Guided Mr. Bill Hamsberg this morning. Bill is a new resident here in Pensacola and asked me show him some very productive fishing areas in Pensacola Bay. Started out at 530am and ran to some shallow banks to catch some redfish and speckled trout. Caught 20+ trout and 4 redfish and continued on. We cruised Pensacola Bay, Escambia Bay, Blackwater Bay, East Bay and the mouth of Blackwater River stopping to fish areas for 10 minutes at a time. Most areas held lots of speckled trout, redfish and a few flounder and the areas that didn’t will be very good in the Fall and Winter months. Bill is going to be very, very happy he hired me to show him the area for many years to come!! This type of trip at Redfish University is the absolute best way to learn our local inshore fishery and consistently catch fish for years to come. See you soon, E Holstman

Redfish University is pleased to announce its $299.00 Fall Special for Redfish University Alumni members and Pensacola Fishing Forum members beginning September 1, 2010.  Special trips duration is 6 hours and Pensacola area waters only. Catch nothing, pay nothing. Guaranteed.

Each trip includes gourmet morning coffee and an awesome giveaway bag full of items from Yamaha, Berkley, Maverick Boats, Redfish University Alumni stickers, Oakley and Patagonia. Book now as September and October are filling up quickly. Learn to catch redfish, speckled trout, flounder and other inshore species with confidence!! See you soon. Eric Holstman

Quote of the morning, “I can handle the rain if you can!” Guided Mr. Gerald Smith this morning. Gerald had no problem with the forecast and I was very excited about the challenge of fishing in less than ideal conditions. Grabbed my Patagonia Rain Shadow jackets and pants for both of us and some awesome Yamaha Pro gear as well and we were underway. Started at 530am with calm conditions and no rain yet. Travelled way to the east and found the topwater bite again to be on fire. Boated countless speckled trout between 14-23″ with a massive fish pushing 7# lost at the boat. We also picked up some decent 20-24″ redfish in the same areas. As the heavy rains approached with switched to sub-surface hardies and I tried a Marsh Works Big Poppy cork with a 4″ Gulp! Shrimp in white about 12″ below my cork. Both of us continued to catch one fish after another. We didn’t travel much due to the heavy blinding rains but we did dodge several storms with the use of the Yamaha SHO Vmax 250 at speeds approaching 70 mph. Total for the wet morning was 35+ speckled trout with most being well above legal and 6-7 redfish of all mid-range lengths. Incredibly, we both stayed bone-dry in our Patagonia all-weather gear. Great stuff!! Not fishing tomorrow but very, very busy next week. See everyone soon and thank you for fishing with Redfish University(in all conditions!) E Holstman

Very, very, very busy at Redfish University!! September is filling up so book now! Guided Mr. Paul Heatherington this morning for a short early morning trip in north Pensacola Bay. Cloud cover and approaching storms made this morning a topwater anglers dream. Ran in the dark to get the first light bite and absolutely crushed the fish. Threw topwater in shallow water and landed countless speckled trout between 15-23″ with some 4-5# redfish in the mix. Only two areas really held fish this morning but there must have been hundreds of fish in these small areas. Total 30-40 trout and a handful of redfish. Back at the ramp at 830am. Lots of trips for the rest of August and September is filling up. Book now to secure a spot at Redfish University. You’ll be very glad you did!! E Holstman

Please click an image to enlarge and view slideshow.

Lots and lots of trips coming up. September is getting packed so book now! Guided Mr. Fred Stevenson this morning down in Santa Rosa Sound. Started at 530am and got on an epic topwater bite. Solid speckled trout with some decent redfish mixed in all morning. Switched to Johnson Gold Spoons around 8am and picked off cruising redfish on the southside until 1100am. Total for the morning was 40+ speckled trout(most 16-18″ with some 22″+) and 13 redfish on all sizes(17-28″) Epic trip with a great angler!!

Guided Mr. Taylor Whitaker this morning down in Navarre. Met Taylor at the boat ramp near Guana’s so that his wife would have the car for the day and we were off. Eastern Santa Rosa Sound near Navarre is an area Redfish University hasn’t covered in a while so we ran to some productive areas that I have fished a ton in the past. Topwaters drew some big trout immediately with some 20-25″redfish mixed in. Concentrated over grass bottom with large schools of mullet. As the sun rose, we travelled back to the east towards The Narrows in Ft. Walton and were able to find small groups of redfish crusing the flats and banks. Spoons for blindcasting and Gulp! Ghost Shrimp were very successful for the sight fishing. We were also able to catch some more speckled trout as well. All in all, a great day of fishing and catching in an area that we hadn’t fished in four month or so. Looking forward to some Redfish U. trips coming up in Panama City and Destin. RU will be taking clients to the west for sightfishing specific redfish trips.

Guided Dr. Roger Orth this morning. Roger is one of my favorite and best clients. Each time I guide Roger, we try to do something different whether it’s a different species of fish, locations or various techniques. We have mastered the speckled trout, shallow water redfish, big redfish, flounder, pompano, huge jacks or more. Today our focus was sharks and Spanish mackerel in Pensacola Bay. Started at 500am and ran in the dark to an area known for small pods of tarpon. Patiently waited for about 30 minute but only saw one fish roll. Not enough bait so we moved on. Stopped and picked up 7-8 small ladyfish for shark bait and arrived at our first location around 730am. Lots of bait very close to the bank being pounded by huge ladyfish and a few redfish. Broken out the flyrods and had some fun with the ladyfish. Traveled the Pass and lower bay areas in search of Spanish mackerel. Found plenty of small fish with a few decent ones mixed in. Strangely, we didn’t find a group of bait, ladyfish or Spanish mackerel with sharks in them. Normally, it’s no problem but, of course, today…. Anyway, we did end up seeing two sharks in shallow water that were not interested at all. Also, found some small groups of big jacks at various locations but they were moving quickly and would vanish. Fun day of catching lots of fish but really didn’t find quality fish in our target species of the month. Next time, Roger and I will travel to West Bay and Destin for some spectacular sightfishing for redfish and big trout in very clear water. Gotta make up for today’s trip!!

Guided Mr. Edwin Yee and his son, Jordan, this morning. Edwin is the new owner of a beautiful 22 Pathfinder from The Ships Chandler in Destin, FL. Edwin and Jordan wanted to become a bit more familiar with the boat’s capabilities and find some places to catch fish on it in Pensacola Bay. I think both goals were accomplished today. Started out with some topwaters and suspending hardbaits in shallow water. Found plenty of small speckled trout with a few nice one mixed in. It seems some areas have been infested with ladyfish, small Spanish mackerel, sharks and big jacks. Not an optimal quartet for consistent catches of redfish and trout. Travelled to some other productive areas and found the action to be abnormally slow. We did catch some quality 3-4# trout but it was one here, one there and very spotty. Ran north to find some redfish in shallow, muddy areas and found huge amounts of bait in one large pocket. Pulled a few decent redfish out of there and struggled after 1000am with slow water and minimal concentrations of fish. I sure wish the rains and winds would stop for a while!! All fish release except a few nice trout and redfish for the grill.

Please click an image to enlarge and view slideshow.

Today, it was very, very windy! Guided Mr. Bill Mathis this morning for some inshore action. Trailered the boat to our chosen area for fishing and got started at 515am. Fished some protected and somewhat protected banks with lots of mullet activity. Started catching quality speckled trout immediately and even found the recently elusive redfish as well. Fished that area well and then took off for some tall tree-lined banks in search of more fish. Redfish U’s Hewes 21 Redfisher doesn’t experience big water like that often but it performed beautifully. Tabs down, 40 mph, comfortable and as dry as a bone. The best flats boat made!! Anyway, we had some sun and falling water so I asked, “Would you like to see some redfish and trout?” We saw a very good amount of both and the fish were very cooperative. Small to medium redfish and 1-3# trout could be seen and caught pretty easily. Fun morning and back around 930am. All fish taken on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads, 3″ Shrimp and 2″Crabs rigged on Marsh Works jigheads. Really challenging conditions the past few days but I guess we lucked out. Or maybe we didn’t! Find them and you’ll catch them…

Trying to catch up on some rescheduled trips from last week’s Tropical Depression and overall crap weather. Guided Mr. Mitch Smith this morning and took a bumpy ride east in search of some redfish and trout. Started at first light with a 4# trout. Nice start but it was really hit or miss at several places today. Concentrated on a stretch of pretty clear water with depths ranging from 2-4′. Got quite a few 2-3# fish on topwaters but the fish were pretty difficult to raise because of the freshwater invasion in these areas. Fortunately, a loud subsurface bait did the trick and lots of very nice trout fell victim to the bait. We were also able to get several fish on the Berkley Powerbaits with rattle inserts. Come to think of it, we should have thrown the Berkley Rattle Shrimp in today’s yucky water. Oh well, Mitch received a few in his Redfish University goodies bag so maybe he’ll use them on his next trout fishing adventure. Covered lots of water this morning and only found big concentrations of fish in one big area so that’s where we returned. We saw a few redfish and redfish wakes but only one strike which spit the hook. Today’s trout total was 25-30 fish of all sizes, even caught a half trout after a shark clipped him in half. Hopefully the rain will stop in the next few days and the fishing will get a little better but we’re not complaining. Today’s tip: Clean, moving water with bait. No photos today.