Weekly Fishing Report 04/25/2013

PANAMA CITY BEACH OFFSHORE AND INSHORE
This past week the weather was a little kinder to us than the previous week, and there were good reports from the wrecks and reefs. Big Jacks and Red grouper from ten or more miles out, and plenty of stringer fish (Trigger fish, Bee liners, and White snapper) to help fill the box. Don’t be surprised to pick a Cobia off one of the wrecks, they are out there too and will readily hit baits on or near the bottom as well as swim up to the boat. They are a very curios fish and will investigate something floating above the wreck just like they would a piece of flotsam. King mackerel are being reported more and more along with Bonita, both trolling and flat lining a bait over a wreck has paid off.

In the surf and at the local piers the Pompano are a real good bet. Shrimp, Sand fleas or a tipped jig have produced plenty of fish. The water has cleared up nicely and the fish love it. Of course there are plenty of Spanish and Blues around so you will need plenty of spare tackle on hand to replace what gets clipped off. You will also find Redfish and Sheep head hanging around the pier pilings but they are pretty spooky so you will have to play your “A” game in order to fool them into biting. Most days there are a good amount of Cobia and or King mackerel around for the pier crowd to throw on, but a few days have been less than “stellar”. I guess we will have to continue going out there to see how we do un till someone comes up with a way to see into the future.

Sawyer Marin sent in the pictures below with the following caption, "Most have been caught on 3/4 oz. or 1 oz. Badonkadonk topwater plugs, but a lot have been on 1 1/4 oz. Badonkadonk Super Pogey rattletraps, & a few have been on 1 oz. silver spoons too. We've got 17 bull reds in just this past week.

ST ANDREWS BAY SYSTEM

Reds and Trout are finding their way up into the shallows back in the northern parts of the bay system. The morning bite however has been less than you would hope for probably due to the recent full moon and it’s affects on their feeding habits. Try your favorite point or drop off around dusk and you should have better luck. We are still getting reports on Flounder getting picked off local seawalls and docks that have deeper water access, drag a live bait on a jig head around these areas to try your hand. Sheep head, Reds, Mangrove snapper, and Black sea bass are around the Hathaway and Tyndall bridges as well as the pass. Spanish mackerel and Blue fish are in the pass and the shipping channel headed toward the Panama City Marina. On an incoming tide, you can count on catching them either trolling a mackerel tree or casting Gotcha’s and tandem rigs with small buck tails. It is definitely worth going, and you know you want to! Get out there!!!

NAVARRE
Last week was one of the best weeks for fishing in our area and this week is shaping up for more of the same.

Inshore the trout and redfish bite is in full swing. The trout bite is about as good as it gets in the sound and East Bay right now, especially if you are targeting gator trout. The females are full of roe and starving, so please release the larger females. They can be found around the large schools of mullet that are pretty much everywhere right now. MirrOlures Top Dog, Heddon’s Super Spook, Rapala’s Skitter Walk, and Bombers Badonk-A-Donk have been the go to top water baits this week. MirrOlure’s MirrOdine in 17 and 27MR in black and gold for when the water is muddy and chartreuse and silver when the water is clear are the go to suspending baits. Plenty of fish are also being landed on the old reliable live shrimp under a popping cork presentation. The same baits are also working for reds on the flats, but along the deeper docks you will need to switch to a shrimp and split shot presentation. There has also been good number of Spanish showing up in the sound and bays. All of the above baits will work for them, but be sure to increase your leader size or you will be going through a lot of expensive lures.

On the pier the king bite has begun to surpass the cobia bite in numbers, but there are still good numbers of fish sited and landed most days. Cigar minnows, Spanish sardines and threadfins are pretty thick right now around the pier. Spanish, bull reds, black drum, pompano, and the occasional sheepshead are also available. Got-Cha lures and Salt Slayer jigs have been the go to baits for targeting Spanish this week.  For the reds, black drum, pompano, and sheepsheads on live shrimp fished on the bottom has been the go to presentation.. On the beach the pompano bite is going strong with many reporting that they are catching their limit as well as the occasional red. The go to bait has been live sand fleas and live shrimp, but frozen fleas and shrimp will also do the trick.

Steve Gyurke with a 93lb Cobia caught in the Destin pass!

Off shore the cobia bite is still going strong with most of the fish are ranging from 30 to 40 pounds. Live eels have been the top baits, but many are also being landed on jigs. The amberjack bite is still going strong with most of the bigger fish being caught in water deeper than 150 feet. The King mackerel bite has exploded this week with many fish in the 30 to 40 pond range landed. Most are being caught by trolling around the large schools of bait that have shown up along area beaches or around nearshore wrecks. One of my most favorite methods this time of year is to anchor up on one of the near shore wrecks and chum them up to the boat. When they are really fired up you can catch them on artificial crank baits or even on a fly rod. Those bottom fishing are also getting in the action with trigger fish, red and scamp grouper, mingo snapper and red porgies. Have not hear any reports from out around the rigs this week, but I’m sure that they will explode any day now when the conditions are right.

Until next week tight lines!