BlueWater Outriggers fishing Report 1-24-2026
You know, it feels like forever since I’ve had a good inshore fishing experience here in Port St. Joe. Heck, when I loaded my ultralight in the back of the truck last Thursday evening, I realized I hadn’t had the thing in there since I used the space to haul my Christmas tree home. Between doing little side jobs and having a kid that fell under the weather, there just hasn’t been much downtime to throw a line. Such is life. But that Thursday I had a bit of downtime, so I loaded the fishing rod and my little boy and headed down to the Mexico Beach canal to see if there were any stray trout that may take a hook. Upon arrival I tied on a small Zoom bait with a 1/10 oz jig head, and my son grabbed an armful of toy trucks and excavators and hastily made his way to the first patch of sand. Walking the side of the canal I noticed two sets of fishermen throwing bait and I was excited to see their rods dancing as they reeled in several whiting. One of the gentlemen informed me he had caught about 15 (whiting) that day. Right off the bat I had a few small strikes which I missed, but it was exciting, nonetheless. The third strike was a good one, and I still missed the darn thing. There’s no other way to look at it, I thought; I’ve become rusty. I was still excited however, and I felt that I could certainly make something happen. That is until I heard something akin to a death wail coming from my four-year-old that had something to do with him dropping a load of seashells that he had carefully placed in the bed of his toy dump truck. The newer dad version of me would have attempted to push through this ordeal and land at least one fish for a story, but the older and wiser dad version of me knew this nonsensical fit was being brought on by hunger and exhaustion, and trying to buy myself more time would be a battle in which defeat was inevitable. Swallowing my pride, I grabbed my gear, and all the toys that were now somehow too heavy for the forlorn boy to carry and drove to the closest distributor of chicken nuggets that I could find.
Later in the week, while working at Bluewater Outriggers, I ran into Captain Chris Lantz of Gettin’ Reel Sportfishing. Unlike me, the only thing rusty about this guy is the color of his epic beard. Otherwise, when it comes to fishing, he’s as sharp as they come. While he was picking up some live shrimp for one of his charters, I asked if he would let me know how it went. Several hours later I received a text saying that the “bite was on,” and they had “boated every bit of 100 trout.” Now that’s an awesome day! You can see a picture of Captain Chris’ happy client above (left). If you’re ever down this way and want to get on some good fish, contact Captain Chris; he does it all, and you’re sure to have a good time!
Bluewater’s own, Captain Jake Harpe, braved the elements on Friday and headed west out of Mexico Beach canal to about 200 ft of water and had a great day. He showed up to work this morning acting all worn out and sore from all the Amberjack they were catching. He managed to slip one jig past the jacks and landed a monster gag grouper that can be seen above (right). He had a great day out there and loaded the fish box with a bunch of nice porgys, red grouper and an almaco jack.
I think it’s safe to say there’s a little bit going on for every type of fishing enthusiast in Port St. Joe. Stop in and see us at Bluewater Outriggers, and we’ll get you set up with anything you need to make it happen.
-Jeremiah Beasley