Most people looking to fish on their 30A vacation automatically think of deep sea fishing or casting lines into the gulf from the pristine sandy beaches. But locals know that some of the best fishing happens on the North side of the area, near the shores and docks and bayous opening into the Bay.
The Choctawhatchee Bay is coastal estuary situated between Freeport and Santa Rosa Beach in Walton County, Florida. The Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge connects the two cities and is raised high enough to allow boats and barges to pass underneath on their way to the Gulf of Mexico.
The bay connects to the Gulf on the western end of Destin, and the on the eastern end in Panama City Beach.
There are many places to fish from near the Bay, including a park created below the bridge that contains docks, ramps, picnic tables, and a pier that juts out toward the deepest portion of the bay.
Types of fish you can catch in the Bay
- Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) also known as Redfish or channel bass
- Spotted Sea Trout (Cynoscion nebulosus).They can be found in the shallow waters of the bay and nearby estuaries.
- Flounder (Paralichthys) are also common, found most often in the sandy and mud bottoms.
- Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) are bottom dwellers and are found near the shore.
- Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) can be found in the bays and marshes, as well as deeper coastal waters.
- Black Drum (Pogonias cromis) inhabits shallow waters and other habitats near shore.
- Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) is commonly found in the Gulf around the Choctawhatchee Bay. They usually occupy deeper waters but can occasionally be caught close to shore.
