» Fishing

Report for 09/07/2009 Salt Water MEXICO BEACH/PORT ST JOE OFFSHORE The 13th Annual MBARA Kingfish tournament was a huge success this last weekend with over one hundred ninety boats entered. Congratulations to John Douglas and crew aboard the “Chicken Sack” with the first Place King category weighing in at 37.85 lbs. The first place Wahoo prize went to Lynn McKeithen and crew aboard the Amanda Lee with a super nice Hoo weighing in at 70.60, and finally the “Popeye” crew took first place with a 4.85 lb in the Spanish mackerel category. King mackerel fishing is still the main target this week with a few caught off the buoy line and inshore wrecks on drone spoons and dusters. The bigger schools are at about 18 miles out with the hot spot still being the 30-mile buoy off Cape S...

Salt Water MEXICO BEACH/PORT ST JOE OFFSHORE Reports say bottom fishing is steady with live bait. Grouper limits are being picked up in 170-190’ of water in the hard bottom area south of Cape San Blas, lots of red snapper to contend with, but a few more gags and scamps are being caught as well. King mackerel bite remains steady also. Drifting live baits is working the best, but dusters and cigar minnows are also effective. Tarpon are slowly moving east and anglers are enjoying regular hook-ups from outside Cape Shoals to Indian Pass and Bob Sikes Cut. Tripletails continue lurking around structure from Indian pass through Appalache bay. ST JOSEPH BAY Several reports of large trout came in this week from St Joseph Bay. Sight fishing for them on the flats between Pigs Island and Eagle Harb...

Report for 08/17/2009 Salt Water MEXICO BEACH/PORT ST JOE OFFSHORE Bottom fishing is been steady with live bait working well on grouper and snapper. Reports have the strong Snapper bite at about 80’ however; many respectable snapper are being caught in much shallower water. Grouper continue to be picked up in 170-190’ of water south of Cape San Blas, mainly red snapper, but a few more gags and scamps are being caught as well. King mackerel bite remains steady also. Drifting live baits is working the best, but dusters and cigar minnows are also effective. Tarpon are schooling and feeding in the Indian Pass, area and tripletail have continued to be great sport from Indian pass through Appalache bay. ST JOSEPH BAY Trout fishing continues to be great in St Joseph Bay this week. There are ...

Where to Find the GOOD Fishing Everyone who visits Panama City Beach with any intention on fishing don’t want to go where the tourists go, they want to know the secret places the locals go. And there is a reason those places are secret; its the best fishing in NW Florida. It is likely I will be mobbed by local fishermen for letting a few of the secret places out of the bag, but I’ll do it because I care about our tourists. So, here are 5 places you shouldn’t know about. Just promise you’ll keep it to yourself. Crooked Island Sound – 29.974639,-85.476809 This place is a bit of a drive, but definitely worth it. Crooked Island is actually not an Island at all, but a combination of two narrow peninsulas that form a nice sized saltwater lagoon. Located just between...

Salt Water MEXICO BEACH/PORT ST JOE OFFSHORE All Reports indicate good bottom fishing inshore. There is a good chance fish will be on many of the inshore numbers inside twenty miles. Live baits are proving to be the best bait and they are plentiful around the inshore wrecks. To be on the safe side carry frozen baits like Cigar minnows or Boston mackerel. Next to live and frozen baits, jigging with Braid slammers or the Shimano butterflies are a great option. The king mackerel bite is strong and many anglers are boasting super catches this week. The vast majority of the larger kings were caught over inshore wrecks using a flat line while bottom fishing. ST JOSEPH BAY The trout report has not changed much with good fish caught at first light and late afternoon around the middle grounds and ...