Got back last night from Panama City. Went light tackle fishing on Tuesday. Awsome day on the water. The water was about as smooth as Chick and crystal clear. We started out catching bait using a 12ft radius cast net. Unreal how the guide was able to throw this thing. He was catching these little fish that looked just like large threadfin shad. Once bait catching was over we headed out to the beach and ran about 50 foot off the shore looking for fish. Saw a few sharks (one over 200lbs). We finally stopped and the guide threw out about 15 of the bait fish to get some attention. He then handed me a spinning rod with an imitation Sammy on it.
Topwater?
Yep. The blue fish were on and about every cast resulted in a hit (or hits). These were the most aggressive fish I have ever seen. It was not uncommon to have 10-15 3-4 lb fish blasting the bait at a time. We were only fishing in about 5 feet of water so you could see everything. The best topwater action I have ever had. Probably landed about 25 blue fish and a couple of Lady Fish (or Skipjack as they are called). The most amazing thing is how hard a 3 lb blue fish can fight. They fought as hard as a 15-20 blue cat.
We left the beach and fished a couple of humps in the bay. I caught 4-5 groupers and lost about 6 in the rocks. Anyone who has every fished for groupers know what I mean about the rocks. Caught 2 mackrel and a sea cat.
Although I did not catch anything over 4 lbs the shear numbers and agressive nature of the fish maked the trip worth every penny. This was again light tackle with line weights of 8-12lbs using spinning gear that I would use bass fishing. We never fished water deeper than 10 feet and seeing the fish in the clear water was great. Saw quite a few dolphins (flipper) that would come around the boat as soon we started catching fish. The guide tried to catch some blacktip sharks but they were very spooky and would would not get very close to the boat.
I would recommend light tackle saltwater fishing to anyone. The best part was that fact it was me and the guide. That's it. I got to ask questions and since I was the only person on the boat (which was only 22 feet long) I got great service. The guide service I used was Osprey Charters (http://www.fishosprey.com) out of Bay Point Marina in Panama City.
Topwater?
Yep. The blue fish were on and about every cast resulted in a hit (or hits). These were the most aggressive fish I have ever seen. It was not uncommon to have 10-15 3-4 lb fish blasting the bait at a time. We were only fishing in about 5 feet of water so you could see everything. The best topwater action I have ever had. Probably landed about 25 blue fish and a couple of Lady Fish (or Skipjack as they are called). The most amazing thing is how hard a 3 lb blue fish can fight. They fought as hard as a 15-20 blue cat.
We left the beach and fished a couple of humps in the bay. I caught 4-5 groupers and lost about 6 in the rocks. Anyone who has every fished for groupers know what I mean about the rocks. Caught 2 mackrel and a sea cat.
Although I did not catch anything over 4 lbs the shear numbers and agressive nature of the fish maked the trip worth every penny. This was again light tackle with line weights of 8-12lbs using spinning gear that I would use bass fishing. We never fished water deeper than 10 feet and seeing the fish in the clear water was great. Saw quite a few dolphins (flipper) that would come around the boat as soon we started catching fish. The guide tried to catch some blacktip sharks but they were very spooky and would would not get very close to the boat.
I would recommend light tackle saltwater fishing to anyone. The best part was that fact it was me and the guide. That's it. I got to ask questions and since I was the only person on the boat (which was only 22 feet long) I got great service. The guide service I used was Osprey Charters (http://www.fishosprey.com) out of Bay Point Marina in Panama City.
