Providing Crystal River & Homosassa Fishing Charters

What a great way to end the year by taking some fantastic young anglers fishing. I had Robert, Mack and Will on board from California today out of Crystal River, for a half day charter and just some fishing fun. It was a catch and release day and we caught an awesome variety of species. While fishing the river, the guys caught mangrove snapper, trout, red fish and lady fish. It was an extremely foggy morning and it took most of the morning for the fog to burn off, but when it cleared, we made a quick run to a couple rock piles for some steady action. The sea bass and grouper gave a good pull on the lines for several stops, but the highlight of the day was seeing a 200lb Goliath grouper swim under the boat in 6ft of water for an unbelievable surprise. The boys counted over 30 fish and it was the best fishing day they have experienced. I thank you all for a great time and ending the year on a perfect day. Here's Mack and Will with a double header sea bass catch... Capt. Dan

Another fun day at the Homosassa Fishing Club. Today we mixed up the groups and I had the younger generation on board. We left from the dock just after 9am, ran out the Salt River, towards St. Martins River and tried our luck at some trout. The morning trout bite was slow, so plan B was to target the shallow hard bottom areas and find some sheepshead. The sheepies were there and in no time, my crew had several beautiful Homosassa sheepshead in the cooler. Our afternoon shore lunch was on order and for the middle part of the day, myself and Captains Mark Zorn and William Toney did a great spread of fresh fish, hush puppies, beans, etc.... To top off the afternoon, we fished for another hour or so and finally found a couple keeper trout to end the day. Here's Maggie, Robert, Emma and Leila with their great catch and I thank you all for the fun couple of days... Capt. Dan

A tough one yesterday and about as good as it gets today; you just never know. I was at the Homosassa fishing club today with fellow Homosassa Guides Association Captains Mark Zorn and William Toney for a full day of chasing down some sheepshead, I had the Sinkler family on board and we had an absolute perfect day. With calm seas, I ran offshore to the 15ft range and targeted some of my favorite hard bottom structures and the fish were there. Spanish mackerel, grunts, grouper, porgies, black sea bass, and numerous sheepshead, made for some fantastic action. Using live shrimp on the 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head was once again our tackle of choice. We had over 20 keeper sheepshead and a couple were over the five pound mark, with the big one just under 10lbs. Captains Zorn and Toney did great as well with some great mixed bag varieties and it was  just a great day to be on the water. Here's Allison with the big one of the day, a beautiful Homosassa sheepshead... Capt. Dan

I'm sure you've heard the expression "We went fishing, not catching" and as a fishing guide, sometimes even the best of us have a tough day. Well, today was one for me. I had some of my great regular clients on board, Gene and Linda and we gave it our best after the last nights frigid cold front. Having to stay in the safety of the river due to the high winds, we only managed short trout and red fish for our afternoon charter. It seemed to be the same story with the other anglers and guides I talked to, but these type of days make us appreciate the good ones. I thank you both for all the hard efforts today and we'll get them next time. Here's Linda with her first red fish, just under the 18" mark'; congratulations... Capt. Dan

Dr. Marks from Sanibel Island joined me this Christmas Eve, for a full day out of Crystal River. With the action being so great on the shallow hard bottom areas, that was were we spent our day catching some tasty seafood species. The morning started out with a foggy, light drizzle; but ended with blue skies and sunshine. The sea bass bite was outstanding once again, but I encountered more sheepshead this charter for a welcomed surprise. Grouper, trout, Spanish mackerel, grunts, sea bass, sheepshead and a end of the day red fish, was our total plethora of species for the day. Great action, good laughs, funny stories; it was truly a perfect day on the water. I thank you for the great time and have a Merry Christmas... Capt. Dan

I had the Noto family on board from California today and they requested some tasty seafood for their Christmas Eve dinner. I suggested keeping it simple and spending the day jumping rock pile to rock pile making sure Tom's sons caught plenty of fish. I enjoy this style of fishing very much and it ensures the most novice anglers, a great time and plenty of action. We fished about half a dozen different structures today and numerous sea bass, mackerel, grouper, grunts, etc... kept our rods bent. Once again just using a 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head and a live shrimp was our bait choice of the day. The guys had a great time and really enjoyed catching the variety of species. Thank you all for the wonderful day and look forward to your visit next year... Capt. Dan

Today was a fun day I don't get to do very often. The wife and I went exploring and we found some new places and several red fish deep in the back country. We planned today's trip around the incoming tide and with a steady south west wind, we had plenty of water to do so. Cruising the shorelines and using MirrOlure Lil' Johns, we boated 11 red fish and all were released to fight another day. Today was one of those days when the artifical lures outfished the live shrimp (we actually didn't have a bite on the shrimp). I really enjoyed today and was very proud of the Mrs.'s with all her fish. Here's Becky with one of the larger red fish from today... Capt. Dan

We pulled up to the bars today, the oyster bars that is; just outside the mouth of the Crystal River to find some trout. I had the Mandigo family on board and these guys did beautifully. Using MirrOlure Lil' Johns on a 1/8th oz DOA cal jig head, it was steady trout action throughout the morning, until the tide starting ripping out and the trout bite was over. We totaled 18  keeper trout, changed gears and made a couple stops on the shallow rock piles. The sea bass bite was good, but short lived and quickly added a couple to the mix to finish out the day. I thank you guys for the fun time and I hope you enjoy all the fish... Capt. Dan

I had a special request to target some shallow water grouper today and even though the seasons closed, we had some outstanding catch and release action. Jim was on board today out of Pete's Pier Marina and we were excited to troll up some gags. Calm seas, clear water, ideal water temperature and the gulf was to ourselves; it was shaping up to be the perfect day. We arrived at our first destination just after 8am and shortly after, we were catching, photographing and releasing several beautiful grouper. Using Rapala x-raps in the fire tiger and bunker colors were are baits of choice for the day. We fished from the 15ft depth range on out to 35ft of water and every single location produced keeper gags. Only a handful of under sized grouper were brought to the boat and the majority were keepers ranging from 23" to 32". I wish I could post all the great pictures from the day, but here's Jim with one of the larger grouper form today's charter. Thank you for the great time and look forward to seeing you again soon... Capt. Dan

Finally a break in the weather and we actually had sunshine today. The east winds were still quite gusty, but it was a beautiful day and the fish were in a very cooperative feeding mood. I did have a charter yesterday, but it was a tough one and all we could do is catch short trout, red fish and seabass. It was a fun day, but nothing to bring home for dinner. However, today's trout bite out of Crystal River was outstanding. I had Bobby and Ed on board and these gentlemen did great working jigs along the oyster bars and quickly caught their limit of trout, plus released several others. Using Mirrolure Lil' John's in the root beer color was today's top bait. Leaving the trout, we made our way to the rock piles and found the usual mixed bag of species for a fun fish catching afternoon. I thank you guys for the memorable day and enjoy the fresh fish... Capt. Dan