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Pre-Fishing for a string of trips at Redfish University-May 4, 2010

Redfish University continues normal guiding operations from Pensacola to Panama City(Port St. Joe). On days off, we will assist with BP oil spill issues if the need arises. With a long string of trips approaching and no cancellations in the coming weeks, I got out for a few hours today to locate some redfish and trout after the last five days of bad weather. Made it look easy with lots of redfish, trout and flounder taken on various baits including Gulp! Jerkshads, Baitfish, Shrimp, Lipless Cranks and even some decent topwater action. Fished for two hours and boated 7 redfish, 15 trout and 2 flounder. Lots of great fish around right now and Redfish University knows where they are and, most importantly, how to catch them! Trips tomorrow, Thursday and Friday and next week so we’ll report back soon. See everyone at Redfish U. soon. Yours, Eric...

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Gulf Coast report from Redfish University-Oct. 13, 2009

Hello all! Full bookings for next week! For the anglers who are scheduled to fish with me after this cold front passes, get ready for hot and heavy shallow water action!! It’s going to be outstanding!!  With a little break in my busy guiding schedule, I thought I’d post a redfish report from Panama City to Hopedale, LA. Let’s begin to the east with Panama City, shall we? In the West Bay area, the redfishing has been superb. My favorite time to target these fish is about 2-3 hours before the low tide. The fish will exit the grassy banks and are much easier to catch. Long casts with Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo is the tickets. Areas such as North Bay, Breakfast Point and Botheration Bayou have been very consistent and 15-20 fish mornings are pretty easy to produce. Moving west to Destin, Hogtown Bayou has been hit or miss. Lots of small fish can be taken on small Johnson Gold Spoons but the larger redfish can be difficult. The north banks of Choctawhatchee Bay have turned on and the larger redfish can be sightfished on the sand and grass flats. Santa Rosa Sound will be winding down soon as the temperatures drop. Redfish can still be found around Tiger Point and the Narrows east of Navarre. Don’t expect to find large concentrates of fish in the Sound, but there are a few decent groups around. East Bay and Blackwater continue to improve weekly. Lots of fish in few places, but this will change after this weekends cold front. The cooler weather makes these fish very aggressive and trips of 20-30 fish are not uncommon. Not a huge fan of Escambia Bay, but you’ll find a few fish over there as well. Mobile Bay is producing good number of fish on the southside. Grassy banks and banks with creeks have been pretty good. Spinnerbaits and popping corks from Marsh Works have taken large amounts of quality redfish. Dauphin Island also has some fish in the shallow water areas. Pascagoula River is always a hot spot in the fall. Large flats on the river banks will hold great groups of...

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High water, rain and redfish(and a surprise)-September 17, 2009

Guided Mr. Jim Lawrence and his four sons this morning in Destin. Jim is one of my favorite clients and it was our goal to top our 30-35 redfish massacre back in March. With five anglers and me, we split up with two on my boat and two on Jim’s boat. Well, we were predictably greeting with high and very muddy water in Hogtown. Lots of mullet and menhaden on the banks but very little redfish. We managed to stick a handful and dropped another few before we changed locations drastically. Headed back towards Destin and fished a couple flats where we picked up a few more fish. Ended at Crab Island where we stuck a 29″ cobia on light tackle. A nice surprise. All-in-all, the fishing was pretty slow but we covered lots of water and a few different techniques that should produce for the Lawrence Family in the...

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Redfish University invades Destin again-Sept. 9, 2009

Guided Mr. Kevin Stillworth this morning in Destin’s Hogtown Bayou and some nearly banks east of there. As always, Hogtown provided lots of action and lots of redfish. The schools of mullet were in full flight and the redfish were positioned within these massive schools. Went to the old faithful in Hogtown, the Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoon, and went to work. We banged redfish after redfish!! Some were 24″, some were 19″ and some were 26-28″. Worked there for a few hours and then buzzed to a school of consistent fish about 2 miles east of Hogtown. Mostly mid-sized (23-24″) with a few studlies mixed in. Quite honestly, I can count how many fish we caught but 45 would be a safe guess. Sore arms...

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Redfish University July 4, 2008-Hogtown Bayou Redfish and Trout

Redfish University traveled to Destin and I guided an old friend from high school, Eric Stevenson, in Hogtown Bayou on Friday morning. Original plan was to hit West Bay, which we’ll do next time, but I had some 4th of July plans and needed to cut the day short. Lots of mullet in shallow water. Picked up a few redfish and a handful of trout, and missed a few heavy bites. Little slow… all fish caught on 1/4 Johnson Gold Spoons in less than two feet of water. Covered alot of techniques and water! A beautiful morning at Redfish...

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