Daily activity:
Thursday 11th: water temp 83.3 SSW 2-5mph in the a.m. / 84.4 SW 810mph. The water was dark Bay water. Nory caught the only King Mackerel for the day. It was a “Schoolie”. There were both small and large Bonita this morning along with some Spanish Mackerel. Young Brant, from Leesburg, Ga. showed the older anglers how to catch a nice Bonita. James and his younger brother Peter had fun with the Bonita and Spanish. The group picture tells the story for the morning. The afternoon gave us a few small Bonita, Spanish, Ladyfish and Bluefish. The Hardtails came in as well. Live bait was thick – Cigar minnows, Speedos, Spanish Sardine and Alewives.
Friday: water temp 83.8 SW 5-6mph in the a.m. / 86040 WSW 10-13mph in the p.m. The water was dark but clean. There were lots of Bonita in the morning. Dave R. decked a 25.2-pound Jack Crevalle. Haden V. and Joe C. decked very early bird King Mackerel. A few Spanish Mackerel were caught throughout the day. The afternoon brought a few more Bonita, Ladyfish and Hardtails. John C. had fished all day for Kings and his patience paid off. He was drifting a large dead Cigar Minnow when his fish hit hard and began peeling line off his reel. It took a long run, but John brought it back to the gaff. It was a fat fish and hit the scale at 30 pounds. Live bait was plentiful- Cigar Minnows, Spanish Sardine, Speedos, Alewives and a few Threadfin Herring.
Saturday: water temp 84.9 N 4-9mph in the a.m. / 86.5 WSW 15-18mph in the p.m. The water was clean. Spanish Mackerel, summer Bonita, small Bonita and Hardtails were caught. Hunter Z. made one of his regular trips from Louisiana and was not having much luck the past few days. However, today his diligence paid off. He decked a 34-pound King Mackerel on a swim bait. Quite a catch. Congrats Hunter. Hachid had a nice 21-pound King hit his bait and immediately had to free spool it to keep it away from “Flipper”. Alberto C. caught the second Mahi for this year. Several Tarpon were hooked. Live bait was everywhere.
Sunday: water temp 83.1 W 15-17mph in the a.m. / 8?.9 SW 7-10mph wind in the p.m. The water was clean. Bonita, Spanish Mackerel and Hardtails were caught. Heath E. shows one of the Bonita he caught. Tarpon were hooked. No Kings. Live bait was available.
Monday: water temp 81.9 W 11-14mph in the a.m. / 83.3 WSW 14-19mph in the p.m. The water was clean. This was one of our best days of the year. There were Bonita, Northern Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, Jack Crevalle, one Mahi, Hardtails and Ladyfish caught. Several Tarpon were hooked. When I left the pier at 5:15, there were 6 King Mackerel and at least 15 big Jack Crevalle decked. Several big Spanish Mackerel were decked. The bite was split between natural bait and lures. Julian caught the biggest King on a lure. It weighed 20 pounds. King got the next largest at 18.5-pounds. There was one more tiny King caught right after sunset. The Jacks were all over 20 pounds, but Hachid got the largest at 29 pounds. He had a tug of war battle for about 45 minutes. The rail was crowded. Live bait was available.
Tuesday: water temp 80.8 SW9-11mph in the a.m. / 81.9 S 6-9mph in the p.m. The water was a little dingy. There were Bonita and a couple of Mahi in the morning. Tony from Tennessee got one of the Mahi and Trenton got the other. The afternoon saw rain and windstorms. We had a brief time with wind gusts to 36mph. The bite turned on for a couple of hours with 6 small King Mackerel caught. Robert B. got this one at the sand bar. Spanish Mackerel chewed for a while with some 3-pound fish caught. Hardtails and Ladyfish came in late. Live bait was available.
Wednesday 17th: water temp 80.8 SW 11-17mph in the a.m. / 81.9 S 10-15mph in the p.m. The water was dark but clean. Blake from Albany, Ga. Caught a 15.5-pound King Mackerel, Wilson decked his first King and Jose decked a King before 6:00 am. Then Brenda L, decked a 13.2-pound Bonita that whipped her …. Several more Bonita and a few Spanish Mackerel hit the pier deck during the morning. About lunch, Allan put a 15-pound King on the deck. The afternoon brought the Tarpon bite. Three were hooked by Sam, Keith and Jason N. Keith handed his Tarpon off to a young angler (about 10 years old) that fought the fish all the way to the surf. The fish weighed as much as the angler. After that, Big Jack Crevalle crashed the party. An unknown young angler and I hooked up at about the same time. We had to play the dance to keep our fish from tangling each other. His fish eventually shot the pilings and broke off. I managed to deck mine, a 25-pound fish, after a good battle. A short time later Shane F. hooked a Jack that wrestled him for a while before it shot the pilings and broke off. The remainder of the day was Hardtails and Ladyfish. The youth anglers showed us how to catch fish today! Live bait was available.
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 5:41am Sunset: 7:46pm
Thursday 18th. 11:40pm Low -0.2 1:05pm High 1.8
Friday 11:45pm Low 0.2 1:47pm High 1.5
Saturday 11:11pm Low 0.4 2:04pm High 1.2
Sunday 10:31am Low 0.8 8:25am High 0.8
10:13pm Low 0.6 1:30pm High 0.9
Monday 4:54pm Low 0.5 6:13am High 1.0
Tuesday 5:14pm Low 0.3 6:17am High 1.2
Wednesday 24th. 5:46pm Low 0.1 6:30am High 1.4
Sunrise: 5:42am Sunset: 7:47pm CST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
THURSDAY NIGHT
Southwest winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Wave Detail: South 2 feet at 7 seconds. Protected waters a light chop.
FRIDAY
Northwest winds around 5 knots, becoming southwest in the afternoon. Seas around 2 feet. Wave Detail: South 2 feet at 7 seconds. Protected waters a light chop.
FRIDAY NIGHT
West winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Wave Detail: Southwest 2 feet at 3 seconds and south 2 feet at 7 seconds. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SATURDAY
West winds 5 to 10 knots, increasing to 10 to 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots in the afternoon. Seas around 2 feet. Wave Detail: West 2 feet at 3 seconds and south 2 feet at 8 seconds. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SATURDAY NIGHT
West winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SUNDAY
West winds 5 to 10 knots, increasing to 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas around 2 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Southwest winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop.
MONDAY
Southwest winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
MONDAY NIGHT
Southwest winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight.
(local forecast).
THURSDAY (85/81 rain 48% wind S-15-25 in am / SSW 10-20 in pm)
FRIDAY (85/76 rain 60% wind SW-10-20 in am / WSW 5-10 in pm)
SATURDAY (84/78 rain 40% wind W 5-10 in am / Light & variable in pm)
SUNDAY (85/80 rain 37% wind SW-10-15 in am / SW 5-10 in pm)
MONDAY (88/80 rain 23% wind SW-10-20 in am / WSW 10-15 in pm)
TUESDAY (89/79 rain 33% wind WSW-10-20 in am / WNW 10-15 in pm)
WEDNESDAY(90/77 rain 24% wind W-10-15 in am / WNW 5-10 in pm)
PIER MANAGEMENT CONTACT INFORMATION:
Bay County Parks and Recreation – 5304 Majetti Tower Road Panama City, FL 32404
850-248-8730
Vince Martin – Bay Co. Parks Division Manager - vmartin@baycountyfl.gov - 850-896-6580
Timothy Pentice- Bay Co. Asst. Div. Mgr. – tprentice@baycountyfl.gov – 448-217-4219
Tight lines and screaming drags,
Sam
SLP053@BELLSOUTH.NET
770-265-2879
