Florida Fishing Report for Panama City & Destin

PANAMA CITY/N.W. FLORIDA The rain in Panama City falls almost every day. The water has not cleared up all summer, although it is starting to show signs of clearing. I believe the spanish and blues mostly have been run out of the bay due to the fresh water. Flounder fishing has also seem to have been affected by all of the fresh water. Not only are we not catch many flounder so far this year we have not been hearing much about them in the store. Two fish that the dirty and fresh water has not had any effect on are trout and reds. We have been catching a lot of big trout all summer and continue to catch reds. We had our limit of four last Saturday morning in about 20 minutes. Along with the trout and reds the one other bright spot are some really large mangrove(black) snappers in the bay. If you can find the spots where they are hanging it would not be unusual for you to catch a limit of good sized ones. One other report as for the bay, lots of legal grouper. Offshore the snapper are still easy to catch along with some grouper. Kings show up this time of year in larger numbers ready to eat just about anything you put in front of them. This is my favorite time of the year becaust fly fishing really heats up. There are huge schools of bonita and spanish just off the beach. Even though these can be caught on conventional tackle the real fun is on the fly. Use a sinking line and any light colored clouser minnow. Look for the birds working and follow the schools. I suggest a ten weight with a heavy tippet. The schools are so thick we were getting cut off by other fish hitting the lines. Further off the beach you can find big schools of dolphin. I caught my limit of two and three pounders recently, that was a lot of fun. This is the best time to fish. Go if you can and remember, I'm giving a $20 discount on all trips for the rest of the year. JP