Pensacola Redfish, Speckled Trout and Flounder at Redfish U.
Capt. Eric Holstman
March 23, 2012
Pensacola - Saltwater Fishing Report
March 17-19, 2012
Pensacola redfish, flounder and speckled trout at Redfish University-March 17-19, 2012
Two trips today with nice numbers of trout at Redfish University-March 17, 2012
Performed a morning and an afternoon session today at Redfish University. Had some local anglers that wanted to get out and find some redfish and speckled trout. Both trips were a struggle and a bit slower than many recent trips but we eventually found what we were looking for. Fished deeper ledges to produce nice numbers of quality speckled trout and concentrated on shallow, mullet infested flats to find some redfish but the redfish really never came alive for us all day. The rising tide meant we'd find some big numbers of speckled trout to the north and they arrived like clock-work. Found some really large schools of speckled trout in the 14-18″ range and it was every cast. It was a really nice way to end a few average to below average trips. All fish caught on Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads and Gulp! 3″ Shrimp. A very, very slow presentation was a must. Some fish released, some went home for dinner. Thanks, E Holstman
Guided a few Texas college students in search of redfish, speckled trout and flounder. They also wanted to take some fish to Aegean Breeze for dinner tomorrow night and I knew just the place their requests could be accomplished. Started with some great speckled trout along the edges and deeper flats. Lots of trout in the 14-15″ range this time but it wasn't long before we found the bigger fish and a really nice 22″ trout inside a school of mullet. Took off to an area known for numbers of flounder but only found one nice flounder with another dropping the hook. Next, it was off to the redfish. Our lady angler stuck a great 25″ redfish immediately but we really struggled to get more bites on a few passes. Slow water movement could have been the culprit but with the wind blowing hard, it's difficult to say. Headed north to find the huge schools of legal speckled trout in deeper water but they just didn't show for us today. Weird… they've been a sure thing for last few weeks. We found a few more stray trout and called it an evening. Much learn, much caught and a fabulous dinner is in store for our Texas anglers. All fish caught on the Gulp! 5″ Jerkshads and 3″ Shrimp in New Penny. Thanks, E Holstman
Pensacola redfish and speckled trout with some great bass anglers at Redfish University-March 18, 2012
Guided some very good bass anglers from Arkansas this afternoon. In fact, one angler had never seen the saltwater and had never caught a saltwater fish. Fished the afternoon and immediately found some quality speckled trout and a few redfish. We really worked some areas slowly and methodically to produce our fish as they just didn't want to commit to holding the bait. We did scale down our Gulp! to the 3″ Shrimp which helped a bit. Targeted some areas with hundreds of mullet but really didn't hit the big numbers of redfish and speckled that we are accustom to. It was great to see our new saltwater angler picking off the speckled trout and even a nice redfish. These bass anglers are great at adjusting to the freshwater-like techniques here in Florida. I think switching to the InvisiBraid on my rods helped them recognize bite and make longer casts as they were using 10# fluoro on their own rods to start. Ended the afternoon by sticking some really nice speckled trout which were again schooling to the north. It really surprises me at the quality of some of these fish, some of which were in the 16-19″ range. We even nailed some on topwaters!! Today was a much needed catch-and-release trip. We've really been working the area over and taking a TON of speckled trout, redfish and flounder. Took it easy on them today. Thanks, E Holstman
Pensacola Fishing Forecast:
Excellent
Target Species:
Redfish, Speckled Trout, Flounder and Pompano
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