Great trips at Redfish University! Limits of both redfish and speckled trout coming quickly and the quality is excellent. Guided the Bakers yesterday who just bought a home on Blackwater Bay. They wanted to learn the area for the excellent Fall/Winter redfish and speckled fishing that is upcoming. Started at first light on the very top of the high tide. During slow or dead water conditions, I like to concentrate around the mouths of small rivers and especially around wind blown points in the immediate vicinity. These areas will have the most water movement and will hold not necessarily the most fish, but the most cooperative fish. The first few casts produced some very nice trout and a few great redfish. As the water started to move out, we found plenty of fish in the coves and sawgrass banks. With the high water, we found both species tight on the banks and of course, around large schools of mullet positioned just off the banks. Topwaters early and Gulp! Jerkshads in camo as the sun rose. The Bakers kept a few fish for dinner last night. Today, I guided Brad Hasse in lower East Bay and found even more speckled trout and redfish. During this transitional weather and water temps, it seems the fish are still a bit spread out but great numbers are north and south. Started at first light with topwaters to produce huge numbers of speckled trout in the 2-4# range with a few redfish misses. Mullet, bait and slicks everywhere. After passing the area with topwaters, we can through the same area with Gulp! Jerkshads and 3″ Gulp! Shrimp to clean up the rest. Couldn’t count how many trout we caught. The best quality fish were found inside the schools of large mullet and they were rabid. With a limit of trout completed and the sun high, I had a special treat for Brad and went jetted off to a slick, wind protected bank in Escambia Bay. Again, we found huge amounts of mullet and bait in 1-3′ of very clear water. Paralleled the bank and found redfish sitting between the bank and the schools of mullet located about 30′ off...

Haven’t posted recently with lots of sponsorship travel lately including a long adventure to Europe. Did some pike fishing outside of Stockholm, Sweden before relaxing in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Ibiza but not before I rounded out a solid stretch of trips in early September before taking off. This report also contains some very recent reports during this great weather change. Started concentrating in the upper bays in the normal Fall areas that produce large numbers of both redfish and trout. Topwater baits are still very productive in the early morning hours and then we’ll switch to Gulp! Jerkshads in camo and watermelon to stick many more fish on the flats. As always, mullet and baitfish are the keys to success. Lots of really nice trout and redfish in the 22-30″ range. Lots of upcoming trips and I will report much more frequently. Thanks, E Holstman. Please click an image to...

Very busy with fun inshore trips lately. Concentrating both in the South and bay systems. Early morning Sebile Bongos have been taking loads of quality speckled trout and redfish on the shallow flats. We’ll launch topwater baits until about 730am and then switch to Gulp! Jerkshads and Shrimp as the sun goes overhead. Finding lots of trout and redfish over structure such as oyster bars in the later part of the mornings. The recent rains dictate our locations. No rains means the bays will be productive and lots of rain will keep us in the very busy Sound. Sight fishing in Santa Rosa Sound has been excellent and we’re finding fish pretty cooperative with long, accurate casts. Some redfish have measured 26-28″ and a few 27″s at 7.5-8# so they’re eating plenty. Obviously, the weekdays are much better than the weekend. We also continue to please anglers in the last hour or so with those jumping blacktips. Some we can sight fish and others are caught drifting. Lots of fish going home to the grill but more released. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided Patrick and the guys again today. Better water movement and much better fishing today. Ran to south East Bay early and found the speckled trout rabid with strikes nearly every cast on topwater Bongos. We also discovered some of the small schools of menhaden being sprayed and very uncomfortable. Normally, in deeper water, only gafftops have been with these schools of bait. Since these schools were in shallow water with slicks forming pretty consistently, we decided to launch some topwaters in that direction. The baits were quickly pounded by 12-18# redfish which was a pleasant surprise. Wrestled with the redfish for a while and then they wanted sharks again. Outgoing tide and the sharks were very hungry. Lots of hookups and jumps!! Fun morning of fishing with great anglers. All fish released. E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided Patrick Price and his sons this morning for some hot topwater action way over in East Bay. Started at first light and knew we’d need to really hustle to produce some fish before the water slowed down. Really popped some nice redfish and speckled trout in the first few hours and then it shut off immediately. We switched baits and techniques to draw a few more strikes but at 745am the struggle was on. The great thing about fishing with experienced anglers at Redfish University is the fact that they can catch fish and they understand the conditions as well as I do for the most part. I gave the group some other options so we cruised toward Pensacola Pass to find better water movement. On the way, we caught a few more speckled trout on Gulp! Jerkshads around Gulf Breeze. Arrived at the Pass and found private/charter boats alike chasing schools of tiny Spanish Mackeral. There must have been 25-30 boats in that mess. The phrase, “no thanks”, was uttered and I happily obliged. Hit the Shoal and caught a few large Spanish Mackeral and jumped off a tarpon on a 6″ Gulp! Jerkshad. They mentioned being very interested in pulling on some larger fish when the redfish and trout action slowed so I suggested the excellent sight fishing for blacktip sharks in Pensacola Bay. Really dumbed it down for these great anglers but they absolutely loved the variety. Pulled in with some fresh mackeral strips and it was on. Blacktips from 4-5.5 feet were happy to eat on the dead tide. Smiles everywhere and a great finale to an up and down morning of fishing. They’re with Redfish University again on Friday with much better conditions so we’re going to hammer the crap out of them. All fish released. E Holstman Please click an image to...

Spending a lot of time on the water lately with more guide trips than I can handle and lots of people wanting to go fishing. Santa Rosa Sound has been great in the early mornings for redfish and medium trout over the shallow grass but it really dies around 8am. Bongos and Stick Shadds are great choices right now. Around 8am, we’ve been running to some areas in Pensacola Bay where there are lots of sharks between 3-5′. Shark Week!! Plenty of blacktips that really put on a great show when hooked. Many anglers have requested shark fishing after the flats so that really makes the last few hours simple although it’s a little nerve-racking with so many unpredictable sharks coming to the boat. In the last few days, East Bay and Escambia Bay have really turned on with the rains ending and the water clearing. Early morning topwaters are producing huge amounts of quality speckled trout and a handful of nice redfish. A few mornings we must have gotten over 50 trout in the 14-23″ range on topwaters. The trout are off the banks inside the large schools of mullet and the redfish are very close to the banks on high water. Most fish were released but several were taken for dinner at Aegean Breeze and for cookouts up north. E Holstman Please click an image to...