The grouper turned on and they were much more aggressive than yesterdays trip. I had Ron and Dan on board for a fun day out of Crystal River and the guys did great. With very favorable condtions for running offshore, we stuck to the grouper plan and headed West. Filling the live well with insurance, we stopped and caught several dozen palm sized pinfish to have some grouper candy on standby. In a half hours boat ride, we arrived at our destination and in no time, we were hooked up. Live baits were the ticket and several keeper sized gags came aboard, along with cobia and a hefty nurse shark. We caught our limit on two stops and ran back inshore to the 10ft range and added a couple trout to the mix. A really good day of fishing and I thank you both for the fun time... Capt. Dan

It was down to Hail Mary time for me today and I was getting worried if I was going to produce some keepers. Ken, Brad and Larry were on board with me today for a Crystal River grouper charter and we eventually found them. We loaded up and left from Pete's Pier Marina and ran to the flats to fill the live well with pinfish. In a hour we had a great assortment of baits and our next stop, was dropping down for a grouper. Well, it was a very slow start and finally on drop number seven, we found some keepers. There were some break offs and short gags caught, but it definitly took a while for them to cooperate. The guys landed some quality gags and several grunts to make the trip and I thank you all for the fun time... Capt. Dan

We made the trip offshore today and the grouper are stacked in the 20ft range. David, Scott and Andrew were on board with me today at the Homosassa Fishing Club and we skipped the scalloping, and ran West. A little bit of a bumpy West wind made us take a couple stops inshore, but when we finally reached the 20ft range it was on. The shallower rocks did produce some grouper, cobia, grunts and snapper, but the grouper were on the short side. Once we anchored up, we sent down some frozen threadfin herring and in short order, the guys had their limit. Only a couple break offs and sharks to contend with today, but the surprising thing was the grouper wanted the dead bait. We tried some live pinfish and I couldn't beleive it, no takers. A great couple days and the other Capts. on the trip did outstanding as well with scallops, red fish, trout, and a couple grouper. Thank you all for the fun time and here's my crew with today's catch... Capt. Dan

I must say, this year is definitly a banner year for scalloping. I generally stay pretty busy with fishing charters, but I do schedule a few scallop trips and today was my first trip of the year. I had Scott, Jerry and David on board out of the Homosassa Fishing Club and we loaded up and hit the scallop grounds. Perfect condtions with clear water and an all morning out going tide - the guys loaded up. We had our 8 gallon limit quite easy and even had to realese several others. Capts. Mark Zorn, Rick Spratt and William Toney were on the trip as well and everyone had their limits across the board. We spent a couple hours in the afternoon on the shallow rock piles catching a few mangrove snapper and grunts, but the water was extremmely dirty and made getiing in position a little challenging. A fun day on the gulf and great to be back in the salt water game. Here's Jerry with one of his bag full of scallops... Capt. Dan

A perfect trip this year out West and the fly fishing was absolutly fantastic. The weather couldn't have been better and especially the dry fly action was superb. We spent the last couple days fishing my favorite piece of water, the Grey's River and it didn't disappoint us at all. The Grey's is a 60 mile long river that you can drive its entire length and actully watch it grow from a couple inch wide stream to a roaring river. I focused on the upper water sections and fished the deeper riffle runs instead of the pools and the trout were eager to rise to a fly. With the warmer summer conditions the larger trout were definitly holding in the more oxiginated types of water and this is why the riffles excelled. A size 10 madam X style dry fly in a purple or black was the fly. (I learned from the locals, cutthroat trout love purple). However, the other patterns I mention earlier worked very well, but I did notice a big jump in the size and quality of fish when we changed to the "x". It's tough to say good bye to this beautiful country, but I'll be back next year. I'm looking forward to getting back on the gulf making great memeories with all of you and I'll see you back on the water in a couple days. Here's one of last Snake River cutthroats to end the trip... Capt. Dan

Two years in the making folks, but I completed the Wyoming cutthroat slam challenge. The Wyoming cutthroat slam is a program the Wyoming Game and Fish offers to anglers who want to pursue all four species of native cutthroat trout. Yellowstone, Snake River, Colorado and Bonneville are the trout species and it requires some research and dedication. There's no time limit, you just have to provide documented pictures and locations. I caught my Yellowstone last year in the park and several Snake River cutthroats, but yesterday we drove 200 miles for just two trout - "yes my wife says I'm nuts"... The Colorado and Bonnelville take a little hunting and are found within close proximity to each other, but there home streams are a bit of a drive from Alpine. The hard work and efforts paid off and I'm proud to say it is completed. A couple days left on this vacation and hopefully a few more days of great fishing. Here's the toughest of the four trout species, the Bonneville and it was a beautiful fish. I'll see you soon... Capt. Dan

We hit the high country and we found the big ones. With just a week to go in Wyoming, we've been doing some exploring. On yesterday's trip, we made a 2 hour ride East to the Piney area and it just may have been the most beautiful country yet. High mountian streams and hungry brook and cutthroat trout - it was fantastic. We encountered moose, deer, prong horn antelop and beavers to add to the wildlife mix. There's still a litttle snow on the high elevation mountains and the wild flowers are in full bloom. The fishing has been great all over, but this area produced some really large trout. My wife landed her biggest cutthroat, a beauty over20" and some quality sized brook trout. All the trout were on dry flies, except one "monster" that pulled the hook on a purple and black streamer I had on for a minute. A great new area and here's Becky with her big cutthroat. I'll check in soon...Capt. Dan

Hello everyone, I wanted to check in and let you know how the Wyoming trip is going. The weather has been fantastic with lows in the upper 40's and highs in the mid 80's. The water is a little low from the lower than normal snow fall amounts the area experienced from the winter, but there's still enough water to keep us busy. The cutthroat and brook trout action has been great and I've been using a variety of streamers and dry flies including yellow sallies, deer hair caddis and Letort hoppers. We're trying new streams on a regular basis and every area is producing fish. I'll check back in when I can and here's a beautiful Snake River cutthroat that took a purple and black cone head bugger... Capt. Dan

A 1/2 day Crystal River charter with the Paul family and was it ever busy. The scallopers are here in huge numbers and this time of year just coming in and out of the river can be a chore. To try and the beat the crowds, I picked up the guys at their house on the Crystal River and we left just after 7am. Our first stop was drifting the kelp grass patches in the Salt River area and we had some action. The first cast of the day produced a hefty cobia and a couple trout and jacks soon followed. DOA deadly combos rigged with the new blood worm colored MirrOlure Lil' John was the bait of choice. The tide was running in and before our trip was over we tried a couple red fish points. The guys had them on, but the sharp oyster bars I've been fishing got the best of us again. A good morning of fishing and it was great to get one more charter in before I head out West. I thank you all for the fun time and here's John with the first cast of the days fish... Capt. Dan

Sorry folks, not to much to report over the last few days with all the rain showers and wind. Grouper season opened Monday and with conditions not favorable for going offshore, I've been land locked and canceled a few charters. Also, scallop season has opened and the reports I'm hearing are good from around the Gomez Rocks area and just to the south. As many of you know, I'll be leaving Monday to head out West for my yearly fly fishing trip to Wyoming and I'm very excited. The conditions are looking absolutely perfect and I've tied enough flies to fill a tackle shop - (I'm ready). I'll be staying in Alpine with Snake River fine spotted cutthroat trout being the main target species. Thank you as always for visiting my site and here's the big cutthroat from last years trip... Capt. Dan