Beautiful weather and water along with good winds usually translate into hot fishing. However, the bite is still slow but improving. We had a decent King bite Sunday and Monday afternoon/evening. Spanish Mackerel have been our best catches as schools are passing through. Late afternoons, skinny water has had a decent population of Red Drum and Sheepshead prowling but they mostly had lock jaw. Small wads of Tarpon are coming through and Tommy was able to get hooked-up with one for a couple of jumps before the hook pulled. Cigar minnows, Alewives and a few Threadfin Herring are here.
Our best days for King and big Spanish were Sunday and Monday. If you either stayed late or waited until late afternoon to fish, you had a decent chance of hooking a King or Spanish. Natural bait out fished plastics. Tommy, Will, Brandon and George each brought fish over the rail. A couple of Kings were in the high teens in weight and one Spanish was close to 6 pounds. The rest of the week was almost void of a bite. Jose did deck one last Wednesday afternoon.
Yesterday afternoon, the Spanish began schooling in the shallow water and were feeding on the masses of rain minnows that were around the pier. Gotchas, spoons and bubble rigs with a fly were the hot bait. Quite a few Spanish were caught with Ladyfish and Hardtails in the mix.
Just as with the Kings, fish presence in skinny water seemed to be limited to late afternoon. Several anglers fished all day with no bites until late. Yesterday, I was about to throw in the towel when a few Red Drum and a big school of Sheepshead started working the shallows. I am talking 2 to 3 feet of water. I worked the fish hard with live Sand Fleas for a while before they started to eat. I managed to get a Sheepy hooked only to have it pull as I got the fish on top of the water. Sight fishing was the ticket and I soon got a small Red hooked. It was a slot at 19.5 inches but after a quick photo, I released it hoping for good karma. The rains were about to run me off but after loosing about 20 Fleas to the Sheepshead, I was determined to take one home for dinner. The good karma paid off as on my last drop I got a solid hook set and decked a 6 pound 2 ounce slab.
Over the past several weeks, large Manta Rays have occasionally graced our eyes with their natural beauty. I got this short video of one of two that came into the shallows Monday afternoon. (see-9128)
Water temperature: 78-80
MM | DD | TIME
(EDT) | WDIR | WSPD
kts | GST
kts | WVHT
ft | DPD
sec | APD
sec | MWD | PRES
in | PTDY
in | ATMP
°F | WTMP
°F | DEWP
°F | SAL
psu | VIS
nmi | TIDE
ft |
06 | 03 | 7:12 am | NE | 4.1 | 5.1 | - | - | - | - | 30.06 | - | 74.8 | 80.4 | - | - | - | - |
06 | 03 | 7:06 am | ENE | 4.1 | 6.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.06 | - | 74.7 | 80.4 | - | - | - | - |
06 | 03 | 7:00 am | NE | 5.1 | 6.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.06 | +0.00 | 74.7 | 80.4 | - | - | - | - |
06 | 03 | 6:54 am | ENE | 5.1 | 6.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.06 | - | 74.7 | 80.4 | - | - | - | - |
06 | 03 | 6:48 am | ENE | 5.1 | 6.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.06 | - | 74.7 | 80.4 | - | - | - | - |
06 | 03 | 6:42 am | NE | 5.1 | 6.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.06 | - | 74.7 | 80.4 | - | - | - | - |
https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-city
Tides for the week: Full Moon Friday June 05, 2020 New Moon Sunday June 21, 2020
Sunrise: 5:41am Sunset: 7:42pm
Thursday 04th. 7:45pm Low -0.2 8:43am High 1.6
Friday 8:42pm Low -0.4 9:14am High 1.8
Saturday 9:35pm Low -0.4 9:58am High 1.8
Sunday 10:25pm Low -0.4 10:48am High 1.8
Monday 11:09pm Low -0.3 11:38am High 1.8
Tuesday 11:47pm Low -0.2 12:23pm High 1.7
Wednesday 10th. 1:00pm High 1.6 Sunrise:5:41am Sunset: 7:45pm
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
THURSDAY
Southeast winds 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet.
Dominant period 4 seconds. Protected waters a light chop.
Thunderstorms likely and rain in the morning, then chance of
showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.
THURSDAY NIGHT
South winds 10 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet.
Dominant period 5 seconds. Protected waters a light chop. Showers
and thunderstorms likely.
FRIDAY
South winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Dominant
period 5 seconds. Protected waters a light chop. Showers and
thunderstorms likely in the morning, then chance of showers and
thunderstorms in the afternoon.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 15 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet
with occasional seas up to 6 feet. Protected waters a moderate
chop. Chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, then
showers and thunderstorms likely after midnight.
SATURDAY
Southeast winds 20 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet with
occasional seas up to 9 feet building to 7 to 10 feet with
occasional seas up to 13 feet in the afternoon. Protected waters
choppy. Showers and thunderstorms in the morning, then rain with
thunderstorms likely in the afternoon.
SATURDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 8 to
11 feet with occasional seas up to 14 feet building to 10 to
13 feet with occasional seas up to 17 feet after midnight.
Protected waters choppy. Showers and thunderstorms likely.
SUNDAY
Southeast winds 20 knots. Seas 10 to 13 feet with
occasional seas up to 17 feet subsiding to 8 to 11 feet with
occasional seas up to 14 feet in the afternoon. Protected waters
choppy. Showers and thunderstorms likely.
(local forecast)
THURSDAY (83/74 rain 20% wind SSE-10)
FRIRDAY (84/75 rain 40% wind SSE-10)
SATURDAY (82/75 rain 90% wind ESE-16)
SUNDAY (82/76 rain 90% wind SE-21)
MONDAY (85/77 rain 80% wind S-15)
TUESDAY (84/77 rain 50% wind SSW-12)
WEDNESDAY(84/76 rain 80% wind SW-12)
Tight lines and screaming drags,
Sam
