Daily activity:
Thursday 09th. water temp 87.4 WSW 8-10mph in the a.m. / 87.6 SW 7-10mph. The water was clean. The air temperature and humidity were stifling. There were three very small King Mackerel, a few Bonitas and a couple of Spanish Mackerel caught this morning before the thunderstorm with heavy lightning shut the fishermen down. Von holds a Spanish he got. The afternoon started slowly with no wind and flat water. I hooked a Tarpon that only jumped once then proceeded to take 300 yards of line before it broke at the rod tip – had to re-spool. Then the youth anglers took the lead on Bonita and Kings. Brant, from Albany, Ga. Decked a King. Father and son, Garrett and Easton V., from Jacksonville, Al. decked a King and a Bonita. John C. slipped in the group with another King. Then Blake came back with a King. Several Bonita were caught as well. Live Alewives were available for live bait. Cigar minnows were scarce.
Friday: water temp 86.4 WSW 7-10ph in the a.m. / 87.4 SW 6-9mph in the p.m. The water was clean. Two King Mackerel were hooked in the very early morning. Jason’s fish got cut off on the piling and Blake managed to get his fish to the gaff. Over a dozen Bonitas were caught. The afternoon was slow with only one Tarpon hooked before 5:30. From then until dark there were a couple of Tarpon hooked and lose plus one small King decked (Granger’s wife). Live bait was available – Alewives and a scarce Cigar minnow.
Saturday: water temp 87.6 SW 10-12mph in the a.m. / 88.9 SW 11-14mph in the p.m. The water was clean except for the very shallow water. It was full of June grass. There were two King Mackerel hooked but lost. A few Spanish Mackerel and Bonita decked. Normal trash fish were caught. Live bait was available.
Sunday: water temp 88.2 W 9-12mph in the a.m. / 87.3 S 7-10mph wind in the p.m. The water was clean except for the very shallow water. It was full of June grass. As of 11:00 a.m. no King Mackerel were hooked. A couple of Spanish Mackerel and some trash fish were caught. After lunch, Hunter Z. caught and released a Cobia.
Monday: water temp 85.5 wind started WSW 15-20mph then about 6:30 switched to NW 8-12mph in the a.m. About 11:30 until 12:30, there was a thunderstorm with rain and W wind 22-30mph / after that we had WSW wind 12-15mph until about 4:50. Then a squall line moved through with SW wind from 25-39mph. We finished the afternoon with water temp. 84.9 SW 20-25mph in the late afternoon. The water was clean except for the very shallow water. It was full of June grass. The morning bite consisted of a few Bonitas and a Cobia. Rob spotted one Cobia swimming between two Eagle Rays. Dom C. cast a lure between them the fight was on. Dom successfully brought the fish to the gaff which measured 39 inches. The afternoon brought a few more Bonitas and a couple of Spanish Mackerel. Live bait was available -Cigar Minnows.
Tuesday: water temp 83.7 N 3-8mph in the a.m. By mid-afternoon W 10-12mph. Then about 4:15 a squall line blew in with WSW winds from 25 – 41mph. Around 6:00 p.m., it was still WSW but down to 16-20mph with the water temp 85.8 degrees. The water was silty with June grass. The skinny water was dirty. The morning was very slow with only a couple of Spanish Mackerel caught. About 3:30, a short Spanish bite began with at least a dozen Spanish caught. I saw one Bonita hit the deck. Alyssa hooked a Tarpon on a live Sardine and fought it to the pier before releasing it. Noah E. helped her pop it off. Live bait was tough to get but there were a few Cigar minnows, Spanish Sardine and Alewives.
Wednesday 15th. water temp 83.8 N 5-10mph in the a.m./ 85.6 W 16-22mph in the p.m. The water was silty with the shallow water nasty. Robert B. and Hai each caught a small King Mackerel on a bubble rig with a Clark spoon in the morning. Keith hooked a “schoolie” King only to lose it to a hungry Tiger Shark. Six-to-ten-pound Bonita were being caught throughout the day. There was around two dozen Spanish Mackerel decked. Live bait was difficult to catch but there were Cigar Minnows, Threadfin Herring, Spanish Sardine and Moonies available.
Red Tide status: In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Tides for the upcoming week:
New Moon Tuesday July 14, 2026 - Full Moon Wednesday July 29, 2026
Sunrise: 5:52am Sunset: 7:45pm
Saturday 9:40pm Low 0.6 2:09pm High 1.2
Sunday 9:05am Low 0.8 4:08am High 0.9
8:19pm Low 0.7 3:05pm High 0.9
Monday 3:10pm Low 0.6 4:01am High 1.6
Tuesday 3:58pm Low 0.4 3:59am High 1.3
Wednesday 22nd. 4:38pm Low 0.2 4:14am High 1.5
Sunrise: 5:55am Sunset: 7:42pm CST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
SATURDAY
Northwest winds 10 to 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Wave Detail: Northwest 3 feet at 5 seconds and south 1 foot at 8 seconds. Protected waters a moderate chop. Showers and thunderstorms likely.
SATURDAY NIGHT
Northwest winds 10 to 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop. Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms.
SUNDAY
Northwest winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters choppy. Showers and thunderstorms likely.
SUNDAY NIGHT
West winds 15 to 20 knots, becoming northwest 10 to 15 knots after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters choppy. Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms.
MONDAY
Northwest winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop. A chance of thunderstorms. Showers likely, mainly in the morning.
MONDAY NIGHT
West winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop. A chance of showers. A slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening, then a chance of thunderstorms after midnight.
(local forecast).
SATURDAY (90/78 rain 68% wind NNW 5-10 in am /NNW 5-10 in pm)
SUNDAY (90/79 rain 65% wind NW-5-10 in am / NW 5-10 in pm)
MONDAY (90/81 rain 54% wind WNW-5-10 in am / WNW 5-10 in pm)
TUESDAY (91/82 rain 40% wind W-5-10 in am / W 5-10 in pm)
WEDNESDAY(90/81 rain 24% wind WSW-5-10 in am / WSW 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
