See Big Photo (Look At The Schools Of Redfish!)– When my family first brought up the idea of Christmas in NW Florida, images of warm sunny beaches and thoughts of escaping Maine’s brutal winters popped into my head. Only seconds later my brain managed to make the connection between gulf coast beaches and fly fishing. I quickly began to explore my options. What I came to realize is that the area around Pensacola FL is a year round fly fishers dream with opportunities to pursue countless numbers of species. It became apparent that the targeted species are closely tied to season….and winter on the gulf coast is REDFISH season. We realized our best chance of success and opportunity to learn about these fish and fishery was to book a guide. Capt. Clif Jones is based out of Orange Beach , AL and has over 15yrs experience fishing these waters. We met Clif late morning and planned on fishing the outgoing tide. The game was simple, cruise parallel to the beach looking for schooling birds. These birds would lead us to huge ( 500-1000 ) schools of large bull reds. After spotting and hooking some sporadic fish, we hit the mother load All of a sudden Clif hit the throttle wide open and landed us in the middle of the largest school of fish I have ever seen. Fish were on top of the water literally surfing the waves. After a few seconds of panic, the fly hit the water a few quick strips, slam, and we were all instantly hooked up. These were not your average flats red drum I had read about, but an army of 20lb+ bull reds full of aggression and fight. My 9wt was doubled over and my drag was set full as I watched backing peel away. The fish seemed to attack the boat in waves and as soon as a fish was boated you could sight cast into the school and watch the fish fight for the fly. Watching this school was one of the most amazing natural acts I have seen. We chased the school and birds for another few hours until we were actually too tired to fight another. As we made our way back to the marina, Clif and I talked about the amazing diversity of the local fishery. Now I have Cobia on the brain. Anyone interested in exploring this area with an excellent guide should contact Capt. Cliff Jones @ alabamaflyfishing.com. I’m sure it won’t be the last time I’m on the water with him.