Bluewater Outriggers Fishing Report 10-24-2026
I wanted to ask if anyone feels like they're having déjà vu, the strange feeling you have already experienced what is happening now. Then I realized déjà vu is the wrong term to use; it's more like a recurring nightmare. Just to prove my point, the following paragraph is one I wrote a year ago dated October 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. There are now several areas within St. Joseph Bay that have low, medium and high concentrations of the harmful algae blooms.
Folks, this paragraph is as true this morning as it was one year ago. Red tide is back; and people are pissed off. While I'd like to ignore the situation like I would a bill collection call or the leaky faucet on my sink, I won't do that. Minus my anecdotes about my son, and jokes about Captain Jake (bless his heart) I've always shot it straight with you and included up to date fishing stories and current photos. The center photo above was taken by my neighbor, Ted Harris, a couple of days ago when he went fishing under the bridge. You can see the multitudes of dead mullet washed up on the shoreline. I experienced it first-hand when I went fishing on the ICW a few days ago as well. There were thousands of dead. It'll be interesting to see how long this one will last, and the harm it causes. I'll keep you updated as best as I can as we try to make it through this revolting development.
I know that's some heavy news for a lot of us anglers to take in. I can't leave you with all doom and gloom though. Despite red tide taking off like it has, this last week has been good for fishing. Captain Jake accompanied several fishermen in smaller vessels to some near shore reefs and was able to put plenty of fish in the box. Jimmy Lee can be seen in the photo (above left) with a haul of red snapper, red grouper, and beeliners. Zane Whittaker (above right) landed some impressive red snapper, red groupers and an impressive mangrove! Nice work gentlemen.
The trout bite in and around the intracoastal waterway has been very good over the last few days. Not only have several customers told me about it, but I also fished it myself with my friend Gary Dunn, and we hooked one trout after another. They were hitting live shrimp and NLBN paddle tails like they were going out of style. The trout were running small for the most part, but they were plentiful.
That's going to wrap things up for this week, folks. I'm sorry I had to be the bearer of bad news, but what can you do? I'll keep a close eye on this red tide situation and keep you informed as best as I can. At the moment, there's still plenty of fish to be caught, but as the old-timers say, "make hay while the sun shines."
-Jeremiah Beasley