Lots of great trips lately, although I don’t report all trips, the redfish are extremely predictable and very cooperative. Look for them in very shallow water around bait and schools of mullet. Guided Mr. Patrick St. Romaine this morning on the Maverick 17HPXV and found lots and lots of redfish. Steady action all morning on the very shallow flats and fish were, as predicted, following large schools of mullet. Ended up sticking around 25 quality redfish with some impressive trout mixed in. Could have been more but we both had an alarming amount of fish come unbuttoned. Short bites with the full moon maybe? Probably not, but a great excuse!! Perfect morning, cooperative redfish and great company. All fish caught on Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and all fish released...
Read MoreA Steady Day at Redfish University-March 6, 2009
Guided Dr. Edwin Yee and fishing partner Mitch this morning on the new 2009 Maverick 17Hpx that I am guiding on until my new Hewes arrives. They both wanted to learn some basic shallow water techniques. It was a little difficult at the beginning but as always, we figured it out and produced a pretty consistent bite. Ended up with 10 quality shallow water redfish including 2 very nice 6.5# fish. We also stuck 3 very nice trout in the mix. Final score: Dr. Yee-5 Mitch-3 and Eric H.-2(I poled all day!) All fish caught on Johnson 1/4oz. Gold Spoons and all fish...
Read MoreEmerald Coast Saltwater Seminar Series-2/18/09
Hey Everybody, Sorry for the delay. This is a rough draft but they are my notes. There’s actually two pieces. Thanks for coming to the seminar and see you in March! Sightfishing for redfish seminar. Tonight’s topic is sightfishing for redfish. Looking forward to this seminar. Sightfishing is exactly what is says, Fishing from sight. Much more goes into this technique though besides seeing and casting. Sightfishing is performed in 1′ of water to about 3′ of water. Bay boats with drafts of less than 14″ or so are fine. Rods and reel Light to medium action rod able to make long, accurate casts. Spinning or baitcaster is fine. Generally, spinning tackle will allow better distance and accuracy. Reels with 8-12 pd test mono or 10-20 braid. 10-20 pound fluorocarbon leaders 30-40″ long. Try not to use a swivel. A line to leader knot will increase success. Bait Livebait is possible but difficult in sightfishing. Gold spoons, Gulp Shrimp, crabs and jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, suspending plugs. Topwater is not recommended but can be used while blindcasting. Also, anything that a bass will eat, a redfish will eat, including plastic worms. My favorite baits in this area(Pensacola): 1. 3 inch Gulp Shrimp or Crab on a flutterhook or Gamakatsu 1/16 oz lead. 2. 1/8 Johnson Gold spoons 3. Gulp 5″ Jerkbaits on flutterhook or 1/16 or 1/8 oz. Areas to sightfish for redfish in our area: Any shallow flats or bank will hold redfish. Areas that contain oyster bar or shells, sawgrass, black root systems on the bank, dark muddy bottoms, sand bottoms and grass bottom will all have redfish. All the above in one section is the best. North Escambia Bay, Garcon point, East Bay, Big Lagoon, North Santa Rosa Sound are great places to sightfish for redfish. Things to look for when sightfishing: Clear water- redfish love clear water. You can see the fish much easier and you can identify bottom conture and vegetation. Also bait will be easier to see. Water movement- incoming and outgoing flow is important. Redfish like a little water movement like most fish and they feed better. Look for bait (particularly mullet)- When...
Read MoreRedfish University!! A fine day. 1/22/09
Well, starting to get busy at Redfish U. again. Guided Tom (Flounderpounder) this morning in the Blackwater area. Met at 7am and carefully boarded the 21 Hewes Redfisher which was covered in a thin film of ice. There was also small icebergs in the canal from which we launched. It was cold!! Anyway, first spot, hammered fish. Redfish and trout. Went to some other productive areas and then came back to “A” once the water started moving again and continued to stick great fish. Ended up with 7 nice redfish and 12-15 very nice trout(1 4.5# trout and several 3#plus fish.) All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo. All fish released, except 1 25″ Redfish and 2 medium...
Read MoreRedfish U. West Bay!!! 1/09/09
Since I was scheduled to perform a seminar for the Emerald Coast Redfish Club at The Lucky Snapper tonight(which was a fantastic event!), I decided to make a day of it and trailer the Hewes down to do some shallow water redfishing in some of my favorite West Bay spots. Picked up Peter Wright, Jr. and fellow Hewes owner, Mr. Tom Crawford, and arrived at the ramp at 830am. Although the weather conditions this morning were absolutely ideal for our purposes of sightfishing, we knew the extreme tide conditions and moon phase was going to be challenging. The water was very, very low and the fish were very, very shallow. To say we saw 200 redfish in a few hour period would be a conservative estimate and to say they were extremely uncooperative would be an unstatement. Cruising fish, sitting fish and even tailing fish were nearly impossible to entice. Finally started sticking them by spotting fish just inside the longest cast you could make and they had to be facing away from the boat. Seeing them early and a perfect, long cast was the key. Very difficult fish today!! Should be better next week. The fish ran at approxiately 90mph from all baits except the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshad in camo. Found some heavy 7-8# fish. All redfish released.  ...
Read MoreThese are the incredible companies that have made me so successful in professional tournament fishing and provide my clients at Redfish University with the world's best and latest in saltwater fishing gear. Please visit Eric Holstman's Pro Staff pages on all sponsor websites.
To visit one of our sponsor's websites, just click on a logo below...
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |