We finally climbed out of the 60’s Friday and hit 74.5 degrees this afternoon. The water clarity hasn’t been great. We had strong winds over the weekend with some gale-force gusts. The water was trashed. By today, it was cleaner but still Bay water. The Pompano bite and the Spanish Mackerel bite has been good. Other species caught were: King Mackerel, Red Drum, Black Drum, Hardtails, Gaff top catfish, Whiting, Northern Mackerel Sharks, Hardtails, Cigar Minnows, Threadfin Herring and a few Alewives.
Tuesday morning, the 16th, brought the first big King Mackerel. Allan S. was drifting a Cigar Minnow when the “Smoker” King came in chasing Hardtails. The fish veered off the Hardtails and hit his Cigar Minnow. After a short fight, Allen successfully brought his fish to the gaff. This is only the second King caught off the County this year and the first fish that weighed 30 pounds. Congratulations Allan! There were two other King bites that morning, but neither were on for long.
The Spanish Mackerel bite has been good. A few fish were caught in the afternoons but early mornings were far better. A few anglers got their daily limits. This week we saw many larger fish in the catches like the one Jeff is holding. There were even a few that might have been just over 3 pounds.
Bonita have still been MIA but a few Northern Mackerel have been mixed with the Spanish. Here’s one Sonny decked Tuesday:
Bottom fishing picked-up a little with several Red Drum catches. Jasper, Lorri, Stewart and Jake put one on the pier. This would be Lorri’s and Stewart’s first Reds ever caught. Jasper was fishing with his Grandfather Johnny and had a blast.
Pompano have been thick. There were good catches most days. Fresh live Sand Fleas were your best bait but many fish were caught on Jigs. Jeffery caught the big fish for the week at 3.68 pounds.
Daily activity:
Thursday: water temp 68.9 – 69.8 High winds (some gale force gusts) Dirty water.
Friday: water temp 68.2 – 70.0 A Red Drum, a Black Drum, a Gaff Top Sail cat, Sharks and a few Pompano Wind still strong and very dirty water.
Saturday: water temp 67.5 - 70.3 Pompano, Spanish Mackerel
Sunday: water temp 68.0 69.6 Pompano, Spanish Mackerel
Monday: water temp 69.6 – 72.1 Lots of Spanish Mackerl up to 3#, Pompano, a Red Drum, Hard Tails, Squid after dark..
Tuesday: water temp 70.2 – 73.4 One 30# King Mackerel (Allan S), Spanish Mackerel in am, Pompano, a couple of Red Drum, a Northern Mackerel, Hard Tails.
Wednesday: water temp 72.5 – 74.5 Pompano, Hard Tails, Spanish Mackerel in the am, a couple of Whiting, a few Cigar Minnows and Threadfin Herring
Red Tide status: In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Tides Link
https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-cityngin g
New Moon Monday Apr. 08, 2024 Full Moon Tuesday Mar. 23, 2024
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 6:11am Sunset: 7:12pm
Thursday 18th. 4:23am Low 0.1 7:35pm High 1.0
Friday 3:56am Low 0.3 11:18am High 0.6
2:06pm Low 0.6 8:52pm High 0.8
Saturday 3:34am Low 0.4 10:02am High 0.8
3:59pm Low 0.5 10:18pm High 0.7
Sunday 3:13am Low 0.6 9:52am High 0.9
Monday 6:14pm Low 0.2 9:36am High 1.2
Tuesday 7:14pm Low 0.0 9:30am High 1.4
Wednesday 24th. 8:16pm Low -0.1 9:52am High 1.4
Sunrise: 6:05am Sunset: 7:16pm CDST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
(local forecast).
THURSDAY (76/70 rain 35% wind S-14)
FRIDAY (77/59 rain 57% wind SSW-23)
SATURDAY (75/56 rain 08% wind NW-08)
SUNDAY (77/61 rain 10% wind E-10)
MONDAY (77/64 rain 21% wind SE-10)
TUESDAY (77/68 rain 24% wind SW-10)
WEDNESDAY(77/67 rain 24% wind WSW-11)
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
Tight lines and screaming drags,
Sam
