The red snapper season has the offshore fleet busy out of Panama City. The reefs, wrecks, and natural bottom from 90 to 160 feet are producing quality fish on cut and live bait, with quick limits common on the calm-water days. Vermilion snapper, scattered grouper, and amberjack round out the bottom bite over the deeper structure.
Nearshore, the king mackerel are thick on the bait pods over the reefs and along the beaches, hitting slow-trolled live hardtails and cigar minnows. Spanish mackerel and bluefish are blitzing along the beaches and around St. Andrews Pass, providing fast light-tackle action on spoons and jigs.
Inshore in St. Andrews Bay, redfish are working the grass flats and oyster bars, and spotted seatrout are holding on the deeper grass and around the jetties. Topwater at first light and live shrimp under corks have both produced. Flounder are around the pass and structure for anglers slow-dragging the bottom.
A few cobia are still being spotted nearshore, and tripletail are showing around the buoys and floats. Mangrove snapper have moved onto the jetty rocks and bridge structure in good numbers.
Summer weather means early starts and a close watch on the afternoon storms. The snapper season is the headline, but the bay redfish and trout bite is a dependable inshore option when the offshore conditions turn.
Spots & Access This Week
St. Andrews State Park ramp gives the fastest run to the pass and the nearshore reefs, with Carl Gray Park and the Earl Gilbert ramp serving the bay. Red snapper are stacked on the public reefs and wrecks in 60 to 120 feet, while Spanish and king mackerel blitz St. Andrews Pass and the beachfront on the clean mornings. Inshore, the grass flats of St. Andrews Bay and the jetties are holding trout and redfish on the moving tide.
This Week’s Tip
For the beach and pass Spanish, speed is everything — retrieve a spoon or a Gotcha plug fast enough that it skips just under the surface, because these are sight feeders that chase down fleeing bait. On the reefs, once the bigger snapper rise in the water column, drop lighter and stop short of the bottom to pick the better-grade fish out from over the pile of smaller ones stacked on the structure.