Panama City "Redfish Extravaganza!"
Capt. Mike Pankey
July 19, 2008
Panama City - Saltwater Fishing Report
July 15th, I would like to thank Kevin, and his Father in law, Buddy, for another excellent fishing trip! Both were great company as well as first class anglers... thanks guys!
We met at the boat ramp at 5:30 and as always we already had 5 dozen hand sized pinfish and pigfish in the livewell.. The menhaden have started to get more consistent in the last three weeks so we stopped and put about (75) 4-5 inch baits in the tank. As we were leaving the bayou Kevin explained to me that his Father in law had fished all over the world but had never caught a redfish. His goal today...was to catch one!
We ran up the bay to the first fishing place and threw out a couple of net fulls of menhaden, and within a few minutes, the trout started blowing up on all of the loose baits that were running free. The next hour was tough... with several missed fish, a few break offs, and an annoying 4 foot blacktip shark scaring everything . We ended up boating one trout about 19 inches.
I told them to wind them up that we were going to fish another spot that I had. We snuck into the second spot on the trolling motor and got anchored up. I explained to them that I had caught some nice redfish here in the past and felt confident that I was going to be able to fill Kevin's request of catching a redfish for Buddy. I put pigfish on both of their hooks and showed them where to cast them. After 45 minutes,( and several bait changes), we still had not had a bite. Both Kevin and Buddy were getting bored and appeared to be losing confidence in there Captain. I was sweating bullets!!!!!!! I looked at my watch and I had about an hour and a half to pull a rabbit out of my hat. I told them to wind them up we were going to the honey hole.
As we were sneaking into the third spot, I told them that this was one of my favorite places to fish and to get ready. I set out the anchors, put a pinfish on both of there hooks, and said a quick prayer. Buddy's bait hit the water first. He didn't even get the bail closed before a fish was pulling on his rod. He finally got the bail closed and set the hook, immediately the drag began to scream. He looked at me with a surprised look on his face and asked... "what in the world do I have?" With a sigh of relief, I told him I think you have what you've been looking for, a redfish!!
Kevin's bait was next. We had a double header going on!! Over the next hour, Buddy had caught six redfish between 27 - 31 inches.
After the sixth fish, he asked me to NOT put another bait on his hook, as he needed to take a break for a minute!! Kevin was still catching fish and was up to four reds at this point. I asked him if he wanted to take a break as well? He very quickly explained to me that he would take a break later and to please put another bait on his hook as he was ready to take another ride on the redfish express. After a short break and a bottle of water, Buddy was recharged and ready to go again. He caught three more which gave him a grand total of nine for the trip. Buddy also caught a redfish that had seven spots!
This put him in first place in the Hanky Pankey Guide Service ongoing fishing tournament. Kevin managed to catch two more before the bite turned off. This gave us a total of 15 redfish for the trip!!
I only included a few of the fish pictures in this report, but if you visit my website, you can see the rest of the great fish they caught. On the way back to the boat ramp, both Kevin and Buddy expressed to me that this was the best fishing trip that they had ever experienced, and were very thankful that Buddy got to catch his first redfish! As a Guide, I find those comments to be so very satisfying and makes all the hard work worth it!!!!!!
Thanks
Capt. Mike Pankey
Hanky Pankey Guide Service
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