Well folks, it's the beginning of that time of year again when the sheepshead congregate for their annual winter spawn. If you all know me or have followed me over the years; you know how I love to target winter sheepshead. I had Bill and Hazel on board for the day " I'm back up and running" and we checked out some offshore winter sheepshead haunts. It's still a bit early for the large spawning congregations, but we caught several keepers and it gave me some reassurance the abundance of fish are on their way. We didn't keep any fish today and it was just a fun catch and release trip; along with some river red fish as well. I thank you both for the fun day and I look forward to our next Crystal River Charter... Capt. Dan
With a couple days down while I wait for a replacement part for my engine, I had the opportunity to fish with my great friend Capt. Matt Flemming and see the North country. Matt is an expert in the Yankeetown, North terrain and he invited me to fish the creeks for red fish. This is John boat/Air boat country and we had a great time. The red fish were deep in the holes and just a simple live shrimp under a popping cork worked great. We didn't catch any large reds, but numerous "rats" in the 15"-17" range. I really enjoyed the day and here's a shot of a mouth of a creek, we worked our way up in to... Capt. Dan
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
Nice full moon tides to get back in the creeks and the trout have finally showed up in some numbers, with the moon phase. I had a great full day charter with Tom and Susan out of the Plantation on Crystal River and we found the trout and red fish. We fished the shallow kelp beds with DOA deadly combos and drifted up some nice trout to start the day. It sure was good to see that the trout have showed up, they have been pretty scarce from talking to the other guides that have been inshore fishing. The couple put ten nice keepers in the cooler and then we made our way south through Ozello to fish for some reds. The red fish bite was pretty good with mostly little ones, but we finally added a pair of nice slot fish to end the day. I thank you both for the fun time and look forard to seeing you in the future... Capt. Dan