Trying to catch up on some rescheduled trips from last week’s Tropical Depression and overall crap weather. Guided Mr. Mitch Smith this morning and took a bumpy ride east in search of some redfish and trout. Started at first light with a 4# trout. Nice start but it was really hit or miss at several places today. Concentrated on a stretch of pretty clear water with depths ranging from 2-4′. Got quite a few 2-3# fish on topwaters but the fish were pretty difficult to raise because of the freshwater invasion in these areas. Fortunately, a loud subsurface bait did the trick and lots of very nice trout fell victim to the bait. We were also able to get several fish on the Berkley Powerbaits with rattle inserts. Come to think of it, we should have thrown the Berkley Rattle Shrimp in today’s yucky water. Oh well, Mitch received a few in his Redfish University goodies bag so maybe he’ll use them on his next trout fishing adventure. Covered lots of water this morning and only found big concentrations of fish in one big area so that’s where we returned. We saw a few redfish and redfish wakes but only one strike which spit the hook. Today’s trout total was 25-30 fish of all sizes, even caught a half trout after a shark clipped him in half. Hopefully the rain will stop in the next few days and the fishing will get a little better but we’re not complaining. Today’s tip: Clean, moving water with bait. No photos...
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 MoreSolid day of Slams and Rain-July 13, 2009
Guided Mr. Rick Maddox and his son, Josh, from Baytown, TX. this morning in Blackwater and Escambia Bays. Rick and Josh are accomplished bass anglers back in Texas and frequent Sam Rayburn and some areas south of the border. They wanted to stick with the bass fishing theme so I put them on several inshore slams, covering a wide array of techniques and areas. First, we focused on several large schools of trout with a few redfish mixed in. Ran to Blackwater to get some redfish in the shallow water and finished the day with some quality flounder including one 6.5#, 26 1/2 inch monster. All fish caught on Johnson 1/4 Gold Spoons and Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo. I kept 5 flounder for stuffing(Tracy loves stuffed flounder.) Unfortunately, we got drenched on the way back to the ramp but remained comfortable in our Patagonia and Yamaha rain gear although our pants were soaked. Please CLICK on an image to...
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...