Guided Mr. Ron Fairbanks and business associate, Dennis, this morning at Redfish University. Ron was gracious enough to allow me and Redfish University to participate in General Motor’s “Fishing for Sales” program. Had a blast today fishing with these guys, both great anglers. Started out in the Sound for some topwater redfish action. Dennis was the first to draw a big strike and got the first nice redfish in the boat. This is where the story takes a grim turn. As I was prepared to remove the Skitterwalk’s treble hooks from the fish, the fish shook and my hand slid toward the redfish’s face implanting a hook firmly into the flesh and tendon between my thumb and fore-finger. That hurt! Short story, pushed the barb through, clipped it and carried on. Boy, did it hurt later in the morning. Went to the doctor for pain meds and antibiotics. First time I hooked myself in 35 years!! Back to the important stuff. We found plenty of redfish and small trout to bash our topwaters and also followed up some topwater blowups with Johnson Spoons to boat a few more redfish. Back to the launch and trailered to Pensacola Bay. Fished a few solid banks but the water was still dirty from the rains and only scored a few decent trout. Ran to find clear water and produced some bigger speckled trout and viewed some redfish unwilling to strike. Had a fun day(with the exception of the hook in the hand)and looking forward to working with GM Corp’s “Fishing for Sales” into the future. Thanks for the help with the hook removal fellas and thankfully I didn’t faint!! All fish released and caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads, Johnson Gold Spoons and Skitterwalks with very sharp hooks.
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