Guided some locals and out-of-towners Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Windy and rainy on Monday and Tuesday but today was a huge improvement. Nevertheless, the fishing was outstanding all three days with huge numbers of speckled trout, 7-15 solid redfish per day and even some nice striped bass. Made the same exact milk-run on all three days with great numbers of fish holding in very few areas. Mullet, minnows and shrimp are in all areas both north and south. With better water movement early, we tossed topwaters on mullet infested flats and points to get our speckled trout and medium redfish. As the water slowed, we travelled north to find better movement around rivermouths, creeks and wind-blown points.  On the dead low tide(.4), we found the redfish in extremely shallow water mixed with large mullet. 5 gallons of fuel in the Hewes really helped today as a boat of three resulted in some belly rubbing on the sand flats. Picked off some decent stripers as well in deeper(3-4′) water including a 5# fish. All fish caught on Sebile Bongos, Gulp! Jerkshads and Johnson 1/4oz Gold Spoons. All fish released. Many more trips upcoming and more reports to come. Too much action for photos but here’s a few.  Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

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...