Guided Mr. Sean Williamson in Panama City’s West Bay this morning. Hit the water at 600am and rushed to the first productive area. The end of the falling tide is the ideal time to target shallow redfish in West Bay and my goodness, we hit it perfectly. Started at Botheration Bay and Breakfast Point on the tide fall. Found large numbers of 25-28″ redfish in singles, doubles and groups up to 20-30 fish. Had great success on weedless Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo. Light line, long casts and silence were the key. Headed to North Bay next and concentrated on the westside between the powerlines an Muddy Bayou. The fish were staged outside the grass and very cooperate. Ended with 16 sightfished redfish in the 25-29″ range. My camera coded when trying to snap a few shots but waiting for client...
Read MoreSteady Day at the University-Sept.7, 2009
Steady trips at Redfish University this week although there small concentrations of redfish in very few areas. Good news is, I expect the redfishing to improve dramatically in the coming weeks and especially next month. Guided Mr. Barry James and his wife Cheryl this morning. Barry is an avid local kayak angler and I was able to cover lots of water with him and introduce him to some excellent kayak fishing areas and some clever tricks with artificial baits. Started out with some quality trout and lower slot redfish as we waited for the water to drop in the upper bay areas. At 730am, we blasted to some very productive area and a found the fish to be very difficult(local Labor Day traffic?) Whatever the cause, we managed to product an decent range of quality redfish. Ended the day trying to scrape up a few flounder which proved to be predictably grim on slow water movement. All in all, a below average day according to Redfish University standards but hopefully much knowledge was gained and a fantastic redfish dinner was had. Thanks again for the wonderful bottles of wine, James and Cheryl!! Please click on photos to...
Read MoreThe End of an Up and Down Year- September 1, 2009
Well, the 2009 Redfish Cup season had come to a close. After starting the year in fine fashion, placing 16th and receiving a nice check in Punta Gorda, we started an uncharacteristic free-fall. Kemah was a big disappointment(should have fished the jetties, obviously, and entered the “fishing lotto”, and Chalmette still haunts us today. At the regular season ending event in Biloxi, we took a whole new approach. We prefished for 6 hours!! Yes, we knew where some very nice 28-30″ were in the Biloxi Marsh. A little pond on the outside that was full of oysters was the promised-land. Went there on Wednesday afternoon during a low tide and tails and wakes were everywhere. Jetted straight there on tournament morning, got a 10# and a 9.5# and slow cruised back arriving at 11:30am and took a nap. Ended up in 7th place after Day 1 with 19.45#. Great start and knew we could do the same on Saturday. Day 2-jetted back to the same oyster pond, stuck two great fish- both over 9.5#! We’re feeling pretty good but still looking for a 10# fish to secure the Top 5. Had a few chances and a few that were 9.5# but it was also a great idea to visit a few other areas nearby just in case we would be returning on Sunday to clean-house. Back at the weigh in, it was a little nerve-racking. Finally, it was our turn to weigh in and we secured 5th place with 19.38# with only 10 teams left to weigh in. With only 3 teams left, my fears came true as we were only worried about what the Watts Brothers would bring to the scales. We heard the weigh, but it took a few minutes for them to officially announce what position that weight would put them in. Crap!! They bested us by .19 of a pound!! We were happy for the Bryan and Greg who are awesome fellas but felt pretty shocked after what a disappointing 2009 season we had. No complaints with a 6th place!! We had a great two days of fishing and secured our exemption into the 2010 Redfish Cup where I assure you, we’ll do much, much...
Read MoreBack from Dusseldorf and Lisbon, Portugal and ready to fish!!-Aug 11, 2009
Just returned from Dusseldorf and Lisbon, Portugal where Tracy and I got engaged. It was a fabulous trip. Went to the U2 concert in Gelsenkirchen, Germany Aug. 3 and then toured the Rhine River on the 4th where I proposed and then had an incredible dinner at Brasserie 1806 that evening. On Wednesday morning, we took off to Lisbon, Portugal to celebrate my friend Duncan’s 4oth birthday with many of our best American and British friends. Our hotel was located at the St. George Castle at the beautiful Solar do Castelo. For five days, we explored Lisbon by boat, train and by foot. We traveled the coast in a 140 ft. triple mast sailboat as well as two 70ft motor yachts. Also got some great surfing in as well. No fishing, but did see a tremendous amount of mullet and small snapper as two marinas. Back to business with lots of trips planned in the near future. Redfishing will continue to improve into fall and winter months. Book your trip now and get in on the fun. See ya soon. Eric Holstman Click on an image to...
Read MoreSolid Slams and some Tripletail at Redfish University- July 19, 2009
Guided Mr. Rajiv Rajah and his girlfriend Stacy on a short trip in Escambia and Blackwater Bays this morning. Both had never fished inshore before with artificials and I think I made true believers out of them! Started out early with some very nice flounder and then moved to some very productive tripletail areas. We quickly stuck two beautiful tripletail on a very shallow bank. Focused on some sand flats that were loaded with bait which produced some quality trout. Finally, we ran north and found some redfish on a very shallow bar connected to some thick grass flats. All fish caught on Gulp! Jerkshads in camo. All redfish and trout were released. Tripletail and flounder went home with Rajiv and Stacy for the grill. Please CLICK on image to...
Read MoreThese are the incredible companies that have made me so successful in professional tournament fishing and provide my clients at Redfish University with the world's best and latest in saltwater fishing gear. Please visit Eric Holstman's Pro Staff pages on all sponsor websites.
To visit one of our sponsor's websites, just click on a logo below...