January, although typically cool, is a great month to fish the shallow flats and backwaters surrounding Panama City Beach. The weather can change quick this time of the year and can go from warm and cloudy to clear and cold in just a matter of a few hours. Most days you can find the grass and sand flats inhabited by redfish, black drum, sheephead, and speckled trout. It's the cold snaps, the few day following a front that cause fish to have to move. The strong Northerly winds will drop the water levels in the bays, drying up some flats altogether, forcing fish into nearby bayous or to the outside edges of the flat where there is enough water for them to survive the impending cold. Often the fish will be concentrated into small areas which could make for some exciting action, provided you can get them to eat. My recommendation would be some type of slow moving, subtle lure, either a soft plastic and jig combo or a suspending plug. Of course, live baits will work well in these situations also.
In addition to the flats there are lots of other places to catch fish right now. Deeper docks have also been holding large congregations of fish. These fish are usually more inclined to cooperate and generally don’t move as much with changes in weather. When fish of different species are grouped up like they have been around docks lately, I would recommend throwing live shrimp, fiddler crabs, or some type of soft plastic or hair jig.
A continuous flow of water, structure, and variable depths of water make the inlet, or pass as we locals call it, a great place to fish year round. You can almost always cruise around looking at your electronics and finds schools of redfish hanging out around the submerged rocks at the edges of the jetties. Additionally black drum, mangrove snappers, flounder, and the like also inhabit the same areas. Soon, the sheephead, which are already on the move and stacking up throughout the bays, will start to trickle into the pass taking up residence along the jetties as well. As with most other places in the bay, natural baits work the best, however most of the bigger predators can be taken easily on artificial lures.
If you have additional questions about what's biting, how to catch them, or you would like to book a trip of your own, I encourage you to give me a call or shoot me an email. Tight lines!
