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.
Jun23
Guided Mr. Ron Fairbanks and business associate, Dennis, this morning at Redfish University. Ron was gracious enough to allow me and Redfish University to participate in General Motor’s “Fishing for Sales” program. Had a blast today fishing with these guys, both great anglers. Started out in the Sound for some topwater redfish action. Dennis was the first to draw a big strike and got the first nice redfish in the boat. This is where the story takes a grim turn. As I was prepared to remove the Skitterwalk’s treble hooks from the fish, the fish shook and my hand slid toward the redfish’s face implanting a hook firmly into the flesh and tendon between my thumb and fore-finger. That hurt! Short story, pushed the barb through, clipped it and carried on. Boy, did it hurt later in the morning. Went to the doctor for pain meds and antibiotics. First time I hooked myself in 35 years!! Back to the important stuff. We found plenty of redfish and small trout to bash our topwaters and also followed up some topwater blowups with...
Jun21
Guided Mr. Chuck Barousse and his son this morning. Started out at 515am and ran to some great topwater areas. Started getting big strikes immediately but very few actual hookups. Chuck dropped a very large speckled trout about halfway to the boat and boated a few more medium fish. Traveled to a distant bank and fished slicks with Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads. Boated several quality(3-5#) trout with a few redfish mixed in. It really made up for all the short strikes on topwater early. Poked around to some other good areas and found a few more decent trout and some small redfish. All fish released except for a few trout and redfish for the grill. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Jun19
Guided Mr. Roger Orth and his son, Roger Jr., this morning. Picked up the duo at 430am and took a little drive in the Excursion east to some areas where I found several nice groups of redfish and speckled trout. Arrived at the first flat at 500am with topwaters ready. Caught some decent speckled trout and had several very nice redfish blowups but no takers. They just didn’t have their hearts in it this morning but it was fun watching them crash the baits. Ended up switching to Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and began sightfishing and blindcasting for redfish. Stuck some nice redfish pretty quickly but as usual, the bite slowed as the temperature rose. Roger Sr. was able to masterfully present a spoon to a flashing fish and the fight was on! Roger also ended the day with the largest redfish at 25.5″ Lots and lots of boats on the water this morning. I am very glad we got out early and got to the fish before the party started. All fish released with the exception of three quality redfish that will be cooked as Redfish on the Half-Shell tonight at Roger’s...
Jun18
With a long string of trips approaching, Randy Hamilton and I hit the water this morning to explore some areas I haven’t fished in a while. Caught lots of redfish and trout on topwater and found some areas with huge amounts of both species. Fished until 800am and called it a day! My clients are will be very pleased with their upcoming trips. See everyone soon. E Holstman Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Jun17
Guided brothers Jim and Scott Michie this morning. Jim and Scott are anglers from Destin, FL. and wanted to learn about the inshore species available along the Gulf Coast. Started early with the topwaters and found plenty of speckled trout including a 4.5# fish. Moved to a bank flat and fished the slicks with topwaters with the same result. Quite a few small fish with some nice ones mixed in but always a great time on surface baits. Switched to Gulp! Jerkshads and pitched slicks and mullet to boat several more trout. Made a short run to some grassy redfish banks and pulled some small-medium redfish. Hit some deeper structure for some more speckled trout and those pesky white trout were everywhere. Next, we went to some shallow docks where there have been quite a few redfish and normally lots of flounder this time of year. We were able to wrestle some redfish out from under the dock-shade but no flounder today. I also pointed to some great areas to look for tripletail this time of year but no fish were...
Jun16
Boy oh boy, what a poor day of fishing. Guided Mr. Mark Clark and his son this morning. Both anglers are very experienced bass fisherman from E. Texas so I was very excited to show them some of our excellent redfish and trout fishing. Started at 515am and hit some shallow flats with lots of bait and mullet. Plenty of topwater short strikes but only a few speckled trout caught. We did manage a 5# fish and a few legals but overall, mostly small trout and very inactive fish. Rolled over to another normally fantastic area and only enticed 4-5 blowups but no hookups. At this point, all three of us were fishing extremely hard with Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads since the topwaters proved difficult for the first hour. Managed a few more very small trout and a small redfish. Moved to some deeper(8-12′) water and still couldn’t find quality redfish and trout although we stuck 12-14″ white trout nearly every cast. Not what the fellas came to see and definitely not my strength. Poked around to 7-8 more great areas with lots...
