Redfish University traveled to Destin and I guided an old friend from high school, Eric Stevenson, in Hogtown Bayou on Friday morning. Original plan was to hit West Bay, which we’ll do next time, but I had some 4th of July plans and needed to cut the day short. Lots of mullet in shallow water. Picked up a few redfish and a handful of trout, and missed a few heavy bites. Little slow… all fish caught on 1/4 Johnson Gold Spoons in less than two feet of water. Covered alot of techniques and water! A beautiful morning at Redfish...
Read MoreJune 17,2008-West Bay Redfish at Redfish University
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 MoreInshore Expedition-June 10, 2008 Speckled Trout Day!!
Fished with HLS Seminar Series raffle winners, Barbara and her nephew Trevor, this morning in search of the elusive speckled trout. They have a family gathering at the beach in a few weeks and wanted to find some areas with lots of trout that they could fish with their family. Both Barbara and Trevor, even with his broken wrist(in a cast), were very impressive anglers and have obviously fished for a long time. The pressure was on. Found tons of small, medium and large trout on the flats in 4 feet of water. The Gulp! 3″ Shrimp under a Cajun Thunder was the technique of choice. I actually sightfished a big trout off a huge stingray on a very shallow flat as well. Trevor also pulled the hook on a nice redfish at the end of the day. We’ll get him next time!! All fish were released except 3 for...
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...
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