Salt Water
MEXICO BEACH/PORT ST JOE OFFSHORE
The Spanish Mackerel continue to swarm along our beaches. Anglers report them along the buoy line and near Crooked Island and along the outer sandbar along Mexico Beach.
Another hotspot for Spanish is along the edge of the flats in front of Butler’s curve. For you non-locals Butler’s Curve are the flats immediately West of the intercostals’ canal in Port St. Joe. Trolling Mackerel trees or throwing Gotcha plugs and/or any number of styles of small spoons will do the trick. Lots of Cobia sighted this week, but as of this writing no catches. The predominate areas were Cobia were spotted this week were the Cape shoals, the beaches along the southern or beach side of Cape San Blas and several spotted over various offshore wrecks.
ST JOSEPH BAY
The Spanish Mackerel are moving around inside St Joseph Bay from the buoy line to Blacks Island. The best catches reported were in the two channels on either side of the island and along the seawall in front of the Port St Joe Marina and Butler’s curve. Trolling Mackerel rigs and Clarkspoons four or five knots will work nicely, or sight casting Gotcha plugs and double speck rigs are working well too. The flounder bite is still happening around the deeper holes near the head of the bay and around Black’s Island. Pompano numbers improved greatly this week from Cape San Blas and along Mexico Beach to Crooked Island with a lot of activity around the beach restoration dredging pipes near the tip of Cape San Blas. (Be careful not to interfere with the dredging operations)
INDIAN PASS
Local fishing guides have told us that they are enjoying excellent trout fishing in the Indian pass area. Sheepshead and Redfish are biting well too.
PANAMA CITY OFFSHORE AND BAYS
The Grouper bite has remained steady! Excellent reports coming out of the 15-20 mile mark. Several Black and Red Grouper and Scamp are being caught within state waters over hard bottom areas. Live bait and butterflied Spanish Mackerel are the best bet.
Amberjack remain plentiful over several of the Bridge Spans with larger fish being caught farther offshore. Live bait, Williamson Jigs, and Butterfly Jigs will bring savage strikes! Spanish Mackerel are being caught in large numbers. Try the jetties, inside St. Andrews Bay and along the sand bars off the beach. The weather and water clarity have made Cobia fishing difficult lately. There are still plenty of fish out there if the conditions will allow for good sight fishing. Live Eels and Jigs are all you need. This Cobia was caught Sunday, 30 March at about 1:00 in the afternoon. We were off Shell Island (right about at the Spanish Shanty hut) in about 20 feet of water. We hadn't seen a fish all day and the water was still a bit soupy from the storms. But the water temp was about right (67.5o) so we figured there was a chance. We here heading West and about to turn around when he was spotted from the tower of CAPT Chris Chace's 23' Grady White. We were trying to get into a position to throw from the cockpit so a friend from New Zealand could have a shot at some special Florida fishing, when the tank took off for deeper water. We had time for one throw from the tower which unceremoniously hit the "big brown log" on his head. He instantly went deep and it looked like a blown opportunity. I guess getting "bonked" on the head just made the tank mad because he quickly picked up the jig and headed for Pensacola. After a 20 minute battle, and nearly losing our gaff (don't ask) we boated the 77# ling, and got some cheers from "a few" nearby boats - which by the way gave us nothing but room and encouragement. The gear used: custom 8' cobia rod (made by Half Hitch), Penn 320gti (bought at the last Half Hitch tent sale), spooled with 40# Ande’ clear (guess where...?), and a 3oz. Jig (red head, white feather skirt). You'll have to ask my wife Bonita for the details as she made it - no joke. She's thinking about selling them if you're interested.
Pictured: Left to right Ted Dempsey, Captain Chis Chace, and Jason Middleton (our Kiwi)...we all like in PCB. 12 lb.
ST. ANDREWS BAY SYSTEM
Sheepshead are still all over the jetties. They will take live shrimp and fiddler crabs readily. Use a Carolina rig with a #4 hook, 15-20# fluorocarbon leader and light lead for best results.
Trout have just started to move back onto the flats. Target the deeper grass flats with live shrimp under a popping cork for best results. Redfish are still working the pass in good numbers. Live Shrimp and Pin Fish are the baits of choice. The water clarity in East and West Bays is much clearer now. Lots of schools can be found. These schooling fish can be very spooky, so a quite approach with long casts will work the best. Throw a live Shrimp on a light lead head or weightless for best results. Pompano are being caught along the beaches in greater numbers. Throw a jig tipped with shrimp, sand fleas, or gulp. They are also being caught using frozen sand fleas and shrimp, rigged on a 2 hook leader and pyramid sinker.
DESTIN
Spanish, Spanish and more Spanish, they have definitely been the catch of the week. Whether you are on the pier, trolling the sand bars or standing on the jetties there has been an excellent supply. On the pier and the jetties the best lure has been a gotcha, if you are trolling a straw rig with a 4oz trolling lead and a Clarkspoon will catch them 4 or 5 at a time. In the surf and on the pier the Pompano bite has been excellent. Off the surf they are getting them on frozen sand fleas bottom fishing and on the pier they are getting them jigging chartreuse or pink jigs. The Cobia has been on again and off again depending on the day. On Monday, they caught 7 on the pier lost a few more and spotted nearly 20. Many of the boats had a good day Monday and a few on Tuesday. Over the weekend I was the weigh master for the Hogs Breath Cobia Shoot Out. Saturday was a tough day of fishing and the largest fish of the day was 46lbs but things turned around Sunday with the weather. Captain Tommy Browning on the Finest Kind took top honors with a 77.1 lb cobia and also had the big three combined weight with 123lbs of fish and took home right at $70,000 dollars for the two days. On the pier they have spotted a few Kings, hooked and lost one. There has been very little bait around the pier other than the squid which are plentiful. Plenty of Pompano and Spanish have been there for the taking also. Most days they are getting plenty of chances at Cobia too. In the Gulf the Amberjack and Grouper have been good when the weather has allowed anglers to get far enough out to catch them. I would expect that any one who tried trolling for Kings would be able to get them now that the pier has spotted a few.
NAVARRE
Fishermen are still catching some Trout and Redfish in the rivers using jigs with curly tails, Gulp and live shrimp. Most of the action has been at the river mouths, especially for Redfish. There have been reports of Sheepshead being caught on the bridge pilings, deep water docks and rock piles using small live shrimp and fiddler crabs. Redfish can be caught in the same places using live shrimp, fresh dead and cut bait. Trout and Redfish have moved up on the grass flats. Trout can be caught using live shrimp, finger mullet, pinfish and a host of artificial baits. Redfish can be caught with the same live baits, but don't be afraid to throw the tried and true gold spoon. Shallow water should hold some Redfish. The passes are holding Flounder right now. Bull minnows and Pinfish on a fish finder rig will catch them. The Pompano bite has steadily increased over the last two weeks in the surf. Fresh dead shrimp, frozen shrimp, frozen sand fleas and live sand fleas with catch them. Pompano jigs fished by themselves or tipped with shrimp will take their share as well. Cobia season is upon us. A few fish have been caught already by boat and pier anglers. As the water temperature increases the number of fish spotted will increase. Live Eels, Pinfish and Catfish are all worth trying. Jigs tipped with squid or naked jigs work to. Spanish Mackerel should be in our area very soon. Small spoons, mackerel trees, Spanish dusters and Gotcha plugs are all good choices. The Grouper and Amberjack bite should be good in deep water over live bottom or structure. The Shimano Butterfly jigs have been used successfully for sometime on both species. Taylor your jigs weight to the depth you are fishing at. Don't overlook live baits this time of year as well.
Fresh Water
Half Hitch Tackle
850-234-2621
2206 Thomas Dr
Panama City, Fl 32408
www.halfhitch.com/
Fishing Report prepared by Half Hitch Tackle Staff. The Captains Corner Fishing Report is provided by local charter captains and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Half Hitch Tackle. This report is dedicated to the memory of Al Hubbard.
Al Hubbard was a field editor for Florida Sportsman magazine, an outdoor writer for the News Herald and a board member of the Florida Outdoor Writer's Association.
Mr. Hubbard was also the owner of Al's Outdoors Outfitting Services.
