9/29 – Weekly Fishing Report by Half Hitch Tackle

Salt Water

MEXICO BEACH/PORT ST JOE OFFSHORE

Reports have the grouper at the one hundred to one twenty-foot mark and the complaint remains the same, the nearly extinct red snappers are making it difficult to reach the grouper. Using larger baits may improve your chances for grouper. The king mackerel reports are coming from the Air Force tower this week with some reports from outside the car bodies and Virginia reef areas. Drifting live baits and trolling dusters with cigar minnows are the way to go. Spanish mackerel continue to be caught trolling Clark spoons and Mackerel trees, or drifting cigar minnows along the buoy line and the cape shoals area.

ST JOSEPH BAY

Redfish are widely scattered this week with all the rain and reports are coming in from all over the bay. Try fishing the flats from town beach on the east side and on the west side starting outside the fire tower all the way up to Pompano Point. Be on the flats in the early morning or late afternoon for the best bite. The flounder bite improved some with the water temperatures dropping slightly. The main bite for flounder is in the channels off Blacks Island, but quite a few taken in gulf canal under the George Tapper Bridge and also farther up at the “T” with the intercoastal waterway. The best trout bite is on the west bank of St Joseph Bay. Fish the edges of the flats between Pigs Island and Eagle Harbor and between Eagle Harbor and Pompano Cove. Pompano are starting to show up in the bay as well as the surf along our beaches.

PANAMA CITY OFFSHORE AND BAYS

King mackerel are still biting very well from the beach out to 40 miles. Grouper have slowed way down. To find them, fish well offshore from 20+miles out. Use large live baits. Wahoo are being caught from 20-40 miles out. Hi speed trollers, like the Yo-Zuri Bonita, are a sure bet. Lots of AJ’s are still being caught around the 100’ mark over bridge spans and large wrecks. Big hard tails are the best bet for keeper AJ’s.

ST. ANDREWS BAY SYSTEM

Mangrove Snappers are very plentiful under the bridges and at the jetties. Use live shrimp. King mackerel are being caught regularly off the new city pier along with Spanish, Bluefish, Lady Fish, Redfish and a few Flounder. Ladyfish, Bluefish, and Spanish mackerel are biting good at the jetties on spoons and Gotcha Plugs. Redfish have been found on the flats in East and West Bays; while Bull Reds are still being caught with live shrimp and pinfish around the jetties. Trout are being caught on the flats with topwater lures early and live shrimp under a cork later.