BlueWater Outriggers Fishing Report 10-16-2025
Good morning all you fishermen and fisherwomen of Port Saint Joe. How are you doing? It’s not too pretty out there, is it? Last Thursday as I was writing our weekly fishing report, I made a conscious decision not to mention anything about Red Tide. I had heard people mention it a few times in passing; they had seen some dead mullet around the Windmark beach area. “Not a big deal,” I thought. I fish 5 days a week and I hadn’t noticed anything. I had even waded around the Mexico Beach area and had not seen one sign of it. I did, however, research the matter as best I could by pulling up a Red Tide status map to see if any samples were proving to be positive in the area for Karenia brevis blooms. At that time, there were two positive samples around the Mexico Beach Canal area that were very low concentrations. I felt it best to not mention it as it seemed to be no big deal. The following day, a friend of mine that fishes the marina stopped by the store and said there were a bunch of dead Pinfish on the seafloor. I really didn’t want to believe it, but there was no denying it as more and more people came in and mentioned it. When my shift was over, I hopped in the truck and drove to the marina. I didn’t even have to exit my vehicle; I was able to see white bellies floating everywhere. There was no more denying it.
This morning, I pulled up the Red Tide status map and it showed a completely different story. I have included a picture of it (above left). As you can see, there are now several areas within St. Joseph Bay that have low, medium and high concentrations of the harmful algae blooms.
What exactly does this mean to us? In truth, I don’t know. I’ve heard all kinds of rumors and speculations. Some make it sound like doom and gloom while others say they think it’s on its way out of here. I’ve heard that fish are belly up all the way up the canal and even into some areas of Lake Wimico. I cannot find definitive information on how long this situation will last or what type of impact it will have on our inshore fishing. We will just have to take it one day at a time and see what occurs. For now, until things are cleaned up, I will post a weekly status map, and we can track the Red Tide’s progression or hopefully, regression. In the meantime, I will let you know what I personally observe and experience out there, as well as provide information from other guides or first-hand accounts.
I took a boat ride on Tuesday towards Black’s Island and over to Eagle Harbor. Dead fish were floating the whole way. We tossed lines over many grass beds and there was still a lot of activity. I witnessed big schools of LY’s and mullet. I saw trout although I couldn’t get them to bite. The flounder bite was good, and we had fun catching them on some Z-man scented jerk shads. On Thursday I waded the intracoastal waters and stood among several dead fish floating by. There were lots of hungry pinfish and I managed to catch a Jack Crevalle and a Redfish. While it was depressing to stand among the floating fish, it was good to know there was still a bite to be had. The offshore bite has remained steady, and several guys are bringing in some nice Kings caught trolling over structure.
Look folks, this Red Tide situation is without a doubt a major bummer, but as I stated a number of times last week, “this too, shall pass.” So, keep your heads up you fishermen and fisherwomen. If you’re like me, and fishing is as necessary as breathing, you’ll find a way. That way can be seen (above right); “there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” as the old-timers say.
Until next week, I hope to see you out there.
Jeremiah Beasley