Guided Mr. Bob Willice this morning. I’m guiding out of the Maverick 17HPX for a week or so, so we decided to go shallow and stick some redfish. Started out on a very shallow flat and found redfish everywhere. Some fish were cooperative and some were not. Eventually found that the fish in around three feet of water were ripe for the taking. Stuck some very nice fish as well as few nice speckled trout. Also, saw a speckled trout that was over 7 pounds but the smaller(2.5#) trout ran down the bait. Bob also had an epic redfish strike right next to the boat. The 30″ fish was chasing the bait as Bob worked it to the boat. He slowed the bait down and the fish did a head-stand and inhaled the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshad. It was a classic view from the poling platform that I will remember for a long time! Anyway, Bob’s next adventure involves the challenging pompano in a few weeks. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads and Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons. All fish released. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreWal-Mart Headquarters Bentonville, AR-April 7, 2010
Returned from Wal-Mart Headquarters in Bentonville, AR. last night. Arrived Monday afternoon and got in some bass fishing with Vince Minnick and Jeff Cope from Pure Fishing/Wal-Mart division. Caught some nice bass on Vince’s 500 acre private lake and had a great dinner at Fred’s in Bentonville. First thing Tuesday morning I met with eleven of the Pure Fishing(Berkley, Penn, Trilene, etc.) execs who handle the Wal-Mart fishing department in the US. Made great progress on ideas and tackle selection in the Wal-Mart stores here on the Gulf Coast. This is a very impressive Pure Fishing/Wal-Mart operation and I hope that my advice and angling knowledge was very helpful. Looking forward to continued involvement in the future! Trips Thursday through next Friday. Very nice to have a day off today!! See everyone soon. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read More7# Speckled Trout, 6.5# Redfish, bulls and pompano at Redfish University-April 2, 2010
Guided Mr. Billy Thigpen this morning. Billy is a regular client from Atlanta and is down for Easter. We started out early for some big speckled trout and did we find them!! Billy stuck a 7# trout at first light. We also hit some very nice redfish in the same areas including a nice 6.5 fish. After an hour of slaying the redfish and trout, we took off for the beach in search of pompano. Found some pompano concentrating around deeper holes. We also sightfished several large redfish in the surf while we searched for the pompano. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads and pink/orange pompano jigs. Guiding Billy again tomorrow in the Maverick 17HPX in some very shallow water and we’ll be throwing at tailing and cruising redfish all morning long. Can’t wait! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreRedfish and Speckled Trout but no Pompano(yet) at Redfish University-March 30, 2010
Guided Mr. Jim Tully and Mr. Dustin Martinson this morning. Jim and Dustin are regular clients, great anglers and lots of fun to fish with. Today, Jim and Dustin asked me to take them sight fishing for pompano. For a little bonus action, I offered them an hour or so targeting speckled trout before the sun got high. Both anglers stuck some trout including Jim’s 5# beast. At 800am, we took off for the pass. As we came around the point we found a school of redfish and stopped for some light tackle fun. Good thing we found them first before some other boats big motored through the fish. The redfish were fun but not what we were looking for. Spent 2 hours sight fishing a 3-4 mile stretch of beach. Jim actually had one pompano following his bait, but we only saw 5-6 confirmed pompano. What was also surprising, no redfish or drum to throw at either! With no possibility of pompano and after looking in some more unconventional areas, we were unfortunately left to hit the big redfish again. Stuck 4 or 5 more redfish and called it a morning. At Redfish University, pompano were promised. Jim and Dustin will be joined me for a pompano specific trip in the coming weeks when there are actually some pompano in the water. That’s how we roll! All fish taken on Gulp! Jerkshads rigged on my favorite Marsh Works jigheads. Also worth mentioning, these 15-25# redfish were taken on 6-10# InvisiBraid(pompano tackle) with a 10-15# fluoro leader. All fish cared for and released healthy. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreNeap tides, full moon and 30mph winds no match for Redfish University-March 29, 2009
After a few days off to work with Berkley, I guided Mr. Mitch Smith this morning. Mitch is a very good angler and wanted to go find some redfish. Very poor conditions today with 20-30mph winds, no water movement from the neap tides and a full moon to top it off. No problem. Started out early with some very nice speckled trout while we waited for sun to get high. After catch our trout we headed for the redfish. Hard winds made things difficult but we made the appropriate adjustments and decisions. Mitch started off with a 25.5″ 6.25# fatty and then stuck the perfect redfish. On the paint at 27″ and 7.75#. Nice tournament weight of a little over 14#’s of meaty redfish. Continued to stick more fish including some oversized beasts between 10-20#. Plenty of redfish around and they are very willing to bite. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads in camo and rootbeer rigged with my favorite Marsh Works jigheads. Johnson Spoons also took some fish. Pompano tomorrow! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
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