Just a heads up if anyone wants to go get some. Caught 8 yesterday afternoon. Most on an x-rap. They were hitting little glass minnows, but I was after sheepsheads and didn't bring most my usual tackle, so I didn't have anything small to imitate them. A smaller lure probably could have caught dozens

Yep! It's about that time. They're a lot of fun on light to medium tackle. A Gotcha lure will get em too. Just make sure you have a good leader.

They are mighty fine fried up Crispy for B'fast when fresh. They don't freeze real well though..... Headed down to Fort Morgan first week in April for Sheeps and Spanish.

Spanish fillets are awesome baked skin side down in a lemon pepper and butter based sauce. The family and I LOVE them.

My boy and I get after them in our kayaks. Too much fun, and I'm looking forward to the first trip down this year to do some paddling past the breakers.

I like using a bubble rig

First time I ever caught any was back around 1987 or 1988 and my wife and I were out walking on one of the piers in PCB. I wasn't even fishing that day. That is until I saw that the water looked dark off in the distance and I asked one of the locals what it was. He looked up at hollered to his buddies to look. They immediately started rigging up some bubble rigs and a couple sidewinders and he told me that if I wanted to have some fun to go grab a rod and showed me what terminal tackle to buy. When the Spanish made it to within casting distance i was running back out there with my gear. They were thick and as far as you could see. I'd never seen a school of fish that huge before being a freshwater fisherman from north Alabama and all. I had an absolute blast. Most of the larger ones were near the head of the school and on my first cast I caught one that was pushing 4lbs. The next 2 or 3 were probably close to 3 lbs and for the first hour or so it seemed like most of them were 2lb+. I had my limit in no time and bent the barbs down on a couple sidewinders. I guess I caught close to a hundred in total and filleted mine and my wife's limit of pretty good ones. I haven't gotten into them that well since but I still like it when they are there. That day was about this time of year I think and I don't think I have seen a bigger school of any kind of fish anywhere in person before or after that day. Did I mention that it was a blast?

Spanish almost made me buy a house in Panama City

Best Spanish recipe IMO.. scale with knife and get all the gray sludge off, fillet and cut out red line, marinate in zesty Italian for fifteen minutes, not longer or it will start to cook, pat dry, sprinkle a little seasoning of your liking, roll in Italian breadcrumbs then place on a super hot grill for a couple minutes pe side. Use a basket if possible.

I like them on the grill. Filleted,skinned but blood line intact(easier to manage full fillets). Put them on a sheet of aluminum foil with a very light coat of EVOO, sprinkle lemon pepper and a light dusting of curry powder on top. Let them just cook through. The fork will pull the white away from the old bloodline while eating.

Definitely going to try this one.

Before they banned the purse seining of them......they could be hard to come by.

Me and a buddy I graduated with were tearing them up in the pass one day back in the summer of 90. A guy walking by on the beach (he said he was from Michigan and it was his first time at the beach) asked us what he needed to catch them. We told him what we were using and he left to go get himself a rod and reel and tackle. He got back a while later and we were stilll catching them. He was a little ways down the beach from us when we saw that he was hooked up on one...he fought the fish to the beach and we looked at him just in time to see him bend down and pick the fish up---by lipping it like you would a bass. We hollered at him not to but it was too late. The spanish clamped down on his thumb and blood was flying everywhere; we couldn't tell if the blood was from the spanish, the fella, or both until he was able to get the fish off of his thumb. Saw him again the next day after he had several stitches to close up the gashes on his thumb

Fillets in aluminum foil with butter, lemon pepper and garlic on the grill was always my favorite.

I’ve seen them so thick in the pass that they looked like they went on for a mile in each direction. The water was continuously churning.

When they come in like that, hell you can throw a white stingray grub in there and have some fun!

Best recipe I have found is to fillet them, trim the middle red streak out, cut a slit in the middle at the tail end, put a 6/0 Owner Mutu through the thick end, drop it down and eat the big red snapper you catch with it. Seriously though, I have eaten them broiled with butter, lemon, garlic, and paprika. Not bad if they are really fresh. What's even more surprising is a fresh bluefish, bled out, filleted and trimmed up then deep fried in a cajun batter. Damn good.

You on the bank or in a boat? Do they have it opened around the bridge? Heard east side was closed bc of dumb spring breakers and I know they had construction going on for the longest in the west side of the bridge around the banks for a while!

They make darn good ceviche if bled and iced right away. Makes me hungry thinking about it.

West side was open last time I was there. If fish the pass between the gulf restaurant and the bridge and throw a white and shiny buck tail jig, spoon, or a gotcha lure.

Should also be sheepsheads on the pass wall.

Makes a great fish stew.