Navigation Menu

More pompano and redfish at Redfish University-May 19, 2010

Ended a long string of trips this morning by guiding my dad and Randy Hamilton, my website designer, for some more pompano and redfish. A free trip, of course! Having a big fish taco cookout at my house with friends and Kevin and Scott from Berkley on Friday night. Got on the water at 800am and headed towards the beach. My dad and Randy wanted to see what the new Yamaha VMax SHO 250 could do so we travelled at 67mph the entire way. Got there fast! Immediately found the pompano again concentrating around the same washouts and off-colored water. There appeared to be no pompano in the shallows and in the surfline so we jumped around to find the washouts. Picked up 10 pompano and kept 8 for the cookout. On the way back, we sight fished a few legal redfish and then a giant that my dad hooked. Ended the day with a small photo shoot for some better photos of my Yamaha SHO for the website. Back at the ramp at 1100am. Cleaned 16 pompano today and we had some great fillets for the tacos. Redfish University will spend the next three days on the Penn/Berkley Tour in Navarre, Gulf Breeze and Pensacola. Hope to see everyone there! Please click an image to enlarge and view...

Read More

Redfish University is closed next week! 1/16-1/27

Time for vacation, to get married and some fishing on my own. Heading to Ambergris Caye, Belize in the morning and spending eight days fishing for bonefish, permit, tarpon and more. Some free diving, sailing, Mayan ruins and looking for some property is also in the plans. Planning on spending LOTS of time down in Belize in the very near future. For clients looking to schedule a trip at Redfish University, please email me or leave a message on my cell which I will check a few times while in Belize(but possibly not!) I will return Monday, January 25 with a 3-Day trip already scheduled. I will be well-rested and ready to put everyone on quality fish upon returning. Reports and photos to follow in about a week’s time.  See you soon. Eric...

Read More

A very kind gesture-November 13, 2009

Over the last six or seven years, I’ve taken it upon myself to get involved with the angling community from Panama City to Orange Beach. Writing in the Pensacola News Journal, countless magazine angling articles, Berkley/Penn Tour, speaking at fishing clubs and especially in creating the “Hook, Line and Sinker Seminar Series” in Pensacola, a series heading into it’s sixth success season. Until 2009, we did not receive payment for the HLS, we didn’t really want to. Because of it’s success, local businesses were very interested in advertising with banners because the HLS sttracted 150-350 attendees on a very consistent basis. This brought in some cash for us. Of course, these events are beneficial to me for several differents reasons but I hope they have been an important source for knowledge for anglers along the Gulf Coast. They are always free to the public and I hope they have improved everyone’s angling experience in some way. Anyway, I see seminar attendees all the time along the Gulf Coast and many times they walk up with a beer and say “thanks.” I appreciate the kind gesture so much, and it’s never necessary, but I sure like beer. Friday night, as usual, Tracy and I are having dinner at the Fishhouse. Towards the end of our meal, a very nice gentleman named, Jeff, approaches our table and says hello. We talk for a moment and discovered he and his son are HLS seminar veteran attendees. Jeff left a wonderful gift with me. This column is to, first, say thank you very much to Jeff again and to make sure he calls me at 8507484368 so that I can take Jeff and his son on a free Redfish University trip very soon. Call me soon and thank you again, Jeff!! Eric...

Read More

Redfish, Trout, Flounder and Stripers at Redfish U.-October 24, 2009

Guided Mr. George Converse and his friend from Birmingham this morning. These guys were excellent anglers and really fun to fish with! I was a little concerned with the passing front, the high pressure and the west wind, but we really caught alot of fish today. With all species being pretty sluggish today, we focused on very,very slow retrieve techniques, boat positioning for optimal casting angles and the use of worm rattles in our Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads rigged with 1/4oz. Marsh Works bull red jigheads. We found plenty of redfish and trout on some wind-blown banks and creek drains. We also picked off some nice trout and flounder in some open-water areas with uneven bottom. To our surprise, 2 small striped bass were brought to the boat. Bait presentation and rattle was the key today. We focused on areas where there were good numbers of fish and used a “tap, tap, tap, stop” retrieval which proved to be too much for the fish to handle. Lots of bites on resting baits, pick-ups and falls which indicated these fish were following and interested, but just needed to smell the Gulp!  All together we stuck 12-15 Redfish of all sizes, 15-20 trout from 12-17″, a 3# flounder and 2 striped bass. A great day under difficult conditions. Please click on a photo to...

Read More

It’s Time at Redfish University-October 17, 2009

Redfish University welcomes the first significant cold-front of the Fall. Redfish U. has been waiting for a week like next week all year. As the water temperature drops and the water levels fall  to extremes, the redfishing will become more predictable and 15-25 redfish days will be very common. Less water means less places to hide and the redfish will begin to concentrate in groups in shallow and relatively warmer water. Water clarity is also a huge plus this time of year as the rainy days become less numerous as the cooler temperatures arrive. Looking forward to showing all my clients some very aggressive redfish in the coming months!! See ya soon, Eric Holstman Click on this photo of a quality redfish on warm mud taken by Pete...

Read More

    These are the incredible companies that have made me so successful in professional tournament fishing and provide my clients at Redfish University with the world's best and latest in saltwater fishing gear. Please visit Eric Holstman's Pro Staff pages on all sponsor websites.

    To visit one of our sponsor's websites, just click on a logo below...

    skeeter-logo legendary-marine
    ABU GARCIA_BLACK_RED_LOGO_png-150x150 berkley-logo   patagonia-logo