After this weekend’s cold-front, the fishing got a bit tricky again with high pressure conditions and a lack of visible bait. Guided new Gulf Breeze residents, Andy Kemp and Odieat this morning in our bay system. Launched at 500am this with the temperature in the mid to upper 50’s and gentle northeast breeze. Travelled over to East Bay to throw some topwater baits for redfish and speckled trout. Found some bait and mullet but not as much as in the past several weeks. Started connecting with medium(14-18″) speckled trout immediately but lots of short bites as well. Switched to Stick Shads and Gulp! Jerkshads to really improve the hookup ratio. The trout were quite a distance off the banks this morning with the cooler temperatures and I believe that is where most of the bait was staged although they certainly weren’t visible. Finished with 20+ trout. Got in closer to the banks to find some solid redfish willing to pound topwater baits and landed 3-4 great fish before departing for our next spot. Cruised over to Escambia Bay along Scenic Hwy.(near The Chimney) where the wind had pushed lots of mullet and bait into the bait. The redfish were really thick and we had some double hookups in the mix. Oh, and saw a naked man and some creeper in the woods, but ya gotta go where the fish are, right? Travelled back south to finish the morning around some deeper flats to find some better quality speckled trout. Ended the day with 35+ speckled trout and 11 redfish. A great morning of fishing and lots of super information covered. All fish released except for a few redfish and a trout for dinner. Back at it tomorrow. E Holstman
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