Bull redfish weren’t the main objective, but when Capt. Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Fishing Charters said there might be an early window for hooking into a few, I surely didn’t argue within the idea of targeting big reds to start our day.
One of my favorite things about fishing with Holleman is that we virtually always hit a big range of spots and fish a variety of ways and usually catch multiple species. He always studies the tide charts and considers things like wind, season and recent days on the water and comes up with a working plan in his head.
Holleman understands the complex tidal waterways in the Jacksonville area and the fish that inhabit them like few anglers do and knows when to fish will respond best to different presentations. He has spots that are best for incoming tides, outgoing tides, high water, low water, strong tides slack periods… His working plan, which of course gets adapted through the day according to conditions and how the fish respond, puts him in key areas for different kinds of fishing when the tide is right for each.
We started on the bull red spot because that was when the tides were right, and three of them bit right when they were supposed to. From there Holleman had a flow in mind that included casting diving baits, working topwater lures and fishing jig/soft plastic combos, and fishing waters ranging from deep structures well out in the St John’s River to casting for largemouth bass in the backs of channels.
I think we ended up catching five species that day, and it’s not uncommon, fishing with Holleman to end up with twice that many.
I caught two species that day that were new to me for 2026 — redfish and jack crevalle. Earlier on the same trip, I also added bluefish to this year’s list. The bluefish was my first saltwater fish of 2026.
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