Offshore Fishing in Panama City, FL

Last week we went on a short and sweet vacation to Panama City, FL to go offshore fishing with Heritage Excursions.

If you’re not familiar with offshore fishing – it’s when you’re fishing between 10 to 100 miles out into the ocean where the water is most likely 100 to 600 feet deep! On these fishing trips, you will catch fish that could never be caught from shore and you will find some of the most delicious fish in those deeper waters!

We were really excited to get out on the water for our first offshore trip of the year – we were targeting red snapper and grouper.

Our day began by meeting Captain Josh with Heritage Excursions at Papa Joes Bayside – which is an incredible venue that is just being brought back since Hurrican Michael wreaked havoc on the area nearly two years ago.

We were up bright and early and met at the dock around 6 am to get on his beautiful 36-foot center-console Contender. We loaded up on the boat and headed out – we were beginning the day with a 50 mile run offshore to get away from some storms and to target some red snapper and grouper.

Once we got to our first fishing spot it was game time! We baited our hooks with cigar minnows and dropped them down into nearly 300 feet of water.

After less than a minute we were getting our first bites! Let me tell you that fighting a fish from 300 feet under the surface will wear you out! By the time you get the fish to the surface, your arms are screaming but it is an absolute blast!

We picked the 12-hour offshore trip so we were on the boat all day long! We were super excited to catch a limit of grouper, red snapper, and picked up a few other fish along the way as well! Captain Josh kept us on the fish all day!

About an hour before we were to go back to shore, they made us some ceviche with some fresh-caught fish!

They sliced up one of the fish from the cooler and threw it in some lime juice and let it sit for about an hour. The acidity in the lime juice cooks the fish when left to sit for a little while, and gives it some flavor!

After the fish “cooks” the guides added some chopped veggies and we ate it right on the deck of the boat with some tortilla chips – it was INCREDIBLE and a fabulous snack after fighting fish all day!

Once we were back to shore we made at stop at the marina where we dropped off our nearly 200 pounds of fish we caught to be cleaned. The marina vacuum sealed the fish, labeled it, and froze it, then we were able to pick it up the next morning – what a great service!

If you’re ever in the Panama City area and looking to have one heck of a day on the water, be sure to contact Heritage Excursions for all your needs.

He offers many different trips – my favorite being the trip where you fish in the morning and then go in during the afternoon and hang out at Shell Island, grill your catch, and snorkel with all kinds of sea life! These guys take care of you the moment you step foot on the boat until you say goodbye.

We had such a fun adventure on the water and can’t wait to do it again!

WHAT AN AWESOME TRIP! Check out my blog post from my last fishing adventure HERE.