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High winds, neap tide but pretty good day at Redfish University-April 15, 2011

Guided siblings Judy and Art today for some redfish and speckled trout action in Pensacola Bay. I was forced to fish some areas a little early in the year where I know there are plenty of fish but it definitely took some creativity to draw the strikes on a day like today. Lots of wind and a neap tide narrowed our areas this morning but we really landed on some great concentrations of both species. Started at 600am and ran to some shallow sand flats and immediately found some very nice trout in the 2-4# to start the morning. Travelled to a less protected bank with two foot rollers and caught some more quality trout. Back to the protected banks to look for redfish and we found plenty but they proved to be pretty difficult with only me landing a few in the 22-25″ range with well-placed Gulp! 3″ Shrimp. Thinking the fish would respond better around some protected and structure, we hit an area with both and got into some very nice 26-31″ redfish that were very happy to take Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads. Around 10am, conditions became very tough but we found groups of redfish in the 22-25″ range in shallow water that would fall for the deadstick game with Gulp! 3″ Shrimp and landed plenty more. Overall, a pretty difficult morning but we made the right adjustments to make them bite. All fish released. Passed on this weekends trip and back next Monday-Saturday with a full slate. E Holstman Please click an image to...

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Legal and over-sized redfish and pompano at Redfish University-April 10, 2011

Guided Amanda and Scott today for some redfish and pompano action. For Scott’s birthday, Amanda treated him to a morning of exciting fishing at Redfish University. What a gift! We departed at 630am and ran to a flat that has been infested with over-sized redfish. First cast, double hookup! Nice way to begin the morning. Hit a couple more clear flats with the same results. Headed down the beach to find some pompano in the surf. Caught two nice fish in 45 minutes but they weren’t as abundant as I’d like so we raced way east in the bay to find some legal redfish and some deeper 4-6′ flats. Stuck some really nice 26-31″ redfish including two perfect tournament fish that would have produced over 14#’s easily. All fish taken on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads and orange pompano jigs. Kept some pompano and redfish for dinner. A few days off and then very busy again. E Holstman Please click an image to...

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Day 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...

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Day 2- Legal redfish, trout, bull redfish and pompano at Redfish University-April 8, 2011

For Day 2 with Chris and Will Tiller, we started at first light in Santa Rosa Sound for some topwater action for redfish and speckled trout. The topwater bite wasn’t as hot today but we stuck some decent redfish and a few nice trout. Perfect topwater conditions with low-light, light winds and lots of fog. At 830am, we made a slow cruise through the fog to the west where we found some bull redfish laying around on some clear shallow flats. The fog and low light made sight fishing difficult but we trusted the fish were there and caught some nice redfish blindcasting Berkley Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads. For our finale, I took the guys down the beach to find the pompano in the washouts. The pompano were there and we caught some great fish including a 3.5# fish. Missed several but got some great dinner. Tomorrow, we will hit some topwater early in the bay and then hit the beaches again for pompano and redfish. Lots of bookings but a few dates available at Redfish U. so book now! E Holstman Please click an image to...

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