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Lots of legal and bull redfish at Redfish University-March 14, 2010

Guided Mr. Bill Cleek and family today. Bill and the fam are regular Spring break visitors from Houston and wanted to use their beautiful 22 Pathfinder to get familiar with the Pensacola area fishing. Met the crew at Shoreline Park at 830am and ran east in search of some redfish and trout action. Found minimal redfish and a few trout but nothing spectacular so I showed them some very productive areas they may want to try later in the week. Took a cruise back to the west. Instead of chancing the big redfish in the surf that have been unusually uncooperative lately, I introduced the Cleeks to a solid mixture of very plentiful and extremely cooperative redfish in the 8-20# range on some 3-6′ deep clear flats. Pulled up, lower the trolling motor and absolutely smashed them! All fish were easily caught sight fishing and it was thrilling seeing the group have such fun. With the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo we took as many fish as we could humanly handle. Lots of trips coming up so book now to experience the wonder of Redfish University. Photos to...

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Redfish University in Destin again-October 21, 2010

Redfish University spends time from Port St. Joe Bay to Hopedale, LA. The majority of Redfish U’s traveling trips are located in Destin and Panama City. Today, I guided Mr. Bobby Stewart for some redfish(big and legal) and trout action in Destin, FL. Bobby is an accomplished bass fisherman and has some property in Ft. Walton so he wanted to learn about the inshore fishing in Choctawhatchee Bay and around Destin. Started very early with topwaters first fpr speckled trout and legal redfish. Pounded out some very nice trout and some medium redfish on topwater and spoons. Checked a few more areas and then headed to a flat with lots of redfish of all sizes. Superb, sunny and glassy conditions made it very easy for me to call out fish for Bobby who was pretty tuckered out from the early morning action. With his arms cramping, it was a pretty dirty trick to save the redfish festival for the last few hours of the morning. Bob had a blast!! Used 4″ Gulp! Shrimp in lime tiger to sight fish countless redfish from 28-40″. Bobby was able to see the fish, place the bait and watch these fish inhale his Gulp! bait. It was a bit challenging as these fish were not as easy to catch as usual, so a well-placed pitch was the key to our success. All fish released and the ice was saved for Bobby’s arms! I had a great time fishing with you, Bobby! Until time…. E Holstman Please click an image to enlarge and view slideshow....

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Redfish, trout and bass at Redfish University-October 20, 2010

Fished with Eric Michener today in search of redfish and trout. It’s always great fishing with Eric as he brings some awesome donuts from Milton Bakery and knows some areas to the north better than I do. It’s really great bumping ideas and techniques off one another. Started at first light and got into some great redfish and trout on topwater baits. Again, the key is very small topwater baits. Also found lots of largemouth bass in the same areas. We covered alot of water this morning and found a decent amount of fish in nearly every area. Topwaters, Johnson Gold Spoons and Gulp! were all equally as productive. Some areas had more redfish, some had more trout and most had lots of bass. Nice recovery at the end, E Money!! It was like 10-0 at one point!!! See you soon! All fish released. Please click an image to enlarge and view...

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Redfish University in Destin-October 14, 2010

Guided Mr. Morris Monroe this morning over in Destin, FL. Morris is the proud owner of a brand new 22 Pathfinder/Yamaha 150 decked out with a Power-Pole, Minnkota TM, Garmin Color GPS/Map and a kickin’ sound system purchased from The Ships Chandler in Destin, FL. Morris wanted to learn about the inshore redfish and trout fishery in Choctawhatchee Bay, particularly with the use of artificial baits. Started at first light with some great speckled trout action on topwater baits. We concentrated on protected banks filled with mullet and bait over broken grass/sand bottom. Lots of trout but also some undesirables including big bluefish, Spanish mackerel, medium bonito and ladyfish. As soon as the sun was high enough to sight fish we took off to some very productive banks filled up medium to upper length redfish. Switched over to Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and looked for redfish amongst the hords of mullet. Since the tide was falling rapidly, we predictably found our redfish laying in relatively deeper troughs in 2-3 feet of water. Caught fish blindcasting to troughs and sight fished some as well. Morris, being primarily an offshore angler, got off to a bit of a slow start before really coming into his own to produce some small-medium redfish. I helped to catch his “redfish dinner” quite a few times over while also demonstrating the correct techniques in the process. Next time, Morris’ bounty will be his own! For an added challenged, we decided to make a run to some areas Redfish University has never fished before. Many times, replicating banks in terms of broken bottom, troughs and bait will produce results over and over again. This experiment was no exception as we found more redfish and even schools of great quality fish in packs of 20-30 fish. Stick-fest! Morris had the great opportunity to watch a beautiful redfish inhale his bait in very shallow water. Anyway, Morris now is very, very familiar and confident in some new areas around Destin to break in his new Pathfinder. Great numbers of redfish and trout this morning and Morris kept some fish for the grill. Book now to experience Redfish University! Please click an image to enlarge and view...

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Winter Speckled trout specific trip at Redfish University-October 12, 2010

Redfish University has been performing quite a few Pensacola Bay tours in preparation for the Fall/Winter inshore fishing. These trips consist of intense instruction, highly-productive locations and Redfish U proven techniques that will increase your redfish and speckled trout catch rates as the weather begins to change. Guided Mr. Sam Collins this morning on one of these great Redfish U. tours. Started out showing Sam where the trout are currently and we stuck many with topwater baits, suspending baits, Gulp! and Marsh Works Big Poppys. After catching some nice fish for the first hour, we took off with map and Sharpie in hand and covered Pensacola, Escambia, East and Blackwater Bay in great detail. Tides, water clarity, weather conditions, baits and techniques were the topic for the next four hours of the trip. I can’t wait to see Sam’s reports this Fall and Winter!! Redfish University standard guided trips and instructional tours are the absolute best ways to learn the secrets of inshore fishing along the Gulf Coast and become a better, smarter and more efficient angler. Book now to experience the wonder of Redfish...

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