Big winds and big fish! Guided Johnny Middleton and Mee Eun Kim of the world famous Trans-Siberian Orchestra this morning. Johnny is a bassist in the band from St. Petersburg and Mee Eun is a keyboardist from Germany. Prior to there performance tomorrow night at the Pensacola Civic Center, the artists wanted to get in some shallow water inshore fishing. These guys really caught on to the artificial bait techniques and absolutely smashed the fish today. I wish we were fishing a large, big money redfish event today because according to my calculations, Johnny and Mee Eun produced 14.25-14.5# today with several 13-14#’s duos. Oh well. Started at first light in the bay and threw Sebile Bongas at some hungry trout on sand bottom banks. Got several nice speckled trout in the 1.5-4# range but found very little mullet and very little redfish. At 8am, we trailered the Hewes 21 Redfisher and went to Santa Rosa Sound. Ran way east and found vast amounts of redfish in the 24-28″ range that just loved Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons slow-rolled in 3-5′ of water. The key was targeting areas just outside small schools of large mullet. Mee Eun also picked off a very nice 4.5# speckled trout in shallow water. Two firsts for Mee Eun, redfish and trout, but even better were that they were 7.25# and 4.5# respectively. Looking forward to watching them perform tomorrow evening for the “Beethoven’s Last Night” and having some cocktails afterwards. All fish released. Book now to experience the absolute best in shallow water angling at Redfish University. Hurry. E Holstman Please click an image to...
Read MoreA father and son day to remember at Redfish University-March 18, 2011
Guided Steve and his eight year old son Tyler this morning in search of speckled trout and some big redfish for Tyler to pull on. Found some nice trout around Gulf Breeze and then we hit some clear shallow flats where I was able to introduce Tyler to some very exciting sight fishing. This sand flat was full of redfish of all sizes and they were incredibly easy to catch which provided tons of fun for the fellas. Ended up picking up 15-20 redfish as they came by in singles-triples and Tyler even hooked several himself which resulted in an early afternoon nap. I know he’s hooked now but we’ll work on his endurance. All fish released and had a dead camera battery but I was sure to charge it thoroughly for Saturday morning’s trip. You”ll see what I mean. E...
Read MoreWindy, rainy and lots of fish at Redfish University-March 4-5, 2010
High winds nor rains can stop Redfish University anglers! Guided Lawrences again on Friday then Jeff and his son, Cody, and Saturday. Conditions weren’t exactly ideal with 30-35 mph winds and some rain but there’s nothing wrong with a little challenge. Both days were filled with lots of redfish and speckled trout including a nice 5.5 fat trout. Most of the redfish were in the 19-24″ range and were cooperating nicely before the front blew through. We switched to larger 1/4oz. Marsh Works jigheads because of the high winds but the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads remained the bait of choice. Forgot the camera for Saturday so I’ll add more client photos later. Lots of trips coming up so hopely the fishing will continue to be outstanding at Redfish U. I think it will! E...
Read MoreDay 3-Epic 25+redfish trip at Redfish University-November 10, 2010
For Day 3 with the Enabnits, we decided to head over to Orange Beach and target some redfish in the marshy creeks on the falling tide. It was a race to beat the falling water so we worked smartly and very quickly. For this type of red fishing, a small spoon, small spinnerbait or jerkshad in the prefered method but with beginners to this tricky fishery and relatively inexperienced anglers, a Marsh Works Big Poppy cork with a 3″ Gulp! Shrimp in New Penny proved most productive. We did get into some topwater action as well. As expected, we found very clear and very shallow water where redfish between 23-27″ were observed spraying shrimp along the marshy banks and inside creeks. Most areas held a feeding fish every ten yards. Most fish were found on the banks with their backs and eyes out of the water but we also launched corks down the middle and outwards to produce many redfish as well. Because the fellas wanted some redfish to take back to Atlanta, we concentrated on securing our limit quickly which only took about 20 minutes. After that, we screwed around with the video camera and launched topwaters at them which dramatically reduced the hookups for the trigger-happy anglers:) It was very fun and amusing to watch!! Anyway, it was a great morning with action around every corner and it was fantastic to introduce the enthusiastic anglers to this style of fishing. Many wait a lifetime to experience this morning’s stellar redfish conditions!! We didn’t count but 25+ redfish between 22-27″ is a safe estimate. Ended the morning at Lulu’s for some pints and appetizers. The Shrimp Quesadilla is very nice. Angler’s choice tomorrow but I think they want to take it easy, sip some beers and do some bottom fishing in the bay for grouper or whatever. Not my favorite or expertise but maybe they just need a break from all the redfish. In any event, it should be interesting!! How hard can it be? Book now to experience your own epic redfish trip at Redfish University. Openings after December 7 unless we have a cancellation. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to enlarge and view slideshow. *Viewer warning* Video contains an F-bomb...
Read MoreA morning of intrigue at Redfish University-October 31, 2010
Recent bay grouper and snapper reports(my friend Matt’s specifically) have stirred my curiousity. Certainly, Redfish University doesn’t consider bottom fishing it’s specialty and wouldn’t seriously entertain the thought of confidently guiding clients in this realm. My dad and website designer/marketer, Randy Hamilton; well, that’s a different story. Asked the guinea pigs to meet me on Texar at 700am. No bottom finder on the Hewes 21 Redfisher, no rodholders and I hadn’t thrown a bait net(a 12′ ) in about 15 years. After a few really pathetic spreads, I finally got back on track and opened a few big ones. For the first time in ever(10yrs), I filled the livewell on a flats boat with LIVE BAIT, the rod lockers with Penn 4/0 with 6oz. leads and circle hooks and rolled with great intrigue into the unknown. Arrived at an area with some patchy bottom structure and set up a drift with the outgoing tide. Used the GPS to track our path and made a few passes with our large live baits about five feet off the bottom. Randy finds the first fish which nearly jerked the rod out of his hands. A few moments later, a very nice 28″ grouper hits the deck of the 21 Hewes Redfisher. A few more break offs and some sharks in a few hour period then over to the Hilton for our weekly Sunday brunch, Stella Artois and bloodies. It was a fun little trip that I would like to do more often with friends and family. Grouper fish tacos are in the plans for this week! Book now to experience the thrill of Redfish...
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