Red snapper season has opened and Panama City anglers are taking full advantage. The Gulf has settled into its early-summer pattern, Spanish mackerel are blitzing the beaches, and the inshore flats are producing reds and trout. Here is the week ahead on the water.
What’s Biting
Red snapper are the offshore star with the season open — fast limits on the reefs and wrecks in 70–140 feet. Vermilion snapper, triggerfish, and gag grouper add to the bottom mix. Nearshore, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel are tearing through the bait pods along the beaches. Inshore, slot redfish, speckled trout, and flounder are working the grass flats and the St. Andrews Pass jetties.
Where to Find Them
Head to the public reefs and natural bottom in 70–140 feet for snapper. The beaches off the city pier and around the pass are loaded with Spanish on the glass-calm mornings. Inside St. Andrews Bay, the grass flats of West Bay and North Bay hold trout and reds, and the pass jetties produce flounder and snapper on the moving tide.
Tides & Conditions
Calm mornings have been the rule — run early and beat the sea breeze. Water temperature is in the low 80s, and the afternoon storm pattern is building daily. Pick settled days for the offshore snapper runs.
Tackle & Tactics
Drop cigar minnows or squid on a bottom rig with 50–80 pound leader for snapper. For Spanish on the beach, cast small silver spoons or Gotcha plugs and retrieve fast. Inshore, popping corks with live shrimp or soft plastics produce trout, while gold spoons and cut bait take the reds. Flounder eat a slow-dragged jig tipped with shrimp around the jetties.
This Week’s Tip
When the Spanish are blitzing but won’t eat, downsize and speed up. A small 00 Clark spoon on a long fluorocarbon leader, retrieved as fast as you can crank, will draw strikes when the fish are keyed on tiny glass minnows and ignoring everything bigger.