# Looking for help on the water



## backwoodstractor (Jun 2, 2016)

Hello, just found this site an new to this, im not sure how to go about asking for help here, well here go s, I grew up fishing outta panacea florida an now that im grown an only one out on my own fishing an looking for good spots, ive tried fishing there now an it don't seem to be as it was 20 yrs ago, so ive been out looking for new places an asking for advice an help. I tell ya asking for good spots or some good numbers is like asking for winning lottery ticket. ive bought maps here an there an just been burning time an money away. almost get ya in tears from the frustration. so ive been plundering around mexico beach an port st joe area few trips now an bought an artificial reef map an still really hadn't got on anything. an when ya ask locals for advise or numbers ya almost get a pocke knife pulled on ya. im looking for help for maybe panama city,mexico beach,appalachicola area,panacea, people act like im gonna come to there hunny holes an set up camp 7 days a wk, im just tired of burning gas an money with out any fun or rewards. I just go down few times threw out spring an summer months, any one familiar with any of these areas an can help out an hungry fella an trying to show his friends the same good time I once had when I was a kid .:help:


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## Tail Chaser (Jun 22, 2008)

I aint much help myself but I do use these and they help me
this Is a post I gave before hope it helps
a former member on here named foxtrotuniform offers them on his website strikelines charts
an amazing thing is he posts all the public sites free of charge with instructions how to load them too
heres the link
http://www.strikelinescharts.com/index.php/public/


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

I fish Mexico Beach a good bit. Go to the MBARA (Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association) web site. Hundreds and hundreds of numbers there. Most of them have reef surveys and many have videos as well.


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## backwoodstractor (Jun 2, 2016)

Hello im glade you sent me a message, im new to this site an saw were you fish there regularly, I had been trying to figure out how to message you to ask you questions bout fishing outta mexico beach, I did go to blue water out fitters over at St Joe an purchased me one of them little mbara booklets with the public numbers in it, but heck theres over a hundred off them, people keep talking of the the car bodys to find grouper a snappers but heck theres over a hundred of them it seems there, I guess I need to find were people comment online bout the differ sites to see there experiences ,, sure beats rideing all over guessing . id love to hook up with a guide or a local an gladely donate a little bit to his pocket to go out with me an show me the ropes there an few hot spots I could save for when I do get to sneak down. no like I can fish there spots everyday . saw were you were from Ala, im bout a hundred miles from ya in Lagrange Ga, just out side of Pine Mtn (callaway gardens area) thanks for ur input an reply im going back down there third wk in june , hopeing to get some pointers so I want have another depressing trip.


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## slayerextreme (Jan 10, 2012)

here is what I did for the Mexico Beach area..... I used the MBARA (Mexico Beach Artificial Reef Association) site and google earth....1st I cut and paste the coordinates from the MBARA reef list into google earth, this had to be done one at a time, but it was worth it.....after I had all the way points entered into google earth I saved that file, pretty sure it was saved in a .kml or .kmz format........then I used GPS Babel (free software) to convert the .kml file to a .usr format(lowrance)...put the new file on a micro SD card and put it in my fishfinder on the boat....done!!!! Spend a little time on the PC and you can have more fishing spots than you could ever fish....its a process that takes time, but it is super effective.....nothing like easing up on a GPS waypoint and watching the structure come into view..especially when you see the sounder light up with bait and schools of big fish..........also dont forget to slow troll the bouye line with a Duster!!!


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

You know what's funny. We've been fishing MB for 15 or 20 years and have never caught anything trolling the buoy line... haha

Now over the Car Bodies is a different story! It's hard to troll more than a couple hundred yards without getting a hook-up.

As for the hundreds of reefs. There is a file on the MBARA site that you can download that has all of the coordinates in it. You can put it directly into GPS Babel (free program on internet) and it will convert into whatever file you need for Humminbird, Lowrance, Garmin, or whatever. Super easy once you figure it out. There is a small learning curve to it. As for which are productive? It varies. WE go down several times a year and may not catch anything on one reef on first trip and it may be loaded the second trip... The good thing is most of them are oly a few hundred yards apart. Just troll from one to the other. You WILL get slammed by a King or a big Spaniard. There were even some Sailfish caught in there in the past couple of years. And we got into some chicken Mahi last year in the Car Bodies.


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## kmerr80 (Oct 28, 2013)

MBARA has numbers for a ton of reefs. They get hit pretty hard but you can manage a limit of snapper on them most days. The quality may not be there. Kings are in there thick as well. For federal water snapper and grouper launch from Indian Pass and head towards the Madison Swanson area. after about 20 miles start watching your bottom machine for hard bottom. Avoid the Swanson like the plague though!


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

kmerr80 said:


> MBARA has numbers for a ton of reefs. They get hit pretty hard but you can manage a limit of snapper on them most days. The quality may not be there. Kings are in there thick as well. For federal water snapper and grouper launch from Indian Pass and head towards the Madison Swanson area. after about 20 miles start watching your bottom machine for hard bottom. Avoid the Swanson like the plague though!


What's the deal with the Swanson. Never heard of it.


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## kmerr80 (Oct 28, 2013)

NoMoSurf said:


> What's the deal with the Swanson. Never heard of it.



The big square chunk of the gulf that has been closed for years, spawning grounds, no bottom fishing allowed, and only surface trolling allowed certain months. Best to not get near it.


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## backwoodstractor (Jun 2, 2016)

Hey again Mr NO MO,, a guy that works with my friend went down to mexico beach this wk an wore the snapps out an caught there limit on them an groupers in less than 3 hrs they threw mangroves back aswell. says they were only few miles out on top of a reef. they know a ex charter capt. down there that was banned from chartering, they payem all the time an he goes withem an puts them on top of the fish. an of course they want help an hungry man out.


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

He's Phishing!


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

lastcast said:


> He's Phishing!


Phishing for what?


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