BlueWater Outriggers Fishing Report 4-25-2026
If I were to give my four-year-old a pair of electric clippers and tell him to cut his own hair, the outcome would look very similar to what my front yard looks like. When fishing is as good as it has been for the last week, I just don’t have the time or patience to do any weed eating or edging. I just make a quick appearance on the Cub Cadet, give the neighbors a friendly wave, and when I’m satisfied a few folks have seen me out there, I park that sucker back in the shed, and I hit the water. Now that I’m thinking about it, I have fished for the last five days straight. I just can’t seem to get enough.
On Tuesday morning I pulled into captain Gary Dunn’s driveway. I hate wasting my days off so I had been praying he could put us on some fish. When I saw his yard, it was very similar to mine, so I knew the man took his fishing very seriously. We launched out of Carrabelle and after a short ride he informed me, we were at the spot. I rigged up a Z-man Jerk Shad on a 3/16 Pro Bullet hook, took my first cast, and wham! Let me tell you folks, when you get a keeper on the first cast, you know you’re with good people. Gary and I had a great day out there and had no problem getting a limit in a short amount of time. The following day, he took my uncle out fishing with him and they had a blast catching numerous trout including a 23 ¼" monster that Gary can be seen holding (above left).
Keeping it a little more local, I have fished many evenings under the Tapper bridge targeting trout. On Wednesday night, I tore them up catching one after another nice sized speckled trout. Thursday night, I was skunked. Friday evening, I caught three, but they were on the smaller side. I’ve yet to run across any flounder there but expect them any time.
My friend, Travis Wilkes, spent some time fishing Lake Wimico this last week with his daughter’s boyfriend. Between the two of them they caught 17 nice bass as well as a few redfish. They even had a gator try to attack their top-water plug!
What would my reports be like if I failed to mention Captain Jake Harpe? Last week he was offshore and there was mention of a bet between him and J.D. Dillon for the biggest fish. There has been no money exchanged at this point, and I have taken it upon myself to officiate this matter. Poor JD got to his spot 70 miles out and immediately had motor trouble. He spent the next 8 hours limping the boat back in. Captain Jake, meanwhile, had an absolute banner day and zero boat troubles. Not only did Jake catch a mess of beeliners and red grouper, he got a contender Gag that can be seen (above center). While that fish would be hard to beat, Jake really had no competition. For this reason, I believe the two anglers must enter a “double or nothing” challenge on another date.
Pompano have begun to make their run along the beaches. Folks are starting to catch them in greater numbers now. Check out CJ Thompson’s monster that won the Lookout’s Pompano Classic (above right). Congratulations CJ on that award winning fish!
Like taxes and death, yardwork’s always going to be there waiting for you. The time to fish is now! Get out there and make it happen.
-Jeremiah Beasley