Guided Mr. Jim Lawrence and his son, Jamie, on Tuesday and guided Chris and Missy Simmons this morning. Jim and Jamie really stuck it to the redfish and trout, taking some great fish home for dinner in Destin. Today, Chris and Missy joined me for a very similar trip where both anglers got their share of quality redfish and trout. Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads in camo always do the trick and fish were found on both protective and wind-blown banks. With the water quickly rising, I find it most productive to skirt the banks very closely, casting outward to redfish approaching the grass and root-filled bottom. Blindcasting and sight fishing were both successful techniques. The couple took a few quality trout and some mid-sized redfish home for dinner. Lots of trips booked so plan accordingly anglers!! E...
Read MoreRedfish University at Bass Pro Shops in Destin, Feb. 24-25.
For the fifth year,Redfish University and Eric Holstman will be at the Spring Classic event Bass Pro Shops in Destin on February 25-26 from 10-3pm. As a Pure Fishing/Berkley Pro Staff ambassador, I will be assisting store employees and customers with our products including Berkley Gulp!, Berkley Powerbait, Penn Reels, Abu Garcia, All-Star Rods, Spiderwire, Stren, Trilene, Johnson and many more. Don’t forget about the “Reel Trade Ins” and all the great deals between Feb. 25-March 13. Redfish University will also perform redfish and speckled trout seminars during various periods of the day. For those in Mobile, Berkley Pro Staff ambassador, Bobby Abruscato, will be handling the Spanish Fort Bass Pro Shops event. Abruscato is the absolute best over in Mobile Bay. Thanks and I hope to see everyone at Bass Pro Shops. E...
Read MoreLots of trips at Redfish University-February 24, 2010
Hello all, Redfish University took a little break back in December but has performed many shallow water redfish and trout trips between the New Years and now. We’ve been concentrating in the upper bays where there are plenty fish as well as some trips down to West Bay for the shallow water tailing redfish. I wouldn’t say it’s been busy but 1-3 trips per week is fine with me. A point worth mentioning, with the early morning low tides for the last few months, the redfish and trout fishing has definitely been better in the afternoons as the water is rising. 3-4 hours before the high has proved to be most production. An average trip has consisted of 15-35 trout from 1-4# and 6-20 redfish in the 20-25″ range. Lots of trips in the books in March, April, May and beyond so I will do a much better job of posting reports in the coming weeks. Thanks for looking and see everyone soon. Eric...
Read MoreBig Redfish after poor bottom fishing at Redfish University-November 18, 2010
My last trip before heading to Ambergris Caye, Belize for ten days. I am ready! Had a couple fellas who wanted to pull on some fish this morning for a few hours. Started at 700am and filled the livewell with beautiful 4″ menhaden and 4-6″ mullet. For those interested in finding some quality live bait, the ponds on the south side of the bay along Ft. Pickens Rd. are packed with great numbers of both mullet and menhaden. Hit some bottom structure for about 45 minutes without a bite. Slow water? Incoming tide? I don’t know. Packed those rods up and pulled out the light tackle. Ran out of the Pass to the west side and found plenty of bait and birds. No visible signs of large redfish but we found soon enough that they were on the down-current side of the bait and near the bottom. A few other boats were up-current and didn’t see them with fish. Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads with 1/4oz. Marsh Works Bull Red jigheads and 3/4oz. Johnson Spoons worked great. I wouldn’t say there was a lot of redfish in the area and I don’t have a bottomfinder on the 21 Redfisher but they were definitely down-current waiting for the bait to come to them. Pulled on fish for a few hours and headed in at 1000am to pack for Belize. The bonefish, permit, tarpon, snook, rum and cold Belikens are waiting for me. Look for some more RU reports after November 29. E Holstman Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreInstructional Excellence at Redfish University-November 15, 2010
Redfish University has really gained a reputation for excellence in the area of instructional/location-based/technique guided fishing trips. We are finding that many local and visiting anglers are taking advantage of this unparalleled and untapped resource. The instructional curriculum at Redfish U. remains fluid and a work in progress, and always will, as each trip and angler will dictate levels of educational intensity. Also the fact that I, and every angler, should learn something new on each fishing outing, the curriculum continues to get even better. Of course, we catch plenty of the targeted species, but these excursions are centered around where to be, when to be there, what to look for and what these fish are biting. Guided Mr. Bob Simmons in the northern bay areas this morning to concentrate on redfish, speckled trout and even largemouth and striped bass areas of interest. I think Bob found it very interesting to catch a redfish, a trout and a bass in the same areas! Covered some great areas and showed Bob everything I know about inshore fishing from setup techniques, casting, knot-tying, bait selection, line selection, leader selection to shallow water, deeper water and even introduced the dreaded popping cork with which we actually scored some very nice fish. Anyway, a very fun trip before the rains and winds really kicked up. For those interested, there isn’t a better way more efficient way to learn target and species specific areas than by booking an instructional/location/techniques(I need a clever name for these guided trips!) guided trip at Redfish University! You”ll save the fee in fuel money in a few months!! Lots of instructional trips on the books so please plan ahead. No photos today, forgot my camera. Happy Fishing! Eric...
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