Gulf Breeze Guide Service photo gallery

Summer 2007 began with our first king mackerel on fly landed June 21. We have had very little rain, no storms, and the Gulf of Mexico has been spectacular with all the typical summer species active. Late June through July produced the best tarpon run in years, plus jack crevalle up to thirty five pounds provided a heart stopping adrenaline rush for many of our clients. The king mackerel, false albacore, grouper and snapper have been plentiful, and the bull redfish made a surprise reappearance in August. Here are some photos from the first half of the summer season. For photos from previous seasons, check out these additional galleries: Spring 2007, Winter 2007, Fall 2006, Summer 2006, Spring 2006, Winter 2006, Spring 2005, Summer 2005, Fall 2005. Click on any of the small images below to see the full size photos. Use the back button on your browser to return to this page.

	Brook Niemiec, Cardiff, CA caught our first king mackerel on fly June 21. This fish nailed a big streamer, and immediately the tip section of the 10wt came off and slid down the fly line. With some effort and a little luck we were able to reattach the tip and land the fish.
	Loreen Mason, Murphysboro, IL hooked this grouper June 24 while slow-trolling a live cigar minnow for king mackerel. The fish dove into unmarked structure, but Loreen managed to bring it to the boat. Wavepoint "Loreen" is now a favorite bottom fishing spot.
	Here's a good shot of Lee Wagner, Gainesville, GA and a colorful king mackerel landed on June 25.
	The grouper in the bay were turned on in a big way June 28 for Terry Chambers of Chattanooga, TN.
	Kirk Rucker, Greensboro, NC and one of many false albacore landed on fly and released June 30. This was the day we discovered the "power" of the #6 clear gummy minnow.
	We were staked out with the fly rods for tarpon on July 1 when the jack crevalle appeared at typical high speed and out of range. Kent Price of American Express, Greensboro, NC grabbed a spinning rod, made the perfect cast, and enticed this fish to slam a topwater "chug bug".
	After a 20 minute fight on July 2 Ken Hutchison, Nampa, ID was about to land the first jack crevalle on fly for 2007 when a shark nailed the fish and cut it in half. Here's Hutch with the result...a ten pound jack head. A little later Hutch hooked the first giant tarpon on fly but lost it on the initial surge.
	After numerous shots at giant tarpon and jack crevalle on a tough, windy July 7 Chas Emerson of Hernando, MS put down the 12wt and threw a "chug bug" in front of this monster.
	Sherry Story of St Louis made the folks at Feather-Craft Fly Fishing proud with this king mackerel. This is one of nine kings boated on a nice overcast morning July 20..
	After a two week hiatus, the false albacore reappeared July 22 for David Illig of Portland, OR.
	Keith Thompson from Natchitoches, LA caught the fish of the day on July 29 while fishing with son Greg and a group of their wonderful, wild and crazy friends and relatives.
	Fishing buddies John Boles, Paul Houston and Jay Walters had a fishing rodeo going on August 4, the morning we found the redfish in Pensacola Pass. Here's John from Auburn, AL with a solid entry.
	Paul Houston, Decatur, AL with a surprise caught-and-released entry. Paul landed this toothy king mackerel on forty pound fluorocarbon leader... no wire..
	Jay Walters from Opelika, AL was the final rodeo entrant and proud papa of this spotted beauty
	Jay and Taylor Rogers, father and son from Cumming, GA, had a terrific morning on the water August 7 capped off by this fine catch at Pensacola Pass
	Here's an Aug 9 shot of the Capitano family from River Ridge, LA, at the Portofino Resort after a successful redfishing trip. The family landed eight reds with daughter Priscilla catching the most (3) and dad Tommy catching the biggest (36 inches). Thanks to Janelle Capitano for taking this photo.
	This is Travis Capitano with one of his two redfish. This one was a rare "keeper"...exactly 27 inches.
	Priscilla Capitano saying "bon voyage" in a special way to her first catch.
	Trey Capitano was just a little bit excited when this bull redfish took off for parts unknown. Trey was happy to accept some help en route to landing his first of two reds.
	Jeff Nall from Nixa, MO booked a "hybrid" trip on August 10. Jeff spent the fly fishing portion of the trip fighting false albacore like this on a 9wt. I'm proud to present Jeff with the 2007 "Best Camouflaged Angler" award.
	For the spin fishing portion of the trip Jeff battled brutes like this until his arms were sore.
	Here's a great shot of 8 year old Dalton Ford taken August 11 with his first false albacore (aka bonito). Dalton fought this six pounder to the boat by himself on a Shimano Stradic 2500 and 15 pound PowerPro
	Chris Motes of Vacaville, CA caught the best day of the year for false albacore on August 15. In this photo Chris is " fully engaged" with a fish on a 7wt while a school of hundreds of albies boils the surface in the background.
	Chris Motes with a typical 6-8 pounder on August 15.
	This is an August 16 photo of Tim and Claire Walsh with their children Sam, Johnny and Robbie on holiday from the Edinburgh, Scotland area. Sam landed this fine 8 pound red snapper while drifting a live cigar minnow through Pensacola Pass.
	On the following day, Cole and Rick Kimbrough had spent most of the morning battling sharks in Pensacola Pass when this outstanding 9 1/2 pound snapper ate a pinfish. Later in the morning Cole added a 20+ pound king mackerel to the day's tally.
	August 27 got off to a high octane start with a double hookup on jack crevalle ... one on fly and the other on spinning tackle. Here's Dan Wittersheim from Mobile, AL with the first catch of the day.
	August 27, however, belonged to Peter Petruzzi of Knoxville, TN, who landed the first jack crevalle on fly for 2007 after an epic 90 minute battle. Peter was using a Winston BL5 12 wt. with a Reddington Brakewater 11/12 reel which performed flawlessly. That fish ate a big popper, ran off 200 yards of backing, and then sounded in 60 feet of water.
	We'd spent the morning August 28 in and out of rainstorms catching sharks and catfish in Pensacola Pass when Brenda Ranck of Thornville, Ohio got a strike of a totally different magnitude. This fish pinned Brenda to the gunwale, but she persevered and brought it to the surface. The cobia measured 38 inches to the fork and was released to the cooler.