Homosassa 5th Grade, Playing Hooky...
Today was our annual Homosassa Guides Association trip where we have the pleasure of taking out the 5th grade class from Homosassa Elementary. Myself and all the captains look forward to this day and having all these young anglers on board. From seeing dolphins, manatees and various birds, plus the fishing - it's a special day for them and us. Today was great as my crew caught several mangrove snapper, plus we found a huge school of giant black drum. This was a real bonus and we brought one to the boat well over 30lbs. A fun time for sure and I thank you all... Capt. Dan
Sunday Sheep's...
It sure felt good to come out of retirement!!! I had Joe and Casey scheduled today and I was on the fence about going with the rain we were having this morning. I'm glad we gave it a try though, as the skies cleared after 9am and we had a fine mid day trip. I made the trip to some sheepshead bottom in 22ft of water and did well. The gulf is still extremely dirty, but small pieces of shrimp put some scent in the water and the bite was good. The team had a fine catch and they are so looking forward to some good eating. I thank you both and I'm ready for next time... Capt. Dan
Crystal River Big Gags and Hefty Drum...
One of those special days on the big pond with my great clients Mishel and Earl and the bite was on. I trolled some offshore rock piles in the 22ft range and with Rapala x-rap 20's, the grouper were thumping. Bunker was the hot ticket and the couple brought in a limit of grouper in short order. I did a little exploring and we caught and released several grouper over 10lbs while finding some new "goodies". On the way home, I drove over the massive school of black drum I saw the other day and I called my great friend Capt. Clay Shidler over and we had a ball. All our clients hooked up and we had a couple hours of non stop action. An incredible day and I thank you all for the fun time... Capt. Dan
Crystal River Inside & Out...
What a perfect day with the Steele team out of the Plantation on Crystal River and we had a awesome day. Today's trip began targeting red fish on the outer keys, and we caught several reds to get the day going. We boated close to twenty with a couple keepers before we made our run offshore. The sea's were absolutely perfect and I made the trek to 28ft of water. The grouper were feeding well and in just a couple drops, we had our six keepers. We made our way back inshore and I crossed a "GIANT" school of black drum. There was close to a thousand fish and truthfully, maybe more. I made a quick cast with a jig and we hooked up to a 30lb monster to give Andy a great tug of war. We landed the fish, added a couple trout to the mix and what a great day in the books. I thank you all for the fun time and look forward to next time... Capt. Dan
Fun in the River...
I had hopes to go offshore today and do some catch and release grouper fishing, but mother nature had other plans. It was quite bumpy for the morning hours and with Mishel, Earl and Jason on board; we stayed in the comfort of the river. I'm not a huge fan of fishing the river, but whens there's no water and a hard NE wind; it can save the day. We fished a couple rock piles and did quite well. Lots of under slot red fish kept us busy with a keeper mixed in here and there and the same with the trout as well. Some black drum also kept the rods bent and it was a good time. I hit a spot or two in the salt river with the same results and with the tide coming in; I mad a run for the creeks. Unfortunately, I had a bit of engine trouble and had to wrap up the trip. I thank you all for the good time and I always enjoy having you on board... Capt. Dan