We began the new year with clean water. Our water temp was between 60-63 degrees at the beginning of this report period and dropped into the upper 50’s this morning. A cold front moved in Monday afternoon and we have experienced cold nights and cool days since. The fishing has been better than expected with the following species caught - Flounder, Whiting, Red Drum, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Pompano, Bluefish, Bonita, a few Spanish Mackerel, Cigar minnows, Spanish Sardine and a few Squid one day.
It has become a norm for us to honor our friends with a memorial on the pier. Today, the memorial bench for Von Haynes was installed on the northwest corner of the end Tee. It will be a constant reminder of the friendship and many memories we had with Von.
The Flounder bite was better than usual with several larger ones caught. The bigger fish were closer to the shallow water while fish caught off the end Tee were generally small. Several fish were over 15 inches with one caught that was 21.5 inches. Small live Cigar minnows, Bull minnows and jigs with plastics were productive. Here are a few of the ones caught.by Ivan and the big one held by Quang.
Red and Black Drum were prowling the outer sand bar. Several days, multiple Blacks were caught. Large Sand Fleas, Shrimp and jigs got their attention. Red Drum were fewer in numbers, but several were decked. Live cigar minnows seemed to be their choice bait. Check this group of anglers (Steve, Terry, Sam, Travis, Chuck, Casey) with many of the Drum from the week.
Sheepshead have begun congregating around the pilings but have been a challenge to tease a bite from. We have used Ghost Shrimp, Fiddler Crabs, Oysters, Barnacles and live Shrimp with little interest. To my knowledge, only three were caught all week. Jason from Tennessee caught two and I managed one for the week.
A few Pompano and Bonita were decked. Paul D. got a big Pompano on Friday. Terry got three of the Bonita that were caught Monday morning. The Bonita have been around, but the schools stayed too far off the pier to catch.
 PaulD 01-03-25 Pompano.jpg)
Daily activity:
Thursday: water temp 61.2 – 63.5 Three Sheepshead, 2 Red Drum, 2 Black Drum, Flounder and Whiting.
Friday: water temp 61.0 – 62.6 Black Drum, Flounder, Pompano, Whiting, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish and a couple Red Drum and one Sheepshead
Saturday: water temp 60.4 – 62.6 Flounder
Sunday: water temp 60.1 – 61.9 Flounder, Whiting and a Black Drum. A few Cigar minnows and five small Squid.
Monday: water temp 62.8 – 63.0 – Rain and wind in the am with a few Bonita.- wind, rough water and dropping temperature in pm.
Tuesday: water temp.59.4 – 61.5 Cold. Several Flounder, a couple of Whiting, Cigar minnows and Spanish Sardines.
Wednesday: water temp 58.1 – 61.0 Black Drum, Whiting, Cigar minnows and Spanish Sardine.
Red Tide status: In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Tides Link
https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-cityngin g
Full Moon Monday Jan. 13, 2025 New Moon Wednesday Jan. 29, 2025 -
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 6:39am Sunset: 5:00pm
Thursday 09th 4:19am Low -0.7 5:30pm High 1.2
Friday 5:06am Low -0.9 6:25pm High 1.4
Saturday 5:56am Low -1.0 7:24pm High 1.4
Sunday 6:47am Low -1.0 8:22pm High 1.4
Monday 7:35am Low -1.0 9:17pm High 1.3
Tuesday 8:17am Low -0.9 10:07pm High 1.2
Wednesday 15th.. 8:49am Low -0.7 10:47pm High 1.1
Sunrise: 6:39am Sunset: 5:05pm CST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
THURSDAY
North winds 15 to 20 knots, becoming northeast 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Wave Detail: North 3 feet at 4 seconds. Protected waters choppy.
THURSDAY NIGHT
East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Wave Detail: East 2 feet at 4 seconds and northwest 2 feet at 4 seconds. Protected waters a moderate chop.
FRIDAY
Southeast winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots, becoming south 25 to 30 knots with gusts up to 40 knots in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 5 feet, occasionally to 6 feet, building to 5 to 8 feet, occasionally to 10 feet in the afternoon. Wave Detail: Southeast 5 feet at 5 seconds, becoming southeast 8 feet at 7 seconds. Protected waters very rough. A slight chance of showers in the morning, then a chance of showers in the afternoon.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Southwest winds 25 to 30 knots with gusts up to 40 knots, becoming northwest 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots after midnight. Seas 7 to 10 feet, occasionally to 13 feet. Wave Detail: South 9 feet at 8 seconds. Protected waters very rough. Showers, mainly in the evening.
SATURDAY
Northwest winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots, diminishing to 15 to 20 knots in the afternoon. Seas 6 to 9 feet, occasionally to 11 feet, subsiding to 5 to 7 feet, occasionally to 9 feet in the afternoon. Wave Detail: West 8 feet at 8 seconds, becoming west 7 feet at 8 seconds. Protected waters rough. A slight chance of showers in the morning.
SATURDAY NIGHT
North winds 10 to 15 knots, diminishing to 5 to 10 knots after midnight. Seas 3 to 5 feet, occasionally to 6 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop.
SUNDAY
Northeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters a light chop.
SUNDAY NIGHT
East winds 5 to 10 knots, becoming north after midnight. Seas around 2 feet. Protected waters a light chop. A slight chance of showers in the evening, then a chance of showers after midnight.
MONDAY
North winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas around 2 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop. A chance of showers, mainly in the morning.
MONDAY NIGHT
North winds 10 to 15 knots, increasing to 15 to 20 knots after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Protected waters choppy. A slight chance of showers in the evening.
(local forecast).
THURSDAY (53/42 rain 03% wind NE-10)
FRIDAY (62/39 rain 80% wind SE-21)
SATURDAY (50/37 rain 09% wind NNW-12)
SUNDAY (56/46 rain 24% wind ENE-06)
MONDAY (62/39 rain 22% wind NNE-10)
TUESDAY (55/39 rain 03% wind N-12)
WEDNESDAY(57/36 rain 08% wind NNW-11)
PIER MANAGEMENT CONTACT INFORMATION:
Bay County Parks and Recreation – 5304 Majetti Tower Road Panama City, FL 32404
850-248-8730
Vince Martin – Bay Co. Parks Division Manager - vmartin@baycountyfl.gov - 850-896-6580
Timothy Pentice- Bay Co. Asst. Div. Mgr. – tprentice@baycountyfl.gov – 448-217-4219
Tight lines and screaming drags,
Sam
SLP053@BELLSOUTH.NET
770-265-2879
