recommendation for charter fishing captain for panama city FL area

[Loneranger]

The economy has forced the retirement of my previous captain that I fished with in Orange Beach AL. I used him because of a good relationship; however, when in Florida I stay between Panama City and Destin (closer to Panama City).

I am now looking for a new captain for offshore fishing, bottom fishing, rig fishing, etc. in the Panama City area or Destin. I am not a fan of trolling for the most part. If anyone has a recommendation for an inshore guide for the bays I would appreciate that as well.

John

 

[fwebster]

I can help you with guides.............

In our area, the guys running 40-60 ft sportfish to long range off shore spots are getting pretty few and far in between. Most of those remaining are in questionable condition....so much so, I don't think I'd go thru the pass in any of them. It has become a matter of the changing economics......big boats run slow and burn a lot of fuel so you spend a lot of time riding and not as much fishing but you pay for a lot of overhead, and fishing limits. Who wants to pay $750/day for a charter boat to bring home a limit of 4 eating fish and any number of by-catch.

What we are seeing more and more of is smaller outboard powered boats that charter by the hour, no mate required, 30 kts instead of 16, no shared trips since the legal number of passengers is limited. If a squall comes up you can run from it rather than ride it out. If one spot is fished out, moving to another takes a few minutes where its another boat ride to move a big boat.

I can refer you to 2 different guys:

Terry Mcgowan - Reel Fun Charters - 850-234-2582. He has a couple of boats, both single engine, pretty much fishes inshore. Terry is one of the good guys, honest, sober, a srtaight shooter, runs a clean operation and has excellent boats and engines. You will catch fish with Terry.

Ray Whitfield - Southern Dawn Sportfishing - 850-541-4600. Ray has one 31 ft center console with twin outboards. He fishes both inshore and off shore depending upon the weather. He has been running big custom sportfishermen in various tournaments as a paid captain for years because he can raise fish. Another honest, sober guy.

Both guys are clean cut, local salt of the earth folks. I don't fish my boat so when I have friends in town or when my kids want to fish, I send them with either Ray or Terry, and when I want to fish, I go with one of them. Both guys are sort of quiet, so don't expect a lot of glad handing salesmanship......what you can expect is honest answers to your questions and a fun day catching fish.

I think both have websites now.....you migh learn more about them there.

Enoy your visit..............

 

[Loneranger]

Thanks for the information Frank. I grew up just south of Atlanta so we spent a lot of vacation time in the PC area. A friend of ours from Dothan has a beach house in Sea Crest Beach between PC and Destin. We stay there at least 1 week out of the year in October and sometimes another in March/April. We will be down in mid October for a week.

My Father and I used to yearly do an overnight trip out to the oil rigs maybe 90 miles offshore to catch amberjack, some tuna, snapper, etc. If weather was rougher we would only stay one day or not go out. The boat we went on was a 55 footer but it was expensive and getting more so all the time.

I have never fished inshore except renting a pontoon around the treasure island marina somewhere and fishing around the pass by St Andrews Park. I would like to go with a guide to learn more about it.

Is the pier finished? It was in the process of being rebuilt last year. We used to spend a night or two fishing for blue fish or spanish off the Dan Russell Pier.

I have fowarded your information to my Father and we will contact one of them soon to set something up.

John