeth scrape small shellfish from structure and crush them. Barnacles, fiddler crabs and small oysters are ideal bait to catch these tasty fish. On the ocean side, croakers, black drum and sharks cruise the beaches looking for something to eat. Croakers are small and you'll need small bits of bait and small hooks to catch them. Black drum get bigger, so upsize your cut bait offerings to the size of a pinfish tail. Sharks range in size from a foot or two bonnethead to hammerheads that can be several hundred pounds. Florida has new rules for shark fishing from the beach. Read them at the regs page linked above.

Miramar Beach Offshore Fishing

Mahi mahi, wahoo, amberjack, and tuna are regulars in the blue water. These fish are often caught trolling lures tipped with frozen cigar minnows. When the water warms up, cobia and king mackerel show up. Tuna are especially prized, but they are also highly mobile. They may be in the area one day and gone the next. Marlin are sometimes found here as well. Anglers can fish near the bottom around the area's many reefs for snapper and grouper. Unlike the migratory fish, these two reef species hang around all year long. Live and cut bait are the preferred way to put them in the boat. Your Miramar charter guide knows the best places to find them.

Amberjack Fishing in Miramar Beach

Not too long ago, amberjack were not considered a particularly targeted fish. If you anchored offshore Miramar Beach and started catching them, you headed to another location to find grouper and snapper. Now, the amberjack is a prized deepwater fish. Anglers from all over come to Miramar Beach to try their hand at pulling one of these brutes off the bottom. Amberjack are sometimes called a "reef donkey" because of their strength and stubbornness. In Latin America, they are called “Pez Fuerte” which literally translates to "strong fish." Unlike big grouper which will fight for a while and then roll over so you can easily haul them to the surface, amberjack are going to fight you every step of the way. You need stout tackle, strong arms and a willing back to get these fish in the boat. Amberjack love structure and reefs at depths down to 600 or more feet. Imagine trying to pull a 50-pound fish that does not want to go anywhere over a distance of multiple football fields. One thing working in your favor is these are not toothed fish. Wire leaders are not required. A 200-pound test leader should be enough to get one to the boat, if you are tough enough to handle it up. Live bait, about the size of your hand or a bit smaller, is the No. 1 choice for amberjack. No. 2 on the hit list is amberjack jigs. These are big, heavy lures dropped over the side. Once it hits bottom, reel in a few feet of line. With the jig a few feet off the bottom and bounce it up and down. Another successful method is to jig it to the surface. Jerk the rod up. Reel up the slack. Jerk again. Repeat all the way to the surface or until one of these piscatorial submarines decides to eat it. This bottom-to-surface fishing is a reason a lot of anglers opt for electric reels when jigging for amberjack. The motor takes a lot of work out of getting the spoon or jig to the surface. Amberjack have split regulations in Florida. On the Miramar Beach side of the state, the limit is one per person per day with a 34-inch-to-the-fork length. The season is May 1-31 and Aug. 1-Oct 31. You may wonder why the Atlantic season is more generous. It is because the Gulf side amberjack fishery is so popular the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission wants to make sure the amberjack are not overfished. Get all the saltwater fishing regs from the Fish and Wildlife Commission website.

Book A Miramar Beach Fishing Charter

Are you ready for a great fishing adventure? The professional private fishing captains in Miramar Beach have all the gear ready for your group's trip. Book today with your Miramar Beach charter.