In this week’s Northwest Florida Fishing Report, host Joe Baya covers how to fish through extreme August heat from Pensacola to Panama City, with a focus on nighttime dock lights, floating grass, moving water, live chumming, and the first signs of the fall bait migration. This episode features Brandon Barton with Emerald Waters Kayak Charters and Capt. Justin Leake with Panama City Inshore.
Brandon explains how he manages the heat from a kayak, why dock lights are one of the best options right now, and how to modify presentations when floating grass makes traditional topwaters and twitch baits difficult to fish. Justin breaks down how August heat concentrates fish around moving water in Panama City, with redfish, mangrove snapper, and Spanish mackerel responding to live chum around current-swept points.
Conditions Recap
Extreme heat is the defining condition across Northwest Florida right now. Joe reported a predawn heat index around 90 degrees in Pensacola, and Capt. Justin Leake said Panama City water temperatures are beginning the day around 88 degrees before climbing higher. Those conditions are changing both when anglers should fish and where fish are willing to hold.
In Pensacola, nighttime and early-morning fishing are providing a way to avoid the worst heat. Dock lights are holding fish after dark, while daytime grass flats can still produce trout and redfish if anglers are willing to adjust around heavy mats of floating grass. Wind direction matters more than usual because it can pile floating vegetation onto one side of a flat and make that bank nearly impossible to fish cleanly.
In Panama City, August heat has made moving water especially important. Justin says large portions of the bay can become unproductive when water gets extremely hot and stagnant. He is narrowing his search to points and other features where the beginning or end of an incoming or outgoing tide creates enough flow to concentrate bait and predators.
There is also an encouraging sign of the coming seasonal change. Schools of pilchards are beginning to flood into the Panama City bay system on strong incoming tides. Justin considers that bait movement one of the first indications that the late-summer pattern is beginning to transition toward fall.
Pensacola Kayak And Inshore Fishing Report – Brandon Barton With Emerald Waters Kayak Charters
Brandon Barton with Emerald Waters Kayak Charters says managing the heat starts with covering up rather than exposing more skin to the sun. From a kayak, anglers do not have the benefit of running the boat to create airflow, and reflected sunlight off the water adds another layer of heat exposure.
Brandon recommends lightweight, breathable long pants, long-sleeve hooded fishing shirts, a hat, plenty of water, and fishing early, late, or at night when possible. He specifically mentioned AFTCO fishing apparel as clothing he relies on in the summer. Joe added that lightweight nylon-and-spandex blends tend to be more comfortable in extreme heat than heavier polyester options.
Night fishing has been one of Brandon’s better options recently, especially around dock lights. He recommends downsizing bait profiles because much of the forage around those lights is small. Tiny artificial shrimp have been especially productive for trout and redfish.
Brandon mentioned small shrimp imitations from Tsunami and specifically the 2.5-inch Z-Man PrawnstarZ. The durable ElaZtech-style body is useful around dock lights where repeated bites from smaller fish can quickly tear up softer plastics. When fish are visibly feeding on the surface, a small-profile topwater can also draw an immediate strike.
During the day, Brandon has been fishing grass flats in the sound for trout and redfish, but floating grass is creating a major presentation problem. Traditional topwaters and twitch baits with exposed treble hooks can become fouled almost every cast.
One solution is replacing treble hooks with single J-style hooks on favorite hard baits. Weedless swimbaits are another option. Joe also mentioned a Pure Flats Slick Lure rigged with an Owner Beast Hook as an example of a presentation that can come through grass more cleanly than an exposed treble-hook bait.
Even with weedless tackle, anglers should expect some grass. Brandon points out that vegetation can still catch around the line tie and knot, so the goal is not necessarily to make every cast perfectly clean. Instead, the objective is to create enough productive casts to stay in an area that is still holding fish.
Wind direction can help. Brandon normally likes windblown banks, but when floating grass becomes extremely thick, he does the opposite. If the wind has pushed most of the grass onto one side of a flat, he fishes the cleaner leeward side so his lures can work properly.
For anglers using live bait, a float can still be useful in heavy surface grass. The cork itself may collect some vegetation, but suspending the bait below the floating debris keeps the bait in a cleaner part of the water column. Brandon said anglers can simply allow the cork and bait to drift naturally with the current instead of constantly popping it.
Looking toward September, Brandon expects nearshore kayak fishing to improve as the first cold fronts begin reaching the coast. King mackerel and Spanish mackerel are already available, but the fall transition should bring stronger king action, mahi close to the beach, and an increase in sailfish encounters. Brandon refers to September as “September sails” because of the number of sailfish that can be hooked from kayaks within roughly a mile of the beach. Blackfin tuna become another possibility as the season progresses into October and November.
Panama City Inshore Fishing Report – Capt. Justin Leake With Panama City Inshore
Capt. Justin Leake with Panama City Inshore says August fishing can resemble January and February in one important way: fish become heavily concentrated in the small percentage of water that offers comfortable conditions. Instead of randomly searching the entire bay, he is eliminating hot, stagnant areas and focusing on water with current and signs of life.
Justin is targeting redfish, mangrove snapper, and Spanish mackerel because all three species are handling the high water temperatures relatively well. His first filter is tide movement. He likes the last part of an incoming tide, the first part of the outgoing tide, or the corresponding periods on an afternoon tide. Fishing right at the top of the high or bottom of the low, when current goes slack, has been much less productive.
Points are one of his primary targets. Justin studies how each point sits in relation to the current and looks for the side that receives the best water flow on a particular tide. He uses satellite imagery and a Humminbird CoastMaster chart on his chartplotter to see the point, nearby grass, and depth contours before positioning the boat.
Rather than parking directly on the feature, Justin sets up approximately 50 to 100 feet up-current. His boat may sit in roughly eight feet of water while the fish hold on a shallower edge or contour change. From there, the current carries chum and hooked baits back toward the structure without putting the boat directly on top of the fish.
Live Chumming Redfish, Mangrove Snapper And Spanish Mackerel
Pilchards are beginning their fall migration into the bay, but they can be difficult to catch when schools are moving through deep open water with predators chasing them. Justin prefers to catch pilchards when he can find them shallow early in the morning. When that is not possible, he will move into feeder creeks and bayous and cast-net pogies.
His preferred chum baits are live pilchards or pogies in roughly the three- to four-inch range. For a half-day trip, Justin likes to have at least around 200 baits available, although the number depends heavily on livewell capacity and water flow. Pilchards are much hardier than pogies in hot, salty bay water, so anglers need to be careful not to overcrowd a smaller livewell.
The live-chumming sequence is deliberate. When Justin first arrives at a point, he starts with roughly 10 to 15 baits and stuns them enough that they remain alive but cannot immediately swim away. The current carries those injured baits toward the point, where any redfish, mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel, or other predators should notice them quickly.
Once fish begin responding, Justin reduces the volume. He throws only two or three free baits every 30 seconds to a minute while anglers cast hooked baits into the same chum line. The idea is to maintain a steady trickle without feeding the fish so heavily that they ignore the hooked offerings.
Justin does not spend long waiting for a dead spot to improve. When first arriving, he gives a point roughly five minutes to show signs of life. If fish were biting and then shut down, he is willing to wait about 10 minutes before moving. Covering water and quickly eliminating unproductive areas is a major part of the August strategy.
Artificial Lures For The Panama City Bait Migration
Anglers who do not want to catch live bait can still take advantage of the pilchard migration. Justin’s primary artificial right now is the smallest Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ he uses, rigged on a half-ounce jig head. He prefers natural baitfish colors with silver or white sides and a darker green or black back to imitate the pilchards moving through the clear Panama City water.
The half-ounce head allows the lure to cast a long distance while also letting Justin adjust the retrieve for different depths. Around active bait schools, the presentation does not need to be slow. Pilchards are moving quickly and predators are chasing them aggressively, so the swimbait can be worked with a faster, searching presentation.
Justin keeps the swimbait rigged even on live-bait trips because surface feeds can suddenly erupt around the passes. Redfish are the prize when these feeding frenzies appear, but Spanish mackerel, bonito, ladyfish, and bluefish can also be mixed into the action. Having a long-casting artificial ready allows anglers to immediately reach fish that may be outside live-bait casting range.
Mangrove snapper are less likely to commit to the artificial than redfish or Spanish mackerel, making live bait the stronger choice when mangroves are the primary target. Justin did report catching a mangrove on the jig recently, but he considers that less common.
The bigger seasonal takeaway is the arrival of the pilchards themselves. Even though the air and water are still extremely hot, Justin says that influx of bait is one of the earliest signs that Northwest Florida is beginning its move toward the fall pattern.
