January Means Lots of Panama City Florida Trout!
Capt. Rob Womble
December 29, 2008
Panama City - Saltwater Fishing Report
OK I know it has been awhile sense our last report but we have been busy doing other things. Capt. Todd has been traveling all over the Mid West hunting White Tails and I have been down in South America on a one month dive trip. After all it is the holidays so we decided we needed a vacation. The good news is we are back and we have already been running trips again. So let's get into what's happening.
Trout…that's what is happening right now up in the bay. The trout bite is pretty good right now. The weather has not stayed as cold as we would like it to be yet but fortunately it has been cold enough to keep a good amount of the trout up in the creeks. We have been catching good numbers of trout just inside the creek mouths. Target the deeper spots in the creek. Try to time your trip to the falling tide and cast up current and bring the lure towards the deeper spots and then let it drop. The trout will normally hit on the drop but some of them have been hitting the lure in the shallows. Right now our lure of choice is a ¼ oz jig head tipped with an electric chicken or any of your favorite colored grubs that have worked in the past. I have also been using a Catch 2000 Mirror Lure in the blue color. It‘s a suspending bait that allows you to vary the depth.
Of course when your fishing the creeks you never know what you may catch. Bass have to eat too.
Most of the trout we are catching in the creeks are schooling size about 13 to 16 inch but we have managed to dig out a limit just about every trip we take. The hot water canal isn't on fire yet but as soon as the temp drops a little the bigger trout and reds will move in. Top Water plugs are working pretty well in the canal right now. Trolling seems to be the ticket up in the Intracoastal Waterway. Slap on your favorite ¼ oz jig or diving plug and bump the boat in gear. Troll with the current and as soon as you start hooking up stop and fish that area.
Keep in mind the water levels are going to be lower than they are during the rest of the year. Winter time brings the lower tides so those areas that were safe to run during the spring and summer are now going to be shallow so be careful not to prop scare the flats.
We have been getting some calls over the past couple of weeks from fishermen wanting to know where to go and in some cases what to use for the trout and reds. I try to cover as much of that as I can in the reports but I know sometimes a little more info is needed so please feel free to give us a call. We will be more than happy to help out anyone if we can.
As always good luck out on the water and watch out for the other guy.
Capt. Rob Womble & Capt. Todd Jones
Back bay Adventures.
Panama City Fishing Forecast:
The trout fishing will continue to get better as the temperature falls and with the extremely low winter tides spotting redfish up on the flats will be a little easier.
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