Guided Mr. Edwin Yee and his son, Jordan, this morning. Edwin is the new owner of a beautiful 22 Pathfinder from The Ships Chandler in Destin, FL. Edwin and Jordan wanted to become a bit more familiar with the boat’s capabilities and find some places to catch fish on it in Pensacola Bay. I think both goals were accomplished today. Started out with some topwaters and suspending hardbaits in shallow water. Found plenty of small speckled trout with a few nice one mixed in. It seems some areas have been infested with ladyfish, small Spanish mackerel, sharks and big jacks. Not an optimal quartet for consistent catches of redfish and trout. Travelled to some other productive areas and found the action to be abnormally slow. We did catch some quality 3-4# trout but it was one here, one there and very spotty. Ran north to find some redfish in shallow, muddy areas and found huge amounts of bait in one large pocket. Pulled a few decent redfish out of there and struggled after 1000am with slow water and minimal concentrations of fish. I sure wish the rains and winds would stop for a while!! All fish release except a few nice trout and redfish for the grill. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreRedfish, trout and more for new Pensacola residents at Redfish University-August 6, 2010
Back from vacation and busier than ever! Guided Mr. Jim Ball and his son, Thomas, this morning. Jim, Thomas and family are recent new arrivals to the Pensacola area. They are buying a new boat soon and wanted to learn about our local waters and fishery here in Pensacola. They are now very familiar with both!! Started out earlier and showed the guys where they can catch plenty of fish to eat. Whacked the trout and redfish on topwaters, suspending baits and Berkley Powerbaits most of the early morning. Thomas really came into his own with the suspending baits boating several quality speckled trout. We covered a variety of extremely productive areas and lots of proven techniques that have been the bread and butter at Redfish University. Next, the guys wanted go to some areas where they could just catch lots of fish. Picked out some areas in the bay and around the Pass and the guys had a ball with big Spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish and some big sharks. Ended the day with some fishing talk and 15 typed pages of detailed inshore angling tips, locations and techniques for fishing in Pensacola. Jim and Thomas will have no problem catching fish in Pensacola year-round and Redfish University wishes them the best of luck in their future angling adventures. Most fish released but a few trout, redfish and Spanish macks were kept for the cookout. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreLots of trout and rain at Redfish University-August 5, 2010
Back from another short vacation and ready to fish. Guided Mr. John Prudhomme and friend Harris today for some trout and redfish action in Pensacola Bay. Started at first light and ran about 8 miles to our first area. Found plenty of medium trout on topwater baits in shallow water but these fish were not as aggressive as last week. Switched to sub-surface baits and improved our catch-rate a bit. Ran from the rain and storms and found some better trout in another area but still, not very aggressive. Eight wind direction shifts and erratic pressure didn’t help us today but we did as well as humanly possible. Ended up with 20-30 decent trout with 10-12 being great keepers. Also had a great redfish wake and blow-in and out. Probably an oversized fish but the strike was epic. All fish caught on Berkley Powerbaits and topwater baits. Different areas for tomorrow’s...
Read MoreTricky Trout and Redfish at Redfish University-July 29, 2010
Guided Kirk Johnson and his son, Destin, this morning for some speckled trout and redfish in Pensacola Bay. It was a real pleasure to fish with young Destin who is an outstanding angler and really stuck it to the large speckled trout on a very difficult bite. Today, the water was coming in but last night with the combination of the outgoing tide and a very stiff north wind, there was very little water in our normally epic redfish and trout areas. Started early with topwaters and only caught a few small trout and really didn’t get any huge blowups. Made the obvious adjustment and moved well off the banks to produce some medium-large trout on Berkley Gulp! Jerkbaits. Found the fish to be very uncomfortable and unwilling to strike baits this morning. Moved to some deeper banks and slowing produced move fish but still not what we really wanted. Finally, I came through in an area with bottom structure in 12-15′ of water where the big trout were happily biting our baits. A few doubles on 3-5# fish was nice to see and by 900am we had an extremely impressive limit of quality speckled trout. Mission accomplished on the trout so we moved in for the redfish. Only one small fish cooperated and a few more nice trout. The redfish were difficult this week but we did get some very nice fish on Monday’s trip. All fish released except 15 super trout for a cookout. Great job, Destin, in tough condition. Thanks again. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreA great day with some favorite clients at Redfish University-July 26, 2010
Guided some of my best and favorite clients Jim and Kyle Lawrence this morning. The guys drove over from Destin this morning at 400am and had catching fish on their minds. Met at 515am and set out for a morning of epic topwater action. Epic it was!!! Immediately, Jim and Kyle started pounding away at the speckled trout and redfish. The sound of topwater explosions filled the silent morning and was music to our ears. Lots of “booms”, “pows” and “cawblauwees” from all of us witnessing this stellar morning of topwater action. I have no idea how many quality trout were landed, stuck momentarily and dropped at the boat, but it was many. Moved on once the sun got up and fished some water in the 3-6′ range in search of more trout and redfish. Didn’t take long and the action was almost every cast! I was able to give my friend Jim some great advice in this area by suggesting working his Berkley Gulp! Jerkbait a bit slower(at a snails pace) to draw a larger trout. In RU’s experience, both small trout and redfish are much more attracted to quick/fast moving baits because of their youthful aggressiveness. Sure enough, Jim lands an awesome 5# fish next cast in the same exact area where three 14-15″ just came. With our mission to successfully slay the trout and redfish all morning accomplished, we took a ride for the Pass to just catch some fish. Caught Spanish, bluefish and ladyfish for the rest of the time and even hooked a few large sharks on the big rod. RU doesn’t spend much time at all in Pensacola Pass but we all had a great time watching bait scatter from sharks and Spanish. Jim and Kyle left Pensacola with 15 very nice trout, some redfish and lots of local knowledge that can be applied at their vacation home in Destin. Great day!! Thanks again Jim and Kyle!! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
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