Report for 07/19/2007 Salt Water
MEXICO BEACH/OFFSHORE - The offshore bottom fishing remains steady this week with some nice red snapper and red grouper catches reported. Snapper bite is at 100’ and the grouper are out farther at the 150’ mark. Snapper may be a bit finicky and lighter tackle may be the answer to increase the bite. Gag grouper will take some searching and deeper water (200’) may be the key to finding them, as reports are they are hard to find. The near shore wrecks are still producing Kings at the 70’ and the deeper wrecks at 100’ are producing some keeper AJ’s. Trolling dusters with a cigar minnow will yield good numbers, but the bigger kingfish are coming from trolling or flat lining a live cigar/blue runner around the wrecks off Mexico Beach. The Dolphin bite remains strong, but catches are typically small fish in the 5 pound range, but can be a hoot using light tackle. Try chumming cut bait around the weed lines and rig your outfit with 20 lb fluorocarbon with a 1/0 circle hook to get into the fun. For bigger dolphin and wahoo head out 30 to 40 miles and look for anything floating such as tarps, wood, debris, and of course weed lines. Troll panhandlers and Islanders (Red and White) rigged with ballyhoo for your best chance.
ST JOSEPH BAY - Tarpon has never been hotter and large numbers of these giants are being caught daily. Reports all week have indicated the Tarpon have been feeding heavily between Money Bayou and Indian Pass. Use a 9/0-10/0 Owner SSW circle hook with 80lb fluorocarbon leader and drift your baits (Live/dead pogies) through the schools for your best shot. St. Joe Bay is a hit or miss location right now. The LY’s are hard to find and chumming them up around the grass flats is your best bet and rig them using Owner size 1 mutu light circle hook with 12 to 15 lb. fluorocarbon leader. Target Larger fish in deep holes, and along drop offs. Make sure to keep your bait on the surface. Recent reports have indicated the red fish bite takes place during late morning on a falling tide. Reports of Large school sightings along the cape side of the bay. Live bait is the ticket if you spot them.
PANAMA CITY OFFSHORE AND BAYS - King’s are still the hot ticket all over the inshore wrecks. Troll Dusters and free-line live or dead bait for the most action. Try a large Drone Spoon with 4-6 oz.s of lead for bigger kings. The Tarpon bite has been very good and should only get better into August. These fish are extremely spooky, do not run up on them with your motor. They simply will not eat. Anchor on the sandbar and wait for the fish to come to you. Use live mullet, pin fish, pogies, cigar minnows or menhaden on a 7 to 12/0 circle hook with 60 to 100# fluorocarbon leaders and 20 to 30# main line. The Wahoo are being found in greatest numbers far offshore, but a few can be caught around the 8-10 mile mark. High speed trollers like the Panhandler and Yo Zuri Bonita in back and purple colors are working best. Also, try slow trolling rigged ballyhoo or live hard tails. Mahi Mahi are showing up in greater numbers. Lots of chicken dolphin are being caught around many of the offshore wrecks and bigger dolphin are being caught from 25 miles out. The Grouper bite has been very good lately. Best catches have been in the 100 to 200 foot areas on mainly hard bottom. Live bait, whole boston mackerel and jigs(Shimano Butterfly or Williamson) are working well. Jigs with a glow color to them are a sure bet. Amberjack are on many of the inshore wrecks and reefs in good numbers. Try the Bridge Spans for lots of action. The larger fish will be well offshore over hard bottom. Live cigar minnows or pinfish will entice the larger fish, while jigs (Williamson Jig or AJ Jig) will trigger the most bites. Snapper action is still going strong. Squid, cigar minnows and chunks of northern mackerel are working well. The bag limit for state waters remains four snapper per person and 16” length, however in federal waters only two snapper per person and 16” length. Federal waters start basically nine miles from land, and is noted on your maps as the Natural resources boundary. Ladyfish, Bluefish and Bar Jacks are everywhere up and down the beaches right now. Throw Pompano Jigs, Gotcha’s and Spoons on light tackle for a lot of fun. Half Hitch Tackle
ST ANDREWS BAY SYSTEM - Flounder are being caught on drop-offs in the bays. Use a Carolina rig with live bull minnows for the best results. For artificial bait fishermen, use an 1/8 oz. jig with Gulp Curl Tail Minnows in a variety of colors. The Trout bite has been excellent the last few weeks. Target spotty bottom grass flats in the 1-3 foot range. Big trout can be caught early in the day on topwater plugs close to the shoreline. An excellent technique for drifting the flats is to rig a Berkley Gulp 4” Shrimp weedless with a standard wide gap worm hook and no weight. The bait will sink slow and with each twitch will dart erratically. The trout will nail it on the fall! Redfish are not schooling up very much right now but are biting good around docks with deeper holes. Gulp, Gold Spoons and Soft Jerk Baits are working well. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon, try throwing topwater baits (Spook Jr with a Red Head and White Body) for some explosive action. Half Hitch Tackle
DAN RUSSEL PIER - Spanish mackerel and a few Kings are being caught every day at the pier right now. Sharks, Pompano, Whiting, Blue Fish, and Lady Fish are also being caught. Call 850-233-5080 for the latest pier fishing information.
DestinThere have been plenty of tarpon at the pier along with a few kings, ladyfish and hardtails. In the surft the june grass has disipated somewhat and there are even a few pompano around, if someone told me i might not believe it in july but I was bored thursday afternoon and decided to try and ended up with too many ladyfish to count and 6 pompano. Kings have moved to deeper water due to the heat but can still be caught in numbers. Offshore fishing has stayed hot with plenty of dolphin, wahoo, marlin and some tuna. Bottom fishing is regular summer stuff, snappers for those light tackle fisherman, groupers on natural botton and amberjack good for those who like to jig. in the bay loads of big reds around the bridges and some sharks across the flats.
Fresh Water
APALACHICOLA /WHITE CITY - Your best bet would be to hit the tributaries off the Apalachicola River, and in the morning and evening hours use spinnerbaits and swap to the soft plastics in the afternoon such as Zoom brush hogs in blackberry/green pumpkin color. Bluegill will be best at first light along the shore in 2-3ft of water utilizing wigglers and crickets just off the bottom.
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.
Half Hitch Tackle
850-234-2621
2206 Thomas Dr
Panama City, Fl 32408
www.halfhitch.com/
