Chris Williams
Gag Grouper
Gag Grouper

What a day. I spent the morning sitting at the dock in the pouring rain with my client for the day, Caleb Gray. I decided to take my father fishing with us as my deck hand, which meant a lot to me and I was thankful that my client allowed me to do that. We knew the weather would break eventually and give us a few hours to fish. So around 8:30 am we launched the boat. Everyone suited up in their Onyx Pro Tech Jacket, Bibs and Packable Rain Gear and set out to catch bait, with a goal to catch some grouper, Spanish Mackerel and Redfish in Pensacola Bay. Once we made it to our spot, the rain had subsided, our rain gear came off and the sun was coming out. Looks like its going to be a great day after all.

We had a strong outgoing tide and the water was a cool 78 degrees, I knew the fish would be biting once we got to our spots. Once we had our bait, we made our way to our first spot and the bait was going crazy from all the Spanish mackerel, and sharks chasing them. The Spanish were caught on silver gotcha plugs with chartreuse heads and the sharks were caught on live bait.

We soon had our fill and headed to the inshore grouper hole in search of some legal Gag Grouper, unfortunately, Gag Grouper are not in season but that didn't stop us for seeing what was down there. Caleb made one cast and BAM fish on! We landed a nice 22" legal Gag Grouper. Unfortunately due to client time constraints we had to cut the day short but what a fun day we had. My father got to deck hand some which brought back old fishing memories for him and my client caught some fish to take home. Not much better than that. You can view more pictures from the day at our Gallery.

Tight Lines,
Captain Chris

Chris Williams

About The Author: Captain Chris Williams

Company: Fish Happens Charters

Area Reporting: Pensacola, FL

Bio: Born in Pensacola, Florida in 1983, Captain Chris cut his fishing teeth on the bays and backwaters of Pensacola Bay as well as the Alabama and Tensaw River System in south Alabama. When he wasn't on the baseball diamond he was at home casting rubber plugs into buckets in his parents back yard. Little did he know that all this practice and preparation would undoubtedly prepare him for the career as a Professional Angler. Captain Chris graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University Of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida in 2007. Which he spent much of his early 20′s as a computer programmer while spending all his time and vacation chasing a dream of a Professional Tournament Angler and starting the ultra popular fishing guide service Fish Happens Outdoors based in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida. After much success in local and regional tournaments throughout the early 2000's, he decided to jump into the world of professional tournament fishing and made a name for himself on the IFA Redfish Tour and the Louisiana Saltwater Series from 2007 to 2010. Finally in 2010 he saw his chance to change careers and pursue a dream. Captain Chris was invited to join the ultra exclusive invitation only tour, the become a full time pro and joined the Academy Sports & Outdoors Professional Redfish Series which was filmed specifically for air on the Sportsman's Channel. Having success with several top 15 and a top 10 appearances in his rookie year. Captain Chris is always evolving as an angler and business owner, looking to improve his knowledge and hone his angling skills. You can always find him stalking the flats in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida or burning up the interstates on the tournament trail.

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