We really needed to hustle around this morning with the front blowing through some time in the mid-morning. Started at 515am and took off to some very productive areas for redfish and speckled trout. Light winds, decent water movement and overcast skies provided us some confidence in finding and catching our targeted species but I knew our time was limited. We immediately boated several very nice speckled trout and a few redfish on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads and Sebile Bongos. Unlike the last few days, all of the trout were legal fish in the 16-20″ range and even found a 31″ redfish interested in a well-place Gulp!. It was interesting because this fish was visible in six feet of water as he was just under the surface when I saw him. As the fish fell to the bottom, I asked the angler to make a 20′ cast in that direction and he took gladly took the bait. Not really sight fishing but a great redfish nonetheless. We continued to steadily stick speckled trout and a flounder in a few similar areas and the around 900am we were covered in the blue skies and a 15-20mph wind. Even with all three of us fishing hard, we only managed a few more speckled trout. Frustrated by the conditions and our luck, I decided to hit a shallow protected bank to see if I could pick out a few redfish for the fellas to target with Gulps! No problem finding the redfish but they were EXTREMELY uncooperative although we did pick up a few blindcasting and I nailed a 24″ fish that I spotted from a huge distance. Fortunately, we got out very early and used the tricks and techniques to catch as many fish as humanly possibly before the conditions really went downhill. It’s always difficult to explain that beautiful weather, blue skies and sunny conditions isn’t always the best fishing conditions. No excuses at Redfish University because if they’re wet, we’ll catch them! Skipping tomorrow(I think), got some beggers but hitting it again Friday-Sunday then out of town with sponsor commitments next week. More reports to come and Happy Thanksgiving. E Holstman Please click an image to...

Well, the fishing got back to normal for us at Redfish University this morning. With the exception of several redfish misses on topwater, I think both the redfish and speckled trout were pretty cooperative especially during this early morning slow water movement period. Fished with a couple very talented anglers this morning for a little fish-along trip. I don’t get to fish too much on Redfish U. guided trips but these guys were on their game so we engaged in some friendly competition. Following up with Gulp! after topwater bites, ribbing, trash-talk,  that sort of thing! Really got into big numbers of speckled trout of all sizes on both Bongos and Gulp! Jerkshads. The redfish did a pretty good job of hiding today although we saw plenty cruising and exploding on our surface baits. Again, we caught redfish, speckled trout and flounder to complete our inshore Grand Slam. Or should I say, I caught a nice Grand Slam with a 6# redfish, a 4# speckled trout and a 1.5# flounder. Better luck next time fellas!! Anyway, we had a great time yapping about fishing and pulling on fish all morning. All fish released healthy and happy. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

The hot fishing cooled off a bit over the last two days with the neap tide on Sunday and very little water movement early this morning. We really had to work for them and be patient but we managed to grab some decent catches of both redfish and speckled trout. My best advice under these conditions is to hit Spots A, B and C and stick it out. Lots of speckled trout although unlike last week, only about half our trout made the measurement. Still not too bad with over 30 trout per morning. The redfish proved even more difficult with only 2-5 per morning. Found redfish in the 23-29″ again but they were definitely not happy with the conditions. We scaled down baits and slowed our retrieves using mostly Gulp! 3″ Shrimp to catch both species. The  Sebile Bongos got tossed around by redfish and trout a few times but nothing found those sharp Owner hooks. The fishing will no doubt improve in the coming days and I very much look forward to it. All fish released except a few for dinner both days. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Some really fantastic trips this week. The last few days I’ve been concentrating on the shallow water flats of Pensacola Bay and East Bay. Today’s overcast conditions gave us some incredible opportunities to throw topwater Bongos late into the morning. Although there was very little water movement, we found both legal and over-sized redfish in the 23-31″ range along shallow protected banks with lots of mullet and bait. We also picked up some great quality speckled trout as well. Lots and lots of speckled trout and we probably caught well over 50 fish today in the 14-23″ range. We alternated between the Bongos and Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo and continued to hammer the redfish and trout all morning and even picked up a few flounder. Both groups graciously took only what they could eat in the next couple days and we released the rest to be caught at Redfish University in the future. A packed week of fishing next week for the Thanksgiving holidays so many more posts to come shortly. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Tuesday morning I guided a couple that was interested in learning about the large redfish in Pensacola Bay, Pensacola Pass and along the beaches. Started around 630am and ran towards to the Pass. Found some groups of pelicans and seagulls diving and found a few redfish under them. Continued to the beach and didn’t see much happening although we did find a few in the surf and tempted them with 4″ Gulp! Shrimp. Ran back inside and concentrated on some usually very productive flats where I have been finding nice amounts of fish. Both Bongos and 4″ Gulp! Shrimp took plenty of redfish between 15-25 pounds. Fun morning of instruction and hot fishing. All fish released. Last night, I met a fella at Hopjacks traveling the US and fly fishing along the way. He had been fishing in California, Montana and some other area between here and there. Had a few beers and told him to checkout my website and he mentioned he’d never caught a redfish and would really like to catch one on a flyrod. As luck would have it, I know how to catch both legal and bull redfish pretty well!  He chose the bull redfish and we set a departure time for 830am this morning. Went directly to the area we did so well on Tuesday and immediately started seeing redfish. Large redfish were hooked on both fly rods and light tackle and he was thrilled they fought much harder than Montana’s rainbow trout. We found a huge black drum tailing on the flat and took him with a 4″ Gulp” Shrimp. This drum was the biggest I’ve ever seen anywhere and I would guess a 45# weight on him as he bottomed my 30# Boga. All fish released happy and healthy. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...