Best Panama City Beach Condo

We were up at 4:30 AM in order to meet fishing guide Captain James Pic at 5:30 AM. The morning sky was clear and there was not any wind, a great day to fish. Captain James already had the boat in the water when my friend Bill from Dallas and I pulled up to the docks at St. Andrews in Panama City. We stepped into the 22 foot boat and off we went in search of bait.

As a light tackle guide James believes in well balanced equipment, presentation of the bait and knowing where the fish are found. That is something he can offer you that few in the area can. As a native, there are very few places in the waters around Panama City Beach that James has not fished.

James took us into a cove behind downtown office buildings and the jail. In fact one of the buildings housed the law firm where we closed on our first Panama City Beach Condo at Celadon Beach Resort. We went to the mouth of the canal that flows into the cove. As we coasted up to the mouth of the canal you could see the schools of bait fish. Captain James tossed his hand throw net into the schools several times and walla we had the bait for our trip. The bait was put into a tank at the front of the boat. The bait was kept alive by pumping in fresh water from the bay while we were stopped fishing.

The conditions were favorable for fishing one of James’s favorite spots for Trout. It took about 20 minutes to pull up to the fishing spot. James baited the hooks and cast the bait to the edge of a drop off about 20 yards from the boat. We were anchored in about 8 feet of water over a sea grass bed. It was only a minute or two before we hooked our first Trout. We ended up keeping seven Trout and one Spanish mackerel. The largest Trout was 23 inches! If you want to see pictures click through to our web site and look in the Guest Update tab. The pictures are in the middle of the page. We caught several grouper that were too small to keep, a couple of blue fish, a lizard fish and two catfish (who knew there were saltwater catfish?).

We spent about an hour looking for schools of Red Fish without any luck before we headed back to the dock at 10 AM. Bill and I went to a fish market recommended by James on the way back to the condo. For 60 cents a pound the staff cleaned and dressed our fish. The market also had the supplies we needed for a fish fry. A lunch of fresh trout, hushpuppies, fries and cole slaw is hard to beat.

If you plan to visit the Beach and are interested in fishing with light tackle in St Andrews Bay I highly recommend Captain James Pic as a guide. This is my second trip with James and we had a blast both times. Contact James at (850) 215-5578.

Good luck fishing!!

We have two exceptional 1 BR Panama City Beach Condos for rent by owner. We strive to have the best condos on the beach.

Jerry Eyler, July 20, 2008
 

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