Guided Mr. Patrick Small this morning in West Bay as a part of a three-part series to the east concentrating on redfish and tarpon. I hated seeing that full moon when I left Pensacola at 215am and knew we would have to stick our fish early and before they entered the grass. Popped one very nice fish immediately and missed a few follow-up opportunities. Plenty of fish but very, very uncooperative and hidden in the flooded grass. Actually had a sightfished redfish blow out a Gulp! Crab today which isn’t too surprising since it was probably jam packed full of real crabs from its overnight feast. Got a few fish and dropped a few more. Also landed a nice 4# speckled trout. We will return to West Bay next week for an opposite tide and then to St. Joe for some tarpon action afterwards. All fish caught on 1/4oz. Johnson Spoons and 5″ Gulp Jerkshads in camo. All fish released. *On a full moon, get to your fish early and use small baits for best...
Read MoreJune 12, 2008-Redfish Homework in Santa Rosa Sound, Pensacola,FL
Finally got a day off from my new guiding adventures and decided to fish by myself and go do a little homework. My goal was to find some good concentrations of redfish for some upcoming Redfish University students. It was a very difficult day. Not many fish and very spread out with the high water. The two fish that I did catch were sitting on shallow sandy areas between docks(right on the bank) and one on the south side of the sound. Both fish were sightfished which was nice. “Viewed” a handful of redfish on the grass in 1-2′ water between the docks, but they were not interested in anything I threw. That’s frustrating. Got 2 fish, 6# and 7#. Caught on 5″ Gulp Jerkshads in camo. Fished...
Read MoreRedfish University-June 6, 2008 Tough day of redfishing but we had our chances!!
Fished this morning with fellow PFF member Vinnie Spivey. On the water at first light(5am) and entered Santa Rosa Sound. A bit windy and choppy on the banks. Saw a few fish and 2 small schools, and ended up catching a decent fish with another coming unbuttoned. Lack of fish and difficult conditions so we trailered to Blackwater at 730am. Oh my, there’s not many redfish in Blackwater right now. Found the mullet and hooked three good redfish only to have them fall off again. Angler error and the angler was me!!! We never really got into good concentrations of fish and into a smooth groove. Did catch a small black drum on artificial. Fished as hard as humanly possible. We got to cover alot of water, some premium areas(usually) and many great techniques, so the day wasn’t a total waste. Because the day was so horrific, Vinnie and I will be fishing again in the coming weeks to redeem ourselves(especially me!!) free of charge. That’s how we...
Read MoreRedfish University-June 3, 2008 Redfish Bonanza in West Bay, FL.
Travelled to West Bay, Panama City this morning to guide Mr. Alan Wright and his father aboard his new 2008 21 Maverick Master Angler. Part of my contract and responsibility with Maverick Boat Company and Ship’s Chandler allows me to introduce and familiarize new owners with their new fishing machines by taking them on shallow water redfish trips. These guys also received some clown-like entertainment, witnessing me falling in the water setting the hook on a fish. (Sorry, no photo.) Mr. Wright, Sr. laughed for hours! The depth was only 18″ but I went in hip first which completely soaked me. I did catch the fish after re-entering the boat. Oh well… Launched at River Camps and hit some of my favorite areas. Got on fish immediately and it was on!! Showed them proper bait choice, line and fluoro selections, poling techniques, how to approach schools of fish and proper presentation. Also valuable info were hints on recognizing mullet wakes and redfish wakes. This didn’t take long!! Anyway, caught some very nice fish in the 25-27.5″ range and they are well-armed with great information for their fishing...
Read MoreRedfish University-June 2, 2008 Redfish in Santa Rosa Sound, Pensacola
Hit the sound this morning with brothers, Bryan and Chad. They wanted to learn about catching redfish in the shallows and on artificials. Caught the early morning trout bite with Gulp Shrimp under popping corks, and once the sun got up, we went looking for redfish. Very few mullet in some of my good areas and the redfish were pretty thin and spread out. Found the fish to be very uncooperative and unwilling to eat a moving bait. Found a very nice concentration of fish and used 4″ Gulp Shrimp rigged weedless to produce our bites. Actually had to deadstick baits for at least a few minutes for them to pick it up. Worked hard and finally figured them out. Not always easy. Great for the clients to learn the techniques and patterns that work.Ended up with 15 trout and some very nice 24-27″ redfish. All fish...
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