Hey Everybody, Sorry for the delay. This is a rough draft but they are my notes. There’s actually two pieces. Thanks for coming to the seminar and see you in March! Sightfishing for redfish seminar. Tonight’s topic is sightfishing for redfish. Looking forward to this seminar. Sightfishing is exactly what is says, Fishing from sight. Much more goes into this technique though besides seeing and casting. Sightfishing is performed in 1′ of water to about 3′ of water. Bay boats with drafts of less than 14″ or so are fine. Rods and reel Light to medium action rod able to make long, accurate casts. Spinning or baitcaster is fine. Generally, spinning tackle will allow better distance and accuracy. Reels with 8-12 pd test mono or 10-20 braid. 10-20 pound fluorocarbon leaders 30-40″ long. Try not to use a swivel. A line to leader knot will increase success. Bait Livebait is possible but difficult in sightfishing. Gold spoons, Gulp Shrimp, crabs and jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, suspending plugs. Topwater is not recommended but can be used while blindcasting. Also, anything that a bass will eat, a redfish will eat, including plastic worms. My favorite baits in this area(Pensacola): 1. 3 inch Gulp Shrimp or Crab on a flutterhook or Gamakatsu 1/16 oz lead. 2. 1/8 Johnson Gold spoons 3. Gulp 5″ Jerkbaits on flutterhook or 1/16 or 1/8 oz. Areas to sightfish for redfish in our area: Any shallow flats or bank will hold redfish. Areas that contain oyster bar or shells, sawgrass, black root systems on the bank, dark muddy bottoms, sand bottoms and grass bottom will all have redfish. All the above in one section is the best. North Escambia Bay, Garcon point, East Bay, Big Lagoon, North Santa Rosa Sound are great places to sightfish for redfish. Things to look for when sightfishing: Clear water- redfish love clear water. You can see the fish much easier and you can identify bottom conture and vegetation. Also bait will be easier to see. Water movement- incoming and outgoing flow is important. Redfish like a little water movement like most fish and they feed better. Look for bait (particularly mullet)- When...
Read MoreRedfish U. West Bay!!! 1/09/09
Since I was scheduled to perform a seminar for the Emerald Coast Redfish Club at The Lucky Snapper tonight(which was a fantastic event!), I decided to make a day of it and trailer the Hewes down to do some shallow water redfishing in some of my favorite West Bay spots. Picked up Peter Wright, Jr. and fellow Hewes owner, Mr. Tom Crawford, and arrived at the ramp at 830am. Although the weather conditions this morning were absolutely ideal for our purposes of sightfishing, we knew the extreme tide conditions and moon phase was going to be challenging. The water was very, very low and the fish were very, very shallow. To say we saw 200 redfish in a few hour period would be a conservative estimate and to say they were extremely uncooperative would be an unstatement. Cruising fish, sitting fish and even tailing fish were nearly impossible to entice. Finally started sticking them by spotting fish just inside the longest cast you could make and they had to be facing away from the boat. Seeing them early and a perfect, long cast was the key. Very difficult fish today!! Should be better next week. The fish ran at approxiately 90mph from all baits except the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshad in camo. Found some heavy 7-8# fish. All redfish released.  ...
Read MoreWest Bay shallow water redfish-October 29, 2008
Fished this morning with friend Mike Tindal. Fished the West Bay area in Panama City in search of some shallow water redfish action. Found plenty of cold and uncooperative fish in very shallow water. Long casts and excellent vision were the keys to success. Caught 23 fish between 5-7.5 pounds on Gulp 5″ Jerkshads in camo rigged with weedless Mission Fishin 5/0 Hitch Hooks. The redfish will cooperate better as it warms during the day with this cool...
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 MoreRedfish University-June 3, 2008 Redfish Bonanza in West Bay, FL.
Travelled to West Bay, Panama City this morning to guide Mr. Alan Wright and his father aboard his new 2008 21 Maverick Master Angler. Part of my contract and responsibility with Maverick Boat Company and Ship’s Chandler allows me to introduce and familiarize new owners with their new fishing machines by taking them on shallow water redfish trips. These guys also received some clown-like entertainment, witnessing me falling in the water setting the hook on a fish. (Sorry, no photo.) Mr. Wright, Sr. laughed for hours! The depth was only 18″ but I went in hip first which completely soaked me. I did catch the fish after re-entering the boat. Oh well… Launched at River Camps and hit some of my favorite areas. Got on fish immediately and it was on!! Showed them proper bait choice, line and fluoro selections, poling techniques, how to approach schools of fish and proper presentation. Also valuable info were hints on recognizing mullet wakes and redfish wakes. This didn’t take long!! Anyway, caught some very nice fish in the 25-27.5″ range and they are well-armed with great information for their fishing...
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