Yesterday Feb 22., I guided some fellas with a shared vacation house down in Navarre Beach. They wanted to fish close to them so they could just go out and do some fishing on their own. With the mild Winter, it was very possible that some larger redfish were already in the area so we took off to check some shallow banks and ledges. I didn’t take long to see some 30-40″ redfish cruising the banks. In this situation, we like to toss at Gulp! 4″ Shrimp on a bit heavier jighead to get it to the bottom quickly. We found a decent amount of over-sized redfish and some legals mixed in. When we ran out of bank, we concentrated on the very few cormorants in the area and found some more redfish directly underneath them. It was a really fun trip and it was great to see the redfish have already entered some areas in the Sound. Dead phone, left the camera in the Excursion and still trying to get used to this small, borrowed boat meant no photos but here’s what the big redfish looked like. Thanks again, E...

For the third trip with my Alaskan anglers, we departed Navy Point boatramp at 8am in search of some shallow bull redfish only to be met with stiff SE winds and some rollers over the bow of the Maverick 17 Master Angler. Returned to the ramp and asked the fellas what else they might be interested in. Both stated that they’d love to bring even more “redfish on the halfshell” back to Alaska for a family cookout. With the water moving in quickly, a SE wind and cloudy conditions, this sounded like an excellent plan. Travelled way east in the Excursion over to East Bay. I’ve been observing lots of mullet on wind-blown banks down there in the past few months and thought we’d be able to grant the request. Tied on some 1/4oz. Johnson Gold Spoons in gold and black and knocked out the redfish in a very short period. Continued down the bank and stuck redfish after redfish with some doubles in the mix. Most fish were great 23-27″ redfish but we did have a few overs in the 27.5-31″ range, but no complaints. We noticed quite a few flounder squirts as well in the very clear water but only picked up one. Some Gulps! would have picked up more flounder but they said redfish. It’s a great day when you don’t know how many redfish were caught. We didn’t bother with the speckled trout today since they were having so much fun with the redfish so we played catch-and-release for the rest of the time. I had a great time smashing them as well! They took four redfish and a flounder home and all other redfish were released after some photos. Total was probably 20-25 redfish between 18-31″ and a flounder. The guys will be back in Pensacola very, very soon and I’m thrilled with the huge numbers of repeat clients at Redfish University. I think I’ll ask tomorrow’s clients if they like “redfish on the halfshell.” Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided some anglers from Alaska today that scheduled a three day trip at Redfish University. Yesterday’s high winds forced us to squueze in two trips today and we’ll finish up tomorrow. Started in Pensacola with some bayou fishing for speckled trout and redfish. Found plenty of speckled trout after the temperature drop and some surprisingly large redfish. After a few hours of that we travelled north to find some really low water conditions but the fish were very concentrated which made things a bit easier. They definitely didn’t like the cold temperatures last night so we needed to make them bite. The fellas did a great job drawing bites and slowly down their baits. Caught plenty of trout and limited on redfish pretty quickly. Found a few flounder but only got one nice fish to the boat. We even had a few doubles on the redfish which made for some chaotic moments on the small flats skiff. Ended up with 30+ trout, 10-12 redfish and a few flounder. Some great tournament fish today with over 14#. The fellas kept some fish to eat at Aegean Breeze tonight and for tomorrow night. All other fish released. Back at it tomorrow. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Wow!! Extremely high winds, pounding rain and very high water. The conditions were unbeliavably difficult but these anglers must have really wanted to fish at Redfish University today! There would be a “bite-window” before the crap from the west arrived so we timed the trip before the weather warnings and stuck a HUGE amount of quality fish. I guided a couple anglers from Virginia Beach today both of which were pretty experienced which made life much easier in some truly awful conditions. Suited the fellas up in Redfish University’s fancy Patagonia and Yamaha all-weather riot gear and we were off. Fished some calm areas and some very rough areas but it made no difference, the fish were rabid. Started by sticking beautiful speckled trout in the 15-23″ range nearly every single cast and our limit of 17-19″ trout was complete in a snap with most 20+” fish released healthy. Travelled to the flounder and stuck three big flounder quickly with as many shaking the fish at the boat. Hurried over to the redfish and stuck countless fish but they were either small 16-18.5″ redfish or they were big 28-30″ oversized redfish. A few hooked fish were followed-up with casts to secure some double hookups but even those fish were overs and unders. I even got some action with a followed-up redfish at 28″. I guess it’s better to catch a bunch of redfish with no legals than to not catch any at all. We really hurried around smartly and methodically today and took care of business before the bad weather hit. Boat positioning was absolutely, positively the key. That, and the fish were crazy hungry. No Sebile Bongos today with all fish caught on Gulp! Jerkshads, Sand Eels and 1/2oz. Johnson Black Spoons. Yep, black. Total: 50-60 Speckled Trout, 15+ Redfish and 3 big flounder but missed several.Redfish U. trips Sunday-Thursday next week with some high winds predicted in the near future. Thank goodness and looking forward to it!! Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...

Guided two groups of local anglers looking for speckled trout and redfish on Wednesday and today. It was tremendous not seeing “my shameless shadow” where I was working on either day. Nice overcast conditions and decent water movement both days but could really do without the calm winds and extra high water. Nonetheless, high numbers of speckled trout and redfish were produced although today was a bit more difficult for the redfish. Fished areas way south on Wednesday to find some great 3-5# trout on 3-4′ flats. We’re continuing to absolutely hammer these trout on Sebile Bongos with some really healthy fish including another 5# fish today. Most fish were taken on Gulp! Jerkshads and, in some areas, a quality 17-20″ were stuck nearly every cast. Viewed a large amount of gar in all sizes on both days which usually indicates slower fishing but in this case, it didn’t hold true. 20-40 speckled trout(14-23″) and 6-12 redfish(12-31″)each day and our clients are thrilled with their new angling instruction, techniques and extremely productive areas to target speckled trout and redfish. Busy, busy with 6 trips in 5 days and still trying to catch up on weather postponed trips. I can only imagine the frantic pace of Redfish University in the Spring and for the rest of the year for that matter. No complaints when clients return monthly! Most fish released, the clients took it easy on the population this week but some were taken home for dinner. Thanks, E Holstman Please click an image to...