Solid day at Redfish University! March 30, 2009

Guided Mr. R.J. McDermott today and found very clear water, decent amounts of bait and mullet but very difficult redfish. Some usually outstanding areas today were painfully unproductive. Found some solid consistency and replicated it over and over. Found quite a few redfish in the 20-30″ range along some sand/grass ledges. We saw some and blindcasted others. Pretty tough day but we popped 8-9 good redfish with a few more coming unbuttoned. Also some very nice trout and a good flounder were also in the mix. All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo and all fish released. RJ got his personal best, a 36″ 14# redfish on artificial today and we also saw a naked person on the shore.

Redfish University quicktrip-March 18, 2009

Fished with friend and tackle rep., Brant Peacher, this morning and found very good quality redfish. The water was as clear as a swimming pool and the redfish were incredibly aggressive and could be sightfished with ease. Ended up catching over a dozen fish in a few hours with some massive upper slot fish. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in sardine this time(forgot my camos) and Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons. All fish released.

Great afternoon at Redfish University-March 17, 2008

Guided Mr. Aaron Sago today. Aaron is the owner of a new 22 Pathfinder and wanted to get comfortable with the boat and find some productive areas to catch some fish. We ended up with 14-15 Redfish, 12 Trout and one nice flounder. We fished some shallow water areas where we found plenty of milling mullet. All fish caught on 5″ Gulp! Jerkshads in camo and all fish released.

High production at Redfish University- March, 13 2009

Lots of great trips lately, although I don’t report all trips, the redfish are extremely predictable and very cooperative. Look for them in very shallow water around bait and schools of mullet.

Guided Mr. Patrick St. Romaine this morning on the Maverick 17HPXV and found lots and lots of redfish. Steady action all morning on the very shallow flats and fish were, as predicted, following large schools of mullet.  Ended up sticking around 25 quality redfish with some impressive trout mixed in. Could have been more but we both had an alarming amount of fish come unbuttoned. Short bites with the full moon maybe? Probably not, but a great excuse!! Perfect morning, cooperative redfish and great company. All fish caught on Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and all fish released healthy.

A Steady Day at Redfish University-March 6, 2009

Guided Dr. Edwin Yee and fishing partner Mitch this morning on the new 2009 Maverick 17Hpx that I am guiding on until my new Hewes arrives. They both wanted to learn some basic shallow water techniques. It was a little difficult at the beginning but as always, we figured it out and produced a pretty consistent bite. Ended up with 10 quality shallow water redfish including 2 very nice 6.5# fish. We also stuck 3 very nice trout in the mix. Final score: Dr. Yee-5 Mitch-3 and Eric H.-2(I poled all day!) All fish caught on Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and all fish released.

Redfish University and Nearshore-February 6, 2009

Guided Bill Palmer of Atlanta and a few friends from Conn. and South Carolina today. Because there were three anglers, we used Bill’s 20 Century CC. The day started very funny with all of us wading to the boat because of the low tide. Got some very nice redfish and trout, and then headed to the beach to catch some bonita. All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshad.

Another great day at Redfish U.- 1/23/09

Guided Mr. Tom Crawford of Destin today in the Blackwater area. Found plenty of large trout first thing, then went to whack on the redfish as the water started moving. Found a group of nice redfish in two reliable areas. Quite a few fish around today but they were tough. All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo. All fish released.

Redfish University!! A fine day. 1/22/09

Well, starting to get busy at Redfish U. again. Guided Tom (Flounderpounder) this morning in the Blackwater area. Met at 7am and carefully boarded the 21 Hewes Redfisher which was covered in a thin film of ice. There was also small icebergs in the canal from which we launched. It was cold!! Anyway, first spot, hammered fish. Redfish and trout. Went to some other productive areas and then came back to “A” once the water started moving again and continued to stick great fish. Ended up with 7 nice redfish and 12-15 very nice trout(1 4.5# trout and several 3#plus fish.) All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo. All fish released, except 1 25″ Redfish and 2 medium trout.

Florida Sportsman Magazine with Redfish University- December 31, 2008

Florida Sportsman Magazine contacted me to highlight the shallow water redfish secrets of NW Florida. There’s no photos with this report, but will be soon available in FL. Sportsman in the coming months. After a few wind and rain delays, we finally got our opportunity to hit the water yesterday. Armed with trusty, redfish master Brant Peacher as my co-angler, we set out into Blackwater with less than ideal conditions, but as always, we figured it out and produced some quality redfish. 

After a carefully calculated milkrun dictated by tide and wind conditions, we found the redfish were going to be inconveniently difficult on this most important of outings. Cameras on a boat are sometimes a curse. A very recent, private and timely report from fellow PFF member and Redfish University graduate, Jeff Russell, clued me in on a classic shallow water flat near deeper water with large bottom lumps. This is a scenerio that held true in other areas as well. This was the ticket and thank you Jeff!!

All redfish were caught on Berkley Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo and 3″ Gulp! Shrimp in Lime Tiger rigged weedless. All redfish released.

Anyway, I think this will be an excellent article and represent the sometimes forgotten Panhandle well. It will also show that redfish can be sightfished in NW Florida and that we have some fantastic areas to target them in very shallow water.

*An interesting sidenote- After reviving and releasing one of the redfish, the fish swam about eight feet and stopped. Making sure that the redfish was okay, I flipped the same 3″ Gulp! Shrimp in front of him to urge him along and he inhaled it again. Not the first time that has happened, and I’m sure not the last. All the more reason to use Berkley Gulp! These fish are hungry if you can find them!!!

Thanksgiving Day Tailing Redfish!! November 27, 2008

Had so much fun throwing at tails yesterday, I grabbed my brother and set out to sightfish the redfish in the upper bays this morning. Fished very shallow grass and found many, many tailing redfish. Gulp! Jerkshads in camo and Johnson Gold Spoons produced the strikes. All fish released.