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Spring 2011 arrived with the redfish sight-fishing hitting on all cylinders. We're talking about BIG redfish and lots of them. The jack crevalle arrived early and kicked our anglers' rear ends the whole season. We got spooled twice! There was outstanding fishing for red snappers, groupers, and amberjacks, and many clients went home with scrumptious fillets. Throughout the period there were sheepshead, speckled trout, and flounders in the mix. Finally, late in the season the false albacore arrived in large numbers and provided major thrills for both fly and light-tackle catch-and-release anglers. Here are the photos from the spring season. Click on any of the small images below to see the full size photos. For photos from previous seasons, check out these additional galleries: 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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Corbett Davis, Jr, of Jewelers
Trade Shop, Pensacola, opens the Spring 2011 gallery with this
fly-caught beauty landed just off Pickens Point on
March 21. |
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Corbett Davis, Sr, showed "Junior" how it's
done by picking this redfish out of a school of a hundred fish
just outside Pensacola Pass. |
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We were sight-fishing a shallow sandbar inside Pensacola Pass March 22 when this monster redfish ate Jerry Hohla's Clouser minnow. It's the biggest fish we've ever landed on an 8wt. Check the height of the tail on this beast. |
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Brothers
Clint and Joe Horan came to town March 24 for a little fishing
R&R. This is Clint with his best redfish so far... |
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A nice clean release. Good job, Clint! |
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Joe Horan with the redfish of the day on March 24. |
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Kevin
Kleva, Carmel, Indiana, with the first leg of the
Spring Grand Slam, on April 6. Nice pompano...first of the year! |
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A little later Kevin added the second leg...this fine jack crevalle
landed and released unharmed. |
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Kevin
Kleva completed the Grand Slam with this outstanding redfish.
It's the first-ever spring slam for Gulf Breeze Guide Service.
We've gotten two of the three species numerous times but not
all three.
Kevin
accomplished it using light spinning tackle. |
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Will
Pippin, CJ Smith, and Kyle Kleva with a redfish tag-teamed to
the net on April 6... a day the boys will remember
for a long time. |
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Ryan Smith (aka Smitty) with a Pensacola Bay
red snapper on April 6. |
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How's this for a Pensacola Bay gag grouper?!
Smitty had to use the heavy mojo to bring this fish to the top...and
into the cooler. |
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Brian Whitman, Alpharetta, GA, with his first
jack crevalle on April 7. |
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Mark Zizzamia, NYC, with a "bragging rights"
redfish on a hazy April 9. |
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Mark's
fishing buddy Michael Weinman with the redfish of the day caught
and released April 9 while sight-fishing along the Gulf Islands
National Seashore. |
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Michael Weinman "knows jack" after landing
this jack crevalle on April 11. |
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Perseverance
paid off April 12 for Tim Marsh when we finally found a few big
redfish cruising just outside the
inner sandbar in 6-7' of water. Tim landed this trophy on a 1/2oz
SPRO prime bucktail jig. It's quite a thrill to land a 25-30# redfish
on a 4.1oz St Croix spinning rod. |
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A nice shot of Tim releasing his big fish. |
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Jeff
Voigt, Spokane, WA, and a fly-caught jack crevalle on April 14.
The jack crushed the big popper
and headed for Mexico. Jeff uses virtually no drag and fights big
fish by palming the spool with a gloved hand. An unusual, elegant,
and satisfying approach... |
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The
big Spanish mackerel showed for a few days at Town Point, and
Gary Moffie was there April 17 to take advantage of the
situation. |
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Gary's fishing partner Greg Catalano, Acton,
MA, got the job done on fly with this hard-fighting Spanish
mackerel. Greg released the fish unharmed. |
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Gary Moffie and a gag grouper caught in Pensacola
Bay April 17 and released to the cooler. |
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We thought Gary was through for the day, but
noooooo. A little smooch for such a good fight and Gary sent this
jack crevalle on its way. |
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Ken Hutchison, Nampa, ID, was back in town
on a breezy April 18 trying for the grand slam on fly. Hutch
completed the first leg with this jack crevalle... |
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Hutch's fishing buddy Greg Fisher got "spooled"
by a jack crevalle before we upgraded to the big spinning tackle
for this fish. |
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Hutch
like a bird dog "on point" trying to
get a trout or redfish to take the fly on a flat in Santa
Rosa Sound. Sad to say this was the final outing for Hutch's tired
and tattered lucky fishing shirt. It won't be the same having him
on the boat without
it. RIP. |
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Greg Fisher with as fine a speckled trout as
you'll see on the flats of Santa Rosa Sound. Greg stood in one
spot and landed landed five fish of this quality...smallest one
was 23". |
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Hutch with a nice slot redfish on fly April
20. Check out the blue in the fish's tail. |
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Clark Blakely who recently moved to Pensacola
found this healthy redfish April 23 in Pensacola Pass. Welcome
to the area, Clark. |
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Expert angler Steve Nguyen with a fat gag grouper
in Pensacola Bay April 24. |
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Kasey
Vargo and Brad Kasavana from Montana April 26 with a gag grouper
headed for the grill. Kasey did a great job
bringing this fish to the surface on spinning tackle. |
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Not to be outdone, Brad landed a redfish
to be proud of in Pensacola Pass. |
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Aimee
Defeno showed her dad Rich how it's done with a 22" gag grouper
on April 28. |
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But this was by
far the fish of the day for
Aimee...a 15# red snapper landed and released in Pensacola Bay. |
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Life
is Good! A nice redfish for an excited Becky Sterr on April
29. |
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Joe Sterr with another redfish taken and released in Pensacola Pass on April 29. Joe's fish was nooooot quite as big as Becky's... Good thing size isn't important. |
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Les
Litzinger with a redfish caught and released May 2 on a beautiful
grass flat in the Big Lagoon. We spotted this fish on the grass
in about
2' of water, and Les dropped the fly right on target. The redfish
pounced on the EP fiber olive/tan Clouser minnow tied by Karl Elliott. |
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Who is that masked man? On May 5 Jonas Magnusson, the Icelandic
surgeon, coaxed this redfish to eat a gray/white Puglisi baitfish
pattern on a day
when
the Clouser
minnows just weren't doing the job. |
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A great shot of Bill Armstrong, Elizabethton, TN, with a super-fine
Pensacola Bay grouper on May 6. Looking good, Bill! |
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Bill's
fishing buddy John Hathaway with the second gag grouper headed
for the cooler...and the grill. |
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Birmingham's
Matt Neal had never thrown a fly rod bigger than a 4wt until
May 7, but he'd taught himself to double haul... a skill
that came in very handy when he picked up the 10wt and 3/0 popper
as the jack crevalle approached... That's a Facebook photo if we've
ever seen one. |
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It wasn't a 20 pounder, but it sure was satisfying. Jim Little
with a cute, slot redfish on a challenging May 9. |
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Newlyweds Pam and Sandy Loveless had a lot of fun with the redfish
on May 10. Pam landed the first fish of the day. |
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And
then they got a double. Pam appears to know whose fish was
larger... Looks like Sandy knows too. |
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The next day Sandy ventured out solo for a very productive day
which started with this redfish |
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And then a nice pompano... |
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One of five jack crevalle landed on big spinning tackle and topwater
plugs... |
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And
we finished the day with this badass Pensacola Bay grouper. Chances
are Sandy slept (and ate) well that night. |
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Steve Schuman and Stephen Drazin came down from Baltimore May 12-14
for a fishing vacation and hit the conditions just right. Steve
landed this redfish in Pensacola Pass. |
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Stephen Drazin with a beautiful flounder caught and released on
May 12 |
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Steve with a cool looking red grouper... |
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Conditions
were nice and calm on May 13, so we headed out a few miles in
the Gulf of Mexico to play with the amberjacks. |
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...and the big red snappers! Stephen landed this beauty on spinning
tackle. |
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Steve
and another hard-fighting AJ taken on spinning gear |
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Steve
and Stephen are all about catch and release, but we slid this
fine mangrove snapper into the cooler "for the captain", and
the Aegean Breeze Restaurant in Gulf Breeze baked it whole that
evening. It was a to-die-for treat! Thanks, Steve! |
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Fabulous redfish for Stephen Drazin on May 14 |
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Steve Schuman with a gag grouper caught on a
live pinfish and released in Pensacola Bay May 14. |
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Who's
your daddy! Dan Wittersheim with
a trophy redfish on May 15. |
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Brett Pardonner had the hot hand May 20 in Pensacola Pass. Nice
redfish, Brett... |
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A
little later Brett slid this black drum into the cooler. |
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Brett's dad Jeff Pardonner added this multi-spotted redfish to
the day's tally |
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But it was Jonah Roby who landed the fish of the day May 20 at
the end of the trip. The photo doesn't do the fish justice, but
this gag grouper was 31" long and weighed 14#...the boat record for
Pensacola Bay. Congratulations, Jonah! |
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We had two couples on the boat May 21. Here's Jesse and Linda Quillen
of Mobile, AL, with a redfish landed by Linda. |
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And
these are their good friends Javier and Shan Carrasco, restaurateurs
in Bruce, MS, with another bull redfish landed by Shan. |
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"I love you, mon"... Kevin Howard sealed his redfish experience
with a kiss on May 24. |
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John Palmer, Jackson, MS, and a 4# flounder landed May 27 while
drifting live bait through Pensacola Pass. |
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John's
grandson JJ McClure and a nicely colored redfish caught a little
later |
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John Palmer with the catch of the day on May 27... |
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A beautiful redfish for Shereen Crowley in Pensacola Pass on May
28 |
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Shereen's main squeeze Tom Zavoral (aka "Z") with another fine
redfish in the pass |
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Here's Z looking
like a rock star with a 42" redfish pushing thirty pounds. |
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We found a school of slot-sized and larger redfish around a dock
in Santa Rosa Sound on May 30, and the Eudaleys and Powells landed
and released about twenty of them. This is Trenton Eudaley with the
first
catch. |
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Greg Eudaley with another beaut |
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Ernie Powell got into the hot redfish action |
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As did Colton Powell... |
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But
as always somebody has to catch the fish of the
day, and on May 30 it was Greg Eudaley with this monster redfish...one
of the biggest of the year. Greg's smile says it all. |
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Ken Shireman with one of many bull redfish landed and released
in the pass on May 31. You "da man", Cowboy! |
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The Yahne family, Hanford, CA, took time off from friends' wedding
festivities for some family fun on June 1. This was their first
redfish experience, and they landed fish after fish until their wrists
were sore. Daughter Christi broke the ice by landing the first fish
of the day. |
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Mary
Yahne with another beautiful redfish landed and released in Santa
Rosa Sound |
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We moved out to Pensacola Pass where the BIG ONES live, and Bob
Yahne brought this redfish to the net |
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Landing
this fish took a mother-daughter team effort, and Christi and
Mary were up to the task... |
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Seas were glassy-calm June 3 for Brent Videau and
sons, so we ran 14 miles from Pensacola Pass to a secret snapper
spot. Here's a great shot of Brent and a colorful red snapper
headed for the cooler. |
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Another shot of Brent with a big mangrove snapper. LSU fans gotta
love it... |
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Charles Marcotte landed this redfish June 4 and asked dad Jean-Yves
to join him in the picture... |
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Gary
Griffin took his sons-in-law out for some redfishing on a beautiful
morning June 6 and broke the ice with the first catch. |
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Michael
White followed suit with this redfish... |
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But it was Jerry Martin, Ft Smith, Arkansas, who brought home the
biggest fish honors. Good job, Jerry! |
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That's Darrel Kalbfleisch on the right with son Ben (center) and
son-in-law Cole (left) after a very successful day of red snapper
fishing on June
9. |
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Did someone say red snapper? David Mincey with a 10 pound beauty
on June 10... |
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Stephen Drazin and Steve Schuman, Baltimore, came back to town
for an encore performance on June 11 and 13, and the amberjacks were
waiting for them. Here's Stephen with a "typical" catch.... |
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Steve Schuman and a picture-perfect "fins-up" AJ on June 13 |
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We were slow-trolling live baits for AJ when this king mackerel
going about 80mph slammed Stephen's minnow. Congratulations to Stephen
Drazin for his first kingfish. |
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We ended the day and the trip having fun with the giant redfish
in Pensacola Pass. |
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It just doesn't get any better than this. John Boles and son John
with a spectacular redfish on June 15. John's a CPA in Auburn, AL,
and this photo is hanging on his office wall. |
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A great shot of young Spencer Voigt on June 16 with his biggest
redfish to date |
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Spencer's
dad Jason Voigt is the proud papa in this photo with Ft McRee
in the background. |
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Charlie Forrest, St Paul, MN,
landed the first false albacore of the year on June 17....finally!
The usual January run happened
in
December,
and the spring run was late. Now that the fish are here we should
have an excellent summer season with "the hardest fighting fish
in show business"... |
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Pensacola's
Taylor Curry with another FA on June 17 |
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This
is Casey Weist also from Minnesota with his first-ever saltwater
fish on fly. Man, what a way to start! |
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Casey settled into the groove and landed a number of these "bad
little dudes". |
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Adam
Barnes definately knows jack after his encounter with this 20#
jack crevalle on June 18. |
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David Wages, Sr, Memphis, TN, and son David gave the redfish a
try in Pensacola Pass on June 19. |
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For a fitting end to the Spring 2011 photo gallery here's David
Wages on June 19 with as fine a redfish as you'll ever catch. It
was a great day and a terrific spring. |
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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