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It was a very nice ride across the bay to our first
spot, and when we arrived it sounded like a feeding
frenzy was going on; trout busting everywhere and
mullet jumping.
Nicholas
with a 17" Speck
I
went over a few lessons on how to work the hard
plastics (Suspending Twitch Baits) and soft
plastics( Gulp Jerk Shads) we were going to use. It
didn’t take long to hook a fish, as my anglers were
naturals when it came to throwing and working their
baits. Ryan was the first to hook, and the second, and
the third, until finally Nicholas and Jim were
wondering if I gave him a special bait. I laughed and
just then Jim hooked up a nice trout that went around
17”. Nicholas had a few good strikes, but missed
some hookups, but that’s fishing. He did manage to
hook a nice 18” speck working a suspending twitch
bait. Jim and the boys were a pleasure to fish with,
especially considering the two boys had been up all
night at a bachelor’s party and had only gotten
about 30 minutes of sleep. I could tell they were
getting tired from hooking all the trout and the lack
of sleep.
Jim
holds up a nice trout
Ryan
shows off a nice 18" Speck
told them we were going to hit one area where I’ve
seen a few nice reds and then we would call it a day.
We worked the bank looking for any signs of fish, but
maybe it was best that we didn’t see any, because
the boys were about wiped. Maybe next time.
It was a great day on the water; lots of fun big trout
on light tackle, and good company.
Fishing
Conditions:
Winds:
Calm
Water
Depth:
2 - 5 foot
Water Clarity: Murky
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lures
used:
Suspending
Twitch Baits ( MirrOlure -Catch 2000 & Paul
Brown )
Top-Water
Plugs ( Sebile - Bonga Jerk 95)
Reels:
Penn Battle 3000 & Penn Conquer 4000
Rods: All Star ASR - 7 ft Med & Fenwick
Techna AV - - 7 ft Med
Line:
SpiderWire Ultra
Braid 10 & 20 lb Braid
Leader
Material: 15
–20 lb Berkley Fluorocarbon
Report
May 21st - 2011
The
early bird gets the worm…
My
wife and I went out today for a day together on the water.
She had a four-day weekend, so I finagled a few of my trips
around, so I could enjoy a day of fishing with her, and hopefully
catch some nice trout. We
got our grocery shopping done Friday and stopped at Academy to pick up
a new net, and we hit the hay around 10:30pm.
At 3:50 am, I hit the alarm clock (not the snooze!) and told
her to get out of bed. What
a trooper! After working
a 9-day stretch, she hit the ground running, so I got the boat loaded
while she showered and packed us our breakfast.
We were out of the house by 4:30, and reached the 17th
Ave boat ramp right around quarter till.
Other than three hungry kitties, there were no other signs of
life around.
My
wife and I hopped aboard the Mega-Bite and headed out before the sun
came up.
We
reached our destination in no time.
It was still dark out, but I knew where the fish were, and by
the sounds of the splashes all around us, we could tell they were
hungry! We started
fishing, and it didn’t take long before Gina hooked her first fish. She pulled out an 18-inch speck, and of course, told me that
she was winning! Not to
be outdone, I hooked the next two fish, which were also pretty decent.
Sunlight was creeping over the horizon, and we hooked into a
few more trout and one ladyfish. We fished along the bank, hoping to catch a big redfish or a
bigger trout, and then we were joined by some more anglers, some
wading, and some in their boats.
It
was shaping up to be a beautiful day, and I’m not just referring to
the fishing. The water was smooth, and there was a slight breeze, and
my wife and I took turns ribbing each other over who was ahead in the
fish count. She started counting some of my catches as hers, because I
was throwing where she meant to, so I guess we’ll just say we were
about even. Around 8am,
we moved north a bit, and that’s where I caught my monster trout,
which measured right at 22 inches!
My wife gave me a look, like “that’s no fair,” and not a
minute later caught her own biggie, right around 20 inches!
We
fished that area a while longer, then around 10 am, we decided to pack
it in. We had a great day together, and didn’t want to spoil it by
staying out too long, and getting sun burnt.
Tally
for the day was 20+ trout; some keepers some throwbacks. We kept some
for dinner and let the rest go.
Looking
forward to the next adventure with the love of my life.
Thanks
for a great day, honey.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are a few pics from my past trips.
Sky
with a nice 5 lb Spanish Mack!
Check
out all the spots on this speck .
Gene
had a good time hooking specks in Santa Rosa Sound. We caught
around
20+ specks that day, only had a few keepers, but still had fun!
Tight
Lines.
Capt. John
Report
May 13th - 2011
Scouting
for Trout and Reds on Friday the 13th and a
neap tide? I must be crazy!
Friday
the 13th is known for its many
superstitions, but I didn’t care, I was still going
to try my luck at fishing. I knew it would be tough
conditions today with the neap tide, but I was
determined to catch some trout and also see if I could
find any reds around on the flats. I have done a bunch
of scouting the past few days due to a break in trips,
and figured I’d better get out and fun fish before
the summer season starts in. I’ve got some trips on
the books starting Memorial Day, and then the rest of
the summer will get booked up fast.
Two
days ago I went out on a scouting trip to a new area
that I found to hold some nice trout, but I didn’t
get there until later in the day. I caught a few
there, but it was after 9am, so I wanted to get there
earlier to see if the bite would be better.
I
set the alarm for Friday morning at 4:00am and was on
the spot at 5:45 sharp. Luckily, I ignored the Friday
the 13th bad luck superstition, because
this spot was on fire! My first fish was a nice 18”
beautiful speck, I was stoked, as it was only my third
cast of the day.
This
bite stayed strong for a good 3 hours. I must have
caught 25 to 30 keeper trout by myself today. I kept
five for dinner and let the rest go to be caught
another day. I tossed only a few lures today.
Suspending twitch baits and top-waters. The bite was
so good that I really didn’t need to bring out the
scented baits.
The biggest trout was right at 20" and the rest
were 16 -19"
Kept
five for dinner and let the rest go
I
really had a fun day today getting out by myself,
watching the sun come up, and catching some nice
trout. This is what it’s all about and why I love
fishing so much.
I
really wanted my wife to come, but she had to work. I
told her on her on next day off we’re going trout
fishing. I’ll be out again next week as soon as the
winds die down.
More scouting and maybe even catching some fish, which
is a bonus.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fishing
Conditions:
Depth
of water was 3- 5 ft
Some
water was clear some was dirty
Winds
were calm out of the South
Till
the next adventure - Capt. John
Report
May 11th - 2011
Went
out on 5-9-11 by myself to do a little scouting, but
didn’t do so well. Just a few Specks, some ladyfish
with a few bluefish mixed in. No reds today, but there’s
always tomorrow. I did see two reds, but they just
wouldn’t eat. Scouting new areas can have good or
bad results, but now I can avoid the same areas that
weren’t as productive as I was hoping. Today’s
trip wasn’t a total bust, I found an area that has a
lot of ladyfish and if I’m running a trip with kids
on the boat, they are an excellent fish to target, and
will jump and give the kid’s something fun to catch.
Today’s trip was around the ICW, tomorrow’s
scouting trip is a secret. I’ll let you know on my
next report.
Ok,
so going back to where and what I’ve been using to
catch the reds and specks.
I’ve
been mostly fishing the flats for trout and finding
the reds in the ICW and near Escambia Bay. When the
speck bite is good the fish have been in the 14"
range with some in the 18 -20" range.
For the specks I’ve been using a variety of
top-water plugs and suspending twitch baits by
MirrOlure and Sebile. Sometimes I will throw a jerk
shad when I know I’m in an area that’s holding
fish. I like MirrOlure and Sebile’s lures for search
baits.
We
need a good rain to help with the speck fishing in the
sound; a lot of fish are still up north and as soon as
we get a good rain this should push them on the flats.
I
have, along with with my clients, caught a
hand-full of redfish in a variety of places from the
ICW on sandy potholes and up in Escambia Bay. Baits
used to catch reds were Berkley Gulp 3” shrimp on a
¼ to 1/8 oz
jig head, a Berkley Gulp jerk shad or a spoon. All
fish have been sight-fished, but with the water
clarity so clear the fish are spooky. Go into stealth
mode, downsize your leader if you can, and try to make
very little splash with your presentation and you
should be able to catch more fish.
Here
are a few pics from some of my past trips.
I’ll
post a new report in a few days; hope some of these
details help you catch a few more fish.
Tight Lines.
Capt. John
Report
May 5th - 2011
Well,
this has to be the windiest April in history and May
showed up with the same vengeance. The wind has made
it very tough to enjoy a good day out and do any flats
fishing, but I have been out and the fishing has
actually been pretty good for trout and reds. Since
the winds have been so relentless, I’ve had to fish
places I sometimes don’t fish much just to hide from
the wind. I found a few new honey holes for trout and
reds, so I guess I shouldn’t gripe too much about
the wind. Most of the trout are in the 14” to 16”
range with some over 20”. I’ve been pitching
MirrOlure’s Catch 2000 in mullet color and their
Top-Dog Jr. when I want to toss out a top-water.
The
dock fishing has also been pretty good for slot reds;
you have to hit a few docks to find some fish, but it’s
worth it. Try pitching a 4” Berkley Gulp on a jig
head with 20 to 30 lb Berkley Fusion Original braid on
your reel and you should have no problem getting the
fish out away from the dock.
In
upper Escambia Bay the trout bite has been good. The water is
muddier up there, so use dark colors like a spoon or Camo Jerk
Shad or Nuclear Chicken on a Gamakatsu Wide Gap hook. I was over
in Big Lagoon a few days ago and the bite was ok, not great; I
think it was the tides, not sure why I wasn’t catching the
fish I wanted to catch. We were coming off a neap tide and I
think that’s what caused the bite to be very slow. I’ll be
over there again next week and I’ll give a report, so
hopefully I’ll have better luck. Most of my fishing has been
in the ICW and the upper bay systems and I’ve been having fun
tossing out a lot of soft plastics and hard baits like MirrOlure’s
MirrOdine and Catch 2000.
With
this cold front that just came in and the little bit of rain, I think
this
weekend is going to be some good inshore fishing.
Thanks for stopping by; I’ll have another report in about 7 –10
days.
Tight
Lines.
Capt. John
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