I recently had the privilege of fishing with a good friend of mine, Captain Linda Cavitt, this past September. She is the premier inshore kayak fishing guide in Panama City, FL. I was down in Panama City on business for the week and had a morning off, so I booked a trip with her to check out the new kayak fishing craze. Let me tell you, it is one of the most rewarding fishing you can do. I had an absolute blast. There was just something special about paddling out on your own and tracking down redfish and trout on the flats.

I can’t say enough about the level of professionalism Captain Linda had. She truly is on top of her game. We were on good-sized reds and trout the entire trip. I managed to find my stability on my kayak and stand up so I could sight fish some. The new Hobie Outbacks are incredibly stable by the way! This proved to be my most productive move of the day. After I stood up, the fish seem to be at the end of every dock we hit. My bait of choice was yet again, a white Slayer Inc 1/8 oz jig head paired up with a smoke color Z-Man Minnowz and it proved to be the only productive lure of the day.

If you’re ever interested in doing some kayak fishing, I highly recommend Captain Linda. She is a true professional and provides everything you need to fish with except a fishing license. Go check out her website CaptLinda.com, she has a bunch of awesome fishing videos and all of her guide information listed on her site. I definitely plan to do this again.

Tight Lines,

Chris W.
Team Fish Happens

Tournament stop number two for the team is the Inshore Fishing Association’s Louisiana Division in Venice, LA. Venice is the heart of the offshore fishing industry in Louisiana. It is one of the neatest places I have ever had the opportunity to fish. It’s a place where you can fish a stretch of shoreline and catch saltwater fish like a redfish then make one turn on the shoreline and catch large-mouth bass. It’s definitely one of my favorite fisheries. Lately, the Mississippi river has produced some troubles for towns like Memphis, TN and Morgan City, LA. The river was set to crest at 17 feet above crest forcing the Army Corps of Engineers to open up a couple of spillways to relieve the pressure from the river so that it will not flood treasured places such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Thankfully, these spill ways have worked as designed and the river began to recede.

Tournament day was filled with high winds and high muddy water. Thankfully we found some ponds that had loads of grass, clean water and plenty of fat redfish. We drew boat number one out of 55 boats so we were the first out of the marina which gave us plenty of time for the run we were going to make. Our run was a hour and a half away from the marina so we needed that time.

When we get to our spot, the fish were plenty hungry. We managed to catch two very good fish, our biggest being 8.54 lbs and just under 27 inches long and the other being 7.54 lbs and the same length. With a solid weight in the boat, we headed back to the marina to sweat out the weigh-ins. Thankfully our weight held up and put us in second place for the event. Unfortunately we lost by 3 ounces and we lost the big fish by 2 ounces but that’s all part of the game. We were just happy to have placed where we did. We were one of only 4 teams that weighed over 16 lbs of fish. This finish moved us back up to the top 20 in Team of the Year standings which we are pretty excited about as well. Hopefully we can continue the trend at our next event and finish in the top 10 in the TOY standings.

Next tournament for Team Fish Happens is at Grand Isle, Louisiana where the team is looking for a strong finish to firmly contend for top 10 in the team of the year standings for this series.

Team member Kirk Davis with a nice upper-slot redfish.

We fished all day in and around Indian Graveyard and found nothing but high muddy water. We are predominately sight fisherman so high muddy water is our enemy. Looking at the weather that is coming up for this region of Louisiana and the rising river stage, It appears that these conditions are going to be the norm for us so we decided to make the best of it. We did manage to find some decent, not good but decent, clean water and were able to sight fish some. I struck first with this very nice 27.5-inch redfish but unfortunately, that is a half inch too big for a tournament.

Chris Williams with a 27 and-a-half incher.

We spent most of the rest of the day fighting 15-20+ mph wind and muddy water. We managed to only catch two keepers all day, one three-pounder and one six-pounder. Thankfully there wasn’t a tournament that day. All of the fish we found seem to be in small duck ponds between the internal grass beds and the bank cruising looking for bait or the fish were in deep water doing the same thing. We couldn’t manage to develop a pattern for them.

Our baits of choice for sight fishing were the Zman Minnowz in the smokey shad or glass minnow colors paired up with a Slayer Inc Weedless unpainted jig head in the 1/4 oz range for cast ability. If unable to sight fish then resort back to the tried and true No Slack Tackle popping cork with the same zman minnow setup on the end or a Slayer Inc spinner bait and just look for a bank with a lot of bait activity and just beat the bank. You might have to work a mile stretch of bank before you get into them, so be patient. Hopefully our next practice day will lead to better results.

Tight Lines,

Chris Williams

Chris Williams

Over the weekend, my parter and I checked out the Lafitte, LA area and the water is just muddy everywhere we went. It’s still a bit chilly and the grass hasn’t had time to regrow and filter the water out. So until then, look for the marsh to be muddy just about everywhere you go. Thankfully we were still able to find some decent fish. The key is to find the clearest water possible where their is the highest concentration of bait. We found some nice fish in and around Hermitage Bayou and Round Lake. You want to try to fish the lee side when it’s windy and ‘match the hatch’ so to speak. The baits that worked for us the most where the Zman minnowz in a dark color with a chartreuse or white tail or a glass minnow color with 1/4 oz Slayer Inc Weedless jigheads.

Kirk Davis

It’s been foggy the past few mornings and the sight fishing bite has been sparse. So we went back to our fail-safe search baits, the gold spoon and the Zman Swimmerz in the Hitch color. You want to key in on big bait pods and look for big pushes off the shoreline where a red has taken off after some bait. Make sure you make a good cast in front of the push as to not spook the red and just bounce the bait off the bottom ’till the red sees it. Once he bites, hold on because you’re in for a ride!

Stealth is key here; since the water is muddy, the redfish are keying in on sound and smell so excessive use of your trolling motor will spook the fish and no one wants that. Attempt to use the wind as much as possible to push your boat around and steer the front with the trolling motor only when you have to.

Chris Williams, Team Fish Happens

chris.williams@fishhappensoutdoors.com
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Chris Williams

If you’re after some big bull redfish, then here’s your chance. All over the gulf coast from Pensacola, FL to Panama City, FL big bull redfish are coming in droves. These things get to be upward of 40-50 lbs and will strip a reel of line in a quick second. So you better pack a big reel, a sturdy rod and preferably a boat.

Well, to find these giant redfish, you need to be on the beach, gulf side. The key is to look for diving birds. If you don’t have access to a boat, you better be prepared to wade out as far as you can with a big rod and cast to them, as these fish are in the 10-15 foot depth range. These birds are diving on all the pilchards and menhaden that are schooled up on the shorelines this time of year, so in order to catch these fish, you need to “match the hatch” as I call it and use these types of bait. If you are using artificial bait, then a Z-man Minnowz or a Z-man Swimmerz bait will suffice. I promise you this, you can catch them on artificial bait just as you can with live bait. I recommend the Z-man bait because their elaztech plastic that they make these baits out of is virtually indestructible, thus easing the hit your wallet takes when buying baits. The colors I have found to work the best this time of year are, New Penny, Hitch, Natural, and Opening Night (glass minnow). Just remember, if wading out to catch these, be VERY VERY careful as the stingrays are mixed in with these reds as well. I have seen some of the biggest stingrays ever lately, they look like coffee tables laying down on the bottom. And from 15 foot up, if it looks like a coffee table from that distance, you know they are big. SO BE CAREFUL!

The key is to just cast into the bait pod that the birds are diving on and let your bait sink right to the bottom as this is where the fish are holding. The fish hold there so that they can ambush the bait from below and pick off any stragglers that are left behind outside of the bait pod, thus making it an easy meal. If you are on a boat, then your chances of catching one of these beasts are ever increased. You want to follow the same procedure as you would wade fishing, only you can cover more ground this way. Look for birds and bait, cast into them, let it hit the bottom and start twitching your bait. It wont take long before a fish devours it and you have a fight on your hands. The law in Florida doesn’t allow you to keep these sized redfish so you have to throw them back. But after a few photos of you and your catch, throwing it back will leave you with a good feeling knowing that you can come back tomorrow and catch her again. I say “her” because once the reds reach this size they are all breeding females — which is one of the main reason you’re not allowed to keep them.

If you are on the coast this winter, make this one of your adventures for a day. I promise you this: it will be a trip of a lifetime. We have some very good guides here on the coast that love doing this sort of thing. If you’re unsure of who would be the best guide in town, hit me up (general@fishhappensoutdoors.com) and I’ll direct you to the right person for the job.

Till next time, tight lines and may God Bless.

Chris Williams
chris.williams@fishhappensoutdoors.com
Fish Happens Website
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Our tournament was scheduled to be on Friday, November 5th and Saturday, November 6th, 2010. But, unfortunately, the weather was so bad Friday that they had to postpone the tournament ’till Saturday and Sunday. So my partner (Kirk) and I decided to head to our spots to nail down a game plan for the tournament. The North wind was so bad on Friday that all of the water in our A and B spots was completely gone along with the fish and our game plan. Instantly freaked out, we decided to go scout some more. We moved down the shoreline to spot C and, low and behold, the fish remained in the spot and so did the water! We caught two fish out of the spot to check the weights of the fish and they were solid at 6 lbs a piece. “Perfect!” we thought. Knowing that 6 lbs wouldn’t win the tournament, but would put us in the top 10 — if not the top 5 — we went with it. So we loaded up the boat and headed home.

Tournament Day One:
We headed out at first light and started the two hour boat ride to our spot. It was so cold outside that I had on two jackets and a face shield just to keep my nose from freezing and falling off. Once we got close to our spot, we high-centered the boat on a mud flat that we couldn’t see and that wasn’t there the day before. Apparently, it was dead low tide again and the wind had pushed all the water out of the bay we had to pass through. “Uhh…I thought. It’s going to be a long day.”

After about 15 min of grunt work, we got the boat off the flat and proceeded to head into our spot. Now remember, we have to be back to the weigh-in by 3:00 PM, giving us four hours to fish “Assuming” that we have no issues such as getting gas or running aground (we had to do both). So, realistically, we only had about three, hours to catch our fish for the day and head back. So anyway, back to the story. Upon reaching our first spot, the water was so low we couldn’t get back into the pond where the fish were. “Great, just great,” we thought. So we started fishing the shoreline surrounding the pond waiting for the tide to rise so we could force our way back in there. We managed to pick up one fish just milling around waiting so we still felt good about our chances, but not convinced we were going to pick up what we needed to put us in contention for a top 5 finish.
Finally, after about two hours the tide had risen enough for us to get back there. This left us about an hour to catch one more fish; if not, cull up on the 5 lbs fish we had in the live well.

Once we got back there the redfish were everywhere, blowing up the water on both sides of the banks eating small shrimp and minnows. The wind was still howling. It took everything I had to navigate the boat and keep it strait so we could chase these fish. After about five casts, I gave up and just proceeded to navigate the boat and let my partner do the sight fishing and the catching. Thankfully, this is a team sport and my partner is a top notch angler! The fish seemed to be a bit spooky, but they just couldn’t resist the Z-Man Minnowz we were throwing at them. We boated somewhere around five more fish in that pond, culling up almost every time. Around 1:45 we called it a day and started heading back to get gas for the ride home. By the way, we left the fish biting. Man that was hard to do….

We made it back to the weigh in with about five minutes to spare. “Whew! We made it Kirk.” He just smiled and said, “Yes we did.” Jerry, the tournament director, calls us up, so up the ramp we go to the stage to weigh in. I weigh my fish first; look around at the cameras and such, instantly getting nervous.

Weighing in first fish.

Jerry calls out a good weight of 6.07 lbs for the first fish. Kirk is next, he places his fish on the scales and it weighs 5.83 lbs giving us a Day One total of 11.90 lbs — firmly placing us in 9th place going into Day Two.

After weigh-in.

Getting weight slip.

Thank you!

Feeling good about our position and knowing what kind of fish we left in our pond, we went to load the boat up and head home.

Tournament Day Two:
The day started out just like the day before, COLD and WINDY! The time had changed on us, so instead of casting off at 7 AM, the take off had been moved up to 6 AM.

“Sweet,” we thought, “an extra hour to fish.”

Take off was just like the day before, two hour ride to the spot and hoping we had more water so we could just go straight to our spot. But, unfortunately, it was just as it was the day before and we high centered the boat again on the same flat. We even took another line further out — “away” — from where we got stuck the day before. Eventually, we moved off the flat and proceeded to get into our spot. This time, I forced us in to the pond. Thank the lord for a 101-pound thrust trolling motor. Once we were in the pond, the fish were blowing up everywhere, but they wouldn’t eat a single thing we threw at them. We chased these fish all the way to the back of the pond. As we slowly approached the back of the pond, the fish were everywhere. We power poled down and waited to see what they were doing and how they were moving around the shoreline hoping they would give us a solid pattern to attack. Next thing we knew, a school of about five or six fish come down the shoreline, right at the boat. Kirk cast in front of the school and waited for them to come to the bait. “Here they come……wait for it……wait for it……….TWITCH! TWITCH! BAM!!! Fish on baby! Fish on!” I just love the feel of a big redfish pulling drag on our Ardent C400 Reels! I went to get the net, but Kirk just flipped the fish in the boat. Just goes to show you the strength of the Fetha Styx rods right there. There aren’t many rods out there that allow you to just flip a six-pound fish in the boat without using a net! I instantly hand Kirk another rod while I tend to the fish. Bam! Fish on again. I haden’t even de-hooked the fish he just caught. “That’s what I’m talking about Kirk!”

“Brought your selves,” he says in his Cajun accent.

I instantly start laughing, there is just something that cracks me up every time he starts that Cajun accent and lingo. We ended up boating about five or six fish before the schools calm down and retreat to the shallows where we couldn’t get to them. So we start our trek back down the shoreline to try to cull up on weight. About halfway down the shoreline, I make a blind cast then instantly have to correct the path of the boat with the trolling motor to keep us straight. Then all of a sudden, woah . . . the rod ’bout comes out of my hand. I set the hook out of instinct and “Fish on Baby!” Only this time, we won’t take the chance at flipping this one in the boat, he was a pig! Kirk nets him and we both just look at each other. This one is a stud for sure! He grabs the Boga Grip and weighs him, “just over 8 lbs” he says!

We are in shock, our hearts are about to beat out of our chests. “Let’s measure him,” I say. Low and behold, he is about 1/16th over sized. Instantly, our hearts break. If that fish would have measured it would have put is in the top 4 if not the top 3 for sure. Distraught by the fish being oversized, we toss him back. We eventually pick up a few more fish, but nothing that allowed us to cull up. Kirk looks at his watch, “Man 1:00 pm comes fast dude, time to go bro.” So we pack up the boat, suit up for the wet and rough ride back to the weigh in. We get back with about 15 minutes to spare this time because it wasn’t nearly as rough of a ride back as it was the day before. Upon reaching the docks, our hearts are starting to really get after it. “Man, these fish aren’t what we need to place as high as we want,” I say. “Don’t worry about it bro, we got this,” utters Kirk. I smile and say, “Let’s do this.” We bump knuckles and head up to the weigh in with our two fish.

Waiting to weigh in.

Jerry calls us up again to weigh our fish. “Here we go Kirk.” I’m up first, Jerry calls out the weight of 6.39 lbs.

Weighing first fish on day two.

Man, I thought that fish was a little bigger than that.

Kirk weighing second fish.

Kirk is next, his fish weighed 6.14! Jerry gives us a big congrats and interviews us a bit. “Where did you go, what did you catch them on, how far did you run, how many did you catch.” You know, all the normal questions.

Some Q & A.

Jerry then proceeds to tell us that this weight puts us in 3rd! I’m ecstatic by this point. But knowing that there are still a few teams to weigh in, we head back into the crowd to wait it out. Once all the teams weigh in they have a short intermission. Kirk and I are going through D.T’s. Well, at least I am. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of them totaling up the weights, they start calling out the top 25 teams. They get through the first 15 teams and haven’t called us yet. “Dude, we are in the top 10!” I tell Kirk, he gives me a huge smile. They call out 5 – 10. We haven’t been called yet! I’m freaking out at this point. “Next up is our 5th place team of Kirk Davis and Chris Williams with a two day total of 24.43 lbs!” My heart stops! I’m all smiles at this point.

Chris and Kirk all smiles after finishing fifth.

I look at Kirk and he is grinning from ear to ear. We go up to collect our trophies and get interviewed again.

Chris and Kirk with their hardware and getting interviewed.

Jerry looks at me and asks, “How many miles did you travel to catch those fish?” I respond, “About 120 miles round trip.” He then proceeds to ask Kirk and I some more questions in front of the cameras, I was nervous and ultra excited all at the same time. After some picture taking time for the media and World Fishing Network, we head down to the boat to go put it up on the trailer and head home. Once we get to the boat, we look at each other, fist bump and say, “Let’s do it again next year bro!” Then we head off into the sunset, on phones with our families telling them the news.

The top finishers.

Chris Williams
chris.williams@fishhappensoutdoors.com
Fish Happens Website
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Well, I fished an Inshore Fishing Association Redfish Tournament yesterday (04/25/2010) in Cocodrie, Louisiana. We had a bad storm come through on Saturday and postponed the tournament. The storm came through and really messed up all of my spots. The water went from crystal clear to pure muddy. We scrambled all afternoon on Saturday and all day for the tournament on Sunday to find quality fish again, but didn’t manage to find fish. I have attached a photo of us at the weigh in. We were pretty disappointed with the results but that’s fishing.

My next event is this weekend (5/1/2010) in Destin, FL. Its an Emerald Coast Redfish Club event. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for this one, hopefully they pay off in a solid win or a top five finish. I will keep you posted as it unfolds.

-Chris Williams

Our Fly Fishing Film Tour project is coming down to the wire. We have just shy of 6 weeks left to turn it in, and are getting ready for quite possibly the best two weeks of our lives. Will, the Bear, and a few others are on there way to Everglades City as I type this, to hook up with Jeff and I for our last main shoot of the year. Our plan (what there is of one) is to head out into the everglades and explore deeper than any of us have ever been before. We have a boat for just about every situation we will encounter, and aren’t afraid to use them… If you see a caravan of Hell’s Bay Whiprays or a tiny boat that you don’t recognize (Skate) in the park over the next couple weeks, it’s probably us. Feel free to stop by and see whats going on.

The fishing recently has been nothing short of spectacular. With the warmer than usual weather and light winds, we have had no issues finding fish to throw at. The redfish have been where they should be. Snook have started to move into their backcountry haunts. Tarpon have been laying up on the calmest days. And when the tide has been too high to sightfish, the albie (bonito) bite off the beaches has been on fire.

Dave Teper
WorldANGLING.com

Check out a preview of Fetha Styx’s and World Angling.com’s upcoming video DRUM.

Filmed over the course of two years, DRUM is pure redfish son! WorldANGLING comes home to New Orleans and Southern Louisiana to fly fish for North America’s most popular saltwater game fish. Down on the bayou, Will and Dave rendezvous with other crew members, meet some locals, eat lots of oysters, and catch piles of Reds. DRUM showcases just how much fun one can have sight fishing with a fly. This exciting and funky new look at redfish shows why they are so popular, and how cool the places are where they’re caught.

Will and Dave lived at the end of the world for six weeks in 2009 in pursuit of monster reds. That meant living with the Holemans! These self-proclaimed “masters of all things redfish,” show you what it’s like to be a cutting-edge professional with a taste for the fish-bum lifestyle. Featuring the “Godfather of the Bayou,” Greg Arnold; the “King of Oysters,” Cappy; and “The New Guy,” Glen Sanchez: DRUM is another wild fishing video from WorldANGLING. Follow Will and Dave as they tease monster reds up to the camera, get their Maverick HPX-T stuck, run out of gas, and pray for the Holemans. DRUM shows what all the talk is about without watering it down. Experience the wild Southern Louisiana marsh and see why it is truly a special place worth saving.