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Light tackle fishing in Pensacola. Epic topwater action at Redfish University-August 27, 2010

Very, very, very busy at Redfish University!! September is filling up so book now! Guided Mr. Paul Heatherington this morning for a short early morning trip in north Pensacola Bay. Cloud cover and approaching storms made this morning a topwater anglers dream. Ran in the dark to get the first light bite and absolutely crushed the fish. Threw topwater in shallow water and landed countless speckled trout between 15-23″ with some 4-5# redfish in the mix. Only two areas really held fish this morning but there must have been hundreds of fish in these small areas. Total 30-40 trout and a handful of redfish. Back at the ramp at 830am. Lots of trips for the rest of August and September is filling up. Book now to secure a spot at Redfish University. You’ll be very glad you did!! E Holstman Please click an image to enlarge and view...

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Wind and freshwater but lots of speckled trout at Redfish University-August 16, 2010

Trying to catch up on some rescheduled trips from last week’s Tropical Depression and overall crap weather. Guided Mr. Mitch Smith this morning and took a bumpy ride east in search of some redfish and trout. Started at first light with a 4# trout. Nice start but it was really hit or miss at several places today. Concentrated on a stretch of pretty clear water with depths ranging from 2-4′. Got quite a few 2-3# fish on topwaters but the fish were pretty difficult to raise because of the freshwater invasion in these areas. Fortunately, a loud subsurface bait did the trick and lots of very nice trout fell victim to the bait. We were also able to get several fish on the Berkley Powerbaits with rattle inserts. Come to think of it, we should have thrown the Berkley Rattle Shrimp in today’s yucky water. Oh well, Mitch received a few in his Redfish University goodies bag so maybe he’ll use them on his next trout fishing adventure. Covered lots of water this morning and only found big concentrations of fish in one big area so that’s where we returned. We saw a few redfish and redfish wakes but only one strike which spit the hook. Today’s trout total was 25-30 fish of all sizes, even caught a half trout after a shark clipped him in half. Hopefully the rain will stop in the next few days and the fishing will get a little better but we’re not complaining. Today’s tip: Clean, moving water with bait. No photos...

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A great day with some favorite clients at Redfish University-July 26, 2010

Guided some of my best and favorite clients Jim and Kyle Lawrence this morning. The guys drove over from Destin this morning at 400am and had catching fish on their minds. Met at 515am and set out for a morning of epic topwater action. Epic it was!!! Immediately, Jim and Kyle started pounding away at the speckled trout and redfish. The sound of topwater explosions filled the silent morning and was music to our ears. Lots of “booms”, “pows” and “cawblauwees” from all of us witnessing this stellar morning of topwater action. I have no idea how many quality trout were landed, stuck momentarily and dropped at the boat, but it was many. Moved on once the sun got up and fished some water in the 3-6′ range in search of more trout and redfish. Didn’t take long and the action was almost every cast! I was able to give my friend Jim some great advice in this area by suggesting working his Berkley Gulp! Jerkbait a bit slower(at a snails pace) to draw a larger trout. In RU’s experience, both small trout and redfish are much more attracted to quick/fast moving baits because of their youthful aggressiveness. Sure enough, Jim lands an awesome 5# fish next cast in the same exact area where three 14-15″ just came. With our mission to successfully slay the trout and redfish all morning accomplished, we took a ride for the Pass to just catch some fish. Caught Spanish, bluefish and ladyfish for the rest of the time and even hooked a few large sharks on the big rod. RU doesn’t spend much time at all in Pensacola Pass but we all had a great time watching bait scatter from sharks and Spanish. Jim and Kyle left Pensacola with 15 very nice trout, some redfish and lots of local knowledge that can be applied at their vacation home in Destin. Great day!! Thanks again Jim and Kyle!! Please click an image to enlarge and view...

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New Berkley website and Eric Holstman Pro Staff page.

Hello Redfish University anglers! Please take a moment to view the new Berkley fishing website at www.berkley-fishing.com. It’s a great resource for choosing baits, rods and reels and finding angling information from the Berkley Pro Staff anglers. You may also recognize a Pro Staff member on the Berkley site as well. Berkley Pro Staff- http://www.berkley-fishing.com/my-berkley/pro/eric-holstman  Abu Garcia- http://www.abugarcia.com/pros_detail.php?id=2460&m=0 Spiderwire- http://www.spiderwire.com/pros_detail.php?id=2538 Thanks for looking and see everyone soon. Eric...

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General Motors Corp. “Fishing for Sales” trip at Redfish University-June 23, 2010

Guided Mr. Ron Fairbanks and business associate, Dennis, this morning at Redfish University. Ron was gracious enough to allow me and Redfish University to participate in General Motor’s “Fishing for Sales” program. Had a blast today fishing with these guys, both great anglers. Started out in the Sound for some topwater redfish action. Dennis was the first to draw a big strike and got the first nice redfish in the boat. This is where the story takes a grim turn. As I was prepared to remove the Skitterwalk’s treble hooks from the fish, the fish shook and my hand slid toward the redfish’s face implanting a hook firmly into the flesh and tendon between my thumb and fore-finger. That hurt! Short story, pushed the barb through, clipped it and carried on. Boy, did it hurt later in the morning. Went to the doctor for pain meds and antibiotics. First time I hooked myself in 35 years!! Back to the important stuff. We found plenty of redfish and small trout to bash our topwaters and also followed up some topwater blowups with Johnson Spoons to boat a few more redfish. Back to the launch and trailered to Pensacola Bay. Fished a few solid banks but the water was still dirty from the rains and only scored a few decent trout. Ran to find clear water and produced some bigger speckled trout and viewed some redfish unwilling to strike. Had a fun day(with the exception of the hook in the hand)and looking forward to working with GM Corp’s “Fishing for Sales” into the future. Thanks for the help with the hook removal fellas and thankfully I didn’t faint!!  All fish released and caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads, Johnson Gold Spoons and Skitterwalks with very sharp hooks. Please click an image to enlarge and view...

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