Crystal River Fishing Charters & Homosassa Charters

I hate to cancel charters and even though I knew today's conditions weren't going to be all that great; my guys were ready to give it a try. I had Chris, Steve and Matt on board for a 1/2 day Crystal River charter and we did fine considering the conditions. I picked the gang up from Chris's house on the Crystal River and we made our way to the flats. Offshore was not going to be an option, so we played it safe and worked some of the bars. Gusting winds to 20mph out of the East made for tough fishing, but the guys caught some nice keeper trout on DOA motor oil jerk baits to show for their favorites. We called it a day a little after noon and I thank you all for the fun time. Here's Chris with today's catch... Capt. Dan

Wow, was it ever rough out there today. A howling East wind and we definitely had to have our sea legs. Lee and Clell were on board with me for the day and we left from Pete's Pier Marina ready to tackle some trout. I made the run south to the offshore grass patches that have been holding the trout, and we found them. We had nine good keeper trout before the conditions deteriorated so much and chased us inshore. We made a quick drift in 4ft of water just outside Mangrove Pt. and picked up our other keepers to top off out limit. Motor oil DOA jerk baits and bourbon Lil' Johns were today's flavors of the day. We had a couple other species to add to the catch and we called it a day. I thank you guys for the fun time and congratulations on a great catch in "less than favorable" conditions... Capt. Dan

A special request from my other half..... My wife and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary and all she wanted to do is go fishing. I saved a special day for her and her request came true. We had a fun day catching a triple tail, keeper sized cobia and as luck would have it - a beautiful tarpon. We spotted a school of tarpon while running to another spot to actually catch trout. I slammed on the brakes and approached the school. We led the school accordingly, presented our bait and fish on. It was a "team" effort, and we brought the fish boat side, took some pictures and watch her swim away. An excellent anniversary present and as many as you know "a happy wife, is a happy life". Here's Becky with her tarpon and I'll see you all on the water soon... Capt. Dan

A busy Memorial day weekend on the river and I had the pleasure of fishing with fellow Homosassa Guides Association Captains Mark Zorn, Rick Spratt, Fred Lyles, Jody Johnson, William Toney and Eric Toney at the Homosassa Fishing Club. The fishing was pretty good over the couple days, but Saturdays catch was off for me with only a couple keeper trout. The wind was up and making it offshore where the majority of the fish are, was not possible. However, Sunday was a different day and I could make it out to the 10ft depth range and find some quality trout. Peggy and Ford were on board and in just a couple hours of fishing, the crew caught their limit of ten keeper trout and a few sea bass before noon. The group returned to the club island, we prepared a fine shore lunch and then returned back to the flats for another hour of fishing. My team added another trout to the box and lost a hefty red fish to the rocky shoreline before we called it a day. A couple more trout were caught among the other guides and Capt. Zorn's team won the prize with a pair of beautiful red fish to end their day. I thank you all for the fun time and look forward to seeing you again soon... Capt. Dan

Here one day, gone the next. Yes folks that's tarpon fishing and on today's charter, they disappeared. I had Oscar and Arno on board for their final day with hopes on bringing another tarpon boat side, but today was not the day. We ran North, South, East and West, but no visible fish for us. I can only attribute this to a change in the wind pattern and the group of tarpon I was fishing continued migrating up the coast. We did have a couple fun days and took some great pictures to last a lifetime. I look forward to your next visit and travel back to South Africa safely...Capt. Dan

Today was a very special day for me and I finally caught and landed my first tarpon on the fly. I was with my good friend Ted Johnston, owner of Leisure Time Travel, and he said "Captain, you're up first". I wasn't going to argue and after seeing a tarpon just roll, my line was in the water. I've hooked, jumped, and had the line break over the years, but today was my lucky day. After several casts and a little frustration, we had a tarpon cooperate. I hooked up and the battle was on. Several jumps and line screams runs on the Billy Pate fly reel, she finally came boat side for a leader touch and release. It was a very memorable day and I thank you Ted for being there and all your help. Here's your truly with a day to remember... Capt. Dan

Sorry for the delay in reports everyone, but I'm having some technical issues on the computer.... On Wednesdays charter, I had Oscar and Arno back on board for day two of their tarpon fly fishing charter. We didn't see as many numbers of fish as yesterday, but we did put a couple in the air. The guys each jumped a tarpon and we got some great shots. Dark colored flies have been the pattern color and here's Arno with a great shot of tarpon putting on a show... Capt. Dan

We struck silver today and caught the first tarpon of the season on the fly. I had my special guests Oscar and Arno who came all the way from South Africa again to catch the mighty silver king. We staked out on the tarpon route and had some willing fish today. We had a couple followers and then we finally found a happy fish. It was an excellent battle and we got her to the boat for a leader touch and release. A great day and I can only hope for more to come. Here's a beautiful jumping shot of today's fish... Capt. Dan

A fantastic day just offshore Crystal River and Mel and Jerry hit it out of the park. I met the guys at 8am at Pete's Pier Marina and we made our way to the trout grounds. It was a little breezy to make the initial run, so we tried the shallow area's; but had very little success. The winds calmed around 10am and we made our run offshore. In two quick drifts the guys had their limit of quality sized trout and bourbon colored Lil' John's were the bait of choice. After the excellent trout bite, we anchored on one of my favorite rock piles and added a few mangrove snapper and sea bass to top off the charter. What an excellent day and i can't thank you all enough. Here's Jerry and Mel with their fine catch... Capt. Dan

Day two with the Hansen party at the Homosassa Fishing Club and my guests today were Lee and Richard. After a banner day yesterday offshore, the guys requested trying for a red fish or two. I let them know the bites been off a little, but we'll give it a try. Well, as luck would have it, we did find a couple beautiful slot red fish and a under slot to start the day. Free lined live shrimp was the bait of choice for the red fish. We left the keys and made a short run to the grass flats and began picking up a few trout. The guys did great on the trout and caught 10 keepers up to 23" to end their fishing trip, before we fixed our famous shore lunch. Me and Capt. Z prepared all the fixings and another fine day out of Homosassa was in the books. I thank you all for the fun time and look forward to seeing you soon... Capt. Dan