Day 2 with Leon Conley and his sister, Kelly, the talented anglers wanted to target speckled trout and take some home for a fish fry. We’re still on nearly full moon so starting early is very important. Started at first light and hit some areas along Scenic Hwy. south of The Chimney and along the railway rocks. Since Berkley’s purchase of Sebile Lures, we’ve been throwing the Bonga topwaters in Yellow Pepper and the Stick Shadds in Yellow Pepper and White Lady and have discovered that our local redfish and speckled trout find these baits quite mouthwatering. As we quietly trolled the banks, Leon and Kelly made very long casts and as close to the  banks as possible. Looking for spraying bait is a great indication that some redfish and trout may be present. A few casts into the morning and a 4.5# and 5# speckled trout were in the boat. Further down the bank, a few huge explosions from large fish but only connected with a few more 2-3# trout. Interestingly, a few banks that are usually good for 6-7 redfish didn’t produce squat. Took off for some docks on the south side of the bay and switched to Gulp! Jerkshads and stuck with the Sebile Stick Shadds. Immediately started pulling quality trout including two more nice fish at 4# a piece. Tossed one the big ones and kept a few more nice trout for the fry. By 745am, we had caught 20-25- trout, keeping 6, and set off to the Pass and beach to find some pompano and redfish. Covered a few flats near there and again, found only a few large redfish unwilling to bite. Ran down the beach and spent some time looking for pompano. We did find some small schools of fish, had some trailers but they just wouldn’t commit. Sometimes that happens when there’s not enough wave action and in crystal-clear water. Viewed a few larger redfish that wouldn’t take Gulp! baits and then screwed around with some very large ladyfish before heading in for the day. Great day of quality speckled trout fishing with most fish released. Tomorrow we will hit the Sound and round out their cookout with some redfish on the halfshell. Thanks for looking. E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided Leon Conley and his sister, Kelly,  this morning for Day 1 of a 3-Day Pensacola inshore fishing adventure. Big full moon last night and nearly record low temperatures were sure to make things very interesting today. Started fishing at 500am this morning with topwater baits over in East Bay in about 2-4′ of water. By the way, and in my opinion, the redfish and trout fishing is so much better in the bays(Pensacola, East, Escambia, Blackwater) right now. Larger numbers and definitely better quality. Larger baitfish and sand bottom seems to always produce bigger fish. Like yesterday, there was very little visible bait and mullet in the area which made things pretty difficult. The duo stuck a few good trout on Sebile Bongos and Stick Shadds but the action was painfully slow with the exception of a large school of small trout that was slicking an area off the banks. Looked at some large schools of menhaden 200 yds off the banks and like always, gafftop galore.  Approached the banks with high water conditions and only caught a few small redfish with a few other misses. Although it was a protected bank, the turbulence caused the banks to be muddy out to 20 feet so Woody’s plastic worm rattles inserted in the Gulps! really led the fish to the bait.  Switched to smaller baits like the Gulp! 3″ Shrimp to produce a few more speckled trout but only a few fish were legal. No big trout today. With things looking pretty grim, we decided to make a long run to north Blackwater Bay. Arrived around the Peterson Point area and fished a few protected banks with uneven bottom and lined with docks. Brightened the day with some decent speckled trout and a few medium redfish to take Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo and watermelon.  An interesting discovery today was the unusual amount of small bluefish(7-12″) and stingray in the north Blackwater Bay area. Lots and lots of Gulp! Jerkys cut in half by bluefish today. We really need some more rain to even things out in the bay system. Anyway, we also fished the mouths of Broadmouth and Weaver Rivers along the sand dropoffs. Like in the Spring, we found plenty 15-17″ speckled...

After this weekend’s cold-front, the fishing got a bit tricky again with high pressure conditions and a lack of visible bait. Guided new Gulf Breeze residents, Andy Kemp and Odieat this morning in our bay system. Launched at 500am this with the temperature in the mid to upper 50’s and gentle northeast breeze. Travelled over to East Bay to throw some topwater baits for redfish and speckled trout. Found some bait and mullet but not as much as in the past several weeks. Started connecting with medium(14-18″) speckled trout immediately but lots of short bites as well. Switched to Stick Shads and Gulp! Jerkshads to really improve the hookup ratio. The trout were quite a distance off the banks this morning with the cooler temperatures and I believe that is where most of the bait was staged although they certainly weren’t visible. Finished with 20+ trout. Got in closer to the banks to find some solid redfish willing to pound topwater baits and landed 3-4 great fish before departing for our next spot. Cruised over to Escambia Bay along Scenic Hwy.(near The Chimney) where the wind had pushed lots of mullet and bait into the bait. The redfish were really thick and we had some double hookups in the mix. Oh, and saw a naked man and some creeper in the woods, but ya gotta go where the fish are, right? Travelled back south to finish the morning around some deeper flats to find some better quality speckled trout. Ended the day with 35+ speckled trout and 11 redfish. A great morning of fishing and lots of super information covered. All fish released except for a few redfish and a trout for dinner. Back at it tomorrow. E Holstman Please click an image to...

Sometimes you can’t pick your days to fish, especially with regularly visiting clients. Guided Jeff and John Shiver today in the middle of a harsh neap tide and very light winds. Started early with topwaters and got a few nice trout and several short bites. Switched to Sebile Stickshad suspending hardbaits and really found the rhythm. Sat on a few large schools of speckled trout and stuck fish virtually every cast. Lots of small and medium fish this morning but fun nonetheless. Moved closer to the banks with Gulp! Jerkshads and found a few decent redfish in the 22-24″ range but no beasts. After catching 40+ trout between 13-17″ we moved to some areas with better water movement to find better speckled trout in the 2.5-4# range. These trout wanted a Gulp! Jerkshad in camo and watermelon slowing tapped on the bottom in 3-5′ of water. Some fish even wanted a deadsticker. The redfish were pretty tough today but found lots(20-30) of fish in shallow water that were not excited with the dead water. Ended up with around 50 trout of all sizes and only 4 redfish. Neap tide success means being around hundreds of fish and a slow approach. All fish released. Tomorrow will be outstanding because the quality fish sure didn’t dine today. E Holstman Please click an image to...

Beginning of the neap tide this morning with minimal water movement and calm winds. Needed to concentrate in areas with huge numbers of redfish and trout and slow things down. Guided Rob and Nick this morning. The guys are tournament bass fisherman from Missouri and are both very talented anglers. Hit the water at 500am and made a pretty long run into East Bay. Met with decent water movement in this particular area with lots of mullet so things looked very promising. Long casts with Sebile Bongas were attacked nearly every cast by speckled trout of all sizes and found the redfish on the banks and out as well. Instead of hugging coves and sheltered points, we proved that finding the most water movement in an area would be most beneficial. Started the morning with 25 great trout and 5-6 redfish from 23-28″. When the water began to really slow down, we found our own water movement around river and creek mouths to find some more upper-slot redfish and trout. And when the wind picked up strangely out of the north, we fished wind-blown banks to blindcast several more trout and a few more redfish. My best advice for neap tides is finding the moving water, being around lots and lots and lots of fish and slowing down your retrieval. Overall, a really awesome day of fishing with two very good anglers. All fish released and at it again tomorrow and Saturday morning. Please click an image to...