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 MoreGulf 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...
Read MoreRedfishing heating up-Sept. 7, 2009
Guided a great client from Atlanta this morning in East Bay and south Escambia Bay. Hit some very nice trout early and then blasted off to get some redfish in the shallows. Again, poling and elevation allowed us to have many more quality opportunities at sitting, tailing and cruising fish. Ended up with 8 fish between 25-29″ and quite a few under 22″. Lots of fish, lots of action and hopefully, lots of knowledge gained. See ya soon, E...
Read MoreHigh 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...
Read MoreRedfish and Rain-September 16, 2009
Guided Mr. Jeff Mowery this morning. With all the recent rain, I decided to concentrate in Santa Rosa Sound towards Navarre Beach and the Opal Beach area. Lots and lots of mid-sized redfish with a few smaller and few larger. Concentrated on grassy ledges and sandy dropoffs. All fish caught on Gulp! Jerkshads in camo rigged with a jighead and drop-shot style. Photos to...
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