Blog

I met Chris and Ron at Pete's Pier this morning and the guys requested some grouper for dinner. After our first charter a couple weeks ago, and getting our trout limit, the guys wanted something that pulled back a little more. We ran out the Crystal River and as we looked West, it didn't look good for going far offshore. After seeing so many quality grouper while diving in the shallow water a couple days ago, I knew we could catch a few. We fished the 10ft ledges and rocks piles and pulled out a couple keepers and a few shorts while dodging the numerous rain storms. A combination of threadfin herring and live pinfish were the bait of choice for the day. For a bonus, on the way back home I spotted a triple tail on a piece of structure and after a few attempts we got it in the boat. Triple tail are fine eating and something we don't catch on our everyday charters. Thanks guys for putting up with the tough conditions and here is Chris with his first keeper grouper... Capt. Dan

I had to set my pinfish traps today for my upcoming grouper charter out of Crystal River. My good friend Capt. Chris Wilkins joined me for some spearfishing and after we set the traps we went exploring some of our favorite shallow grouper locations. This time of year it's a little tough to consistently catch big keepers in shallow water on hook and line, but if your willing to chase a couple down with a spear gun, it's a blast. We ran from Crystal River all the way to Bayport today and had a fantastic trip. Rocks, ledges and wrecks were all holding good numbers of mangrove snapper and several grouper were on each spot. The water is quite hot and my sonar was reading 91 degrees. The high light of the day was diving one of my long time favorite spots in 12ft of water. As it turned out, it was actually a spring and you could really feel the cool water pouring out. Thanks Chris for the fun time and here's the catch from today....Capt. Dan

Hello everyone, I just came back from a great vacation in Marathon in the Florida Keys. My wife Becky and good friends Capt. Kyle Messier, his wife Jennifer and her friend Kristen had a fun filled week in the keys. Diving, fishing, grabbing plenty of lobster and having a beer or two made for a great week. On Wednesday, the opening day of mini-season we had a great catch of 25 keeper lobster for the day. We left the dock at 4am to secure or favorite spot and just after sun up, it paid off. On the second day, we boated 19 keepers and had some hefty ones over the 3lb range. The weather conditions were perfect all week and catching plenty of snapper, grouper and having great meals made this a memorable trip. I could go on and on, but it you want to know more about locations, places to stay or just hear more about the trip feel free to give me a shout. I'm back on the water this week with charters, so the fishing reports will return. Here is the group with some of the "bugs" from opening day. Thanks again everyone for a fantastic vacation... Capt. Dan

A true gator trout made its way onto my boat today. I had a 1/2 day charter out of Crystal River and it was a memorable one. I met Shane, Greg and Mark at the Encore campground, which is a little down river and we ran offshore in search of some trout. It was a little slow today and it's always tough to stay on the bite when there is an east wind and an incoming tide. However, I didn't disappoint and we had plenty of mixed bag action; along with 5 nice keepers to bring home for their fish fry. The bonus of the day was when we landed this beautiful 26" trout. A combination on Glow and Holographic root beer DOA shrimp were the baits of choice today. Thanks guys for the great morning and look for ward to our next charter. Here is Shane with today's big gator trout... Capt. Dan

After yesterday's fantastic scallop charter, I was looking forward to another awesome day on the water. I met one of my good clients, Dan from Buffalo, for a full day of chasing his favorite, red fish and trout. Dan was on the charter with me last year when we rescued the scallopers that were stranded for the night off Homosassa. We left MacRae's just a little before 8am, ran to the out side keys and Dan caught his red fish he has been waiting for since our last trip. Dan wanted plenty of fish to take back home, and I only allow angler limits with red fish, so I ensured him our trout limit once we ran offshore. It was quite choppy this morning and it made drifting a little tough. The seas laid down around noon and we finished up our trout limit. We saw some very impressive sized sharks today and watched them cut through a school of jacks and blue fish that would keep the most experienced diver out of the water. Thanks as always for the fun day on the water and I'll see you next time your back in Florida. Here is Dan with today's trout limit and red fish to finish up his vacation... Capt. Dan

Capt. Rick Spratt and myself had an awesome Homosassa scalloping charter today. We had our crew meet us at MacRae's at 11am to let the sun get good and high so we could load up on the scallops. We both a two full boats and everyone was ready to get in the water and catch some dinner. We ran out the Little Homosassa, cut through St. Martins Keys and just got out side the scallop fleet. With in an hour we had a 5 gallon bucket full and in a couple of more hours had close to our 10 gallon limit. We came back in the river, dropped off the scallops to be cleaned for us and cooled off up at the blue water to finish up the day. Thanks to everyone for a very memorable charter and look forward to doing it again before the season closes. Here is Francis with her first haul of the afternoon.. .Capt. Dan