17 Nov 2007

Well my regulars Ben and Jim are back again for another, laugh a minute, fishing trip. 0630 at Galvez and we're off to catch some white trout. Once on location the catching began. We were looking for smaller fish to use for bait, and finding them.

A dozen trout in the well and a few more for the frying pan into the day and my phone rings. It's my friend Mike, who tells me about a school of reds moving down the beach, just a short run away. We quickly pick up and haul over there just in time to get set up on the school, they were moving FAST. With seconds to go before the school over-took us we fired or lures into them. Ben immediately hooks up, then as quickly as they came, they were gone. Ben's fish makes a blistering run while Jim and I are dumbfounded that we only hooked one fish out of a school of 50 or better. As we loudly voice our opinion of the situation, Ben's line goes slack! All of those fish, swimming away, and three fishermen standing there in awe at the run of misfortune.

We decide to head for the Pass, trying to chase down the good luck. Thankfully we found bucket-fulls of luck in the Pass. The first drop of our first drift turned into a double hook-up for both Ben and Jim.

This is the standard expression on every trip with these guys!!!

Nearly every subsequent drift produced fish of one description or another. We even completed a triple (2 reds and a Drum; wish I could have been in the picture). Our live-well of shrimp went dry and the Reds continued to eat the small, live, White Trout we had to offer.

We caught a total of 9 Redfish (2 in the slot), 2 Black Drum, a couple of catfish and a small School Master Snapper.

Thanks Ben and Jim, I'll see you guys at New Years.

16 Nov 2007

I met Mr. Beck, his daughter, Donna, and her boyfriend, Mike at 1600 for a sunset/ early evening trip. It was straight for the Pass to find the redfish.

We started drifting and within 10 minutes Donna was hooked up. She was so excited; and so was her Dad.


I know seeing the look on her face was the whole reason he wanted to take her.

The rest of our drifts were unproductive so we settled onto the anchor to soak some baits. Forty five minutes on anchor was worth no more than 2 catfish; time to move. The Reds didn't want to cooperate, and Mike wanted Donna to try some lure fishing, so off to the Trout hole. As has been usual (fortunately) when we pulled up the fish started biting...and didn't stop until we left. 50 or more white trout fell victim to our offerings over the hour we fished there.

By 1930 it had gotten plenty enough cold for us and we packed it in and headed for home.

Thanks again, Mr. Beck, Donna, and Mike, I hope we get to do it again soon.

Capt. Josh

11 Nov 2007 Reds/ King

Most of last nights crew (Me, Dad, Roby, and Scoot) along with Cam, got up this morning for a little rod and reel fishing. We met at 0700, bound for the White Trout Hole.

Once we got set and started fishing, the catching began. We really just wanted enough Trout to use for King bait, so we were keeping only the smaller ones for bait (and a few of the biggest ones for lunch). In all I guess we kept 12-15 out of the 30 or so we caught. After 45 min of the white trout we were ready to try our luck for the Reds and Kings.

We got in the gulf and found it fishable, barely. East-southeast winds at 15 kts and about a 2-3ft swell. We kept the run short (around a mile) and set out two Trout to find us some bigger fish. 30 min pass and the rod on the down-rigger starts screaming. Roby grabs it...and the second rod sounds into chorus. Cam gets the second fish and the fight begins.


Roby is 5 min in to his battle and the line goes slack, he reels in to find a single solitary redfish scale on one of his hooks! You can't catch them all. Cam is still doing an outstanding job on his fish, and 10 more minutes pass. Dad looks at me and says, "Most kids his age would've given up five minutes ago!" Yeah well...not this kid. A solid 20 min into the fight we finally get a look at Cam's fish, a nice king. I guess seeing that fish really motivated Cam and in a few more minutes we had him in the boat.


Time to reset. Minutes later both rods again sound in unison. Scoot's up this time, and Roby picks up the other rod for a little retribution. This time the fish stay attached and we land two BIG Redfish.



Reset again and the wait ensues...30 minutes pass...45...60... not a bite?!?!? The sea state continues to degrade and we decide to call it a day/morning, whatever. Back to the ramp by 1115, load the boat and return to the parent's house to clean the fish (last nights and today's).


Thanks, guys, for a great morning, I'm glad we could do it.

10 Nov 2007 Flounder

Met up with my Dad, Uncle Roby, Dad's good friend Rodney, and Scoot at 1700 at Dad's house. To the ramp and underway by 1715; I got in the boat with Rodney and everyone else got in dads boat. We ran straight to Pickens Beach and split up.


Rodney and I found a nice stretch of beach without any competition and began the hunt! It was maybe 50 yards down that we found our first fish. We worked Pickens for the next 2 1/2 hours, producing fish every 15-20 min. Final tally was 16 between Rodney and I. We had 4 really nice fish, one of which, our biggest of the night, was around 6lbs.

Dad, Roby and Scoot also had success with a total of seven fish for their efforts. All in all a great night 23 fish between 5 fishermen, and home by 2100.

04 Nov 2007

With no customers calling for today I invited my sister (Andrea) and brother-in-law(Aaron) to join myself, my wife(Shawn) and our son(Cameron) for a morning of fishing. We met at GLYC, along with my Dad (who brought Cam from his weekly sleep-over at the grandparents' house, at 0615. Once the boat was floated and loaded we made the short run to the White Trout hole.

Within minutes the catching began. We stayed there for an hour and a half and must have boated 50 or so trout. It was a fish bite that I'm sure my brother-in-law and sister have never before experienced. If we would have gone home right then, it would have been a very successful outing by most anyone's standards, but we pressed on (me vowing to find bigger fish). I spent ten minutes throwing the net to catch some small pinfish to take to the Pass.

We made the run to the Navy turn basin and made a drift for Kings using a few of our White Trout as bait. No luck there, so back to the Pass for a drift with our pinfish in hopes of finding a Bull Red.(For the Dyslexic, it's a fish, not an energy drink)The first drift was a success! Shawn, connects with her first redfish, and it's a brute, 38". Our next drift and my lil' sis hooks into about a 7lb sail cat!



We decide to spend the rest of our time trying to find the reds in the Gulf. We ran down the beach in search of birds; it wasn't long before we found them. The birds were working over a school of small Spanish Mackerel, of which my son caught one, and we moved on.

About a mile further down the beach I saw a nice king sky-rocket so I pulled it back and set out two White Trout to slow troll. Five minutes later and the 12lb rod starts SCREAMING. It was so fast I think it spooked Aaron; who stood there looking at the rod as if it had just come alive. He grabbed it and the fight was on! Five minutes later we had a 20lb king at the boat. We didn't want to kill the fish, so instead of putting the steel to it, I tried to get the fish close enough to grab for a quick pic before release. Unfortunately the hook pulled before I could get a hold of the fish.




We reset and ten more minutes of trolling produced Cameron's first King. He did an excellent job and I really wanted a pic of him with this fish, it was longer then he is tall...literally. But again, I didn't want to kill this fish, and before I could boat him, the hook pulled. this fish was every bit of 25lbs plus.

Right as Cam was bringing his fish boat-side I looked up to see the Redfish turning the water white with froth as they mercilessly pummelled the bait. As soon as Cam's fish was gone we headed that way, still trolling our White Trout. As we neared the crazed school, BOTH of the White Trout get eaten. I turn towards the reels and see one of Pensacola Fishing's greatest sights... the water behind the boat had turned completely RED. There must have been dozens of big Reds SWIMMING ALONG WITH THE BOAT. I start yelling for everyone to get baits in the water. Aaron's first in, and first on, immediately followed by everyone else. By the time I realize what we've done, we have FIVE fish on. Big props here to my son, who at six, handles a fishing rod with expertise. He moves around the boat, following his fish, pumping and winding like a little pro. What a proud father am I.



We caught 8 Reds total before I realize that it's now 1145 and we're supposed to be providing the fish for our lunch at 1230...time to go. We got back to the ramp, loaded the boat and shot over to my parents house. Once there we cleaned the few White trout we'd kept for lunch, Dad fired up the fryer, Mom added the grits, beans and Cole slaw and we all enjoyed an exceptional meal.



Here's to great fishing, fresh fish lunches, and a family that I can share the experience with. I love you guys.

Capt. Josh