Took a short spin around the bay this afternoon with friend, Capt. Bob Quarles. Bob is a fellow Maverick Boats guide and one of my favorite anglers to fish with. Found a big school of bull redfish and got to work. Hooked four fish on four rods including a sweet topwater strike right next to the boat. I also wanted to test my new favorite redfish combo, the Penn Conquerer 4000 and the Allstar ASR Redfish rod. Hooked a 25# redfish on this combo and really put some major pressure on the rod and reel. It came through like a champ and I actually tried to break the rod with the fish near the boat but actually broke the braid. Very, very tough set up!! Anyway, achieved my goal of pulling on some heavy fish, getting some sun on my face and watching the Blue Angels. Fun afternoon. Several trips schedule in the coming weeks and the fishing should be excellent. See everyone soon. Eric Holstman Please click an image to...
Read MoreClasses cancelled this week at the University-November 8, 2009
As Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida approaches, the Gulf Coast prepares for this late-year storm. Here at Redfish University, we have cancelled trips at least through Thursday, November 12th. These three trips will be rescheduled and all clients have been contacts. Obviously, we will do our absolute best to fit these trips in as soon as possible, even considering working a few weekends!! Depending on wind and rain amounts, Redfish University may resume operations on Friday, November 13th, but most likely next Monday, November 16th. Our apologies for the weather inconvenience and look forward to seeing everyone soon. E....
Read MoreYamaha Friends in for some fishing!-November 6, 2009
Guided Tim Haney, Yamaha saltwater promotions coordinator, and Adam this morning. Our first choice was to rocket out to the beaches and do some sightfishing for pompano and redfish and then go stick some over-sized redfish nearshore and inshore. The 15-20mph winds from the east scratched that out for us but that is our plan tomorrow. We decided to trailer up to Blackwater and do some shallow water fishing for redfish and trout. Thankfully, it was much better up there than yesterday. We had lots of action with medium-sized redfish and some very nice trout, including a 3# fish. All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo rigged with Marsh Works 1/4oz. Bull Red jigheads in assorted colors with worm rattle inserts. All fish released. Looking forward to seeing and sticking some pompano tomorrow and pulling on some big, dumb redfish!! Please click a photo to...
Read MoreQuick trip after cancellation-October 29, 2009
Had an emergency cancellation this morning at Redfish University, so I decided since I was already there, I’d might as well go fishing. My clients didn’t miss much and will be pleased that the fishing will be much better next week. Covered some water for a few hours and caught some decent fish but I really had to work for them. The fish were there(I know this because I could see them, smell them and see the puffs) but perhaps the neap tide had some influence on them although I never worry about fishing on neap tides. As demonstrated today, they will bite, you just have to make them bite. Ended up with 4 Redfish, some trout and another small striper all released and caught in a two hour period. All caught on Gulp! 3″ Shrimp rigged weedless with a rattle insert. Very, very, very, very slow taps, then almost...
Read MoreRedfish, Trout, Flounder and Stripers at Redfish U.-October 24, 2009
Guided Mr. George Converse and his friend from Birmingham this morning. These guys were excellent anglers and really fun to fish with! I was a little concerned with the passing front, the high pressure and the west wind, but we really caught alot of fish today. With all species being pretty sluggish today, we focused on very,very slow retrieve techniques, boat positioning for optimal casting angles and the use of worm rattles in our Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads rigged with 1/4oz. Marsh Works bull red jigheads. We found plenty of redfish and trout on some wind-blown banks and creek drains. We also picked off some nice trout and flounder in some open-water areas with uneven bottom. To our surprise, 2 small striped bass were brought to the boat. Bait presentation and rattle was the key today. We focused on areas where there were good numbers of fish and used a “tap, tap, tap, stop” retrieval which proved to be too much for the fish to handle. Lots of bites on resting baits, pick-ups and falls which indicated these fish were following and interested, but just needed to smell the Gulp! All together we stuck 12-15 Redfish of all sizes, 15-20 trout from 12-17″, a 3# flounder and 2 striped bass. A great day under difficult conditions. Please click on a photo to...
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