Guided Mr. Billy Thigpen this morning. Billy is a regular client from Atlanta and is down for Easter. We started out early for some big speckled trout and did we find them!! Billy stuck a 7# trout at first light. We also hit some very nice redfish in the same areas including a nice 6.5 fish. After an hour of slaying the redfish and trout, we took off for the beach in search of pompano. Found some pompano concentrating around deeper holes. We also sightfished several large redfish in the surf while we searched for the pompano. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads and pink/orange pompano jigs. Guiding Billy again tomorrow in the Maverick 17HPX in some very shallow water and we’ll be throwing at tailing and cruising redfish all morning long. Can’t wait! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreRedfish and Speckled Trout but no Pompano(yet) at Redfish University-March 30, 2010
Guided Mr. Jim Tully and Mr. Dustin Martinson this morning. Jim and Dustin are regular clients, great anglers and lots of fun to fish with. Today, Jim and Dustin asked me to take them sight fishing for pompano. For a little bonus action, I offered them an hour or so targeting speckled trout before the sun got high. Both anglers stuck some trout including Jim’s 5# beast. At 800am, we took off for the pass. As we came around the point we found a school of redfish and stopped for some light tackle fun. Good thing we found them first before some other boats big motored through the fish. The redfish were fun but not what we were looking for. Spent 2 hours sight fishing a 3-4 mile stretch of beach. Jim actually had one pompano following his bait, but we only saw 5-6 confirmed pompano. What was also surprising, no redfish or drum to throw at either! With no possibility of pompano and after looking in some more unconventional areas, we were unfortunately left to hit the big redfish again. Stuck 4 or 5 more redfish and called it a morning. At Redfish University, pompano were promised. Jim and Dustin will be joined me for a pompano specific trip in the coming weeks when there are actually some pompano in the water. That’s how we roll! All fish taken on Gulp! Jerkshads rigged on my favorite Marsh Works jigheads. Also worth mentioning, these 15-25# redfish were taken on 6-10# InvisiBraid(pompano tackle) with a 10-15# fluoro leader. All fish cared for and released healthy. Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreNeap tides, full moon and 30mph winds no match for Redfish University-March 29, 2009
After a few days off to work with Berkley, I guided Mr. Mitch Smith this morning. Mitch is a very good angler and wanted to go find some redfish. Very poor conditions today with 20-30mph winds, no water movement from the neap tides and a full moon to top it off. No problem. Started out early with some very nice speckled trout while we waited for sun to get high. After catch our trout we headed for the redfish. Hard winds made things difficult but we made the appropriate adjustments and decisions. Mitch started off with a 25.5″ 6.25# fatty and then stuck the perfect redfish. On the paint at 27″ and 7.75#. Nice tournament weight of a little over 14#’s of meaty redfish. Continued to stick more fish including some oversized beasts between 10-20#. Plenty of redfish around and they are very willing to bite. All fish caught on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads in camo and rootbeer rigged with my favorite Marsh Works jigheads. Johnson Spoons also took some fish. Pompano tomorrow! Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreBig Trout, no pompano(yet) at Redfish University-March 24, 2010
Guided Mr. Bill Shan this morning. Bill is a regular client and an excellent angler. We started out looking for some big speckled trout at first light. Stuck a few good fish and once the sun got high, we headed to the beach in search of pompano. Low light, still cold meant no fish. It still needs to warm up a bit before we see big numbers of pompano. We spent a few hours looking all over the beach from the pass to six miles east. We only saw a few and ended up running into some drum which were fun on light tackle. After a few hours of that and watching the sheepshead catchers crawl around the jetty, we made a sprint for the trout flats. Low light and light wind helped us stick some big trout including Bill’s 5# acrobat that skied three times when Bill drove the hook. Slow day on the beach but a great day for the specks. All fish taken on Gulp! Jerkshads in rootbeer and pink pompano jigs. All fish released. I will be leaving for Panama City tonight to work with Berkley and Penn as our Berkley Pro Staff member on the Penn/Berkley Tour in Panama City, Destin and Port St. Joe Thurs- Saturday. Returning Saturday evening with trips on Sun-Friday. There are a few slots open in April so call ahead. See you soon. E Holstman. Please click on an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreBeautiful but tough day at Redfish University-March 23, 2010
Guided Brian and Holly McDuff this morning. Brian and Holly are moving to Gulf Breeze very soon and wanted to learn about our inshore fishery here in Pensacola. Started out early in search of speckled trout. Found some fish and caught a few in the 2-3.5# range but the bite was painfully slow. Made our way into the upper bays in search of redfish and trout. Found some fish sitting but no takers. Very unusual in normally very productive areas. Headed south to find redfish in clear water. Immediately stuck a few oversized fish and then never found another decent concentrate of redfish. We saw a few uncooperate fish but it was all downhill from there. All fish taken on Berkley Gulp! Jerkshads rigged with Marsh Works jigheads. Holly was able to cast a spinning outfit pretty well by the end of the trip and even stuck the largest redfish on the day! Because I thought this trip was unsatisfactory, Brian and Holly will be joining me in the next month or so for a makeup trip to really show them how productive our inshore fishery can really be. Looking forward to redeeming...
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