From late August until the end of October in 2010; myself, my wife and our twins Hugh and Nona, all stayed in Port St. Joe. We rented a house and I commercially caught Kingfish.
In the panhandle of Florida, or the forgotten coast, it is just that. It’s quiet, country and the fishing is great. The kingfishing was good for most of the time we were there. But other species were very aggressive while we were out. My first week out I caught my first ever sailfish. With no other camera on the boat, I snapped what I could on my phone. They came out okay. Sharks were ferocious where ever we went. Catching bait, I had to get the net in fast so I wouldn’t have to mend too many holes from blacktip bites.
The red snappers were one of the highlights. They became a 
nuisance while trying to catch kingfish. Sometimes on different wrecks, if you’d let your bait fall too deep, you’d catch a snapper. They pulled harder than any snapper I’d ever caught and were bigger than any I’d ever seen. My biggest was ten pounds and most of them were caught within six miles of the beach. We were fortunate that while up there, the season opened back up on the weekends. They were sure tasty.
I could write all day on how nice the people were, how beautiful the beaches were, not to mention that it seemed on most days we were all alone on the water. It was a nice place to work and play and we are already booked for next year for the same time frame. For anyone that is looking for a change in location and some different fishing. Don’t let me forget though, the redfish and trout fishing are outstanding in St. Joe bay. The surf fishing can be good also. There are plenty of houses for rent on the beaches. Cape San Blas and Mexico beach are the places to be. My recommendation on Cape San Blas is Coastal Joe Vacation Rentals. Suzy was great to work with. This year staying just east of Mexico Beach and working with Southern Resorts Vacation Rentals. They manage several properties in the area, in particular, a fairly new community named Barefoot Cottages. There is a nice Mainstay Suites just on the east side of Port St. Joe that is only a couple of years old. It was very nice.
My rates would be the same, but I would probably fish only full days so we’d have plenty of time to work all the fisheries. There is so much to do.
