Guided Mr. Robert Nelson this morning. Met with high winds out of the north, cool temps and an incoming tide. Started at 530am and launched near our fishing grounds to avoid rough water and a saltwater shower. Concentrated on some protected banks in S. Escambia Bay and East Bay where we found large amounts of mullet and minnows. Small slicks gave away the location of redfish and trout feeding over the flats and made catching pretty easy for us. We skirted the banks very closely and casted with the wind where we thought these slicks originated to find large amounts of speckled trout and a few redfish mixed in. Trout out, redfish in. Many of the redfish were actually sunning on the banks and were taken within ten feet of the bank, while the trout were anywhere between 20-100″ off the bank where the water remained relatively clear. Topwaters, suspending hardbaits, Gulp! Jerkshads and Shrimp were all taken equally. The redfish prefered a well-placed Gulp! 3″ Shrimp off the bank from where they were sitting(they will respond better with the bait towards open water). The high winds really limited our areas of fishing so we spent quite a bit of time along the long, protected bait since we never ran out of mullet and baitfish to hold our targets. For a little bonus action, we spent some time around some piling structure of the Garcon Point Bridge, especially pilings 95-120, to look for some larger trout and some over-sized redfish. With an incoming tide, I like to start on the down-current side of the structure which was on the east side of the bridge this morning. Down-current isn’t always where they are so I like to hit 5 pilings on one side and then hit the next 5 on the other side. The water depth ranges from 8-15′ in these areas so a heavier jighead or spoon is necessary especially windy conditions and with current. We prefer a 1/4-1/2oz. jighead with a 5-7″ Gulp! Jerkshad in camo or black, a 3/4oz. Johnson Gold Spoon or even deeper diving crankbaits and rattle trap type hardbaits. This particular morning we found both redfish in the 28-32″ range and some 2-3# trout on the northeast sides of most box-shaped pilings. Bait choice was 6″ Gulp! Jerkshads and 3/4oz Gold Spoons. The key is to get the baits close, on the bottom with a slow-roll and tighten your drag. The pilings that held bait with large amounts of small minnows sprinkling the surface were also most productive. Some you can pull out, some not so much, but fun nonetheless. All fish released. Hopefully the winds will slow down tomorrow. Need a new camera. E Holstman
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