The 2025 BCO King Mackerel Tournament (09-28 to 11-09, 2025) began Sunday morning at 06:00. We are 18 days into the event and four fish have been submitted. The current leaders are 1st place: Jim S. 16.01# 10-04-25 06:20 am; 2nd place: Jackie K. 9.22# 10-25-25 4:30pm. We have 136 registered participants as of today, 10-15-25
You can still register (free) by text, messenger or email to Sam at SLP053@BELLSOUTH.NET or 770-265-2879 You can see the full announcement with all the information including the current leader standings and the latest participation list at:
www.facebook.com/sam.patrick.315
Daily activity:
Thursday: water temp 81.7 NE 6-9mph in the a.m. / 82.2 NNE 5-10mph in the p.m. The water was clean. There was only a couple of Spanish Mackerel in the morning. The afternoon saw lots of Ladyfish and a couple more small Spanish. There were Alewives available for live bait.
Friday: water temp 80.1 NE 10-20mph in the a.m. / 80.6 12-20mph in the p.m. The water was clean. There were 6 snake King Mackerel caught this morning like this one Brenda got. Nory caught the biggest one that weighed 8.1-pounds. Only a few Spanish Mackerel and Ladyfish were caught today. Shane caught and released a small Sailfish. There were Cigar Minnows available for live bait.
Saturday: water temp 78.8 NNE 9-18mph in the a.m. / 80.1 NNE 9-20mph in the p.m. The water was clean. There were Spanish Mackerel, Ladyfish, Hardtails and a couple of under sized Flounder caught. Austin caught a Bonita. There were Cigar Minnows and Alewives available for live bait
Sunday: water temp 78.6 NNE 4-6mph in the a.m. / 79.9 W 8-11mph in the p.m. The water was clean. There was a decent Spanish Mackerel and Ladyfish bite. Hardtails were in the mix too. Several big Sailfish were spotted. Carlos got bit, but the hook didn’t set. Hachid got hammered by a big Sailfish that screamed well over 500 yards of line off his reel before the hook pulled. Mark caught 11 Flounder but only two were keepers. There were Threadfin Herring and Cigar Minnows available for live bait.
Monday: water temp 78.3 NE 6-8mph in the a.m. / 79.3 WSW 8-11mph in the p.m. The water was clean. The morning was dead except for one very small Sailfish. The afternoon was filled with lots of Ladyfish and only a couple of Spanish Mackerel. I got the only King Mackerel bite, but the hook pulled after about 5 minutes. Bait was very scarce.
Tuesday: water temp 78.2-1 NE 6-8mph in the a.m. / 79.9 W 9-12mph in the p.m. The water was clean. The morning was very slow. Rob got a big Bar Jack. The afternoon produced two snake Kings. Brandon and Ben decked small Kings. There were Cigar Minnows available for live bait.
Wednesday: water temp 78.4 NE 6-9mph in the a.m. / 79.9 WSW 7-9mph in the p.m. The water was clean but had a tinge of silt. The morning was dead except two Spanish Mackerel and some Hardtails. The afternoon started slowly but, at about 4:15, we had a short King bite. I got hit first and decked an 11.16-pound King using a Cigar Minnow. Then Jackie K. decked a 9.22-pound King on a spoon. This bumped Dom and moved Jackie into second place in the Tournament. Dom then got an undersized King using a jerk bait.
Red Tide status: In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low concentrations in one sample collected from Bay County and background to medium concentrations in nine samples collected from Gulf County.
Tides Link
https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-cityngin g
Full Moon Monday Oct. 06, 2025 - New Moon Tuesday Oct. 21, 2025
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 6:45am Sunset: 6:10pm
Thursday 16th. 4:32pm Low 0.6 7:02am High 1.6
Friday 3:55pm Low 0.8 8:23am High 1.4
9:57pm High 1.1
Saturday 3:08am Low 0.9 9:43am High 1.2
3:15pm Low 0.9 9:43pm High 1.2
Sunday 4:38am Low 0.7 11:29am High 1.0
1:51pm Low 1.0 9:34pm High 1.4
Monday 5:45am Low 0.6 9:16pm High 1.6
Tuesday 6:41am Low 0.4 9:23pm High 1.7
Wednesday 22nd. 7:36am Low 0.3 9:49pm High 1.8
Sunrise: 6:49am Sunset: 6:04pm CST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
THURSDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds around 5 knots, becoming east after midnight. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop.
FRIDAY
Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop.
SATURDAY
East winds 5 to 10 knots, becoming southeast 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SATURDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 10 to 15 knots, diminishing to 5 to 10 knots after midnight. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SUNDAY
South winds 5 to 10 knots, becoming southwest 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a moderate chop. A chance of showers and thunderstorms.
SUNDAY NIGHT
West winds 5 to 10 knots, becoming north after midnight. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop. A chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening.
MONDAY
North winds 5 to 10 knots. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop.
MONDAY NIGHT
Northeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop.
(local forecast).
THURSDAY (85/67 rain 06% wind SSE-08)
FRIDAY (83/67 rain 05% wind SE-09)
SATURDAY (83/73 rain 05% wind SE-13)
SUNDAY (80/61 rain 46% wind SW-11)
MONDAY (79/60 rain 03% wind NNE-10)
TUESDAY (82/66 rain 09% wind SSW-08)
WEDNESDAY(81/65 rain 17% wind WNW-09)
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
