Guided Mr. Bob Willice this morning. I’m guiding out of the Maverick 17HPX for a week or so, so we decided to go shallow and stick some redfish. Started out on a very shallow flat and found redfish everywhere. Some fish were cooperative and some were not. Eventually found that the fish in around three feet of water were ripe for the taking. Stuck some very nice fish as well as few nice speckled trout. Also, saw a speckled trout that was over 7 pounds but the smaller(2.5#) trout ran down the bait. Bob also had an epic redfish strike right next to the boat. The 30″ fish was chasing the bait as Bob worked it to the boat. He slowed the bait down and the fish did a head-stand and inhaled the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshad. It was a classic view from the poling platform that I will remember for a long time! Anyway, Bob’s next adventure involves the challenging pompano in a few weeks. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads and Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons. All fish released. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read More7# Speckled Trout, 6.5# Redfish, bulls and pompano at Redfish University-April 2, 2010
Guided Mr. Billy Thigpen this morning. Billy is a regular client from Atlanta and is down for Easter. We started out early for some big speckled trout and did we find them!! Billy stuck a 7# trout at first light. We also hit some very nice redfish in the same areas including a nice 6.5 fish. After an hour of slaying the redfish and trout, we took off for the beach in search of pompano. Found some pompano concentrating around deeper holes. We also sightfished several large redfish in the surf while we searched for the pompano. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads and pink/orange pompano jigs. Guiding Billy again tomorrow in the Maverick 17HPX in some very shallow water and we’ll be throwing at tailing and cruising redfish all morning long. Can’t wait! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreRedfish and Speckled Trout but no Pompano(yet) at Redfish University-March 30, 2010
Guided Mr. Jim Tully and Mr. Dustin Martinson this morning. Jim and Dustin are regular clients, great anglers and lots of fun to fish with. Today, Jim and Dustin asked me to take them sight fishing for pompano. For a little bonus action, I offered them an hour or so targeting speckled trout before the sun got high. Both anglers stuck some trout including Jim’s 5# beast. At 800am, we took off for the pass. As we came around the point we found a school of redfish and stopped for some light tackle fun. Good thing we found them first before some other boats big motored through the fish. The redfish were fun but not what we were looking for. Spent 2 hours sight fishing a 3-4 mile stretch of beach. Jim actually had one pompano following his bait, but we only saw 5-6 confirmed pompano. What was also surprising, no redfish or drum to throw at either! With no possibility of pompano and after looking in some more unconventional areas, we were unfortunately left to hit the big redfish again. Stuck 4 or 5 more redfish and called it a morning. At Redfish University, pompano were promised. Jim and Dustin will be joined me for a pompano specific trip in the coming weeks when there are actually some pompano in the water. That’s how we roll! All fish taken on Gulp! Jerkshads rigged on my favorite Marsh Works jigheads. Also worth mentioning, these 15-25# redfish were taken on 6-10# InvisiBraid(pompano tackle) with a 10-15# fluoro leader. All fish cared for and released healthy. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreBig Trout, no pompano(yet) at Redfish University-March 24, 2010
Guided Mr. Bill Shan this morning. Bill is a regular client and an excellent angler. We started out looking for some big speckled trout at first light. Stuck a few good fish and once the sun got high, we headed to the beach in search of pompano. Low light, still cold meant no fish. It still needs to warm up a bit before we see big numbers of pompano. We spent a few hours looking all over the beach from the pass to six miles east. We only saw a few and ended up running into some drum which were fun on light tackle. After a few hours of that and watching the sheepshead catchers crawl around the jetty, we made a sprint for the trout flats. Low light and light wind helped us stick some big trout including Bill’s 5# acrobat that skied three times when Bill drove the hook. Slow day on the beach but a great day for the specks. All fish taken on Gulp! Jerkshads in rootbeer and pink pompano jigs. All fish released. I will be leaving for Panama City tonight to work with Berkley and Penn as our Berkley Pro Staff member on the Penn/Berkley Tour in Panama City, Destin and Port St. Joe Thurs- Saturday. Returning Saturday evening with trips on Sun-Friday. There are a few slots open in April so call ahead. See you soon. E Holstman. Please click on an image to enlarge and view...
Read MorePompano Pre-fishing at Redfish University-March 4, 2010
With many pompano sight fishing trips in the coming weeks, especially in late March and early April, we got out this morning to do some looking around. Met my friend and website designer, Randy Hamilton, at 9am and headed towards the Pass. Slow-cruised the beach until we found an 1/8 mile stretch of relatively clean water and started looking. As predicted, we found some pompano relating to deeper holes and washouts. We saw 7 inactive pompano in a 45 minute period but well-placed casts couldn’t entice a bite. They acted like they didn’t even see our Gulp! Ghost Shrimp and orange/pink pompano jigs. Most fish seemed to be quality pompano in the 2-3# range and the numbers will improve drastically with warmer temps, warmer water and with any southerly winds. Soon, very...
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