# Carabelle, SGI, Panacea Update



## CamoDawg85 (May 17, 2015)

Leaving for Panacea this Friday with the boat and staying a week. Just wondering if you or any respectable fishermen you've talked to have had any luck with snapper in state waters in this area of the state?

We'll be doing inshore and offshore trips hopefully if the weather cooperates.

Thanks in advance guys.

Jeff


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## CamoDawg85 (May 18, 2015)

80 views and nobody's heard any reports from this area??


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## mr otter (May 18, 2015)

You will have to go a good ways to the west to get into any red snapper.  Mexico Beach is a better choice for state water snapper in my opinion.


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## florida boy (May 18, 2015)

there are a good many 15-20 inch redsnapper in side state waters from SGI and west as we speak but as the water continues to warm up they will dig south


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## CamoDawg85 (May 18, 2015)

Thanks for the updates guys. We have a week-long trip scheduled for Mexico Beach over Labor Day.

I realize nobody is supposed to keep any yet, just wondering if anybody is catching legal-size fish.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Jeff


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## ForsythGlock (May 18, 2015)

I am sure it is outside of state waters, but the Empire Mica is LOADED with fish.  Every time you drop a line you will either get your bait taken or catch a fish.  I posted a pic of the snapper that we caught, and I wish we would have put a ruler next to them, because they are huge.  Every time we go here we catch lots of snapper, grouper, amberjack, etc.







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## CamoDawg85 (May 19, 2015)

ForsythGlock said:


> I am sure it is outside of state waters, but the Empire Mica is LOADED with fish.  Every time you drop a line you will either get your bait taken or catch a fish.  I posted a pic of the snapper that we caught, and I wish we would have put a ruler next to them, because they are huge.  Every time we go here we catch lots of snapper, grouper, amberjack, etc.


Whoa nelly! That's a nice haul right there sir. Thank you for the feedback.

I never heard of the Empire Mica so I Googled the coordinates and it is indeed outside of state waters, not surprisingly. I will have to put this wreck on the to-do list for when we go down to Mexico Beach later this year! Thanks again and keep the info/updates coming guys. I really appreciate it.

Jeff


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## d-a (May 19, 2015)

The empire mica is a good distance outside of state waters. There is numerous artificial reefs outside of carabelle. Here is a sight that has them listed. http://oarreefs.org/index.shtml

Find a few close together in 50+ ft of water within 9 miles and go fish. If there like all to ones just west of there off St George then they will be covered up with lane snappers, mangrove snappers and some red snapper an vermillion snappers. 

There is a ton of natural bottom and rock piles. I would troll just inside the state waters line for kings and watch my fish finder. Any rock or hard bottom would get fished. 

d-a


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## CamoDawg85 (May 20, 2015)

d-a said:


> The empire mica is a good distance outside of state waters. There is numerous artificial reefs outside of carabelle. Here is a sight that has them listed. http://oarreefs.org/index.shtml
> 
> Find a few close together in 50+ ft of water within 9 miles and go fish. If there like all to ones just west of there off St George then they will be covered up with lane snappers, mangrove snappers and some red snapper an vermillion snappers.
> 
> ...



d-a: Thank you very much for the link and the advice. We'll be staying at a condo in Ochlockonee Bay but I may trailer the boat down to Carabelle for a day or two and give some of those numbers a try.

I don't have a fancy fishfinder, it's a black and white Humminbird 598, but out of curiosity how would I identify natural or rock bottom on the screen? I apologize in advance for the juvenile question. I haven't been doing this saltwater thing but for a few years now, once or twice a year if I'm lucky.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Jeff


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## STRAIGHTARROW (May 20, 2015)

*Keeper snapper..*

We caught a bunch of RS, many over 15lbs and some over 20, over a 3 day trip two weekends ago...some at the Mica and some in state waters out of Mexico beach...I could not keep them obviously, but yes, the snapper are biting good now.
My preference is at least 60' of water and medium to big natural baits ( 5"-10" squirrel fish are great) but grunts and pinfish will work. As will cigar minnows and squid when the bite is really on. 
On a color recorder hard (rock) bottom shows up as red on the screen..not sure how easy it would be to distinguish on a black/white unit.


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## CamoDawg85 (May 20, 2015)

STRAIGHTARROW said:


> We caught a bunch of RS, many over 15lbs and some over 20, over a 3 day trip two weekends ago...some at the Mica and some in state waters out of Mexico beach...I could not keep them obviously, but yes, the snapper are biting good now.
> My preference is at least 60' of water and medium to big natural baits ( 5"-10" squirrel fish are great) but grunts and pinfish will work. As will cigar minnows and squid when the bite is really on.
> On a color recorder hard (rock) bottom shows up as red on the screen..not sure how easy it would be to distinguish on a black/white unit.



Thanks straightarrow. We will definitely be targeting them as well aj's and grouper. Glad top hear at least some are catching them in the panhandle area.

As far as the fish finder goes, I've been contemplating an upgrade to a 7-8" color display/gps combo but just haven't been able to convince myself to drop the cash. It would be sweet though and I can definitely see why color is the way to go these days.

Thanks everybody. Keep the updates coming. I really appreciate it!

Jeff


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## d-a (May 20, 2015)

CamoDawg85 said:


> d-a: Thank you very much for the link and the advice. We'll be staying at a condo in Ochlockonee Bay but I may trailer the boat down to Carabelle for a day or two and give some of those numbers a try.
> 
> I don't have a fancy fishfinder, it's a black and white Humminbird 598, but out of curiosity how would I identify natural or rock bottom on the screen? I apologize in advance for the juvenile question. I haven't been doing this saltwater thing but for a few years now, once or twice a year if I'm lucky.
> 
> ...



It's a little tougher with a black/white machine. 

Easiest way would be to look at the thickness of your bottom on the machine. The harder the bottom the stronger the return. Your bottom will be thicker over hard bottom, thinner over sand/mud. If you get to some bridge rubble you will get a chance to see the thickness of the bottom. A little hint, most bridge rubble is placed in a sandy area. So you can compare both rather quickly. 

d-a


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## CamoDawg85 (May 21, 2015)

Thanks d-a.

Anybody got anybody have any recommendations for a 7-8" screen, gps/fish finder combo?


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## ebryant (May 22, 2015)

Lowrance HDS 7 Gen 2 or Gen 3. The harder the bottom is, the darker the bottom of the screen is. You will get the hang of it. Learn to use the manual settings, use the shift keys, zoom, and sensitivity settings to get the most out of your unit. Also, I like a 200 KW transducer for saltwater out to 150 feet. Good luck on your trip. I'm in Panacea the next 10 days, but will be inshore fishing.


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## CamoDawg85 (May 22, 2015)

ebryant said:


> Lowrance HDS 7 Gen 2 or Gen 3. The harder the bottom is, the darker the bottom of the screen is. You will get the hang of it. Learn to use the manual settings, use the shift keys, zoom, and sensitivity settings to get the most out of your unit. Also, I like a 200 KW transducer for saltwater out to 150 feet. Good luck on your trip. I'm in Panacea the next 10 days, but will be inshore fishing.



Thanks ebryant. I'm going to pay closer attention to the bottom color on my screen this trip and see if I can start to notice the difference.

I'll be in a 20' seafox center console staying at the condos at St. George Lighthouse. Wave or flag me down if you see me. We'll be doing inshore and offshore, weather permitting. Good luck to you as well sir.

Thanks,
Jeff


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## CamoDawg85 (May 31, 2015)

Just returned from panacea today. Was down for  8 days and made it out to fish 4 times, all evening trips. The wind was howling every morning we woke up and kept the boat in the marina majority of the time. Was able to get a hold of 4 keeper trout. Caught a good amount of bluefish, a few nice Spanish macs and some small sharks. Never attempted an offshore trip.

Don't get me wrong, it was 1,000 better than being at work and we had a blast with our group but man was it frustrating between the wind and scarcity of trout. If any of y'all were down near the area fishing I hope y'all had a lot better luck than us!


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## trubluau (Jun 1, 2015)

We went Saturday out of Carrabelle and had a pretty good day. It was rough going out but we managed to catch some nice fish. we ran out to 38 miles and fished back. By 4 o'clock the seas had laid down nicely. Also I have a used HDS 7 for sale if you are still looking for a small nice color machine.


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## blood on the ground (Jun 1, 2015)

Nice catch... You have some handsome boys also!!!!


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## CamoDawg85 (Jun 5, 2015)

trubluau said:


> We went Saturday out of Carrabelle and had a pretty good day. It was rough going out but we managed to catch some nice fish. we ran out to 38 miles and fished back. By 4 o'clock the seas had laid down nicely. Also I have a used HDS 7 for sale if you are still looking for a small nice color machine.



Trubluau - I sent you a private message about the fishfinder. Let me know if you did not get it. Thanks, jeff


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## CamoDawg85 (Jun 13, 2015)

*Round 2*

Bossman gave the thumbs up for a second trip so we're pulling out after work on the 23rd and going to stay until Sunday. Really hoping for less wind this trip but regardless it'll be better than being at the office.

Reports from a few guys that are still down in the panacea area are that things have gotten a little better for the trout so fingers crossed it continues to improve. Really want to get 20-30 miles out this go round for some bottom feeding action as well! Will keep y'all posted.

Anybody having luck in past few weeks?


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## CamoDawg85 (Jun 29, 2015)

Got down last Tuesday. Fished most of the day Wednesday and ended up with 1 keeper gag and 1 keeper cobia within 9 mile line. Fished half a day Thursday and caught many gags but none legal. Lots of Black Sea bass and several Bonita. Friday woke up to 4 ft seas so went back to bed then sat around and shark fished at the condo. Caught several 4-5 foot bulls. Released to fight another day. Saturday slept in and went for a few hours in the afternoon until 4 ft seas blew in in just a matter of 30 minutes. Got back to the hill with 1 legal cobia in the box. Made it home safe and sound yesterday. Already ready to go back. Work sucks


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