Gulf County is ok, we've got some fires going right now to the West from morons burning when they're told not to, just too much wood on the ground and not much rain for a couple weeks. Think they still have about 700ac going as of this AM but I'm not in town to verify.
Dead Lakes are fine, fishable but not really productive right now, due to water levels. Water is still high and the fish are out in the woods where you can't get to them (but water is coming down). I fished West Arm creek little over a week ago and it wasn't great. On the big river the storm knocked over a lot of trees so a lot of the backwater sloughs I like to go up in are blocked off. Some of the logs are low enough you can jump them with an alum boat but some are too high. Guys hunting out there have been cutting them back open, but it'll be a long time before they're all open again. Sad to see so much of the virgin timber laid down.
If you're wanting to fish freshwater in that area, run up to Talquin to the East, or the Sandhill lakes to the West. Both are really good right now. Hooked several bass skipping docks for Crappie (but no Crappie) the same week I fished West Arm. Looked like guys out in the old river channel were doing ok tightlining though. Another bonus is if it sucks you can just go to the Whip and drink...
Good luck.