BAY COUNTY OUTDOORS in cooperation with Bay County Recreation is promoting a Cobia Pier Tournament. The Registration is FREE and the registration form is on BCO web page. It is simple to register and only requires your Name and Email. Entry began 04-09-2021 and the close of the Tournament will be May 22nd. at 5:00 p.m. Here is a link:
https://www.baycountyoutdoors.com/tournament
Tournament prizes will be from additional sponsors: Rapala; Suffix; VMC; DOA and Grudens. There will be three places:
1st: $500.00 equivalent of tackle
2nd: $350.00 equivalent of tackle
3rd: $150.00 equivalent of tackle
I will be the Tournament Official to Weigh and record all entries. If I am not on the pier, you can call me at 770-265-2879. BCO said if you are lucky and have multiple fish, you can win in 1 or all 3 categories. In case of a tie, the first fish weighed will take the lead in that catagory. The fish must be caught on the M.B. Miller Pier and all FWC laws and regulations must be followed.
There are only three days left and a vast majority of Cobia anglers have quit looking. It is not over yet. Norito hooked a large fish this morning only to have a leader failure. Two more groups of Cobia were spotted near the pier later in the day.
CURRENT STANDINGS TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD:
First place: Jacob H. 39 pounds 6 ounces
Second place: Kelly P. 25 pounds 7 ounces
Third place: Jackson Z. 22 pounds 4 ounces
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If you haven’t been on the pier lately, you would not believe how crowded it has gotten. Last weekend was unbelievable. Hardtails, Ladyfish and Bluefish have been plentiful and the angler population has matched the catch. Countless cooler fulls of fish have been carted off the pier. Spanish have run early mornings and a few Pompano are still hanging in the shallows. The water has held around 75 degrees and bait has arrived. We have had schools of Threadfin Herring, Cigar Minnows, Alewives and Spanish Sardine by the thousands. The parking has been reasonable during the weekdays but the weekends are a disaster.
The big news this week happened Monday afternoon as George M. was drifting a dead Alewife(Scaled Sardine) off the west side of the Tee. It was right after lunchtime when the large shadow quickly approached George’s bait. It was an immediate hit and the line began to fly off the spool. Thirty-pound braid on a Penn Slammer III 6500 would do the job but not before two screaming runs. George saw over 300 yards of line run off his reel on the first run with only a 100 yard gain before the second run. The fight was complicated by a second small fish that was hooked on the same side of the pier. Keeping the two lines separated was a challenge but good work by both anglers got it done. We all knew this was a big fish but we didn’t know how big until it was finally brought by pier side and to the two waiting gaffs. Brandon got a tail shot then Tiger sunk the bigger gaff into its head. Both were glad they could share the load as the massive fish was hoist onto the deck. It was so long, we had to stand on a bench to lift the fish high enough to get a weight. The scale read 53.33 pounds. This would take second place slightly below the 55 pounder that holds the pier record. Later that afternoon Brandon was rewarded with a nice fish. Many Kings were hooked and landed over the past 7 days but none even close to this huge “Smoker”.
Spanish were caught most mornings and a few times during the evenings. Lures and bait worked. Some larger ones were decked as Dan shows a few he got.
Water temperature: 75-76
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MM, | D, D | 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 |
05 | 1; Brandon9 | 7:12 am | E | 8.9 | 14.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.14 | - | 68.5 | 75.0 | - | - | - | - |
05 | 19 | 7:06 am | ESE | 8.0 | 13.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.14 | - | 68.7 | 75.0 | - | - | - | - |
05 | 19 | 7:00 am | ESE | 8.0 | 13.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.14 | +0.04 | 68.7 | 75.0 | - | - | - | - |
05 | 19 | 6:54 am | E | 7.0 | 11.1 | - | - | - | - | 30.13 | - | 68.7 | 75.0 | - | - | - | - |
05 | 19 | 6:48 am | ESE | 6.0 | 15.0 | - | - | - | - | 30.13 | - | 68.7 | 75.2 |
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https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-cityngin g
Full Moon Wednesday May 26, 2021 New Moon Thursday June 10, 2021
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 5:46am Sunset: 7:34pm
Thursday 20th. 1:43am Low 0.1 3:47pm High 1.2
Friday 2:03am Low 0.2 5:08pm High 0.9
Saturday 2:06am Low 0.5 9:09am High 0.9
3:46pm Low 0.6 9:30pm High 0.7
Sunday 1:01am Low 0.7 8:52am High 1.1
5:15pm Low 0.3
Monday 6:28pm Low 0.0 8:33am High 1.6
Tuesday 7:38pm Low -0.3 8:44am High 1.6
Wednesday 26th. 8:46pm Low -0.4 9:20am High 1.8
Sunrise:5:43am Sunset: 7:37pm CDST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
THURSDAY
East winds 20 knots. Seas 6 to 8 feet with
occasional seas up to 10 feet. Dominant period 7 seconds.
Protected waters choppy.
THURSDAY NIGHT
East winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet
with occasional seas up to 9 feet. Dominant period 7 seconds.
Protected waters choppy.
FRIDAY
East winds 20 knots decreasing to 15 knots
late in the afternoon. Seas 6 to 8 feet with occasional seas up
to 10 feet. Dominant period 7 seconds. Protected waters choppy.
FRIDAY NIGHT
East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet with
occasional seas up to 8 feet. Dominant period 8 seconds.
Protected waters a moderate chop.
SATURDAY
Southeast winds 15 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet with
occasional seas up to 8 feet. Dominant period 7 seconds.
Protected waters a moderate chop.
SATURDAY NIGHT
East winds 5 to 10 knots becoming northeast 10 to
15 knots in the late evening. Seas 3 to 5 feet with
occasional seas up to 6 feet. Dominant period 7 seconds.
Protected waters a light chop.
SUNDAY
Southeast winds 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet.
Dominant period 6 seconds. Protected waters a light chop.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Southwest winds 5 to 10 knots becoming north 5 to
10 knots early in the morning. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Dominant period
6 seconds. Protected waters mostly smooth.
MONDAY
North winds 5 to 10 knots becoming southwest 10
knots in the afternoon. Seas 1 to 2 feet. Protected waters
mostly smooth.
local forecast)
THURSDAY (82/67 rain 05% wind ESE-17)
FRIDAY (83/66 rain 03% wind SE-16)
SATURDAY (81/67 rain 05% wind SE-12)
SUNDAY (83/68 rain 05% wind S-11)
MONDAY (86/70 rain 05% wind W-11)
TUESDAY (86/70 rain 04% wind WSW-11)
WEDNESDAY(86/70 rain 09% wind WSW-11)
PIER MANAGEMENT CONTACT INFORMATION:
Bay County Parks and Recreation – 5304 Majetti Tower Road Panama City, FL 32404
850-248-8730
Travis Barbee – Bay County Parks Division Manager – tbarbee@baycountyfl.gov – 850-381-8155
Tabitha Kimball – Bay County Beach Operations Manager - tkimball@baycountyfl.gov - 850-896-6078
Tight lines and screaming drags,
Sam
