The Gulf Coast's Ultimate Angling Experience!
Best Rates on the Gulf Coast!! $600 (1-2 anglers) for 5 hours. $50 for each additional angler up to 4 total anglers. Includes Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, Navarre and Pensacola Beach. Call (850) 748-4368 or email ericholstman@hotmail.com. *(Adjusted for fuel prices on July 1, 2022)
Welcome to Redfish University in Pensacola, Florida
Redfish University is a unique opportunity for beginner, intermediate and advanced level anglers to improve their skills in the art of shallow water fishing for redfish, speckled trout, pompano and flounder. Redfish U. specializes in the challenging realm of sight fishing for redfish with the use of artificial baits. Redfish U. also targets speckled trout, flounder, pompano and bull redfish on traditional guided fishing trips. Our extraordinary curriculum insures that no detail is overlooked. From bait choices and line selection; to casting presentation and approaching your target, you will receive unsurpassed angling instruction. Challenge yourself, broaden your angling knowledge and invest in your fishing future at Redfish University.
Oct21
Redfish University spends time from Port St. Joe Bay to Hopedale, LA. The majority of Redfish U’s traveling trips are located in Destin and Panama City. Today, I guided Mr. Bobby Stewart for some redfish(big and legal) and trout action in Destin, FL. Bobby is an accomplished bass fisherman and has some property in Ft. Walton so he wanted to learn about the inshore fishing in Choctawhatchee Bay and around Destin. Started very early with topwaters first fpr speckled trout and legal redfish. Pounded out some very nice trout and some medium redfish on topwater and spoons. Checked a few more areas and then headed to a flat with lots of redfish of all sizes. Superb, sunny and glassy conditions made it very easy for me to call out fish for Bobby who was pretty tuckered out from the early morning action. With his arms cramping, it was a pretty dirty trick to save the redfish festival for the last few hours of the morning. Bob had a blast!! Used 4″ Gulp! Shrimp in lime tiger to sight fish countless redfish from...
Oct20
Fished with Eric Michener today in search of redfish and trout. It’s always great fishing with Eric as he brings some awesome donuts from Milton Bakery and knows some areas to the north better than I do. It’s really great bumping ideas and techniques off one another. Started at first light and got into some great redfish and trout on topwater baits. Again, the key is very small topwater baits. Also found lots of largemouth bass in the same areas. We covered alot of water this morning and found a decent amount of fish in nearly every area. Topwaters, Johnson Gold Spoons and Gulp! were all equally as productive. Some areas had more redfish, some had more trout and most had lots of bass. Nice recovery at the end, E Money!! It was like 10-0 at one point!!! See you soon! All fish released. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Oct19
Guided Mr. Paul Heatherington this morning for what may be one of Redfish University’s last trips on the year in Santa Rosa Sound. It’s not that the fishing is horrible over there, it’s just that there’s so many more fish in a few areas to the north. We were interested in seeing some redfish and trying to get some larger trout in the deeper water. Started out with very small topwater baits at first light and really nailed some great redfish outside the schools of large mullet. The key this morning was a very soft dog-walked retrieve with a 3-4 second pause every 5 feet. Most fish crushed the bait as it was stationary and they had a huge problem eating it while it moved. Neap tide, very little water movement and laziness are my guess. Once we could see them around 800am, we switched to very small Johnson Gold Spoons and picked some more redfish. Pushed off the banks in some areas to go back to topwater and found some decent speckled trout on the sandholes in 4-6 ft...
Oct19
Had another instructional/location tour, with an angler who asked not to be named, in the upper Pensacola Bay area this morning. These trips have really gone over well and I really enjoy doing them! This shy chap was interested in increasing his winter productivity with the species of redfish and speckled trout. Found some nice trout and small/medium redfish in the normal muddy bottom flats in East Bay, Blackwater and Escambia bays but it will no doubt be much better as the temperatures continue to drop. Spent alot of time on the maps and bait selection in a number of very productive areas and picked up decent fish in most areas with some being much better than others(mostly areas a bit south.) Last hour of the trip, we talked shop at the boat ramp and discussed rod/reel, line and leader options that would be most optimal for the winter fishing in these areas. Fun day on the water! Book now to reserve an instructional trip or a regular Redfish University guided...
Oct17
Grabbed my good friend, web designer, photographer/videographer, marketing guru, merchandise specialist and enthusiastic Spanish mackerel angler, Randy Hamilton, this afternoon and cruised out to the beach in search of pompano, redfish or whatever was available. Randy is a HUGE reason Redfish University is the Gulf Coast’s most successful, busiest and supremely visible guide service with bookings of 4-5 per week, Monday-Friday. He keeps me busier than I want to be!! Randy and I fish together a ton needless to say! Purchased some pompano jigs, ice, Becks, Sierra Nevada and Landshark and took off for the Pass around 100pm. Sight fished the beach for an hour and didn’t see big numbers of pompano or redfish. I was really looking forward to testing my 2000 series Conquers with 6# Ultracast InvisiBraid for my multi-year trips to Belize for bones and permit. Oh well, soon enough. Falling tide, boat traffic, etc. may have decreased our odds. Ended up pulling on some Spanish mackerel and ladyfish for a little while and then back to the inside to look around some more. Haven’t fished an afternoon in forever but it was fun to be on...
Oct16
Several times per year during the local IFA redfish tournament season, anglers seek Redfish University’s vast regional knowledge in search of productive redfish areas from Port St. Joe, FL. to Pensacola to Hopedale, LA. In the last month, Redfish U. has performed many such trips. These are very exciting and tiring trips for Redfish U. as we pre-fish with these teams as if I were fishing the event as well. A 110% effort always!! Today I guided a couple anglers from the IFA Redfish Tour over in Grand Bay, MS. and around Bayou La Batre, AL. Ideal wind and tide conditions with falling water all morning. Plenty of redfish but only in a few areas. Without getting into too much detail, the fish were found to be very aggressive in both shallow and deep water and took a variety of baits. Lengths ranged from 23-29″ with many 25-26″ in the mix which will be fantastic for tournament day with the Alabama 26″ limit. Back at the ramp at 100pm to save routes and label some more areas on the map. It’s really fun fishing with the IFA...
