A fun day with a great husband and wife team from Montana on board and Don and Patsy were in tarpon mode. Don has caught a couple tarpon in the past, but he wanted to experience a Nature Coast heavy weight. We left the dock just after seven and made our way out. The choppy conditions weren't the best to see rolling fish, but every once in a while one would pop up. Around the tide change, conditions improved and the fish got happy. We were able to jump a nice fish and had a couple others interested in our DOA bait busters. A really good time and it was a pleasure to have you both on board... Capt. Dan

I had the pleasure of spending the day with Capt. Jonathan Hamilton we made a trek south in search of tarpon. I'm always trying to learn new water and he took me down towards Pine Island and we fished the famed Oklahoma flats or "The Sand". The afternoon tide was absolutely perfect and we encountered several schools of tarpon. I was able to put one in the air with the fly rod, but one jump and she spit the fly. This area is the closest to fishing the keys as we have to offer and it was a great day. Here's a picture I took and any tarpon fisherman dreams about; a head on shot with a school of approaching silver kings... Capt. Dan

Back to the tarpon flats for another really good day and Rich and Matt did it again. The team put a couple more tarpon in the air and I was even able to jump one myself. The calm conditions couldn't have been any better and it was truly a beautiful day. I've been using Gloomis and Sage 12wt fly rods and Billy Pate tarpon fly reels for the tarpon tackle. When targeting these fish, a super smooth drag is a must, as well as a stout rod to do battle with these unbelievable hard fighting fish. A great day in the books and another great tarpon shot. I'm looking forward to day three with you guys and thank you for a great one today... Capt. Dan

Not the ideal conditions for tarpon charters the last couple of days, but we hung in there and saved the day. I was at the Homosassa Fishing Club with my great friends Capt. Mark Zorn, William Toney, Jonathan Hamilton and Jim Farrior and we had the pleasure of fishing the O'Kelly party. Tarpon was on order for Fridays trip, however rain storms and 20 mph winds just wouldn't let us make it happen. We saved the day with some spoon fed reds in the creeks and lost a hefty snook to end the day. Saturday's trip was a great time with some inshore fishing and shore lunch. My team didn't do well on keepers and we encountered mostly short trout, but Capt. Z took the prize with big catch and he did very well. A fine shore lunch with a special grilled red fish addition to the menu and we all thank you for a fun couple of days. Here's Brandt with a salt river red fish caught on a gold spoon... Capt. Dan

The wind and rain has had the best of us the last couple of days and has not allowed me to get to the outside tarpon grounds. However, there are always some juvenile tarpon in the river and we have been targeting them. Rick and Joe joined me the last couple of days and we gave it our best to run to the flats, but mother nature wouldn't let us do so. So, for plan B, we worked some areas in the river and had some great fun throwing the fly at some smaller tarpon. Bob had several tarpon eat the fly, but these little guys are sure tough to get a hook to stick in. It's neat to watch them, as they act like their larger family members and it's great practice in presenting a fly properly. Eventually, the wind got so strong we fished the creeks in the bay and found a large mouth bass and some jacks to bend the rod. A fun couple of days and I thoroughly enjoyed the days with you both... Capt. Dan

Well, the winds have finally calmed since Saturday and we were able to make it back on the tarpon flats. I had Jonathan along as my guest today and he caught and released his first tarpon of the year on the fly rod. There were a couple schools of "happy" tarpon around and he presented a cockroach pattern beautifully. He led the fish by a couple feet, twitch, twitch and WHAM..... A great fight and some spectacular jumps - I was glad to be a part of a great day. Here's Jonathan with a fine tarpon on the fly... Capt. Dan

Some great shots and happy groups of tarpon for my dear friends/clients Mishel and Earl. This trip was tarpon only and we put some time in and found some good ones. We spent the day cruising off the coast looking and found some rolling. We set up tide and drifted down on them. With DOA bait busters, we jumped five fish and were able to bring one boat side. The action was short lived and in six hours of fishing, it only lasts a matter of minutes ( but that's what we live for when we're chasing tarpon ). A very memorable day and I can't thank you both enough for the fun time. Here's yours truly bringing one boat side for a safe release... Capt. Dan

A great couple days with a true master of the fly rod on board - Jim Atkins from Oregon and we did great. Jim made his way down for tarpon season and over the last three days, we had some very good success. Jim had several good shots, jumped four fish, but the hooked ones either broke the tippet or spit the fly. It's always fun to put your hands on one and especially just hooking a tarpon on the fly rod is excellent. I thank you for the last couple of days and I really enjoyed seeing those fish go in the air. Here's Jim with a fine tarpon that was jumped on one of my "black magic" fly patterns... Capt. Dan

I must say, the last three days have been wonderful with my clients Oscar and Arno for their annual tarpon trip. These guys come every year and Arno comes all the way from South Africa to take the challenge of catching a tarpon on the fly. As you all know from my previous reports, the tarpon season has started off a bit slow, but is improving daily. From this past Monday to Wednesday we saw some tarpon, but not in any large numbers. Luckily, today we found a tarpon that was laid up just below the surface in between the tide change and we were able to present a fly beautifully. Oscar did an outstanding job playing the fish and we got her boat side for photos and release. Some great memories and company -  and I was glad to be apart of your great achievement. Here's Oscar with a  tarpon that taped out at 74" on was caught on a cockroach pattern fly.... Capt. Dan

Sometimes in life you get what you wish for and thankfully, it happened for me today. I generally take Sundays off the water to spend time with my family, but since there's been very little tarpon activity; my wife and I went looking. Well, as luck would have it, we saw one small group of four fish today in 5 hours and one of the four cooperated nicely. I threw the DOA bait buster ahead of the rolling fish and "wham" fish on. We got her to the boat, took some great pictures, removed the hook and watched her swim away. A real treat for me and I really hope more tarpon come boat side in the coming weeks for my clients... Capt. Dan