Last 5 years I’ve taken my bass boat to Panama City. I have a 17 foot bass tracker with a 70 hp engine. I fish the bay all the way out near the jetties. Fishing is fantastic. The bay is bigger than Barren Lake but is shallow. Depths I Fish are normally 6-8 foot. Deepest parts are the channel cut for navigation
maybe 49 foot. Most of the bay is less than 15 foot deep. What makes fishing there so good is the grass flats. Speckled trout and redfish are what I’m looking to catch and eat. Lady fish are not great eating fish but I usually catch a few every trip and they are called a poor mans tarpon. They fight hard, jump, and can get pretty big. Depending on the year, Spanish makeral school in the bay and at times you can slay them. Lastly, an occasional king makeral will hit your line. Nothing better in life than getting hooked up with one of these. Normally I’ve only caught them trolling the channels, and more times than not they have broken me off since I seldom use Steel leaders.
I store my boat while there at storage place near shipwreck island for $70. For a month. There is another place north or Hathaway Bridge you can store it and they will put it in the water for you the night before and you can just show up and launch. Not too expensive either. My boat leaks a little so I don’t think putting in in overnight was a good idea!! I flush out my engine every day I use it. I wash the boat down thoroughly too. The storage place has a hose they let you use.
Tackle you need is regular spinning gear. Light tackle is great. A cheap rod and reel that you don’t mind tossing might be the way to go the first time. Salt water will ruin most reels. I eventually bought a couple Penn reels that are made for salt water but I still use a couple fresh water rods that hold up for a few trips before getting stiff. Best fishing involves top water, live or shrimp lures on a jig head. Half the time I fish with a bobber with a gulp shrimp on a jig head in 6 foot of water on grass beds. I don’t think I’m a great fisherman, I struggle on lakes. But in Florida, I do pretty well. Even a slow day you will see dolphins, rays, occasional sea turtle, or beach bunny!! I don’t target sharks but I’m sure you could catch some. I’ve never seen a shark swim by though. Weird I haven’t. I used to kayak fish down there and I was looking pretty hard back then.
My boat has held up well. The wiring to the batteries corroded because that was an area I wasn’t washing down, but that was an easy fix. Now before I leave Florida, I pull the batteries and wash down that area too.
Anyway if you have a boat, and wondered if that would be fun, and have any other questions, please ask.