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Florida Fishing Report for Panama City & Destin
Capt. James Pic
March 24, 2006
Panama City - Saltwater Fishing Report
Panama City/ N.W. Florida
Well, well, well....I can tell you; I keep good records, 25 years or more in my head and the last ten on paper. In all that time I can't remember when there was a freeze warning the last week of March just before the spanish run. That said, this is what I think you can look forward to over the next few weeks.
Water should warm along with the air temp to the point where the spanish will arrive be the end of next week. Yesterday, while in North and West bay, I saw numerous schools of bait on several different points. Haven't seen them prior to that but I believe that was due to the bays being very rough. Slicked off yesterday and we say a lot of bait. That means things are close to starting.
The "cobe hounds" from around here...the guys you won't hear about, the guys that catch a lot (and I mean a lot) of cobia every year will tell you that the run doesn't normally peak till mid April...been talking to a few of those guys and we see no reason why that would not happen. Somewhere between the 10th and the 25th it should peak.
What's happening right now? I'm really happy to report that we have been catching a lot of black sea bass the last week along with whiting and sea trout. All of these are good to eat and we have brought some nice catches of all back to the dock. A couple of days ago we had three black sea bass that were 15 inches, which is actually a pretty good sized one and hard to beat for tablefare. I'm happy about that cause it's been a few years since we have caught alot of those.
I hear the sheepshead are hit and miss in the pass when you can find a spot to anchor on but most of the time people are so close to each other they can hand beers back and forth from boat to boat. I have chosen to go the other way and besides, the black sea bass, whiting and big sea trout, we have put a lot of nice jacks, lady's and big (8-10lbs)sailcats in the boat. We have also had some good luck with specs in some of the bayous. There are fish to catch so come on down....two weeks the spanish run will be in full swing which makes for a great day of fishing.
One last thing....customer jumped a 25lb. tarpon in the steam plant canal this week on a smoke exude grub. The fish bit through the leader but not before he got a great pull and two jumps.
If your looking for a guide please refer to my February 4th, "how to choose a guide" report. There are a lot of guides here, some of them should give up fishing and take up tennis. If you hire me...you will catch fish. I have proven that year in and out for over ten years of guiding and thirty five years of fishing. As Brett Hoskins of Gulf Coast Surgery in Houston Tx. said last year; "you (JP) are probably the best fish finding guide I have ever seen...we checked with other people that fished with guides that week....no one came close to what we caught with you"....yes Brett, nothing like a boxfull of reds, trout, flounder and spanish.....just another day at the office.
Good luck and hope to see you on the water....
JP
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