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Spring 2013 was challenging due to unseasonal wind and rain, but the fish were hungry and ready to play. In many of the photos you will notice "iced tea" stained water instead of the usual green, but the fish didn't seem to mind. Actually off-color water can better for sight-fishing as long as it's clear enough to see the fish. If it's hard to see them they can't see us either... This was one of our best springs for redfish and speckled trout both on fly and light-tackle. Scott Guesner landed the all-time boat record 9 pound trout on April 15. The sheepshead spawning ritual occurred right on schedule. We had outstanding amberjack fishing in May, and it was game on when red snapper season opened June 1. Here are the photos from this spring's season. For photos from previous seasons, check out these additional galleries: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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Colorado's Evan Bottcher on March
22 with a beautiful fly-caught redfish...the first of the spring
season. The runoff turned the inland waters to "strong iced tea"
making sight-fishing nearly impossible. Evan was blind-casting
an EP 1/0 baitfish around some dock pilings when this redfish crushed
it. Notice how the dark colors of the fish camouflage it perfectly
in the dark water. Nature's cloaking device. |
 |
We moved out to the Gulf of Mexico and found
water clear enough for sight-fishing. Evan's fishing partner Caitlin
Wagner landed her first bull redfish on ultra-light spinning tackle. |
 |
We found another school of redfish and tried
to position Evan for a good shot with the fly rod, but the fish
were
moving too fast heading out to deeper water. So Caitlin dropped
the Spro bucktail jig in their midst and hooked into another fine
specimen. Evan was as pleased as if he'd landed the fish himself! |
 |
Evan
put his new Go Pro camera into action and snapped this incredible
release photo. You've got to be an
expert to have the camera lens half in and half out of the water!
Double click on the photo for the full- screen view of this terrific
shot. Excellent job, Evan. |
 |
It
was cold and windy on March 25 for Matt Kail, Rockford,
MI, and his son Jonah. Many young boys would've been huddled
on the floor
of
the boat trying to stay warm, but not young Noah. He
was bound and determined to catch enough sheepshead to take home
for
dinner, and it wasn't easy. Two hours into the trip we hadn't
landed a fish, but the young man was unshaken. Finally, we found
some
fish and Noah landed sheepshead of this quality
until it was time to go home. He filled up the doggone cooler and
was one proud and happy little dude! |
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We received this photo and text message from Matt Kail on July 3: "A cold afternoon in March makes for a good dinner July 3rd. Jonah hasn't stopped telling that will listen that he caught them all." |
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On March 26 the light was good enough to barely see fish in the
off-colored water of the 3-5' sandbars around Pensacola Pass. We
picked up some movement and thought we saw a shadow about 50' in
front of
the boat, and Charlie Forrest dropped the fly 10' in
front of the target and let it sink. The intermediate line helped
the EP tan/white clouser minnow get to the bottom quickly. The fly
must have appeared directly in front of this fish's face, because
it inhaled it without hesitation. Great job by Charlie on a seriously
big redfish...39-40". |
 |
By
March 28 the inland waters finally cleared up enough to fish
some of our favorite flats, and Jay Lanier
had our all-time best day of redfish sight-fishing on fly. There
was not a cloud in the sky. By the end of the trip Jay had landed
7 and hooked numerous more. If that
wasn't enough he landed the all-time boat record speckled trout
on fly which you will see below. Here's Jay's first redfish which
he released unharmed...just like all the others. |
 |
And another... Check out the blue tail. Also
note the slightly off-colored water. It was perfect that morning.
The water was clear enough to easily spot the fish but dark enough
that they weren't spooky and we could sneak
up on them. Heavenly conditions... |
 |
The
water was calm and quiet, and there were so many redfish that
the whole scene
was surreal. Jay was attracting the redfish with a fast
strip on the EP baitfish and then slowing it down if the fish didn't
eat it. This beauty charged after the fly for about 20' almost
to the boat. Jay was running out of room so he just stopped the
fly 15' from the boat and let it hover there. The fish stopped
three inches short of the fly and watched it. Twice Jay barely
twitched the fly, and the fish moved up and nipped at it. Each
time the fish stopped a little closer to the fly. Finally we watched
the fish open it's mouth, flare it's gills, and the fly simply
disappeared. It was the coolest take either of us has ever seen,
and it happened
with the leader almost in the rod tip. As some say "It just don't
get no better!" |
 |
In
the midst of all the redfish action we found a school of mullet
milling around on the surface over a sand spot
30' from the boat in about 2 1/2' of water. The mullet literally
covered the circle of sand, and beneath them we could see the
long, dark
silhouette
of a huge trout. Jay
made a perfect cast not lining the the mullet
but unfurling the leader over the sand. The fly landed like
a feather in the midst of the mullet
and slowly sank beneath them to
the bottom
a couple feet in front of the trout. One short strip and the
trout glided over and ate it. When Jay strip-set the hook the
big fish
exploded on the surface with a huge head-shake and took off.
The photo doesn't do it justice, but the trout weighed 6 1/2
pounds
on the bogagrip. It's the all-time boat record on fly surpassing
Mile Youkee's 6.1 pounder from last spring. What a day! |
 |
The next day Taylor Curry got to watch this fish follow his fly and then nail it...his first redfish on fly. Once you've sight-fished for redfish on fly it's hard to go back to doing it any other way... |
 |
Fellow
guide Kevin Arculeo, Atlanta, brought a couple of his fishing
buddies to town on March 31, and we got
into
some
sheepshead
action in Pensacola Pass before moving out into the Gulf to look
for redfish.
Nice shot of Kevin with a 6 1/2 pounder. |
 |
We found the redfish "stacked up" on a nearshore
wreck and landed and released about a dozen. This is Keith Henderson
with a fish right on the outside limit of the slot. |
 |
Keith Guiness with his first redfish which Capt Baz is proud to
point out... |
 |
And here's Kevin Arculeo again with another beauty. Kevin tried
for a while to get a fish to eat a fly, but it wasn't to be. Had
to put a live shrimp in front of them this day... |
 |
The Marsh family from Iowa was in town April 2, and Dawn Marsh
landed this fine redfish right off the bat. |
 |
We
moved out to a nearshore wreck, and Tim Marsh continued his annual
redfish streak by landing numerous fish of this quality... |
 |
Chris
Kleva and sons Anthony and Tyler found some hot redfish sight-fishing
along the shores of the Gulf Islands National Seashore on a spectacular
April 6. Here's Chris with the first fish of the day. |
 |
A
nice shot of Anthony and Tyler Kleva with a redfish "double"
on April 6. |
 |
Boys
will be boys...Tyler Kleva and a flounder tatoo released unharmed. |
 |
A
cool psychedelic shot of a redfish tail
in the
morning sunlight. Photo by Chris Kleva. |
 |
The
New Jersey Wolfpack was baaack on April 7 and Ken Michaels aka:
"Pretzel" got on the board early with this nice speckled
trout. (released unharmed) |
 |
But
"Wojo" (Matt Wojciechowski) took top honors with this
gator 25" trout also
released unharmed. |
 |
Speaking
of GATOR trout, on April 15 Scott Guesner of Houston, TX, landed
the all-time boat record speckled trout while free-lining live
shrimp on a
grass
bed in Santa Rosa Sound. This beautiful female weighed over nine
pounds, and Scott garnered many years of good karma by carefully
releasing her and all her eggs... |
 |
Grant Slack from Singapore was visiting the US for the Masters
Golf Tournament and dropped down our way for a couple days of fly-fishing.
We finally got some good conditions, and Grant landed this fine trout
April 16 in Butcherpen Cove on a bright orange "spec-tackler" deceiver
tied by Chris Sandoski. |
 |
A cold front finally blew through giving us north winds and blue
skies, and Birmingham's Jimmy Wright and Barry Saunders were here
April 20 to take full advantage of it. Here they are with a slot-redfish
double
landed around a dock in Santa Rosa Sound. |
 |
We headed out to the Gulf and found perfect conditions for redfish
sight-fishing. Here's Jimmy Wright with as pretty a redfish as you'll
ever see. |
 |
Barry Saunders landed another trophy redfish on a Spro bucktail
jig and ultra-light spinning tackle. Both of these fish were in the
25# range. |
 |
A few days later the Gulf was too dirty for sight-fishing but Tracy
Crowley and Chad Kearbey found the bull redfish in Pensacola Pass.
Tracy Crowley on April 24 with a monster. |
 |
Tracy and Chad with a bull redfish "double" on April 24. |
 |
Tony Rea, Houston, TX, with his first redfish on fly caught and
released April 27. Tony coaxed this fish to eat a gray/white EP baitfish. |
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April
29 was one of the all-time best days of redfish sight-fishing
for Greg Speer, Ft Collins, CO. Here's the Rocket Man with his
first fish, an over-the-slot beauty taken on an EP baitfish.
Double click on the photo for a good look at the fly. |
 |
A
little later Rocket landed another similar sized redfish in very
shallow water. |
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The
classic "Rocket Release". As you can see from the fish's shadow
the water was less than 2' deep...hard to beat! |
 |
That masked man is the globetrotting surgeon Jonas Magnusson with
an outstanding trout caught and released May 7 on one of our favorite
flats in Santa Rosa Sound. |
 |
Bob Jenkins from Aspen, CO, was here May 10 for a terrific day
of sight-fishing. It was slightly overcast making it hard to see
the redfish and trout, but they couldn't see us either. Bob figured
out which colored EP clouser the fish wanted when it was cloudy and
which one to change to when the sun came out. It's the third fishing
puzzle Bob has figured out over the past couple years. Very impressive.
Here he is with the first redfish of the day. |
 |
We were hunting redfish, and this 21" trout was a bonus. |
 |
And here's Bob with as fine a shallow-water redfish as you'll ever
catch around here. Not bad for 2-3' of water. These fish were on
a sand bottom hence the very light tan color. Still has that blue
tail though... |
 |
Who loves you, Baby?! Double click on the redfish smooch to get
a good look at the fly...a tan/white EP clouser minnow tied by Karl
Elliott
of
St
Joseph,
MO. |
 |
Rocky
Sleight on May 13 with the only pompano of the spring season
caught in the Gulf of Mexico while sight-fishing on fly. We had
perfect conditions anchored south of Ft McRee, and
numerous pompano came into Rock's range. He had one other take
before landing this fish and releasing it unharmed. The pompano
took our
favorite little yellow pompano fly...the "original pompano
rocket".
Rocky joins the elite group of fly anglers who have successfully
sight-fished for pompano. Hearty congratulations! |
 |
We had excellent conditions on May 15 for Mike Youkee From London
on his annual spring trip. Started off the day blind-casting for
big Spanish mackerel on one of our favorite grass beds. This fish
crushed a tan/white clouser minnow. |
 |
There's
crushed and then there's CRUSHED! The
latter is a better description of this jack crevalle's response
to the popper Mike dropped in its path. We had moved out to
the Gulf
of Mexico and were silently poling the beach west of Pensacola
Pass looking for pompano when we noticed a large dark mass moving
across
the point. Hoping it was a school of jacks we put up the pompano
rod and got the 10wt ready fly in hand with the flyline coiled
on the deck. What a sight when the mass got close enough
to see that it was indeed a big school of jacks, and they had no
clue we
were there. The fish were high and happy milling around with their
bright yellow fins glowing in the sunlight. Mike made a nice long
cast in front of the school and far enough from the boat that the
fish wouldn't sense our presence. Two strips and fifteen fish raced
for the popper. Mike instantly hooked up and put as much pressure
as possible on the fish trying to land it quickly before the school
disappeared down the beach. He landed it in about 10 minutes which
is probably a boat record for a jack crevalle on fly... |
 |
We
fired up the motor and ran down the beach passing well outside
of the jacks, circled to get a couple hundred
yards in front of them, and started poling in their direction.
Sure enough here they came without a care in the world, and Mike
worked
his magic again landing another jack in the 12-14# range. This
time the school dropped into deeper water and disappeared. So
we came
back inside the pass and were running along the north side of the
island when we saw baitfish showering close to shore. We poled
in to check it out, and there was another school of jacks chasing
mullet in 2' of water. These were much bigger fish, and they were
spooky in the shallows. After a few refusals Mike waited
until the jacks were moving away from the boat before casting
out in
front of them. The strategy worked, and this big fish nailed
the fly. Forty
minutes later and a half mile away we landed it in 40' of water. |
 |
Here's
another view of the 25# jack with a good view of the fly...
a white 3/0 popper made by Ben Walters of Eastern
Fly Outfitters. It was "Miller
Time", and
we
celebrated with an ice cold Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. What a day! |
 |
Bernie
Smelstoys had a ton of fun May 18 with the big red snappers in
Pensacola Bay. Bernie was free-lining cut menhaden. |
 |
May 21 was another "red letter" day for sight-fishing the sand/grass
flats of Santa Rosa Sound, and Glenn and Matt Wegener were there
to take full advantage of the situation. Glenn landed the first redfish
on a tan/white clouser tied with EP fibers. |
 |
Matt stepped up and got this fish to eat one of his own creations
tied with EP fibers... |
 |
The
fish were shying away from the "plop" of the clouser, so Glenn
changed to another of Matt's baitfish imitations in a different
color and bingo...this big redfish nailed it. Nice for the "old
man"
to get a good one on his son's specially tied fly. Pretty nice
for Matt, too. |
 |
Late in the afternoon after the SW wind came up a school of about
twenty much larger reds started feeding on the flat, and Matt was
on the bow as
we tried
to
pole
them down. We never got one of the reds to eat the fly, but this
spectacular trout inhaled Matt's fly in two feet of water. |
 |
The
next day Russ Meigs landed his first redfish on the same flat.
Russ had a couple other reds on earlier, but the barbless hook
fell out. When this fish took the fly, Russ never let it get
on the reel.
It was full-tilt hand-to-fin combat, the leader held up, and we
got the photo. Good job, Russ! |
 |
Bruce
Trumbull treated daughter Heather and Jake Tessler to a couple
days on the water May 23 and 24. Both Heather and Jake love "big
fish" action, so we ran offshore for some bottom fishing. Heather
put the heavy mojo on this 18 pound gag grouper which we released
unharmed (season closed). Nice of her to ask Bruce to join in
the photo... |
 |
Jake Tessler is a stonemason
and one powerful dude, but he had his hands seriously full with
this badass amberjack...and loved every minute of it. |
 |
Here's Heather on May 24 looking glamourous as always with the
first fish of the day. |
 |
Jake
was getting a lot of amberjack action on big topwater plugs,
so Bruce decided to give it a try on fly. He started blind-casting
a big white popper and got some follows and blowups, but
the fish were "short-striking"
the fly.
We switched to a big streamer and got nothing. Next we tied on
a 2/0 "pearly popper" from Umpqua and a nice AJ hammered it on
the first cast. Bruce is hardcore when it comes
to fighting big fish and likes to palm his System 2 reels instead
of using the drag. Well you can imagine how tough that was with an
amberjack, but after about 15 minutes Bruce just about had it to
the boat when a 7' bull shark ate it right in front of us! We felt
bad for the AJ but worse about losing the fly. Fortunately we had
another, and Bruce immediately hooked into a second fish. It was
beautiful to watch him battle this amberjack without using the
drag. Amazing
really. His knuckles got beaten up a couple times, but this fish
made it to the net. Bruce wasn't done yet. Pumped
from landing that fish he hooked into a third AJ, but this fish
dove
like
only a big
AJ can do and Bruce couldn't stop him. He ran straight down 80',
and hung Bruce up in the wreck. We finally had to break the flyline
at the nail knot. What an experience! |
 |
Here's another shot of Bruce Trumbull with only the second amberjack
landed on fly on one of our boats... Way to go, Bruce! |
 |
Blanton Stagno brought some of his Birmingham buddies down May
27 for a "happy graduation" fishing trip. Blanton got it all started
with this Pensacola Bay red snapper. |
 |
The snappers were very accommodating. Here's Daniel Rich with a
red snapper in the 10# range. Too bad it was five days before the
opening of snapper season... |
 |
Hunter
Williams had the hot hand that day and landed numerous
red snappers of this quality. |
 |
Someone mention red snapper season opening?? Dave and Daniel Walters,
Johnson City, TN, were in town for opening day June 1 and landed
some beauties. Daniel's biggest fish weighed 17 pounds. Magnificent
colors on this fish. |
 |
Dave Walters with a fish in the 10-12 pound range. |
 |
Thought we'd include this great father/son shot of Dave and Daniel.
In a word...YUM! |
 |
We
had a lovely morning for sight-fishing on June 4, and John Travis
landed two of the three Emerald Coast Grand Slam species. John
checked off the redfish category with this multi-spotted fish
caught on the
EP gray/white baitfish. A little earlier John landed a surprise
pompano, but the fish leaped out of his hands as we were taking
the photo... |
 |
That afternoon Hank Stackhouse introduced grandson Trey to saltwater
fishing. Little Trey's not too sure what to think about this 24"
trout caught on a live shrimp and released to the cooler... |
 |
It's
always a blast when the Lalonde family from Baton Rouge comes
to town, and June 5 was no exception. Ted Lalonde got it all started
with another 25" speckled trout which met the same fate as the
one yesterday. Cooler City... |
 |
David
Lalonde has been "snake bit" on previous trips when it comes
to getting his picture on the website, but not this time. David
was
free-lining small pieces of cutbait on big spinning tackle in Pensacola
Bay when this 16# beast grabbed it and took off for the bottom.
David had to "palm" the spool applying additional drag to keep
this
fish from running into the structure and cutting him off. It was
an epic battle, and David came out victorious... Great way to break
through to the photo gallery, and it's so nice to land a fish like
this when the season's open! |
 |
David,
Ted, and Hollie Renee at the end of the day with the main ingredients
for a Lalonde Family Feast! |
 |
Steve Nguyen was casting a small silver spoon for Spanish mackerel
June 7 when this bull redfish surprised everybody on the boat... |
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The Gulf of Mexico was too rough for bottom-fishing, so Steve
found this 10 pound red snapper in Pensacola Bay and slid it into
the cooler. |
 |
Beginning
fly-caster Seth Adams was a quick learner on June 12 when the
false albacore showed up in large numbers a mile and a half
offshore. The fish were eating the tiny, clear minnows lovingly
known as "snot bait", and were they ever difficult. Seth learned
the
"double haul" quickly and was therefore able to get the fly to
the fish. We experimented with flies and stripping techniques
and
found
Henry
Cowen's Albie Anchove, sz 6, effective with a long 4-5' strip.
This was the first fish to take Seth into the backing, and he's
a changed
man...hooked for life. |
 |
The
FA were still in the vicinity two days later on June 14 and Dan
Willcutt did well on the same fly and stripping technique. Nice,
fat, "football" shaped fish... |
 |
Seems
like the weather always tanks when Feather-craft's Bob Story
comes to town, and June 17 was no exception. The Gulf of Mexico
was
blown out, but we got an early-morning tip from another guide that
the albies had moved up into the bay. When we arrived schools of
FA were crashing the surface eating bay anchovies that were
trapped
in a
current line. When bay anchovies are the targeted baitfish a #6,
clear, gummy minnow is usually the ticket.
And that's how it was for Bob who caught them until his wrist
was
sore... Poor Bob. |
 |
Bob
with his second false albacore. It was mayhem out there with
the albies boiling around the boat and storm clouds all around
us.
Here's
a link to a short youtube video which captures the action... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Zz7ZJ52ZU |
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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