BlueWater Outriggers Fishing Report 1-17-2026
Good morning my angler friends and faithful readers. It’s a quiet day here at the offices of Bluewater Outriggers, located in the, for now, sleepy town of Port St. Joe, Florida. The usual hustle and bustle of the early rising fishermen have subsided as the weather has not allowed the shrimp boats to supply us with live bait for the last few days. We’ll use the downtime at the store to grab a broom or dustmop to tidy up a bit or just make sure the shelves are stocked and ready to go when this sleepy town wakes up and is covered with visitors itching to try their luck fishing for a saltwater giant. You know, just the other day, my four-year-old, Rory, of whom you’ve read about in plenty of my anecdotes through the last year, let me know with quite some gusto, that he was hungry. Now folks, you may not know this about me, but I know my way around a kitchen and consider myself quite the chef. I found a good deal on some thick cut bone-in porkchops at the Piggly Wiggly and went straight to work as I knew time was of the essence. I fired up the Wolf stove and got my well-seasoned cast-iron skillet blazing hot. Along with a healthy dose of butter, I threw in my aromatics, three garlic cloves and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Throwing a slight tilt on the pan, I immediately began to butter baste the chops. Having achieved a perfect sear on each side, the skillet went into the oven for a brief cooking time. Upon completion I pulled the hot skillet from the oven and knew I had perfectly executed the meal. Even Gordon Ramsey would be salivating when he got a whiff of the delicious aroma. After a brief resting time, I sliced the perfectly cooked, tender pork and proudly served it to my eagerly awaiting son. As the plate hit eye-level for the big reveal, I watched dumbfounded as his eyebrows went from high and excited to downcast and forlorn. Without a moments consideration he held his thumb out Pollice verso like the Roman emperor Commodus and announced, “that’s disgusting!” I was banished back to the kitchen to cook some plain noodles with butter.
I often wonder if I’m like that four-year-old when it comes to some of the items in our store. There are certain products I use that are my “butter noodles,” and I hesitate to try new things. Synthetic baits, like Fishgum and Fishbites are things I’ve refused to use. I like to think I’m just of the old school and throwing my net for bait is the best way to do things; but in retrospect, maybe I’m just as ignorantly unwilling as my four-year-old. The last few weeks we’ve talked a lot about fishing from the beach as our bay has remained very unfishable. There have actually been some really good catches coming from fishing the surf. Take for instance the Edwards family. I felt very blessed to meet these good people while working in the store. Unlike me, they were not reticent to try out our synthetic baits. Going with some Panhandle Punch flavored Fishgum, Trey and his 12-year-old daughter, Harper, hooked into a beast of a Black Drum while fishing St. Joe Beach. The whole family was in on the fun and Stephanie and Reese Edwards were also present to take part in the adventure. The Edwards family can be seen above along with their massive catch. On behalf of Bluewater Outriggers, I’d like to say congratulations!
If you’re in the area and want to get on some fish, try hitting that surf! Stop in at Bluewater Outriggers for some Fishgum and make it happen. Until next time, I hope to see you out there!
-Jeremiah Beasley