Guided new Pensacola resident, Wendell Thompson, this morning for a thorough tour of our inshore waters. Wendell is a great bass fisherman and contacted Redfish University to introduce him to some of it’s very productive areas for redfish and speckled trout where he could use some similar bass fishing techniques to score great numbers of these popular inshore species. I decided to bring some rods and test each area with a 5-6 casts with Wendell just to make sure he was satisified with each area. Started at 600am with maps, a Sharpie and notebook in hand. Cruised over to Escambia Bay and East Bay stopping at various areas. At each area, we spent a few minutes discussing, in detail, weather conditions, tide conditions, winds, water clarity and amounts of bait/mullet. Made a few casts, caught a few redfish and trout and then moved on. *In today’s windy conditions and sometimes off-colored water, the Gulp! Jerkshads with plastic worm rattles worked great and even some topwater baits got some attention.* Around 900am, we trailered over to Santa Rosa Sound where we covered some great areas on the north and south side between Tiger Point and Navarre Beach. These areas are great because we were able to see lots of redfish and trout in the shallows, over sand and everywhere else. *In these areas, we used 1/4oz. Johnson Gold Spoons and Gulp! Jerkshads weedless in camo for the redfish and Gulp! 3″ Shrimp in camo over the deeper holes of the speckled trout.* It really made no difference between protected and wind-blown banks. In fact, the wind-blown were a little better. Wendell got some great coverage today and learned a ton about our inshore fishery. There’s no doubt he will be extremely successful in the very near future(like tomorrow!.) Covered almost 60 miles of water today and burned 12.7 gals of fuel. I love the Yamaha VMax SHO 250. Back to regular Redfish U. fishing trips the rest of the week so look for more great reports to follow. E...
Read MoreThe Redfish University arsenal for 1st half of 2011-April 20, 2011
Redfish University is pleased to announce its new Pure Fishing durables, baits and lines for the 1st half of 2011. At Redfish University, our clients demand the absolute best in saltwater angling. From boats, motors and angling production to rods/reels, lines and baits, we provide our anglers with the latest and greatest from the world’s leading saltwater fishing companies. The companies(Berkley, Penn, Allstar, Abu Garcia, Spiderwire, Stren, Sebile Johnson and more) under the umbrella of Pure Fishing/Jarden are exclusive at Redfish University. For Redfish U. clients, anglers, followers and fans interested in the products we use, Redfish University’s 2011 products are as follows: 1. Penn Conquer 4000 and 2000 spinning reels, Penn Sargus reels, Abu Garcia Inshore Revo baitcasters and Abu Garcia Sorons 2. AllStar ASR Redfish 7′ rods, Abu Garcia Verdict in 6’9″ and 7’0 rods, Penn Alliance 7’0 3. Miles and miles of Spiderwire Ultracast and InvisiBraid in 6-10# 4. Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in 10-20# in Gunsmoke and Coral Mist. 5. 500 units of Berkley Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo, Gulp! Shrimp in 3″ and 4″ in assorted colors. Berkley Gulp! tackle bags and Gulp! containment units. 6. Sebile- Bonga Minnow, Ghost Walker and Stick Shadd. 7. Johnson Gold Spoons in 1/4oz and 1/2oz. 8. Marsh Works Jigheads, spinnerbaits and popping corks. Please click an image to...
Read MoreRedfish of all sizes and speckled trout at Redfish University-April 18, 2011
Full week of trips. Guided Jon Merchant and his son Zak today for some redfish and trout. The guys wanted to catch some to take back to Destin for a fresh fish dinner at Harbor Docks. Started at 600am and ran to a shallow flat where we immediately got on some great redfish and solid trout. Topwaters and Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads were both popular baits and we targeted schools of mullet and baitfish near the surface. Made an even further run east and found huge amounts of speckled trout that crushed topwaters and Gulp! Jerkshads again. Every cast produced a 14-19″ speckled trout. A bit further down the bank, we found a nice school of 24-27″ redfish that pounded some topwaters and Jon actually picked off a great redfish off of Zac’s topwater hooked fish. A few double hookups and more quality fish to follow. Then it was off to the west where we found the bull redfish laying around in 4-6′ of water on some clear flats. Stuck some of those and then headed down the beach for some more redfish and pompano. Not much happening down there and only some a few redfish and zero pompano so we came back inside to hit some more redfish on the flats. The guys took only what they could eat this evening and we tossed the rest back. Fun trip! Booked all week so more reports soon. E Holstman Please click an image to...
Read MoreDay 3-Redfish, pompano and jacks at Redfish University-April 9, 2011
For Day 3 with Chris and Will Tiller, we wanted to target some topwater redfish and trout again in the early morning and then hit some flats for larger redfish and then try for some more pompano. Fished some areas in Pensacola Bay where there were lots of medium sized redfish and some very nice speckled trout. We could only get one redfish to bite and saw more fish than I’ve ever seen in some areas that simply would not bite. We threw topwaters, Gulp!, everything at them but it just wouldn’t happen. Low, slow water and the combination of still pretty cool water may have made things difficult but its only a matter of time before these fish start to cooperate everyday for us. Travelled west and found some more big redfish in the 28-40″ on some shallow flats and got a couple. Some redfish were pretty difficult today as well. Found a huge school of jacks and pulled on them for a while. Ran to the beach and tried for pompano. Ended up with a few nice fish but not as active as yesterday. Trip tomorrow and I’ll report back then. E Holstman Please click an image to...
Read MorePlenty of redfish and trout at Redfish University-March 1 and 2, 2010
Guided Mr. Jim Lawrence and his son, Jamie, on Tuesday and guided Chris and Missy Simmons this morning. Jim and Jamie really stuck it to the redfish and trout, taking some great fish home for dinner in Destin. Today, Chris and Missy joined me for a very similar trip where both anglers got their share of quality redfish and trout. Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo always do the trick and fish were found on both protective and wind-blown banks. With the water quickly rising, I find it most productive to skirt the banks very closely, casting outward to redfish approaching the grass and root-filled bottom. Blindcasting and sight fishing were both successful techniques. The couple took a few quality trout and some mid-sized redfish home for dinner. Lots of trips booked so plan accordingly anglers!! E...
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