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Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
PORT ST. JOE & MEXICO BEACH
Offshore & Near ShoreOpening next week: Red snapper recreational supplemental fall season: state waters (Gulf) Oct 1-21, Federal waters Oct 1-14.
With the opening of red snapper recreational season Oct 1, next week’s fishing report should include some large and numerous catches of red snapper and grouper. From recent reports the grouper bite has been extremely good with the larger ones being caught at 150 feet. Gray snapper and vermillion snapper are active with several reports of live shrimp and small mullet chunks being the choice baits. The king mackerel and Spanish mackerel are still in the near shore area, but will not be here much longer. Trolled cigar minnows on dusters, free-lined live bait, and lipped hard plastic lures are the usual king mackerel offerings. The Spanish mackerel seem to be larger than usual this time of year and are eager to hit trolled mackerel rigs. All Spanish are being caught in the open Gulf water and not in the bay. Amberjacks are giving anglers more than most can handle, fully deserving of their nickname reef donkeys.
St Joe BayThe hottest artificial baits the past week are the soft plastic Vudu Shrimp and the Savage Gear Manic Shrimp, both work extremely well in St Joe Bay and are durable. The redfish and trout bite has picked up in the bay – possibly due to improved water clarity. The top water action in the shallow grass beds early in the morning and late in the evening provides some excitement. Flounder action is sporadic with scattered favorable reports. Both the mouth of Port St Joe canal as it empties into the St Joe Bay and farther up in the canal are holding large flounder, redfish, and black drum. While fishing in the canal, one customer’s wife complained about being hung on the bottom only to discover her big bull minnow was swallowed by a 27 inch flounder.
Lori and Greg below with nice redfish caught this past Thursday in St Joe Bay.with Capt. Dan of Perfect Cast Charters!
Surf/ShoreThere have been reports of increased pompano action in the Mexico Beach and Port St Joe Beach areas. Bull reds and big black drum have been caught in the surf about 200 yards from the Mexico Beach Canal, on the Tyndall side of the canal. The fishing spot was a secret with local folks, but the word is out now. The weather is great, the landscape and seascape are beautiful, and occasionally the fish are willing to cooperate. Spend some quality time outdoors. Enjoy
RUSSELL-FIELDS PIER AND M.B. MILLER PIER
Mother Nature gave us the perfect seasonal conditions over the past week. Last Thursday’s full moon followed by late evening high tides, and a breezes out of the south have produced large hauls of Spanish mackerel. They are out in full force and they are ravenous. They are captivated by the bubble rigs of any color and are stealing their fair share of Gotcha lures, so don’t forget your steel leaders! One lucky couple walked away with twenty-nine on Wednesday pictured below.
Larry & Margaret Baker of Atlanta, Ga with their Spanish Mackerel catch September 25th at M.B. Miller.
The elusive King mackerel are still out there. A few lucky fishermen have managed to pull up some nice ones in the 18-22lb. range. Kings, like Spanish, enjoy the Gotcha lures of the red head and silver body variety. Kings are also inclined to take a voracious nibble of the abundance of bait fish we are seeing right now, so bring your Sabiki rigs. Mackerel enjoy the tepid water temperatures provided by dawn, so grab your rod and reel and be at the piers early. Timing is everything.
Larry Fox of Ellijay, Ga. caught this 18lb. King Mackerel!
With the incoming tides and rough water, Redfish have made a huge comeback this week. Just about everyone has enjoyed getting a red or two in the old cooler. We’ve had several in the 24-26 range. They respond well to both live and frozen bait.
Pictured below, a 24 Redfish caught by Larry Baker of Atlanta, Ga.
Bluefish have been hanging around the piers most of the week and are being caught in good numbers on frozen mullet. No reports of Whiting have been made, but that doesn’t mean they are not still out there. It simply means we just haven’t heard about them. A few flounder have turned up now and then biting on frozen squid and shrimp, and hard tails are proving plentiful. Lady fish are out in good number and make excellent bait when chunked.
Shark fishing is proving to be a worthwhile venture. Right now, it is the guaranteed catch. Many sand, black tip, and nurse sharks are still plentiful around the pier because of the numerous bait fish that have been available. Over the past week some nice size ones have been landed, some as large as 6-8 feet long.
Surf fishing has been fairly slow this week. Between Tuesday night’s rain storm and the crashing 3-4ft. surf we’ve had most of the week, it is a murky, stirred up mess. It is best leave this water to the surfers for a while and concentrate on other areas know to produce.
PANAMA CITY BEACH
OFFSHORETuesday the first of October is opening day of Red snapper (both State and Federal- two weeks in Federal and three in State) and everyone is chomping at the bit. Cooler weather and Grouper open too! It will be nice to drop a line down, hook a nice big Red snapper or a Gag grouper and actually be able to throw it in the box. Speaking of bottom fishing, last weeks best catches came in from the ledge around twenty to thirty miles offshore but some keeper size fish have been picked off the stuff within ten miles. We are still getting a few Cobia either shot or caught off some of the wrecks and if you are not ready for them when they swim up to the boat you will likely not see them again. Not much different from last week as far as water temps, still in the mid eighties. And the water clarity inshore changes almost daily with rain totals, wind and tides. There are plenty of King mackerel and Bonita to be had along the beach and out around the buoys, out further some mid size Mahi-mahi and Wahoo have been reported. The blue water you seek is not too far, say twenty miles or so to the west and out. The AJ’s and Trigger fish are waiting for you in 100 feet of water or more over structure like the Red Sea Tug, Dupont and Hathaway spans.
SURFFishing from the beach can be a little slow but there are some Flounder and Reds on the move. Find yourself a cut in the sand bar to place your bait if you can, these are feeding stations for surf dwellers. Pompano and a few Whiting are around too but not in large numbers. Spanish, Bluefish and of course Ladyfish can be found trolling Clark spoons along the beach or casting bubble rigs in the surf. The water along the beach has been kind of dirty but late in the day when the tide is on it’s way in it improves a little.
ST ANDREWS BAY SYSTEM
Redfish and Flounder are on our minds this time of year. It is about time for their annual spawning runs and they get a little more predictable than usual. Place a live bait or your favorite artificial in a likely spot this time of year and odds are you can count on bringing something home for dinner. Places like edges of drop offs along channels and mixed bottom (grass and sand) are good for Flounder. You can also of course find Reds there too, but fishing deeper waters down in the channels and timing your trip to coincide with good tidal flow really ups the odds for Redfish. Speckled Trout are hitting pretty good in the morning and evening, bigger baits seem to find bigger fish. A nice silver dollar sized pinfish or large finger mullet will lend itself to a strike from a gator trout while the dinks will have to pass. Set yourself up fishing a grass flat in about three or four feet of water on an incoming tide (or at least moving water) and use a float to keep your bait out of the grass. If all else fails try around any kind of structure for Mangrove snapper, they are all over the bay and can definitely be a day saver. A fourteen or fifteen inch Mangrove is worth keeping in my book. But hey, I’m easy just ask my wife!
DESTINFall has arrived and so has some excellent fishing!
Kings have really turned on over the last few days, Trolling just outside the pass, broken bottom, southeast rocks and timberholes.
Wahoo and Blackfin tuna are good near the southwest ledge and the edges southwest of there.
Trout and Redfish are strong on the flats west of the Coast Guard station and the flats from Destin Marina back to the Army Recreation area. Fish both the in coming and out going tides with live shrimp, pinfish and the new Savage Shrimp Lures. The new Savage Shimp have been hot!!
Grouper and Amberjack are gone 150 to 400ft rocks and ledges.
Red Snapper opens next Tuesday for 14 days in federal waters and 21 days in state waters and should be on fire.
Also the Destin Rodeo starts Tuesday October 1st for the entire month, Plan your trip or book your charter! Weigh-ins are 10am to 7pm. Come to the docks at AJ’s to see all the action unfold.
This Fishing Report was submitted on 9/26/2013 1:55:23 AM by Seamus and last updated on 9/29/2013 1:55:23 AM.
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