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Winter 2014 was the coldest in 24 years, but there was some outstanding fishing between the cold snaps. Some of our most exciting sight-fishing occurs during the winter months when the water is beautiful and there is little to no fishing pressure. This is the only time that false albacore in the 6-8# range run the beach in as little as a foot of water. We target them mostly on fly but also on ultra-light spinning tackle. It's also the time of year when the biggest redfish of the year feed along the beaches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Many of these fish are in the 30# range, and because of the shallow water we can land them on 8wt fly gear without over-stressing the fish. For our clients willing to brave a little cool weather it's some of our very best fishing of the year. Click on the thumbnails for full-screen photos. For photos from previous seasons, check out these additional galleries:Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Winter 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Winter 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Winter 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2010, Fall 2009,Summer 2009, Spring 2009, Winter 2009, Fall 2008, Summer 2008, Spring 2008, Winter 2008, Fall 2007, Summer 2007, Spring 2007, Winter 2007, Fall 2006, Summer 2006, Spring 2006, Winter 2006, Spring 2005, Summer 2005, Fall 2005. Use the back button on your browser to return to this page.
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The
false albacore made their annual beach run in late-December
to the delight of Chip Horan
and his dad Chuck. We found fish up to 8# in water as shallow as
a foot and caught them on 8wt tackle and size 6 gummy minnows.
It was FA sight-fishing at its best, and a day the Horans won't
soon forget. Here's Chip on December 24 with the first fish. |
 |
Chuck
Horan celebrates after a hard-fought battle with another of
these "bad
little dudes". |
 |
The
albies look like black torpedoes streaking toward you in the
clear winter water. Your first
challenge is getting the fly in front of the fish followed by clearing
your flyline and keeping your knuckles away from the reel handle.
In deep water the false albacore like to "sound", but
in 2' of water there's nowhere for them to go but away with
the flyline cutting through the water throwing a foot-high roostertail.
Love
to hear that flyline sizzle! Chip after having a blast with another
of these beauties. |
|
Dennis Farkas on December 30 with a 33# black
drum landed on ultra-light spinning tackle. We found a school of
these monsters in 8' of water, and Dennis coaxed this fish to eat
a Spro bucktail jig. |
 |
Nick
Farkas with his first redfish of the day also on ultra-light
spinning tackle. In December we find schools
of big redfish in 3-8' of water within casting distance of shore.
It's big game sight-fishing at its best on St Croix "Avid
series"
rods that weigh just over 4oz and Shimano Stradic 2500 reels. |
 |
Nick with another spectacular redfish in surreal
conditions. |
 |
Here's
Jon Watts with the first winter bull redfish landed on fly December
31. The fish ate a sz 2 tan/white
clouser minnow and was off to the races. |
 |
Wes
Stecker landed the biggest redfish of the day a little later
on spinning tackle. |
 |
We pulled up on a shallow sandbar and found
some fish in 2-3' of water. Jon put the fly in front of an advancing
school, and this redfish inhaled it. |
 |
January 3 was a challenging windy day for
fly casting, but Ramu Nallamala of Huntsville, AL, persevered
and landed his first big redfish on fly. Well done, Ramu! |
 |
How
about a 30# redfish on your first cast?! That's just what happened
on January 16 for Glenn Perry. We ran out
Pensacola Pass to the east and idled toward shore into water shallow
enough for the push pole. Glenn was working some line out, and
we were
preparing to pole westbound with the sun at our backs. The water
was gin-clear, and we saw some shadows 150' to the east of
us in the glare of the sun...about 6 of them. We turned the boat
to face them and waited. Sure enough they were big redfish moving
undisturbed down-current in our direction. When they were about
80' from us Glenn laid out a perfect cast in front of the lead
fish.
As
the
clouser minnow sank this picture-perfect fish
cruised over and ate it. What a great way to start a crisp January
morning! |
 |
A little later Glenn landed another monster along the beach... |
 |
Then
we ran inshore to a shallow sand flat and had a ball with fish
of this quality in 2-4' of water. That's a lot of redfish on
an 8wt! |
 |
Doug Arthur with
his first saltwater fish on fly landed and released on a glassy-calm
January 20. Fresh water fly-fishing is never quite
the
same
after bull redfish sight-fishing. Sorry to do that to you Doug... |
 |
Rob Arthur, Whiting Field flight instructor,
with a nice redfish landed in 3' of water on a tan/white clouser
minnow. |
 |
Doug added one more beauty to the morning's catch |
 |
Fellow
guide Dave Marino on January 22 with his all-time biggest redfish
on fly. Dave's Myrtle Grove Charters is about a 30 minute drive
from New Orleans. Check him out: http://www.myrtlegrovecharters.net |
 |
It
was world-class fly-fishing for Bob Jenkins, Aspen, Colorado,
on January 23. We had a good incoming push of
water as we poled along the inner sandbar of the Gulf Islands National
Seashore looking for big redfish. The morning was crisp
with bright sunshine, crystal-clear turquoise water, and a light
offshore wind. There was not another person or boat in sight. We
spotted a group of 20-30 fish a couple hundred feet in front of
us, let the boat drift just short of casting
range, and quietly slid the anchor over from the stern leaving
the bow casting platform in perfect position. The fish didn't
notice us and continued milling around in 5-6' of
water.
Each time one cruised into range, Bob cast the fly well
"upstream", added a mend in the floating
line, and
let the current carry the fly down and in front of the fish. The
tan/white clouser was exactly what they wanted, and we had the
thrill of watching fish after fish key on the fly, charge
over to it, and suck it down. Spectacular day, perfect setup,
hungry
fish,
and the right fly...in a word priceless. |
 |
Here's
Bob's largest fish from that little "honey hole"...a
30 pounder. Look closely at the reel. Is it really smoking?? |
 |
But
his biggest fish came late in the day on a sand flat close to
Pensacola Pass after switching
to his brand spanking new TFO "Mangrove Series" 8wt
uplined with a Rio "Redfish" WF9F line. We were staked out in 3'
of water and caught a glimpse of a huge fish passing 90' from us
in the glare
of the setting sun with
the
wind blowing in and from the right. In an instant Jenkins wheeled
and cast a backhanded laser beam into that wind dropping the fly
three feet
upcurrent from the cruising fish. As the fly sank the current
drifted it directly into the face of the redfish, and with no hesitation
it opened its mouth and ate it. It was the result of a miracle
90' upwind cast that
landed
on a dime. At 31# this is Jenkins' all-time record redfish
and a moment of perfection
in a long fishing career that neither of us will ever forget. |
 |
Capt
Baz hard at work on that ideal January 23. The sandbar 70' in
the background is less than a foot deep, and
we were poling
the outside
edge looking for big redfish. Photo by Bob Jenkins. |
 |
Northern
Californian Tom Stucker was back in town January 26, and the
timing could not have been better. It
was another perfect winter day with plenty of sun and a glassy-calm
Gulf of Mexico. We found the redfish in the same general area where
Jenkins had his field day, but this time they had zero interest
in the tan/white clouser. After
various
failed attempts with alternative offerings we tried an old chartreuse
half and half that had been in the fly box for ten years, and BINGO!
This fish was a bona fide thirty pounder, Tom's best redfish to
date. That's why we hang on to those old flies. You just never
know.... |
 |
Later
we moved inside and Tom boated the biggest redfish of the winter
season.
Double
click on the image for a closeup peek at this magnificent fish
which we estimated at 32 pounds. We take great care when
weighing these big fish by hoisting them in a wet neoprene net
and quickly
getting
them
back
in the
water. The process takes about 15 seconds. Congratulations to Tom
for the redfish of a lifetime! Not bad for an 8wt fly rod... |
 |
Ashton
Whitman, Alpharetta, GA, landed this beauty February 14 on ultra-light
spinning tackle. Her dad Brian
was happy to hold the fish for her in this great father/daughter
Valentine's Day photo. This is
what it's all about, folks. |
 |
Jesse Quillen and John Brasher were here on
February 24, and the bull redfish sight-fishing was red hot. John
Brasher shown here with the first fish landed on ultra-light tackle. |
 |
And another on a day when we were the only
boat in sight. Check out that water! |
 |
Jesse woke up from his nap and got into the
game with this fat redfish... |
 |
Shirt sleeves and bull redfish on February
24... a combination that's hard to beat. John Brasher with his
biggest fish of the trip. |
 |
The fish moved off the beach, but Jesse found
this one at the end of the day in the deeper waters of Pensacola
Pass. |
 |
It
was quite a rush for Jeannette Launer, Portland, OR, on February
27 drifting her fly down-current to a school of
unsuspecting bull reds and watching this huge redfish
take it. Jeannette strip-set
the
hook, and the fish took off for Cuba! For the next twenty
minutes she received steady, moral support from her good friend
Doug Andres as she battled the fish to the
boat. |
 |
The "Guys from Amarillo" Kevin and Joel Howard
were here March 11-13 for what turned out to be a difficult three
days of fishing. Conditions were perfect when Kevin landed this
fine redfish on the morning of the 11th, but things started to
deteriorate by the afternoon as a cold front moved closer. |
 |
We
got blown out of the Gulf and tried some inside flats later in
the day where Joel landed and released this
8# black drum. |
 |
After
getting rained out on the 12th we once again found some redfish
along the shore, but this time we had much cooler conditions and
a howling north wind to contend with. Kevin
was undeterred and managed to get the fly in front of
this trophy redfish. |
 |
Federal
judge Skip Dalton taking some R&R from the bench on March 14 |
 |
Jay
Wright brought a couple of his buddies down from Birmingham,
AL, on March 15 for their last fishing trip before Jay's wedding.
The water was stained "iced tea" color after some heavy rains,
but we were able to find a few schools of redfish... |
 |
Fellow attorney Bernie Brannan with his first
bull red. |
 |
Sandy and Pam Loveless started off the day
March 18 free-drifting live shrimp around shallow structure in
Santa Rosa Sound. We don't kill many redfish but slid these two
in the cooler for blackening that evening. |
 |
Later
that morning we dropped off Pam and picked up Jarod Garland for
some redfish and sheepshead fishing in Pensacola
Pass. But before hitting the pass we poled a shallow sandbar sight-fishing
for bull reds, and that's where Sandy became the 4th person to
join Capt Baz and two others in the elite club of people who have
fallen out of the flats skiff.
One
moment
Sandy was
on
the
deck,
and
the next
he was in the drink. Those darn rogue waves will get you when
you least expect it! To Sandy's credit he climbed back aboard,
stripped off his wet
clothes,
stepped
into
some goretex
waders,
and continued fishing. His reward was landing this 30 pounder a
little later in Pensacola Pass. You're my hero, Sandy! |
 |
Jarod
Garland was thrilled to land this black drum... |
 |
...and
was even happier with his first big redfish. |
 |
A couple days later on March 20 Katie Holton
joined Sandy for some redfish sight-fishing along the edge of the
Gulf. |
 |
And then once again Jarod got aboard joining
Sandy for some afternoon fishing in Pensacola Pass where
we found the first sheepshead of the spring
season.
These two six pounders fed the whole family that evening. |
" |
|
It’s always a great day on the water with Gulf Breeze Guide Service!
Gulf
Breeze Guide Service
P.O. Box 251
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32562-0251 (USA)
Tel: 850.934.3292 or 850.261.9035 (cell)
Email: gbgsfishing@aol.com
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