Guided Kurt and Jim today for some inshore redfish, speckled trout and flounder. The guys are from Oregon and do some fishing there for steelheads and salmon. Our inshore fishing requires some very different techniques but it only took a few minutes for them to get very comfortble with sticking big numbers of fish. Very windy today so boat positioning was incredibly important. I did my part and they did their part by hammering the fish. Started with some very nice redfish on some shallow, wind-blown flats. Found redfish in the 15-31″ range along with some quality speckled trout in the same area. It didn’t take Kurt long to secure the prized Grand Slam with a nice flounder in the mix. Moved to a different area and found a speckled trout on nearly every cast. We probably got 40-50 trout with several being legal-sized including a great 5# fish. Today we stuck to the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo with 1/4oz Marsh Works jigheads because of the high winds. We also had a few really nice redfish and big trout slip the hook near the boat but plenty of great action nonetheless. The guys took home a few fish to eat for dinner and the rest were released happy and healthy. Hitting them again tomorrow! Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Took a much needed break last weekend and earlier in the week but got back to business mid-week. Business is GOOD. Big numbers of redfish, speckled trout and a few flounder each trip made for some incredibly successful instructional and pure fish-catching Redfish University guide trips. With the warmer weather as of late, we fished lots of mullet and bait infested flats and especially windy, unprotected banks. As always, a Gulp! 5″ Jerkshad is absolutely deadly but we did switch over to some Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and small Bongos in areas with large numbers of redfish. In some areas, the speckled trout can be taken on nearly every cast with most being legal in the 16-18″ range. In fact, we’re really seeing more quality speckled trout than years past and found consistent 3-4# speckled trout in some areas. The flounder are still found on current swept points around uneven bottom. I suspect if we were actually targeting flounder we’d catch many more per trip but our primary focus is redfish and trout. Speaking of redfish, some beautiful redfish in the 24-27″ range are coming to the boat pretty frequently. The 27″ line on my Redfish Cup stick hasn’t been tickled this much since my days on The Cup. Some close, some over and some just right. A perfect, 27″ redfish this Winter has weighed between 7.25-7.75# so they’re definitely eating well. Some catch and release trips, and then some “fill the cooler” trips this week but with one thing in common, lots of fun and lots of fish!! A blacked-out livewell is good. Heading out at 100pm today for more Grand Slam action. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

It is Friday the 13th but I’m pretty certain it was the overnight 35 degree temperature drop that stopped the fish in their tracks this morning. When people want to fish, they want to fish. In any conditions, I guess! Guided a few fellas that wanted to catch some redfish, trout and flounder that have been so easy to come by this week. Started at 600am with ice on the boat and a stiff NW wind. Slowly, slowly cruised to our first stop and we all felt the immediate windburn. Made a few strategic casts and caught some decent speckled trout and a few small/medium redfish. Pretty nice start considering! Well, it was a tremendous struggle from there. No mullet, no bait and very little water movement. We used some rivers and creeks as our water movement and picked up a few more speckled trout and some more solid strikes. Finally, we decided to just stick in water depths of 5-10′ and be around as many fish as possible. Slow taps and deadsticks lured a few more trout and redfish but it was incredibly slow fishing to say the least. They’re hard to catch when they won’t bite! Anyway, stayed until the water totally stopped and returned to the warm Excursion. Moved around some guided trips due to the cold weather and crap tides for the next few days but we’ll be back early next week with more great fishing at Redfish U. All fish released. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided Steve from Georgia yesterday and a fellow from the Milton area on Tuesday. Both gents were in search of angling instruction and nice catches of redfish, trout and flounder. Needless to say, the last few days have been very windy. A big west wind shouldn’t be feared but celebrated, especially in rising water conditions. The good thing about a hard west wind is the fact that it will move the water more quickly and I really like where it pushes the mullet and bait. Each day, we focused directly on wind-pounded banks and found more redfish, trout and flounder than I’ve seen in a long time. In fact, many of the speckled trout were in the 3.5-5# range. These fish can still be found on shallow flats and obviously, much less stressed by falling water temperatures. We’re even getting plenty of big trout on topwater baits. In 20-30 mph winds, boat positioning is critical and casting with the wind is an absolute must. Also, very light Ultracast InvisiBraid(6#), a bit bulkier jighead and Gulp! with worm rattles in turbulent water makes all the difference. Both days produced solid Grand Slams and almost a Super with a striper falling near the boat. I’ll take consistent catches of 25-30 speckled trout, 8-10 redfish and 3-4 flounder in difficult conditions any day. Next time it’s windy, try out some wind-blown banks with lots of mullet and bait. I think you’ll like what you find. Most fish released and some were taken for consumption. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided a nice couple from West Point, GA. this morning. Started with some nice speckled trout but found the bite to be pretty slow. Eventually, we found a big group of fish and had a decent run. At 800am, we took off to find those huge redfish everyone is coming to Redfish University to see. Got on the trolling motor and didn’t see a redfish! Checked a few more productive areas and didn’t even pick one up blindcasting. Very disappointing but they simply were not there. All fish released this morning and we’ll get the redfish later in the week. This afternoon’s trip with Mr. Colby is another story. More of an instructional trip this afternoon with a very good angler who was interested in learning a few new areas to produce great numbers in the Fall/Winter. Predictably, it started a little slow but really ramped up as the water rose and the sun fell. Stuck some big trout on Jerkshads and Bongos including a great 4.5# fish. We also had some great flounder action in shallow water. A few dropped the hook at the boat but got a few in the well for Mr. Colby to stuff this evening for the Championship Game. Next was the redfish. Found decent numbers in shallow water and again, some came unbuttoned. As the sun set, we both switched to Bongos and found great action with both large speckled trout and some redfish from 25-29″. Definitely a blast on topwater and we viewed some awesome explosions. We even got a nice black drum bonus in the same area. Not bad, some Grand Slams on a difficult day of fishing! Mr. Colby only wanted some flounder so that’s what we took. All other fish released. Oh yeah, and we ran into a lost white trout fisherman. Entertaining, indeed. You’re welcome.:) Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...