The water was beautiful all week. The water temperature had warmed to 69.4 by Saturday afternoon but a cold front moved through Monday night that brought it down to 63 by this morning. It recovered some and was back to 65.1 by afternoon. Bait population increased during the week and Cigar Minnows were thick today. Squid have been caught by the bucket full mostly at night. The following species have been caught this week: Spanish Mackerel, Pompano, Red Drum, Flounder, Bluefish, Atlantic Kingfish (Whiting), Sheepshead, Squid, Cigar Minnows, and Pinfish.
Small Spanish Mackerel have been flooding through in large schools. Many anglers caught their limits. Large Sabikis have been the most productive but some success was had with Gotchas. Here is a shot of anglers lined up catching Spanish. If you zoom in, you can see the Spanish on the sabiki.
Pompano have been hit but mostly miss. However, there were several caught this week. Victor did well Sunday evening just before dark. He missed his limit by one.
Red Drum were almost totally absent. We caught none from Thursday until Tuesday. Casey spotted a few milling in the shallows and was able to convince a 29 inch Red to eat his fresh Squid. Too bad it was over-slot.
Daily activity:
Thursday: water temp 64.9 – 67.1 Lots of small Spanish Mackerel, 6 Atlantic Kingfish (Whiting), a few Squid and Cigar Minnows very early morning.
Friday: water temp 66.6 – 67.3 Lots of small Spanish Mackerel, Squid, and a few Cigar Minnows.
Saturday: water temp 66.6 – 69.4 Spanish Mackerel, Pompano, Flounder, Bluefish
Sunday: water temp 66.6 – 67.8 Spanish Mackerel
Monday: water temp 66.2 – 67.5 – 65.5 Lots of small Spanish Mackerel, two Sheepshead, a few Cigar Minnows and Squid. A cold front moved in and the water temp dropped late evening.
Tuesday: water temp. 65.5 – 63.9 - 65.3 Overnight the air temp dropped to 42 degrees. Spanish Mackerel, Cigar Minnows, Squid, one Red Drum and one Pompano.
Wednesday: water temp 63.0 – 65.1 Another cold morning hit the water temp. Small Spanish Mackerel, A few Pompano, Squid and lots of Cigar Minnows
Red Tide status: In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Bay County.
Tides Link
https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-cityngin g
Full Moon Monday Mar. 25, 2024 New Moon Monday Apr. 08, 2024
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 6:44am Sunset: 6:55pm
Friday 6:41am Low 0.0 9:58pm High 0.9
Saturday 5:42am Low 0.2 11:58am High 0.4
3:41pm Low 0.4 10:58pm High 0.8
Sunday 5:30am Low 0.3 11:43pm High 0.6
5:11pm Low 0.3
Monday 5:13am Low 0.4 12.08am High 0.6
6:23pm Low 0.2 11:33am High 0.7
Tuesday 4:20am Low 0.5 1:26am High 0.5
7:33pm Low 0.1 11:08am High 0.9
Wednesday 27th. 8:47pm Low 0.0 11:15am High 1.0
Sunrise: 6:38am Sunset: 6:58pm CDST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
FRIDAY
Southeast winds 15 to 20 knots with gusts up to 30 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet with a dominant period of 4 seconds. Protected waters choppy. Showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms.
FRIDAY NIGHT
South winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet with a dominant period of 6 seconds. Protected waters choppy. A slight chance of thunderstorms. Showers likely, mainly in the evening.
SATURDAY
West winds 15 to 20 knots, becoming northwest 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots in the afternoon. Seas 4 to 6 feet with a dominant period of 7 seconds. Protected waters rough. A slight chance of thunderstorms. A chance of showers, mainly in the morning.
SATURDAY NIGHT
North winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet with a dominant period of 6 seconds. Protected waters rough.
SUNDAY
North winds 15 to 20 knots, becoming northeast 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 5 feet with a dominant period of 6 seconds. Protected waters choppy.
SUNDAY NIGHT
East winds around 10 knots, increasing to 15 to 20 knots after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period of 4 seconds. Protected waters choppy.
MONDAY
East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet with a dominant period of 4 seconds. Protected waters choppy.
MONDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 15 to 20 knots, increasing to 20 to 25 knots after midnight. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Protected waters rough. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight.
(local forecast).
FRIDAY (71/61 rain 60% wind SE-13)
SATURDAY (72/53 rain 24% wind NNW-19)
SUNDAY (73/56 rain 05% wind E-11)
MONDAY (74/65 rain 12% wind ESE-21)
TUESDAY (72/63 rain 76% wind SE-19)
WEDNESDAY(73/56 rain 58% wind ESE-14)
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
