Today I guided Jeff Bond and his buddies on a 4 hour inshore trip in Santa Rosa sound. I fish with these guys a couple times a year and they are always a blast to be on the boat with. I was a little concerned about the conditions going into today’s trip because the weather was calling for 25mph winds and rain. We met at the boat launch at 7am and despite the weather we decided to go fishing anyway. The winds were high and we were very limited on where we could fish but I was bound and determined to put these guys on fish. Heck, if the weather was perfect everyday then you couldn’t call my job work:) We fished my first two spots with little to show. By the time the weather was getting worse. I  made the decision to make a two mile run to a grass flat that usually holds good fish on bad weather days. We got to our spot and I pitched the first bait out and handed the rod to my client. As soon as it hit the water the line took off and the battle was on! My client soon boated a perfect 24″ keeper redfish. I quickly rigged up 3 other rods and we proceeded to catch redfish every cast for a solid hour. As most of you know, the legal limit on Redfish is 2 per person in the state of Florida so we quickly got our limit on this trip. After catching a bunch of nice reds we decided to hit a bay snapper spot on the way in. The weather was getting awful and rain was in the distance so I let my clients pull on a couple snapper a piece and we headed to the house. This ended up being a very successful trip with the weather the way it was. Anytime you get a 4 person limit of reds in terrible weather it’s a good day! This was another successful trip with great clients!

Capt Brant

Today I guided a crew eager to experience what Pensacola Bay has to offer. The Sheepshead and Redfish bite has been on fire as of late and today was no different. We raced across the smooth waters of Pensacola bay and arrived at our first destination. We were greeted with a perfect tide which is great when deep water fishing. Right now most of the fish are gathered in deep holes in our bay so we have to find the with the sonar then drop down on top of the school to catch them. Once I located the school of fish we immediately starting hooking up with  monster 5 to 8lb sheepshead. The bite was crazy! After keeping 12 to 15 for dinner we decided to go pull on some reds. It didn’t take long before we found exactly what we were looking for. I located a school of about 5o reds on a shallow flat. We had to be pretty quite in order to not spook them. We pitched our first bait in the school with no luck so I changed to a little lighter line in hopes of enticing a bite. The second cast was game on! We pulled a nice 25″ red from the school and it was high fives all around! We proceeded to catch about 10 more from this school before calling it a day. Awesome weather, good fishing, and great clients made my job very easy on this particular trip. I have attached a few pics for your enjoyment.

Tight lines,
Capt Brant

My last few trips have been more than successful. I always look forward to spring fishing because it usually makes my job very easy. Unlike other times of the year there is always something to catch in March and April. Right now the redfish, sheepshead, and pompano are everywhere! This time of year you get the sheepshead spawn so there are literally thousands of those to be caught in our bay. You also get the pompano migration. This makes for two very tasty fish for those of you wanting to take some dinner home. Redfish are here year around but there is something about the spring that makes them bite better!

I ran five trips over the last 6 days in Pensacola Bay. All of the trips were very successful. If you are lucky enough to book your trip on a calm day then your success rate will go up that much more. Right now there are loads of redfish just off the beach on some nearshore wrecks. The only problem is finding a calm enough day to get out there and catch them. We are also catching plenty of red and lane snapper and an occasional flounder to go with them. The fishing will stay hot like this through April so if your wanting to experience a great trip then give us a call at 850-450-3878 or send us an email. You can’t go wrong this time of year!

Check out the pic of Dave and his crew! We boated over 20 big redfish that morning!

Capt Brant

Today I had the pleasure of taking Denise, Carl, Clare, and Matt on their first Pensacola Bay experience. The weather was really cold and we were coming off a huge rain so the conditions were sub par to say the least. When we arrived at our first fishing spot I noticed a brown tent to the water and knew immediately that the rivers had flooded into the bay. When this happens it screws with the water salinity, gets the fish out of their normal routine, and makes for a very tough  bite. I knew right away that we were going to have to work for our fish.

My predictions proved right, getting only one bite in the first hour of the trip. I soon decided it was time to make a move and give the redfish a break. We spent the next hour at one of my snapper spots. Even the snapper bite was tough but we did manage to catch a handful which was exciting for everyone. After everyone got to fight a few snapper we decided to give the reds another shot. I knew that even with messed up conditions we should still be able to get a few bites. We pulled back to the redfish spot and on the first cast Clare hooked a monster! She fought her fish for nearly 20 minutes before landing a 30lb Pensacola Bay redfish. Clare’s fish lifted the spirits in the boat and gave us all a second wind. For the next hour the bite picked up and we were able to land a few more giant redfish. For the conditions like they were I called this trip a success! I couldn’t have asked for better, more patient clients. Thanks Guys!

Capt Brant

For those of you visiting Navarre or Pensacola during spring break then booking a fishing trip can be a very smart idea. I have been fishing the gulf coast for a long time and I can tell you that spring is one of my favorite times of year to fish. We tend to boat more fish and have more action in the spring than any other month. I am not saying that the rest of the year  brings sub par fishing, I am simply stating that spring is on fire!

We have a number of different fish to catch during spring break. Sheepshead move into our bay to spawn this time of year, so needless to say they are plentiful. If you are looking to put some tasty Redfish in the boat then you have come to the right place. Now that the state of Florida allows you to keep two redfish per person per day you can take more fish home with you for dinner. The Spanish Mackerel are never hard to find this time of year. They range in size from 1 to 7lbs and are very tasty on the grill. The flounder bite can also be really good just off the beach. I have some shallow wrecks that I take my clients to when they are eager to catch dinner. If you aren’t familiar with Flounder, they are arguably the best tasting fish in our area. If you get bored with bay fish then we can go to some of my wrecks near shore and I will let you pull on big snapper and grouper! Unfortunately you can’t keep them but they are sure fun to catch!

Whether your goal is to take home a tasty dinner to feed the family, pull on large bottom fish, or simply enjoy a day on the boat with good friends, then spring break brings the best weather and fishing of the year!

Tight lines
Capt Brant

Winter is one of my favorite times of year to charter because the fish gather in large schools and the action can be non stop! Pensacola bay is a famous breeding ground for redfish during the winter. Most of the fish range in size from 35 to 50 inches in length. These are what I call the breeder fish. They are not legal to harvest in the state of Florida, however, they sure are fun to catch!

This trip, I guided a family who was brand new to saltwater fishing. My goal was to get them on some drag pulling bull reds! I thought this would be an easy task because just three days earlier we boated 32 total fish. Unfortunately, a bad tide and a full moon made finding these giant schools of fish much tougher than it should have been. None the less we were bound and determined to find some fish.

The way we target winter time redfish is completely different from how we catch them in the spring and summer. In the winter we watch for Pelicans diving on bait fish. The Pelicans are a dead give away that there is bait fish below the surface and usually that means there are bull reds below the bait fish. With this being said, it is convenient to have a good set of binoculars with you. Often, the birds are working over a mile away from your boat and if you can see them then you can find the fish!

On this particular trip, we searched for three solid hours with zero luck until I finally saw what I thought was Pelicans diving. We rushed over to check out all of the commotion and to our surprise we were greeted with over 1000 bull reds feeding on bait just under the surface. My clients each grabbed a rod and from that moment on it was non stop redfish action for the rest of the trip. All it took was a little patience and perseverance in order to reach the daily goal I set for my clients. Below is a quick pic I snapped of a quad hookup! All fish were released unharmed!

God Bless
Capt Brant

Today, I had the pleasure of guiding Jim Potesta and his Carrabbas crew on some great Pensacola bay action. We run this group of guys about twice a year and with all the side bets, jokes, and beer drinking, it always turns out to be a great time. They had a group of 15 people on this trip so I was joined with Captain Brad King of South again Charters, Captain Tyler Manning of Fish Flat Out, and Captain Tyler Massey of Hot Spots on a four boat trip. Our plan was to leave shoreline park at 1:00pm to target bay mackerel, grouper, sharks, and snapper.

We stopped first in a bayou to fill our livewells full of live Menhaden, a mackerel favorite, then headed to a known hot spot. Unfortunately the King Mackerel bite was off so we decided to go with plan B and hit the bay for some Spanish mackerel. This decision paid off. The Spanish bite was on fire! Each boat boated over 20 fish in less than an hour. After filling our coolers, we decided to search for other species. I took my boat to a near by shark hole and proceded to boat 6 sharks the next hour. Most of them were black tips and sand sharks but they were lots of fun on light tackle! Since this was only a 4 hour trip we headed back to the dock a little early to clean fish. This was another successful trip with a great group!

I want to thank Jim and the Carrabbas crew for continuing to use our services. It is always a pleasure to fish with you guys. We can’t wait until our next outing!

Tight lines
Capt Brant
Angler Up LLC

Anglers,

There is nothing I love more than to see kids learning how to fish at an early age. I owe most of my fishing success to my father. From the time I was 4 years old he would take me with him everytime he went and taught me how to be a true professional. For the next few months we will be running a special promotion strictly for families who have a young angler or anglers that love fishing as much as I did as a child. We can take up to a family of 4 on our excursions. Please call me for promotional details and pricing… Remember … This is not a “fill your coolers” trip. This a family trip targeted toward putting a smile on a young anglers face. If we catch lots of fish to eat then that is an added bonus:)

Here are a few pics from recent family trips

Tight lines

Capt B

This particular morning I guided a crew in search of some fish to put on the dinner table. The water temperature is so hot right now that the trout/redfish bite has been a little off so I had to think outside the box for this trip. We are catching plenty of over sized redfish but the slot reds have been hard to come by for the last few weeks. I made the decision to meet the crew early so we could catch the morning bite before the sun got up and the storms rolled in. We  left the boat launch at 0600 and headed to a near shore wreck that has been holding lots of fish.  When we arrived at the wreck, were greeted with lots of baitfish on the surface and spanish mackerel in a feeding frenzy! I set all three anglers up with Penn Battle 300′s rigged out with 15lb braid and a 30bl flouro leader. When targeting large spanish we use long shank mustad hooks because these fish have sharp teeth and will cut your line if you aren’t rigged properly. It didn’t take long before the cooler was full and my clients were happy. If you have never caught a 3 to 6lb spanish on light tackle then you need to try it! I consider it saltwater therapy at it’s finest! We ended the day catching some bonito in the bay. We were back at the dock by 11am with a cooler full of fish.

This was a great morning on the water with an awesome crew. You guys did great!

The snapper bite over the last few weeks has been outstanding! Pensacola has one of the best snapper fishery’s in the world and that has held true as of late. After a very slow start due to weather, we are now catching more and bigger fish than we have ever seen in our area. Unfortunately, the fun will end soon. Snapper season closes July 16th, so if you are looking to pull on some of these monsters then you better book a trip within the next week! Below are some of my most recent trips.

My last three trips have been very eventful. We left shoreline park at 6:00 and headed to the pass to catch bait. After filling our livewell full of threadfin herring we pointed the bow east and started toward our spot. One thing I love about some of my spots to the east is that you can chum the fish to the back of the boat and site fish them with a fly line. This is a different and more exciting way of targeting snapper, othere than the traditional way of dropping down to the bottom and holding on for dear life. The first thing I do after arriving at my spot is throw out a few peices of chum. It doesnt take long before the water looks bright red! I then throw a few fly lines just out the back of the boat. We usually get a 4 person limit in 20 to 30 minutes using this technique. Below are a few pics from my recent trips! Hope you enjoy.

Capt B