Daily activity:
Thursday 23rd: water temp 70.9 S 6-9mph in the a.m. / 73.4 S 12-15mph in the p.m. The water was clean. There were good numbers of Spanish Mackerel caught in the morning. The afternoon started slowly but improved. There were 4 King Mackerel hooked but only one landed. Joe M caught a nice 20-pound fish. Another angler hooked the other three but lost one to line failure, one to cut leader and the hook pulled on the third one. There were a few Spanish Mackerel, Hardtails and Bluefish in the afternoon. A few Pompanos were caught sporadically during the day. Brenda and Jeff from Oregon showed a couple they caught. George decked a nice 3-pound fish at sunset. Live bait was available (Speedos, Alewives and Cigar Minnows).
Friday: water temp 72.1 E 8-12mph in the a.m. / 73.0 SSW 6-8mph in the p.m. The water was clean. Speedos and Alewives were thick. Cigar Minnows were here but you had to work for them. Spanish Mackerel, Bonita and Pompano were caught in the morning. The afternoon started slowly but turned on late afternoon. There were lots of Bluefish, more Spanish Mackerel and more Pompano caught.
Saturday: water temp 73.2 ENE 2-6mph in the a.m. / 74.3 WSW 12-16mph in the p.m. The water was clean. Kim got the only King Mackerel strike but no hook-up. There were Bluefish, Pompano, Ladyfish, Hardtails and Spanish Mackerel caught. Here’s Jasper L. with a couple of Blues and a big Spanish he decked. There was a variety of live bait available.
Sunday: water temp 73.0 NW 8-12mph in the a.m. / 74.1 WNW 4-7mph wind in the p.m. The water was clear. Bluefish, Pompano, large Squid and Spanish Mackerel were caught. Sonny almost had his limit of Pompano by 5:00. The bite turned on in the late afternoon. A school of approximately 200 Jack Crevalle came in before sunset. Three were hooked but Travis S. was the only angler to deck one. Live Bait was thick.
Monday: water temp 72.3 NE 3-5mph in the a.m. / 75.2 S 11-15mph in the p.m. The water was clean. Pompano were caught throughout the day. George caught his limit again. There were several very nice sized ones caught. Red Drum fired up in a feeding frenzy in the shallow water on the west side of the pier. It lasted about 40 minutes with several hooked and 3 decked. All were over slot like the one Travis caught. Then the Kings fired off at the end of the pier late in the morning. Five were decked and a couple of others lost. Hachid got two, Quang got one, Larry got one and another one was caught by a visiting angler. A few Spanish Mackerel and Ladyfish were landed. Billy W. caught a 4.86-pound Spanish. Big Squid were thick off the end of the pier late in the afternoon. There was a variety of live bait available.
Tuesday: water temp 74.5 E 8-11mph in the a.m. / 76.3 S 8-12mph in the p.m. The water was clean. A full variety of live bait was available. Bonita came in mid-morning and ate for about an hour. There were 3 King Mackerel hooked in the morning. Jose landed the only one. Two more were hooked in the afternoon but both were lost to the hook pulling. Just after 6:00pm, three more Kings were caught. Marco got one about 30 pounds, Rowell caught an 18-pound fish and Billy got a fish about 12 pounds. There were lots of big Spanish Mackerel caught both morning and afternoon. Bluefish and Ladyfish were in the mix too. Pompano were biting in the shallow water. Several schools of big Jack Crevalle came through with only one decked. Rod from KY caught it on a bubble rig with a spoon. He also caught this upper-slot Red Drum on a live Cigar Minnow.
Wednesday 29th: water temp 74.7 NE 6-8mph in the a.m. / 7?.1 WNW 4-7mph in the p.m. The water was clean. The Pompano bite was very slow today. Only a few were caught. Spanish Mackerel were thick all day. Many, many were caught up to 5-pounds. There were quite a few like this one Hai caught. The morning only produced one King Mackerel. I was the lucky angler. It was my first one for the year. About 3:00, the bite kicked off with four more Kings hitting the deck. Keith got it started with a low teen weight fish. Then Danny got a nice fish that weighed 24 pounds. Kith would then put his second fish on the deck that weighed 24.25 pounds. It was a handful as it was foul hooked in the pec fin. George finished the catches with his first King of the year. Hardtails and a few Bluefish were caught mixed in with the Spanish.
Red Tide status: In Northwest Florida over the past week One sample from Santa Rosa County showed background concentrations of Karenia brevis .
Tides Link
https://tides4fishing.com/us/florida-west-coast/panama-cityngin g
Full Moon Friday May 01, 2026 - New Moon Saturday May 16, 2026
Tides for the upcoming week:
Sunrise: 6:00am Sunset: 7:20pm
Thursday 30th. 7:22pm Low 0.0 9:08am High 1.3
Friday 8:10pm Low -0.1 9:17am High 1.4
Saturday 8:59pm Low -0.1 9:44am High 1.5
Sunday 9:48pm Low -0.2 10:22am High 1.6
Monday 10:37pm Low -0.2 11:06am High 1.6
Tuesday 11:26pm Low -0.2 11:53am High 1.6
Wednesday 06th. 12:41pm High 1.6
Sunrise: 5:55am Sunset: 7:24pm CST
The Marine forecast for the next several days is:
THURSDAY NIGHT
West winds 5 to 10 knots, becoming northwest after midnight. Waves 1 foot or less. Wave Detail: Southwest 1 foot at 4 seconds. Protected waters a light chop. A slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening. A chance of showers.
FRIDAY
Northeast winds 5 to 10 knots, becoming southeast in the afternoon. Waves 1 foot or less. Wave Detail: Northeast 1 foot at 2 seconds and northwest 1 foot at 3 seconds. Protected waters a light chop. A chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 10 to 15 knots, becoming south 15 to 20 knots after midnight. Waves 1 foot or less, then around 3 feet after midnight. Wave Detail: Southeast 1 foot at 3 seconds, becoming southeast 2 feet at 4 seconds. Protected waters choppy. A slight chance of thunderstorms. A chance of showers in the evening, then showers likely after midnight.
SATURDAY
Southwest winds 15 to 20 knots, becoming northwest 20 to 25 knots in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 5 feet, occasionally to 6 feet. Wave Detail: Southwest 5 feet at 6 seconds and northwest 3 feet at 3 seconds. Protected waters rough. Showers with a chance of thunderstorms.
SATURDAY NIGHT
North winds around 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet, occasionally to 8 feet. Protected waters choppy. Showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening, then a slight chance of showers after midnight.
SUNDAY
North winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet, occasionally to 8 feet. Protected waters choppy. A slight chance of showers in the morning.
SUNDAY NIGHT
North winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas around 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop.
MONDAY
Northeast winds 10 to 15 knots, becoming north 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas around 3 feet. Protected waters a moderate chop.
MONDAY NIGHT
Northwest winds 5 to 10 knots. Waves 1 foot or less. Protected waters a light chop.
(local forecast).
THURSDAY (77/66 rain 23% wind W-10-15 in am / NNW 5-10 in pm)
FRIDAY (72/60 rain 24% wind NE-10-15 in am / NE 10-15 in pm)
SATURDAY (70/55 rain 92% wind N 10-20 in am / N 10-15 in pm)
SUNDAY (74/58 rain 02% wind N-10-15 in am / NNE 5-10 in pm)
MONDAY (74/62 rain 02% wind S-5-10 in am / W 5-10 in pm)
TUESDAY (75/67 rain 03% wind S-5-10 in am / SSW 5-10 in pm)
WEDNESDAY(78/71 rain 24% wind S-10-20 in am / SSW 10-15 in pm)
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
