Its on Fire in the Panhandle!

The fishing has been on fire the past three days. Weather has stabilized and the poons are thick. We jumped 8 yesterday and 4 today and getting plenty of shots is not the problem. Back at it again tomorrow.

Early July Panhandle Report

We have had a few bad weather days here in the panhandle as of late but that hasn’t stopped us from jumping fish. The migration is in full swing and the tarpon are poring through our area as we speak. When the weather cooperates we have been putting up some serious numbers. Tight Lines!

Hopefully this was the last cold front of the year!

We had another front come through this past week which brought strong winds and some pretty nasty weather. This didn’t stop the redfish from getting on the flats and crawling around looking for food. The fish are starting to go into their spring pattern and gorging on the small mullet that are all over the marsh. Bait Fish flies have been working really good and is super exciting to watch a big redfish come behind a 4 inch mullet fly and come out of the water to eat it. Tight lines!

Big Fish are still in!

We have finally received some good weather from the man upstairs and the fishing is starting to stabilize. We are still getting consistent shots at big redfish and black drum and the 5-15 pound fish are everywhere. I am very excited to get into the spring pattern and the fishing will be incredible. Tight Lines!

Had good friend Mark B. Hatter in town

I had good friend and angler Mark B. Hatter in town the past couple days. Mark writes and takes great photography for many publications including Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Magazine.  We had two good days of fishing, had shots at a few big fish over 20 pounds and landed tons of fish in the 10-20 pound range. Mark was able to land his personal best red fish on 4 lb. tippet, a nice 25 pounder. Its always a blast to have Mark in town because I get the chance to get some bow time as he has no problem polling me around a bit. Tight Lines!

Great fishing and good company

We had a great group of anglers in for three days this past weekend. There were 6 guys from all around the country who are part of fishing club called Spring Valley Anglers. These guys were a blast to have in town, were great company on the boat and they all were accomplished fly fisherman. We had ok weather one day and tough conditions the other two but that didn’t stop us from catching a lot of fish and a few big fish at that. We landed a 27 pound redfish and a 33 pound redfish on fly one day, landed 12 redfish in the 7-15 pound range the other day and had shots at some more monster redfish and black drum on the third day. The big reds and black drum are still in the marsh and will continue to be here until our cold fronts stop coming through. Tight Lines!

A Testimonial by Capt. Travis Holeman on his Potential 4 lb. Tippet Red Fish Record Caught with Fly Water Expeditions!

Today started like any other day for Capt. Greg and I.  Question?  Which way do you want to go?  Breakfast is always surrounded by conversations of wind direction and tide.  We always throw ideas back and forth but the wind tells the truth.  Today it told us to sneak to a secret spot.  Nunya flat!

Time to fish.  As always I venture to the bow acting like a ballast and trying to sneak my way to fishing!  Whatever works.  Greg grabbed the push pole and joy washed over me like a wave.  Bow time!  Sweet.  Earlier at the boat ramp Greg was showing off his knot skills while stalling for the sun to begin to warm the flats.  I tied the 4 lb. class to my 6wt fly rod and after careful fly selection Greg’s Hudini Crab in purple found it’s way to my rod.  Great fly.  Really great fly.

We made it about 30 yards and a fish floating high was glowing like a stop sign.  Big and red.  One false cast and shoot.  Worried about a shock break I stripped slow as the big fish followed the fly into the depths.  Just as she vanished I felt the tug.  Eased the rod to about 45% and smoothly let her clear the line.  Finally putting a little pressure on the big red.  With a little slip the fly was loose.  Bummer.  Oh well.  I was still wondering if that was the one…. looking out in a daze.  Greg whispers “yo I got another one…. floater.”

Seeing the floating red instantly.  I still had not stripped out the line from the previous fish.  Quickly judging the distance I stripped what I thought would be 50 or so feet off the reel.  Greg shifted the boat to give me a clean cast.  What followed was awesome.  After watching the fly cast land perfectly and the big red pounce all I could think about was we aren’t videoing!   The cast landed perfect, I stripped and she followed.  Swing and a miss… strip, strip.  Again I was a little worried about setting the hook and did so very softly as she ate the fly.  15-20 min. later the huge red came to the boat.  I really enjoyed fishing a trout rod for our huge reds.  The 6 wt allowed for a much better shock absorber than say an 8 or 9 wt rod.

Greg jumped into place after expertly maneuvering the boat to keep me in prime fighting position.  Greg gave the boat one last push on the pole, I swung the big red back to Greg as the boat passed putting him and her in position for a gorilla grip landing.  As Greg had informed me earlier we had no net,… the plan had to work to land the fish.  Thankfully we land most fish by tailing, so it was no big deal.  Greg’s face lit up like a kid on Easter.  Fish landed and all gear still kicking.  Great fish.  Great day.  Great friends.  Thanks Greg.  Capt. Greg landed a huge black drum on 8 lb. after we ate and had a very long time to enjoy what had just happened.  I just landed the best fish I have ever caught.  Gotta love it when it all comes together.

Catch-em Big!

Travis Holeman

727-644-4347

travis@holemanbrothers.com

Potential World Record Redfish on 4 lb. Tippet!

Capt. Travis Holeman and I went out today to have a guides day off. I took Travis to a place I have been finding some big fish so we tied on 4 lb IGFA standard tippet and waited till we saw the right fish to throw at. Travis was armed with a 6 weight, felt like we were going to a gun fight with a knife but that is what we had to do. Our fish finally showed himself, Travis laid a perfect 50-60 ft. cast in and the red fish pounced on the fly. With 4 lb tippet you really can’t set the hook so Travis just cleared the line without breaking the tippet and that is when we figured we had a shot. After a 15-20 minute fight the fish came to the boat and I laid the gorilla grip on his tail to make sure he didn’t get away. When the fish came in the boat we knew he had a shot to break the current 29 lb record. The red fish weighed in on the boga grip between 29.5-30 lbs. We measured his length and girth and they measure out at 25″ girth, 42.5″ length with calculates out to over 29.5 pounds which would be a new world record for 4 lb tippet on fly rod. We are submitting everything to the IGFA so cross your finger for us, We also caught a 43 pound Black drum on 8 lb tippet today but that didn’t come close to the current 8 lb tippet black drum record which is nearly 60 lbs. Tight lines!

Great day on the Louisiana Marsh!

I had a great day on the Louisiana Marsh today with Kyle from Houston. Expectations were high due to the great weather forecast. We had light winds, clean water and tons of sun. The fish have been cold as of late due to the cold fronts we have been getting every other day but with the good sun heating up the flats it was only a matter of time before the monster redfish showed back up. Kyle started fly fishing about a year ago and impressed me with his casting for only picking up the sport a few months back. The redfish and black drum were suspended in about 3 feet of water and you could see their orange glow from a few hundred feet away making them easy targets. Kyle and I started off the day landing a dozen nice redfish in the 7-12 pound range which was a good intro for him as it was his first time fly fishing the Louisiana marsh. After we messed around with them and had a quick bite to eat I told Kyle we needed to go step up to the big leagues and go look for some monsters and oh did we find them. From 12:30 to 4:30 I don’t think Kyle ever had time to put his fly back in his hand. He was getting shot after shot at 25-40 pound redfish and black drum, it was almost like a shooting gallery out there! We ended up boating 8 redfish over 25 pounds the second half of the day with two absolute monsters that weighed in at 30 and 33 pounds and I can’t tell you how many other fish ate the fly that we didn’t hook and we must have broken at least another half dozen big reds off. Kyle was hooked up to a 25 lb fish at one point and there were soo many fish around the boat he told me to pick up a rod and catch one. So I grabbed a rod and picked the biggest redfish I saw and got him to eat the fly, the fish ended up being 33 pounds and Kyle and I had a monster double header. This is a testament to what we can accomplish as fly anglers in the pristine Louisiana marsh. Tight Lines!

WHO DAT Redfish Nation!

Went out with Matt a few days ago and he couldn’t help but to show off his Louisiana redfish and WHO DAT Saints T-shirt, Go Saints!