Crystal River Fishing Charters & Homosassa Charters

White caps on the big pond again today with Joe and Joanne on board and the team had some fun tackling grouper. It was quite choppy reaching the mouth of Crystal Bay, so we stayed inside and worked some shallow ledges in the 6ft to 8ft range. We put out a spread of thread fin herring and produced a beautiful 19lb gag in 7ft of water. The winds calmed enough to run to 12ft and we anchored on one of my favorite spots. Well, the big ones got the best of us, but Joanne did turn a hefty nurse shark which was a great tug of war to wrap up the day. I thank you both as always for the great time and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon... Capt. Dan

The last two days the grouper have been a bit tough and I've definitely been working for the ones we've got. I had the Bennett team on board today and we hung in there and had a good catch. The water clarity has gone down hill lately with the West wind, which makes trolling not to favorable. So, bottom fishing has been the plan and live pin fish have been producing the bites. I moved around to various ledges today and picked up a couple here and there to fill out the day. There was quite a bit of slow time between bites, but we toughed it out. Thank you all as always for the fun time and look forward to seeing you again soon... Capt. Dan

Not the forecast the "weather man" originally predicted, but Dave, Steve and Bud were game and we gave it a try. Running down the river and looking at the cooling towers at the power plant; "which is a great weather station". The cooling towers were layed over at 90 deg, which means ROUGH conditions. Grouper was on the menu, so I had to get creative on the real in close spots to make it happen. The team and I jumped around from spot to spot picking up one here and there, but it was no easy task. We did finish with a nice catch all on live pin fish and I thank you all for for the good time... Capt. Dan

Without a doubt, the best trolling bite of the year so far and the Barlow team had a beautiful limit of hefty Crystal River gags by 11am. What can I say, some days are more special than others and the grouper action for us today was fantastic. I exclusively trolled some various rocks and ledges in the 15ft to 22ft range and the grouper bite was on. By far the hot head Rapala x-rap 20 was the top producing plug for us and all the fish, but one came on it today. The team caught their limit of gags by 11am, plus a bonus slot sized snook offshore "a very welcomed surprise" and we called it a day. I thank you all for the outstanding trip and look forward to seeing you again in the future... Capt. Dan

Today was the last of a three day trip with Mr. Maddox, Smith and Dr. Coco. Myself and Capt. Mark Zorn had a great 1/2 charter to wrap it up and the red fish and trout action was very good. We left the dock at 8am and I was fortunate enough to pass a little buck taking a swim, making his way island to island. I took a couple quick pictures and left him on his way. The trout hit DOA deadly combo cork rigs over the yellow bottom with kelp grass and the red fish once again, took free lined live shrimp in the mullet schools. A really fun couple days with you gentlemen and I thank you for the great time. Here's a little different picture for you all - the buck I happened to see today taking a swim... Capt. Dan

Pretty much the same plan as yesterdays trip and Dr. Coco and John were on board with me for the day. The trip began jumping point to point on the outer keys and free lining shrimp in the mullet schools. John and Dr. Coco did fine catching several shorts sized reds and a few slot sized ones before we made our trek to grouper land. We trolled today, landing some nice sized gags on Rapala x-rap 20's, plus having a couple taking us to the rocks and breaking us off. A fun day with you both and a beautiful day in Homosassa... Capt. Dan

A fantastic day in Homosassa with a Homosassa legend on board. Today, I was with my good friend Capt. Mark Zorn and we fished the Maddox/Smith party. Dr. Carter Smith was on board with me today as well as Dr. Coco and we had a ball. Carter Smith has been fishing here since the 40's and to hear the stories of the "old days" are so special to me. Today's trip was great with some fine red fishing during the morning hours and then ending the day trolling up some grouper. A beautiful fall day in Homosassa and I thank you both for the fun time... Capt. Dan

A super slam for us today and we were fortunate to land a variety of species. I had the Coleman family on board out of the Plantation on Crystal River and we did well. The inshore bite was good just like yesterday and we caught a variety from red fish, trout, snook and flounder hitting the points with free lined shrimp. The team caught a nice mix of inshore species, but the weather was looking perfect for running offshore; so we headed West. We reached the grouper grounds and the bite was very good. From trolling, to bottom fishing - the bite was great. An excellent day with you both and I thank you for the fun time... Capt. Dan

A really good red fish bite for us this morning, but the grouper in the afternoon were being finicky for us today. I had the pleasure of having Bill and Sheena on board and right out of the gate, we got on the red fish. We jumped point to point free lining live shrimp and did well. We caught several red fish from over slot, to little up and coming stars. Grouper were on the menu for the afternoon, but they just didn't want to play. We did troll up a hefty one around 13lbs, but he was it. Always a good time with you both and I look forward to doing it again soon... Capt. Dan

Definitely not the nicest day out there for us today, but we hung in there and made it happen. I had the Workman party on board and even though it was rough; the team caught some fine surprise cobia and grouper. The winds were howling for us today out of the NW and there were white caps on the big pond; so it made for some rough conditions. I had to fish some of my shallow numbers and we had some good action. The cobia hit the live bats, while we were targeting grouper and they are always a welcomed surprise for sure. Some grouper got the best of us as well, but we were able to turn a beautiful gag before the rough seas chased us in. A tough day with rough conditions, but we had a good time and I thank you all for the great day. Here's Eric with his first Crystal River Cobia... Capt. Dan