Sandestin Resort Report

[FlatsNBay]

I had to attend a conference at the Sandestin Hilton in Destin. I was excited as they allow fishing anywhere on resort property including the golf course for hotel guests. We fished the ponds around the hotel the first day. Some of the ponds were a nasty blue green color with slimy snot grass everywhere. The clearer lakes had plenty of snot grass which made it a challenge. We noticed a little schooling action chasing minnows in one of the smaller ponds so I busted out a small walking bait (unknown name) in a silvery minnow color that I was just saving for a similar situation. It worked pretty good and I picked up 5 on the topwater. My buddy also caught a few on a fluke and Rattlin Rouge jerk bait.

The next morning I ventured to horseshoe lake that is surrounded by condos at the resort. I picked up 2 nice ones with the biggest of the week, a 2.5 pounder. What surprised me was that I found 2 beds with fish on them! One bed had about a 4 & a buck and the other bed had a 3 & a buck. I attempted to return later with a shaky head to target the bedding fish but didn't want to battle the wind. I booked it to the other side of the resort property on the north side of the highway and was met with much better looking water! My buddy fished one of the ponds on that side earlier and noticed about a 35 lb. black drum swimming and cruising along in the middle of a pond. The pond is right next to the bay so there is no telling how the fish got in there? He casted his fluke to the drum and wouldn't you know it, caught a bass that darted out from underneath the drum! He casted his fluke back out to the drum and caught another bass that darted out from underneath! Pretty cool! I switched up to a Tiny Torpedo in Baby Bass due to the wind and caught 2 more nice ones. If I had any more time, I would concentrate on the north end of the resort as there seems to be more ponds that look much better than the ones next to the Hilton. We saw quite a few people fishing so the place must get a bit of pressure.

The highlight of the week was when my buddy, who is sponsored by Pradco Brands (Bomber, Yum, Booyah, Cotton Cordell, etc) gave me a bag of baits to test out! I have always been a Zoom & Bitters fan and don't think that I have used much Yum baits before. It will be interesting to see how they perform!

[big g]

Flats thanks for the report.

[SFL BassHunter]

Thanks for the report Steve!

[West6550]

Nice report Steve and anymore happy you got paid to fish! Lol

[LgMouthGambler]

That's a good way to kill time. Always a good chance of catching some good fish in golf course ponds.

So that one pond was completely closed off for water channeling? I wonder if someone caught the drum and tossed it in there, or it was dropped in by a bird.

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[FlatsNBay]

Thanks guys.  There's no telling how that fish got in there. My guess is high water or somebody tossed it in. No channeling or pipes as far as I could tell.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Thanks for sharing Flats.

[Deadeye]

I have fished at a couple of Resort Ponds at places where I have stayed that allowed it. It has been hit or miss for me. So far I have seen other people staying there fishing them as well, so they do get pressure but are all Catch & Release.

Haven't caught any Bass yet, but that one with the Trout Pond was a blast.

Thanks for the Report and glad you got into some fish.