'Chasin' the Sun' in Panama City Beach

Justin Leake and Matt Smith grew up doing what they loved — enjoying the abundant resources of Florida's Panhandle Coast. As youngsters living close together in Bay County, they rode their bikes to go fishing, swimming or simply exploring the beach and the bay somewhere almost daily.

Now, that childhood pastime has become their profession — both are fishing guides and part of the Panama City Inshore cooperative charter service. And for the last several years, Capt. Justin has been sharing his love of the Northwest Florida coast with millions of viewers all over the nation in weekly episodes of the "Chasin' the Sun" television show along with co-host Travis Holeman, and with Capt. Matt as a frequent guest.

The show is produced by the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau and airs every Saturday at 7 a.m. CST on The Discovery Channel. It's been a hit for the genre, with some 5 million viewers annually.

"The show is all about why people like Justin love living here and our resort guests keep coming back," said J. Michael Brown, the show's executive producer and also vice president of Tourism Development for the CVB. "Every show keys on fishing and boating, of course, but we also look at a lot of the other things that draw people to our coastal way of life."

Fishing a Big Draw

"A lot of people don't realize just how good our fishing can be here in the area," says Justin as we head out St. Andrews Inlet for a few hours of fishing photography. "There's good action just about every month of the year if you target the right species."

This morning, the target is redfish and pompano, both regular visitors to the coastal beaches, though the reds are probably better known for their extended stay inside the estuaries before moving out to the Gulf of Mexico as adults.

"The fish hang around runouts and places where the waves have built an extended bar or shallow area off the beach," says Matt. "Basically, anywhere there are likely to be a lot of sand fleas, you can find gamefish."

Of course, as in any type of fishing, there are a lot of places where they ain't, but after about 30 minutes of searching with Justin in the tower and Matt on the elevated bow platform, the anglers see what they're looking for in the crystal clear water washing over the white sand bottom.

"Pompano ... and redfish," says Justin. "They're both in that dark slough right against the beach."

He fires a 3/8 jig rigged with a cutdown Z-Man scented shrimp tail toward the beach, hops it once and is hooked up. A second later, Matt's rod doubles over as well. Drags zip. Braided line buzzes through the guides. The anglers duck and dodge each other chasing fish around the boat.

"We're having fun now," says Justin.

In a few minutes, Justin hauls a 5-pound redfish over the gunwale, Matt a fat 2-pound permit. The redfish is almost as silver as the permit — they adjust their color to the clear water here rather than wearing the gold and pink shadings of their inshore relatives. The fish are barely back over the side when a swarm of reds half an acre wide comes swirling past the boat.

Taking pity on the photographer, they give me a rod — a cast of 50 feet, an instant hookup.

Meantime, they both hook up as well. As we're fighting the fish, a 6-foot long tarpon goes meandering by.

"Whoa, he's here early," says Justin, watching the silver king. He says tarpon fishing here usually gets underway late in May and peaks in June and July.

We all boat and release our fish after a few photos. A couple more casts, a couple more hookups — it's crazy. There are fish spread over 200 yards of shoreline, literally hundreds of them, and every time a bait hits the water one of them eats it. This goes on for close to an hour, until all of us are starting to feel that familiar ache of having done a few too many reps with the dumbbells.

And then on the way back, we catch a 5-foot spinner shark that jumps all over the ocean and cast at a cobia. The cobia is the only fish all day that is not hungry.

Year Around Action

"I wish we had our video guy with us because needless to say, it's not always that good," Justin tells me on the ride towards the inlet. "But a lot of times if the conditions are right, you can find really good action either out here or up in the bay — reds, trout, cobia and permit in spring, tarpon, Spanish and kings summer through early fall, and then reds, trout, flounder and sheepshead until Thanksgiving. And of course we have that great red snapper season in summer — it's short, but there are so many fish that everybody who goes gets their limit."

Of course, fishing right up against the beach requires either very little wind, or a wind out of the north here, resulting in a nearly flat surf and clear water. With a south wind, the area near the beach becomes murky, making it tough to see the cuts, and the surf can become too rolly for safe navigation.

The prime beach fishing area basically extends from Cape San Blas all the way to Perdido Beach, over 120 miles, but there's usually all the action an angler could want within 15 miles either side of St. Andrews Inlet. In short, when it comes to topics and locations for "Chasin' the Sun," there's plenty to choose from.

"We have pretty much endless content and the show is working for viewers and for Panama City Beach so we don't see an end in sight," says J. Michael Brown.

Places to Stay in PCB

There are endless accommodation choices in Panama City Beach, of course — Royal American Beach Getaways is among the companies offering a number of beachfront condo and resort style locations, including the Boardwalk Beach Resort on South Thomas Drive, a location that's a bit out of the bustle of Front Beach Road but still located directly on a beautiful stretch of sugar-sand beach — and within walking distance of Pineapple Willy's, a beachfront bar with a great sundown view.