# Lite Tackle Panhandle Pompano



## Kingfshr (Jan 31, 2009)

Sight fishing Pompano along the Panhandle of Fl IMHO is the best time you can have on a fishing pier.....:fishing:


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Nice. Never caught a Pomp. I hear they are good eatin to. What do they taste like?


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## Kingfshr (Jan 31, 2009)

They have a distinct taste thats hard to explain. Mild taste not "fishy" at all.


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## MSRIEF (May 21, 2007)

Nice catch. Taste to me is like sweet flounder. Stuff 'em w/crab.


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

MMMM....get the fry-daddy ready!!!!!


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## Vinnx (Nov 11, 2012)

Stuffed with crab sounds like an excellent idea! It's definitely a fish that takes well to fancier styles of cooking, I tried fillet and pan frying em once tastes alright, but I think baking or grilling em whole is the way to go for me personally.


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## tjbjornsen (Oct 31, 2009)

RuddeDogg said:


> Nice. Never caught a Pomp. I hear they are good eatin to. What do they taste like?


Heaven...
...With Butter!
Meaty, but not heavy, rich, but not oily... 
There are a lot of Chefs that will tell you that the single most important dish that the Gulf Coast and New Orleans has contributed to world cusine is Pompano en Papiotte. (Pompano baked whole in a paper envelope with butter, white wine, a touch of lemon and some julliened peppers, onions, carrots and celery...

Probably starting an argument here, but IMHO they are the best eating fish you can catch from a beach from Hatteras to the Gulf.
Gut 'em, cut out the gills, lay them in some tin foil with butter, lemon, salt & pepper & a little white wine, and flip 'em back and forth on the grill for 10 minutes and get ready to get happy...


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## tjbjornsen (Oct 31, 2009)

And Oh Yeah..
That pic just gave me a Pomp Chubbie!
Good On YA!


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## JamesRiverVa (Apr 24, 2012)

I want to figure out the secret of catching decent sized pomps at Ocracoke, NC on the OBX. I've caught one really nice two pounder. The rest I've ever caught have all been tiny, about the size of a pinfish or a small to medium sized freshwater bluegill. Too small to be worth the trouble of cleaning. I know they are supposed to be among the best eating surf fish. Hoping to score a few this summer.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Sounds good. Think I may have to add that to the bucket list of fish I want to catch.


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## River (Sep 30, 2006)

The small ones are good too - some days when the small one are thick in the wash, I'll catch a dozen are so - bring em in and Filet em. You'll get small fillets - but dip em in milk, then roll em in pure corn meal - next deep fry em in Peanut oil and they are awesome finger food - I call em Pompano chips. A little trouble to filet but worth it in the end. The big ones I wrap in tinfoil with spices and grill like mentioned above - both are delicious to me but the dog really enjoys the Pompano Chips ---- River


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## cooper138 (Aug 8, 2012)

JamesRiverVa said:


> I want to figure out the secret of catching decent sized pomps at Ocracoke, NC on the OBX. I've caught one really nice two pounder. The rest I've ever caught have all been tiny, about the size of a pinfish or a small to medium sized freshwater bluegill. Too small to be worth the trouble of cleaning. I know they are supposed to be among the best eating surf fish. Hoping to score a few this summer.


im not going to start a new thread abotu the rig i use for pomps because there is a thread or two about it here but ive had the best luck with bigger pomps with larger fleas (3/4"-1")on a steep drop right on the beach, you know one of those places you take one step and your in three feet of water right at the surf line, or on the outside edge of some flat water, the bigger fleas seem keeps hand sized smaller ones off and you usually end up with a nice mix bag, mullet and pups. Im by no means a pomp killer there are a bunch of guys on here who are but that seems to work the best for me.


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

River said:


> The small ones are good too - some days when the small one are thick in the wash, I'll catch a dozen are so - bring em in and Filet em. You'll get small fillets - but dip em in milk, then roll em in pure corn meal - next deep fry em in Peanut oil and they are awesome finger food - I call em Pompano chips. A little trouble to filet but worth it in the end. The big ones I wrap in tinfoil with spices and grill like mentioned above - both are delicious to me but the dog really enjoys the Pompano Chips ---- River


In Florida we have a 11 inch minimum size limit. Those 12" fish are cool!

Frying a Pompano IMHO, is sacrilege. Baking or grilling is the way to go. Save the frying for mullet!

The Pompano are running all over the place here on the Emerald Coast. Everyone; well, not everyone, is catching them. C2

Jigs rule! C2


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## River (Sep 30, 2006)

C2 - Theres no size limit on Pompano in NC, waters still to cold here but things should be changing soon - It's hard to grill or bake the small filets but I do grill/bake the larger ones whole ---- River


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## cooper138 (Aug 8, 2012)

pomps are my gmas favorite fish, she would get so excited when my grandpa and i would bring some home, it was the first fish i ever had. she would bake them right up, still my favorite way to go.


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## Raymo (Jan 11, 2011)

River said:


> C2 - Theres no size limit on Pompano in NC


now this is sacrilege in my opinion...I hope you guys dont take the small ones...send em back for another day!


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## Kingfshr (Jan 31, 2009)

"Jigs rule! C2"
I agree, seeing the fish and throwing a jig to it is absolutely the best........here's my biggest from a limit (6) on 4/18/13


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

very nice, never tried the jigs...we had a bummer of a season on the treasure coast ( for the most part).....we bake them, send the small ones back to grow up...thats the right thing to do.....


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

The reasoning; as I've been told, is that it takes a year for the Pompano to mature. They are 11-12 inches at this time. It gives them one chance to spawn before they're caught and kept.

Right now; the migratory schools are upon us here in Florida. The big 'scouts' have already come through. A 20" was caught earlier. 

I use a C2 Rig with jigs. C2


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## Kingfshr (Jan 31, 2009)

They are full of roe right now too.......


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## abass105 (Jun 13, 2006)

Kingfshr said:


> Sight fishing Pompano along the Panhandle of Fl IMHO is the best time you can have on a fishing pier.....:fishing:


What type of setup do you use when you are throwing jigs. Thanks for sharing.


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## Kingfshr (Jan 31, 2009)

The rig on the left is a Penn Conquer 2000, St Croix 5'6" rod,10 lb Power Pro.......on the right is a Calcutta 201, Allstar 6' rod ,20 lb Power Pro. 1/2 to 3/4 oz jigs. 6 to 10 lb mono works fine. A reel with a smooth drag is essential.......


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

we caught some in march with roe, and thats a shame, I don't know, I just hope we don't distroy this fishery...more research is needed on this fish...I like to think they will still be around 20 years from now....


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## River (Sep 30, 2006)

Does anybody know details on where and when the Pompano's Spawn ? The little one are thick during July, August and September on Hatteras Island - and with the Limits on Speckled Trout, Gray Trout and other species set so tight up here, if there's a Pompano problem - it looks like the DMF would address it. I see plenty of half lb. Pomps put in coolers, along with that, there's so thick sometimes, fisherman catch em in cast nets throwing in the thin wash and use em for bait. Puppy Drum and Flounder love the small ones live. I know Florida has a size limit - but sure enough did not realize a shortage existed - C2, I do respect our resources and would in no way take fish that are in a hurting status, if I am aware of it. I'll be talkin with our MRO soon, curious to see what he says --- Thanks, River


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

This pass fall/winter, it was bleak, in my neck of the woods...the year before we were catching many under size pomps...until late fall when the keepers moved in....pomps for bait!...oh, man, thats a disgrace...should not happen.....doesn't really seem to be very much research on pompano.
Its one big mystery, everybody has a different opinion....


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## Loner (Sep 9, 2009)

...hate to be a negative.....BUT.....For the last 3 yrs the number of quality pomps has steadly fell on my fishing grounds....Carolina Bch to Topsail....yes the Dinkinos have been thick..but the quality fish...2 lb up have really gotten scrace..I won't fish dinks.....the pier sinks FULL OF LITTLE ONES is quite dis-heartning..
A pattern I have put together for pomps is..NO PIER KINGS...NO CITATION POMPS.....It seems that whatever the currrents or winds that bring the kings to the piers also put BIG POMPS on beach.....
..just an observation....


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## jmadre (Jan 3, 2008)

They best-tasting Pomp I've ever had was one I grilled last year. I scored the skin, rubbed on olive oil, and sprinkled on a little Old Bay seasoning. I grilled it on a charcoal grill with some applewood chips for smoke. I tasted like it had been wrapped in bacon.


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## River (Sep 30, 2006)

Good information - Obviously the info gathered by these Marine fisheries people they've hired to talk with fisherman doesn't go very far. Things have changed here on the OBX but in a different way - In 2010 (my first full year here), there were plenty of 2 lb. plus Pompano, I caught lots of Citations that year but they disappeared in late August or early September, the same went for 2011 but last year (2012), the big Pomps showed up early, we were already catching citations by now, they stayed around longer than the previous years and were caught on into November, the biggest one caught last year, it weighed over 5 lbs., was caught in the fall. Odd thing was, we get lots of fisherman from the northern states here and I've been told, they saw Pompano further north last year than before so that may possibly explain the lack of big Pompano in the southern states. All these years we've had plenty of little, under a lb. Pompano's in the surf, this could be due to our close proximity to the Gulfstream - Who knows - I sure don't ---- but ya'lls comments will make me think before taking the smaller ones ----- Thanks, River


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## Chris_Worthington (Jul 13, 2012)

River said:


> Good information - Obviously the info gathered by these Marine fisheries people they've hired to talk with fisherman doesn't go very far. Things have changed here on the OBX but in a different way - In 2010 (my first full year here), there were plenty of 2 lb. plus Pompano, I caught lots of Citations that year but they disappeared in late August or early September, the same went for 2011 but last year (2012), the big Pomps showed up early, we were already catching citations by now, they stayed around longer than the previous years and were caught on into November, the biggest one caught last year, it weighed over 5 lbs., was caught in the fall. Odd thing was, we get lots of fisherman from the northern states here and I've been told, they saw Pompano further north last year than before so that may possibly explain the lack of big Pompano in the southern states. All these years we've had plenty of little, under a lb. Pompano's in the surf, this could be due to our close proximity to the Gulfstream - Who knows - I sure don't ---- but ya'lls comments will make me think before taking the smaller ones ----- Thanks, River


At AI in MD we were catching them every cast in the fall last year, nothing over a lb but they were thick for a spell. Typically that's an oddball catch up here, at least for my fishing party in those numbers.


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

warmer water temps may be changing their habits....could also be a cycle...a lot of little ones should be a good sign....guess we'll find out in a few years....


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## Chris_Worthington (Jul 13, 2012)

BPReeds said:


> warmer water temps may be changing their habits....could also be a cycle...a lot of little ones should be a good sign....guess we'll find out in a few years....


I'm not sure the water temps have been warmer, just warmer later and colder later in our area


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## Kingfshr (Jan 31, 2009)

4/22/13 3 of 4 for the day(released an 11.5" fish).








4/24/13 We saw no Pompano all day.IMHO Neap Tide and Full moon has sent the fish to their spawning grounds.(Where ever that is. Most believe offshore.)


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## Loner (Sep 9, 2009)

Chris_Worthington said:


> I'm not sure the water temps have been warmer, just warmer later and colder later in our area


...I hate to mention this but there has been an INCREASE in the Targeting of Pomps.....lots of folks got a little idea HOW to go about it in an Intellgent manner....when I started most BIG POMPS were HORSE-SHOED on shrimp...
Use to be a fellow from wrightsville bch that WON all the pomp trophies every year......I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HE KNEW......
Don't know pomp numbers and I SURE DON'T WANT A STUDY DONE so CCA can get a hold of em.....BUT I KNOW there are more POMP FISHERMEN now...(at least on my beaches) than ever before....


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

The Delaware bay use to be thick with weakfish too....somthing happened....their gone...overfished?....climate change? ..or as many NJ bay locals believe the introduction of the stripe bass.....when I left NJ nobody seemed to really care....I would hope fish and game or some research group would take a look before its too late and we have nothing....


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