English Navy Cove

About English Navy Cove

English Navy Cove is a protected bay pocket near Pensacola, Florida, with a sand bottom that runs from 5 to 25 feet deep in the sheltered inner waters of the Panhandle. Red Drum peak here in September and October, Sheepshead take over from January through March, Gray Snapper hold through the summer from May to August, and Spanish Mackerel run from April through October, with Common Snook also on the species list. Red Drum respond to inshore casting with soft plastic jerkbaits, jigheads with paddletails, and gold spoons over the shallower sand flats, while popping cork rigs with live shrimp work the same water. In the deeper 15 to 25 foot sections, bottom fishing with fiddler crabs, sand fleas, and live shrimp targets Sheepshead in winter, and the same approach with live pinfish or cut bait draws Gray Snapper in summer. Spanish Mackerel push through the cove's open water, where trolling small spoons and straw rigs or casting metal jigs and gotcha plugs covers ground quickly.