Fished with Eric Michener today in search of redfish and trout. It’s always great fishing with Eric as he brings some awesome donuts from Milton Bakery and knows some areas to the north better than I do. It’s really great bumping ideas and techniques off one another. Started at first light and got into some great redfish and trout on topwater baits. Again, the key is very small topwater baits. Also found lots of largemouth bass in the same areas. We covered alot of water this morning and found a decent amount of fish in nearly every area. Topwaters, Johnson Gold Spoons and Gulp! were all equally as productive. Some areas had more redfish, some had more trout and most had lots of bass. Nice recovery at the end, E Money!! It was like 10-0 at one point!!! See you soon! All fish released. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreWinter Speckled trout and redfish tour at Redfish University-October 18, 2010
Had another instructional/location tour, with an angler who asked not to be named, in the upper Pensacola Bay area this morning. These trips have really gone over well and I really enjoy doing them! This shy chap was interested in increasing his winter productivity with the species of redfish and speckled trout. Found some nice trout and small/medium redfish in the normal muddy bottom flats in East Bay, Blackwater and Escambia bays but it will no doubt be much better as the temperatures continue to drop. Spent alot of time on the maps and bait selection in a number of very productive areas and picked up decent fish in most areas with some being much better than others(mostly areas a bit south.) Last hour of the trip, we talked shop at the boat ramp and discussed rod/reel, line and leader options that would be most optimal for the winter fishing in these areas. Fun day on the water! Book now to reserve an instructional trip or a regular Redfish University guided...
Read MoreSunday with R.U. website designer and marketing genius at Redfish University-October 17, 2010
Grabbed my good friend, web designer, photographer/videographer, marketing guru, merchandise specialist and enthusiastic Spanish mackerel angler, Randy Hamilton, this afternoon and cruised out to the beach in search of pompano, redfish or whatever was available. Randy is a HUGE reason Redfish University is the Gulf Coast’s most successful, busiest and supremely visible guide service with bookings of 4-5 per week, Monday-Friday. He keeps me busier than I want to be!! Randy and I fish together a ton needless to say! Purchased some pompano jigs, ice, Becks, Sierra Nevada and Landshark and took off for the Pass around 100pm. Sight fished the beach for an hour and didn’t see big numbers of pompano or redfish. I was really looking forward to testing my 2000 series Conquers with 6# Ultracast InvisiBraid for my multi-year trips to Belize for bones and permit. Oh well, soon enough. Falling tide, boat traffic, etc. may have decreased our odds. Ended up pulling on some Spanish mackerel and ladyfish for a little while and then back to the inside to look around some more. Haven’t fished an afternoon in forever but it was fun to be on the water. For anyone interested in increasing web traffic, advertising and marketing for your business, outside of inshore charter fishing of course, you should really look into Hamilton Designs. Randy is the best! Book now to experience Redfish University. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreIFA Redfish anglers at Redfish University-October 15, 2010
Several times per year during the local IFA redfish tournament season, anglers seek Redfish University’s vast regional knowledge in search of productive redfish areas from Port St. Joe, FL. to Pensacola to Hopedale, LA. In the last month, Redfish U. has performed many such trips. These are very exciting and tiring trips for Redfish U. as we pre-fish with these teams as if I were fishing the event as well. A 110% effort always!! Today I guided a couple anglers from the IFA Redfish Tour over in Grand Bay, MS. and around Bayou La Batre, AL. Ideal wind and tide conditions with falling water all morning. Plenty of redfish but only in a few areas. Without getting into too much detail, the fish were found to be very aggressive in both shallow and deep water and took a variety of baits. Lengths ranged from 23-29″ with many 25-26″ in the mix which will be fantastic for tournament day with the Alabama 26″ limit. Back at the ramp at 100pm to save routes and label some more areas on the map. It’s really fun fishing with the IFA guys who are always very enthusiastic and I think we all benefit by exposing ourselves to new and old techniques. I learn alot on these trips and I hope the teams learn alot as well, especially where the redfish are!! Good luck guys!! Book your guided fishing trip or instructional guiding trip at Redfish University now!! Staying very busy and quite booked all...
Read MoreRedfish University in Destin-October 14, 2010
Guided Mr. Morris Monroe this morning over in Destin, FL. Morris is the proud owner of a brand new 22 Pathfinder/Yamaha 150 decked out with a Power-Pole, Minnkota TM, Garmin Color GPS/Map and a kickin’ sound system purchased from The Ships Chandler in Destin, FL. Morris wanted to learn about the inshore redfish and trout fishery in Choctawhatchee Bay, particularly with the use of artificial baits. Started at first light with some great speckled trout action on topwater baits. We concentrated on protected banks filled with mullet and bait over broken grass/sand bottom. Lots of trout but also some undesirables including big bluefish, Spanish mackerel, medium bonito and ladyfish. As soon as the sun was high enough to sight fish we took off to some very productive banks filled up medium to upper length redfish. Switched over to Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and looked for redfish amongst the hords of mullet. Since the tide was falling rapidly, we predictably found our redfish laying in relatively deeper troughs in 2-3 feet of water. Caught fish blindcasting to troughs and sight fished some as well. Morris, being primarily an offshore angler, got off to a bit of a slow start before really coming into his own to produce some small-medium redfish. I helped to catch his “redfish dinner” quite a few times over while also demonstrating the correct techniques in the process. Next time, Morris’ bounty will be his own! For an added challenged, we decided to make a run to some areas Redfish University has never fished before. Many times, replicating banks in terms of broken bottom, troughs and bait will produce results over and over again. This experiment was no exception as we found more redfish and even schools of great quality fish in packs of 20-30 fish. Stick-fest! Morris had the great opportunity to watch a beautiful redfish inhale his bait in very shallow water. Anyway, Morris now is very, very familiar and confident in some new areas around Destin to break in his new Pathfinder. Great numbers of redfish and trout this morning and Morris kept some fish for the grill. Book now to experience Redfish University! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
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