Erratic weather sometimes causes some problems. Very cold over the weekend and warm today and the fish responded accordingly. The speckled trout were a bit more cooperative than the redfish but I wouldn’t say either species were particularly happy with the big cold front. Produced our speckled trout by fishing ledges and deeper water where there was plenty of baitfish and mullet. The redfish were taken in shallow water around the very few schools of mullet that we could find. We also found some over-sized redfish in the 30-32″ range on schools of menhaden but even they were difficult. Stayed with the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads because they simply catch the most fish. Each day, we found low numbers of speckled trout and a few redfish. The fishing will definitely improve this week with the better water movement and warmer temperatures. We need some decent winds out of the east, south or west. High winds, please! Reports to follow all week. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

It was a very exciting week at Redfish University. Great fishing, new boats, Redfish U. expansion, homeschooling, fishing out of a 17 Maverick with a tower(everyone knows my disdain for tower boats)… We got some exciting new ventures here at Redfish University in the very near future along with another awesome boat to add to the RU arsenal. In a week’s time, the 2012 Pathfinder 2300 HPS/Yamaha SHO 250 will arrive at my door. The Pathfinder will allow Redfish U to comfortably enter the Gulf waters in search of pompano, bull redfish and even some bottom fishing. I will stick to my expertise on the inshore flats with the knowledge-thirsty and experienced RU clients and a new captain at Redfish University will handle the more basic, family outings and bottom fishing adventures. Also, a new Redfish University VIP section is in the works. An advertising/marketing surge. So there you have it….. Expansion. Another way Redfish University will expand is a service we call “Redfish University Homeschooling.” Last year we performed nine of these popular events. We have scheduled many more homeschooling courses this year and have already performed three since Jan. 1, including one this morning at a local business. Basically, the Redfish University Homeschooling course is a extremely detailed five hour guide trip packed into a two hour course in a conference room setting. Powerpoint, projection screen, large maps, rods/reels, baits, knots, basic/advanced techniques and tricks. Sometimes we even bring the boat. Homeschooling is designed for local businesses, organizations, clubs, churches, families, etc. to learn about local inshore fishing in a group setting. Homeschooling has been a great addition to Redfish University. This morning’s course was awesome with a great group of eight fellas, some of which are out fishing right now and have texted me some nice redfish and trout photos already. The Redfish U. Homeschooling rate is $100 per person/6 person minimum. Most will burn that in a day or two looking for fish. Why not trailer your boat and go to the fish directly? With the 21 Redfisher being rigged with a brand new Yamaha SHO 250 and the Pathfinder 2300 HPS on it’s way,...

Two great trips today and one yesterday. All three trips focused on redfish, speckled trout and flounder. Sticking with the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads since they catch the most fish. The trout in the bayous ranged from 15-18″ and the ones in the northern bays are much bigger with many in the 3-4# range. The redfish were also biting very well and we found lots of fish in the 24-27″ range. Flounder are a bit of a bonus but there are certainly a few areas where there are quite a few fish. Over 100 trout in three trips. They’re biting very well. Two catch-and-release trips and this afternoon’s outing was quite different with a limit of quality speckled trout, redfish and one flounder. Superbowl cookout! Tired and my apologies for the very short report. Taking a few days off since the new boat is coming very soon. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided my longtime family physician and a family friend today. They had been hearing about the huge catches of redfish, speckled trout and flounder and wanted to get in on the action and have a fish fry. One angler was very experienced and the other was a true beginner and needed extra guidance. Very, very windy today but the water was moving very rapidly which helped tremendously. Started with quite a few very nice speckled trout(one 4# fish) in the 16-22″ range and a 26.5″ redfish right off the bat. Travelled south and found a bunch more speckled trout, quality redfish and some flounder. Fished both wind-blown and protected banks where there was an abundance of mullet in all sizes. The guys did a great job of focusing on technique and casting in between beers and cigars. We actually had 5-6 nice flounder to the boat today but only one hit the deck which turned into a Grand Slam for our new inshore angler, Dr. Bill. Bill also stuck the largest speckled trout I’ve ever seen in our target area. Hooked the fish, it jumped, took lots of line, jumped again, came to the boat, surfaced and spit the hook. I would estimate the trout at 6-7# easily. Just as well, he would have been released. Ended the day with several topwater strikes but nothing found the hooks. Total for the short trip was 9-10 redfish, 25-30 trout and some dropped flounder. Most fish released but three redfish from 24-26.5″, some speckled trout in the 16-23″ range and a flounder were taken for the cookout. They caught so many fish and worked me so hard I charged them double! Hitting them with the hammer again tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided Mike and Shawn today for some inshore redfish, speckled trout and flounder action. Mike’s last Redfish University trip back in December was an outstanding experience with a rare Super Slam(redfish, trout, flounder and stripers) and tons of quality redfish and speckled trout so the pressure was on to do the same or even better. Well, not so much but a pretty decent display of how to catch extremely uncooperate inshore fish. The upside of each extreme trip may be the recognition of how easy it can be and how difficult, but not impossible, our local fishery can be. Nonetheless, we always expect a high quality catching trip. Started out with a 4# speckled trout followed by some more legal trout with many short-bites and misses. Next, we covered an area infested with huge amounts of mullet of all sizes and could only stick the short redfish and dropped a very big speckled trout on a shallow flat. Poop. This meant the redfish were going to be a pain all afternoon and the statement stood true. Ran into some ponds to find some flounder and ended up with a few quality flounder in addition to those that we got while hitting the speckled trout. We even had a double-hookup on flounder today which was neat. Each area we fished was good for a few decent speckled trout and flounder but really failed to find a consistent group of cooperative fish. Just before dark we approached a shallow flat where several over-sized and legal redfish were tailing away. Well-placed Gulps!, spoons and topwaters were ignored. I dropped a few pinpoint spoons on the fish with no response. Maybe they were scratching their noses on the bottom. Anyway, we ended with several speckled trout in the 14-22″ range, 4 nice flounder and surprisingly, no legal redfish in the boat. Doesn’t happen often at this place called Redfish University. Most fish released and some went home for dinner. Back again tomorrow and I hope the redfish will wake up. Thanks, E...