Episode 17 | Port St. Joe Fishing for Flounder

The Morning Commute to Port St. Joe

Alex and I woke up in the hotel room early in the morning. I had just picked him up from the airport the day before and it was already a blessing to have him back on the Tour. We packed up the Tour Jeep and took off. It was about an hour and a half drive to get to beautiful Port Saint Joe.

As we were headed down the Peninsula road, we saw fish busting on the water’s surface nearby and immediately stopped to throw a few casts in before even making it to our destination. After a few casts, we decide we should probably get to where we were originally planning. We left the active fish and drove off to the T.H. State Park on the Port St. Joe Bay Peninsula. We were greeted by an incredible sunrise as we arrived.

“We left the active fish and drove off to the T.H. State Park on the Port Saint Joe Bay Peninsula. We were greeted by an incredible sunrise as we arrived.”

Gathering Local Port St. Joe Fishing Reports

Once we were settled, we headed out and talked to a few people at a local tackle store. With the insight we had gained, we made the decision to fish the Gulf side of the Port St. Joe Bay to start the day! First, we had rigged up a Pompano Rig with circle hooks and little bits of shrimp (See in video episode). 

How to rig up a Pompano Rig

Catch fish from any surf with this versatile rig. I had this straight braided from a stiff Abu Garcia surf rod.

The Pompano Rig allows you to go straight from a braid backing on your reel, to a barrel swivel.

• From the barrel swivel, you can directly run your leader down to a 6 ounce triangle weight (go lighter for light surf).
• On the leader, you will tie two dropper loop knots for each hook and you can even run a dropper loop knot for your triangle weight.
• I like to rig my hooks off of snap swivels with a bead above them! (The snap swivel allows for a quick change of the hook size) The bead acts as an extra noise to get a fish’s attention.
• Other people also use small floats above their beads to help those hooks stay high in the water column to avoid those pesky crabs on the bottom!
• Put shrimp bait on the hooks and cast away.

Circle hooks will hook them well. Hope this works well for you!

“First we had rigged up a Pompano Rig with circle hooks and little bits of shrimp. (I give a more in depth explanation of the rig in the Episode!)”

The Fishing Action Begins

Within five minutes of fishing we were already hooked up! I was able to reel in the first Atlantic Short Nose shark of the ANGLR Tour. After that, we missed a few bites and relaxed in the water before moving over to the Bayside of Port St. Joe. We talked to a few more knowledgeable locals who said that if we waded out about 50 yards in the bay, we would be able to hook into a few Summer Flounder.

“Within five minutes of fishing we were already hooked up! I was able to reel in the first Atlantic Short Nose shark of the ANGLR Tour.”

So we got the GoPro’s running, rigged up our Saltwater Assassin Paddle Tail Swimbait and waded well over 50 yards into the seagrass of St. Joseph’s Bay. It wasn’t long before Alex hooked up with a nice sized dinner plate of a summer flounder!

“It wasn’t long before Alex hooked up with a nice sized dinner plate of a summer flounder!”

From that point on, we knew that there were fish in the area! The fishing slowed however once the cloud cover came in and we begin only feeling little nibbles from annoying pinfish. From that point, it was pretty frustrating as we kept feeling bites and we weren’t sure exactly what was biting. The worst part was that we were unable to hook up on any of the bites. As we waded our way back to shore, I was finally able to hook up on a bite! I caught another summer flounder about the same size as Alex’s was.

Off to Lake Okeechobee Kayak Fishing for Largemouth Bass!

We called it a day after that and headed over to the Apalachicola Bay to get some of their world renowned oysters. It was a delicious meal and a fun day of messing around in St. Joseph’s Bay! Up next, we are headed to Lake Okeechobee to fish out of the Bonafide Kayak for some Florida Strain Largemouth with Rod Salser!  

Current Species Count:

We’re gunnin’ for 20+ over the course of the tour. Here’s the list, so far:

1. Steelhead
2. Largemouth Bass
3. Spotted Bass
4. Rock Bass
5. Silver Red Horse Sucker
6. Quillback Suckercarp
7. Skipjack
8. Blue catfish
9. American Shad
10. Spotted Gar
11. Mooneye
12. Asian Carp
13. Pumpkinseed
14. Smallmouth bass
15. Bluegill
16. Brown Trout
17. Striped Bass
18. Rainbow Trout
19. Freshwater Drum
20. Speckled Sea Trout
21. Red Fish
22. Gafftop Catfish
23. Hardhead Catfish
24. Whiting
25. Sand Trout
26. Croaker
27. Summer Flounder
28. Atlantic Sharpnose Shark

This is the ANGLRTOUR.  –Jacob Jesionek

About the ANGLR Tour

Follow Jake and Alex, collegiate Bass anglers, fish biologist, and vloggers, on an epic two-month fishing trip. They’re on a journey to catch 20 species, 10 state fish, and win the 2018 FLW college national championship on Red River, LA.

Will they be able to complete their whole challenge? Follow along as they catch bass, kayak fish Texas Bass Lakes, inshore Tarpon fish, have dinners with Bassmaster elites, jack Smallmouth Bass in Michigan, and Striped Bass fish Cape Cod. They’ll even have a Hobie vs. Bonafide kayak fishing challenge on Sam Rayburn. They’re vlogging, blogging, and recording it all right here.

Subscribe to the Tour on YouTube