BlueWater Outriggers Fishing Report 12-15-2025
On the first day of Christmas Capt. Jake Harpe gave to me, not one grouper but instead three! Folks, that’s the song I have stuck in my head this morning here in the offices of the Bluewater Outriggers. It’s an exciting Saturday; we’re less than two weeks out from the big day and customers are coming in, some buying live shrimp, and others picking up their stocking stuffers and gifts to put under the tree. The big thing on everyone’s mind is of course the annual Christmas parade happening this evening where the whole of our small town will don their Christmas garb while gathered on the main strip to watch the array of floats and vehicles pass by. The young boys and girls filled with the magic feeling of Christmas in the air will wear unwavering smiles as they collect tossed candies and trinkets with great relish. The Bluewater Outriggers, just like many other local stores, will be closing early to ensure everyone that wants to take part in the festivities will have their chance. It’s a small-town big deal and as you’re probably aware from previous articles, Port St. Joe does “small-town" just right!
Speaking of big deal, let’s talk offshore fishing. On Friday I had the opportunity to go out with Capt. Jake Harpe and some other fellow employees. The other employees will remain nameless as I did not get their permission to include them in this article, and they may still be a bit sore over the fact that I had a pretty hot stick on the fishing trip. I’d hate to end up in some sort of libel lawsuit over something as silly as fishing, especially this close to Christmas. Anyhow, Jake took us out on a very cool Friday morning to some of his spots about 50 miles out. I would alternate between dropping a “chicken rig” with squid, and a bottom rig with a cigar minnow. We caught fish at about every spot we tried and worked our way in. We filled the box with beeliners, some nice red grouper, an almaco jack, red snappers and a nice trigger. While we were out deep, some sharks shut down the vermillion bite and our snapper spot, closer inshore, was hot for a minute until the dolphins showed up. All in all, it was a great trip and Jake put everyone on some nice fish! A photo of me and the teams catch can be seen above. Many thanks to Capt. Jake for making it happen.
This holiday season our Grinch comes not in the form of the fuzzy green Dr. Seuss character but rather in the form of Karenia brevis, otherwise known as red tide. Unfortunately, red tide is still very present here in our bay and looks to be spreading out into the Panama City area as well. The local spots that usually produce good inshore fish here in the bay remain exanimate; I fished them myself this last week. The canals and creeks are where people are going to catch trout. Several customers that came into the store for live shrimp are reporting trout and red catches along the rocks of Cape San Blas.
Well folks, it’s going on 4:00 here at Bluewater Outriggers. It’s almost time to shut the doors and head downtown to participate in the holiday parade activities. On behalf of myself and our store, I’d like to wish you good fishing and a safe, fun-filled holiday season. I hope to see you out there.
-Jeremiah Beasley