Episode Four

Panama City Beach is world famous as the hotspot for catching red snapper, but the Gulf of Mexico is chock full of their cousins, too. In this week’s episode, Capt. Justin Leake invites Humminbird’s Bill Carson along to pursue the fictional “Snapper Grand Slam” consisting of red, mangrove, vermilion and lane snappers.

When Carson is in town, Justin knows he’ll learn a thing or two about new technology and also get in some great fishing. This time around, the focus is on Humminbird’s CoastMaster system that’s packed with contour maps, pre-loaded waypoints and information on tides and water currents.

“It puts you in places that you’ll have an opportunity to catch fish, even though you’ve never been to that spot before,” says Carson. “That’s pretty strong.”

After Capt. Leake locks in on an artificial reef in 170 feet of water and litters the area with Spanish sardine chunks, it’s game on. Within minutes, he reels in a beautiful mangrove snapper. “Mangroves are smarter than the other snappers so, as a prideful fisherman, I always enjoy catching the smart ones,” he says.

But that’s just the start of an exciting day full of non-stop angling action featuring bent rods, double hookups, a lot of laughs and a cooler full of fish.

Later, Capt. Travis Holeman tours the Panama City Beach Sports Complex, a new $35 million facility that’s already a huge hit with amateur athletes and their families looking to combine tournament play with a trip to the beach.