Friday, Apr 03 2015

Crystal River Mix...

Wow! What a beautiful day to go offshore and that's exactly what we did with Sarah and Randy on board. Once again, I made the run to the sheepshead grounds and the bite was just as good as yesterday's; but the size average was up a bit. The action was good and we even picked up a surprise snook on an offshore wreck in almost 20ft of water. With a fine catch of sheepshead, we anchored up and chummed up a few drag burning macks to wrap up the day. I thank you both for the fun time and congratulations on the outstanding catch... Capt. Dan

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Saturday, Mar 28 2015

Homosassa Tough & Windy....

What a difference a day can make. We had a cold front come through yesterday after the rain and it sure locked up the trout. It was day two for us at the Homosassa Fishing Club fishing the Watson party and if you can believe; not one keeper trout was brought to the dock. No water, a 10 degree temperature drop and a 20 mph North wind made it TOUGH. My crew of BJ and Vincent did something different and we put on some gold spoons and did the best we could in a couple creeks we could get in to. Well, the plan worked and we caught a beautiful slot snook and red fish, before our afternoon shore lunch. Definitely a challenging day, but we hung in there and made it happen. Thank you all for the great day and I look forward to seeing you next time... Capt. Dan

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Saturday, Mar 07 2015

Trout-Masters Tournament...

Well, it has been since 2010 since I fished the trout masters tournament and today was a fun day. I had the pleasure of fishing with friend Jeremy Cates, who actually won a 1/2 day charter I donated and decided to use it for the tournament. I was in tournament mode and we runned and gunned from spot to spot. As you "ALL" know, I've mainly been sheepshead fishing due to the cold temperatures, but spring is on its way and the trout are due to show up and turn on. We found some nice keeper fish here and there, but I did have to move around quite a bit. The nice surprise of the day was the variety of species we caught as a by-catch which was excellent. We took second place out of 41 boats and had a great time. I thank you for the great day and look forward to next time... Capt. Dan

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Saturday, Nov 15 2014

Crystal River Trolling Gags...

It was day two with the West family and Tom and his dad Herbert had a ball. The weather was much more favorable today and we were able to spend more time tackling some grouper. However, I took a minute and a quick stop in the river to catch a couple snook before we headed West. After a couple small fun sized snook, we made our run to 20ft of water and put out the plugs. I stayed off Crystal River today and even though the water is dirty, we trolled up a fine limit of gags. They were wanting natural colors and only one came on a orange Rapala x-rap 20. To end our trip, I anchored up on a small rock and found some early arrival sheepshead and a few grunts to wrap up our day. I thank you both for a fun couple of days and look forward to seeing you soon... Capt. Dan

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I'm not a weather man, but I believe it's going to be a chilly winter. Today was a cold one for sure, but Tom and Herbert bundled up and we went for a ride. I began the day with the father and son team and we caught a couple river snook to get the day going. We had one nice slot fish on, but chewed through the leader and the others were in the 15"-20" range. Next, we hit the gulf and in the choppy conditions; we were able to troll up a pair of gags. A hard effort to catch some, but we made it happen. Thank you both for the great time and look forward to our next trip... Capt. Dan

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Sunday, Nov 02 2014

Chilly Sunday....

I wasn't sure what to expect for today's trip with the drastic weather change. It went from Halloween to Christmas over night and it sure was a chilly one out there today. I had Phil on board and we left the dock a bit later around 10am to allow it to warm up and calm down some. To ensure some action, we fished the river and targeted mangrove snapper, trout and snook. We did quite well on all three species and both of our snook today were over 10lbs. I did try some locations on the flats and salt river area, but didn't even have a strike. The rest of the week will be warming and hopefully the outside bite will turn back on... Capt. Dan

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I've been waiting for the trout to turn on, and on today's Crystal River Charter, they finally did. I had the pleasure of having the Spann family on board for the day and with hopes of grouper fishing; today's conditions weren't going to allow us to do so. For a plan B, we drifted off the keys and the trout were on fire. The choppy condition's turned the trout on or they came inshore (which ever, I was glad to see it). For a couple hours, someone had a trout on their line and the action was fantastic. Watermelon red flake MIrrOlure Lil' Jon's under DOA deadly combo corks were the baits of the day and it was fantastic. John broke the ice with a fine river snook to get the day going and it sure was great to see the trout cooperating. Thank you all for the great day and look forward to seeing you next time... Capt. Dan

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Thursday, Aug 28 2014

Crystal River Sight Fishing....

I fired up the silver king skiff today and Ray and I did some sight fishing. Today's conditions were perfect for looking for tailing red fish and with a 11am low tide, we poled the flats. We hit the mouth of the river just before 9am, made our run and I hoped on the poling platform. The tide was way low and the red fish had dropped off the shorelines and on the shallow flats. Ray did a fine job catching a couple lower slot red fish on spoons and we had the hook pull on a bruiser that was tailing on the back of a sting ray. A surprise snook again grabbed the spoon off the point of an exposed oyster bar and they are always a welcomed catch. A fun day and I always enjoy poling around and trying to sight fish a few fish... Capt. Dan

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Wednesday, Aug 27 2014

Homosassa Mix...

A big mix today in Homosassa and we had a slam and then some... I had the pleasure of having Tony, Donna, Chris and Beth on board and we caught the whole spectrum. Trout on DOA deadly combos began our trip just off the keys, but I'll tell you the water is extremely dirty from the high winds from the previous days. With a couple trout in the box, we made a run to the rocks and the water clarity was even worse. I had to fish off my numbers, mark the rocks and fish accordingly. The snapper and grunt bite was great though and a couple grouper kept us busy as well. To end the day on the incoming tide, we hit the outer keys and caught some fine red fish to top off the day. A great day and it was good to see some nice weather again. Thank you all for the great time and here's Chris and Beth with a Homosassa snook... Capt. Dan

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Sunday, Aug 17 2014

Offshore Surprises....

A big group today out of the Plantation on Crystal River with fellow Captains Mark Zorn, Rick Spratt, Clay Shidler, Zach Hoffman and Kelly Kofmehel. We had the pleasure of fishing the ATS company and they did awesome. Great catches of red fish, snook, grouper, Spanish mackerel, black drum, flounder and grunts were brought back to the dock. My team did great with some red fish, a limit of mangrove snapper and a couple offshore surprise snook to fill out the day. A great day for the entire group and I thank you all for the fantastic day.... Capt. Dan

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