Guided another IFA Redfish tournament team this morning for Day 1 of 2 in search of redfish. Teams and locations are kept confidential with huge increases in Redfish U. website traffic during local tournament weeks. Fair is fair… Apparently, we were in-line with every thunderstorm with 30 mph winds all day. We had a few short breaks but with the neap tide in the mix, it really made conditions difficult. I will have to say, under the circumstances, we did quite well today. Found some quality fish in a few locations and left them biting. Also found plenty of nice trout and flounder in most areas. The fellas and I will be back on the water in the morning for Day 2 to check a few more productive areas. All fish released. Book now to experience Redfish University! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreA morning of intrigue at Redfish University-October 31, 2010
Recent bay grouper and snapper reports(my friend Matt’s specifically) have stirred my curiousity. Certainly, Redfish University doesn’t consider bottom fishing it’s specialty and wouldn’t seriously entertain the thought of confidently guiding clients in this realm. My dad and website designer/marketer, Randy Hamilton; well, that’s a different story. Asked the guinea pigs to meet me on Texar at 700am. No bottom finder on the Hewes 21 Redfisher, no rodholders and I hadn’t thrown a bait net(a 12′ ) in about 15 years. After a few really pathetic spreads, I finally got back on track and opened a few big ones. For the first time in ever(10yrs), I filled the livewell on a flats boat with LIVE BAIT, the rod lockers with Penn 4/0 with 6oz. leads and circle hooks and rolled with great intrigue into the unknown. Arrived at an area with some patchy bottom structure and set up a drift with the outgoing tide. Used the GPS to track our path and made a few passes with our large live baits about five feet off the bottom. Randy finds the first fish which nearly jerked the rod out of his hands. A few moments later, a very nice 28″ grouper hits the deck of the 21 Hewes Redfisher. A few more break offs and some sharks in a few hour period then over to the Hilton for our weekly Sunday brunch, Stella Artois and bloodies. It was a fun little trip that I would like to do more often with friends and family. Grouper fish tacos are in the plans for this week! Book now to experience the thrill of Redfish...
Read MoreHigh pressure, very low production at Redfish University-October 29, 2010
Well, it was one of those days that we should have stayed in bed. Guided long-time client and Redfish U. VIP, Bob Willice, this morning in the upper bays for some redfish and trout fishing as well as some location and technique instruction. Bob, living on Santa Rosa Sound, has fished down there with me several times but has never entered East Bay or the Blackwater area. Our results from today may make certain Bob never returns to those areas!!! With the fish predictably biting so well pre-cold front, today’s high pressure, high winds and blue skies, were not exactly a great recipe for success. Nevertheless, we should still catch fish right? You would think… Started at 630am and covered some great speckled trout spots only to find catfish. Travelled further south to some fabulous redfish areas and threw the whole tackle box at them. The day after a cold front passes, it’s very important to scale down your baits, slow your retrieve to a crawl and get around as many fish as possible. We accomplished all three but both of us could not draw a bite. At 900am, I looked at Bob and said let’s go next Friday and we’ll act like today never happened. Bob agreed and we were off. Often times, negatives are accompanied by even greater positives. Because the fishing was so slow, Bob witnessed my panic mode and was able to see a huge amount of areas where there WILL be many fish in the coming weeks. We will return next Friday to find all these fish biting and in the locations they should be in. See ya Friday, Bob! Book now to experience the wonder of Redfish...
Read MoreRedfish and Flounder before the deluge at Redfish University-October 28, 2010
Guided Gene and Tina Hunter this morning for some redfish, flounder and speckled trout action in hopes of packing the cooler with fresh fish. It was Redfish U’s intent to make a valiant effort to follow my friend Matt’s stellar performance on yesterday’ trip with Gene and Tina, a tremendous bay trip of grouper, snapper and big redfish! It seems we just couldn’t catch a break with the weather this week with Monday’s strong winds and this morning’s downpour, lightning and hard northwest winds. Our plan was to return to the site of yesterday’s epic inshore trip where we conquered over 30 redfish, big flounder and plenty of trout. Made the run west in pretty nice conditions with darker skies to the north. Radar indicated that clouds were moving from the southwest to the northeast but as we all know, things can change very quickly. Arrived in the area and started fishing. Wham! Big flounder on the second cast, a redfish immediately after that and plenty of bait and strikes in the next few minutes. Then the rain and wind hit us making it very difficult and with some thunder coming in, we decided to run back. A very disappointing morning especially since the fish were biting as well as they did yesterday. Perhaps next time Gene and Tina are in Pensacola we’ll have much better weather but at least they had a great day of catching fish one day prior! Book now to experience Redfish University. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read More30+ Redfish, Big Flounder and Speckled trout in Mobile Bay at Redfish University-October 27, 2010
You gotta love this time of year! Pre-cold front conditions can be outstanding for shallow water fishing as redfish, trout and flounder are predictably rabid one or two days before a major front. Today was no exception! The redfish were biting extremely well and we hit it on a superb tide. Guided Mr. Rick Olsen and Mr. Rob Roberts this morning in Mobile Bay/Orange Beach for some spectacular inshore redfish, trout and flounder action. Rick and Rob are seasoned offshore anglers but wanted to tighten up on some inshore techniques and prime locations where they can utilized Rick’s 22 Pathfinder. Made a pretty lengthy run and got started around 630am. Lots and lots of redfish were taken on Johnson Gold Spoons, Marsh Works Bayou Thumper spinnerbaits and Gulp! 3″ Shrimp in lime tiger under Marsh Works Big Poppys. The guys got to experience how effective corks are for locating fish. A few doubles and even a triple hookup today! We even got some huge flounder in the mix as well as some small speckled trout. Total for the day was over 30 Redfish in the 3-6# range, lots of trout and a few big flounder. The fellas kept some redfish and flounder for dinner. Rick and Rob are set for inshore fishing!! Book now to experience Redfish University! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
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