Monday, Dec 19 2011

Oyster Bar Trout

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
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Wednesday, Dec 14 2011

Good Weather-Great Fishing

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
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Friday, Dec 09 2011

Overcast Trout

This week began with a mild, sunny sky, then a mid-week cold front, and finished to windy, cloudy conditions. Bill and Len were on board today out of Crystal River, for a day of chasing down some trout. Running North, we jigged our way down the outer spoil islands and began catching some beautiful trout. The wind gradually picked up out of the NW, so we had to anchor on some locations and use a slow presentation. The gulf water temperature has dropped to 60 degrees and the trout wanted our jigs almost crawling on the bottom. The day started off pretty good, but when the bite quit; it quit. The afternoon was slow, but we always catch a few for dinner and I always enjoy fishing with you guys, Thanks as always for the fun time and I'll see you soon... Capt. Dan
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I changed the schedule today with Dr. Joe and we made our offshore run first this morning and then finished the day inshore. I wanted to check out some ledges in 15ft of water off Homosassa and see if the sea bass were congregeated there. Leaving from Pete's Pier Marina again, we made our long run south and with calm seas, it was a perfect ride. When we arrived at our location; grunts, sea bass, trigger fish and several grouper were waiting for us and started our day off great. Using live shrimp on a 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head was our bait of choice and on light tackle, all these species fight great. To finish up the afternoon, we made our run back to the North, worked the bars and with a little hunting, we found the trout. The trout were a little finicky this afternoon and I almost gave up on them, but Joe hooked the first one and the rest soon followed. I want to thank you for a great couple of days, it was a joy to fish you and look forward to your future visits... Capt. Dan
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It was a picture perfect day out of Crystal River today and Dr. Joe from South Dakota, had it about as good as it gets. Joe met me at Pete's Pier Marina this morning and he requested targeting some good table fair species. With the tide turning in, we began the day jigging for trout and in just a couple hours, we had our trout limit. The watermelon colored Mirrolure Lil' Johns were the hot ticket for the trout and we also picked up a couple bonus pompano to add to the mix. Leaving the trout, our next stop was some hard live bottom areas and see if we could add some other good eating species to the cooler. Well, the bite was on and numerous sea bass and grunts kept the rods bent and the day was complete with a cooler full of goodies. Thank you Joe for the outstanding day and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow... Capt. Dan
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Sunday, Dec 04 2011

Crystal River Variety

Another fine mixed bag today out of Crystal River and Steve, Bob and Tommy were very pleased with their success. We began the day fishing the first couple hours of the outgoing tide and targeting trout. Using a mixture of DOA cals, Mirrolure Lil' Johns and Gulp shrimp,we jigged our way along the bars and had a nice catch of 11 keeper trout before we ran offshore. Our next stop were the scattered rock piles in 8ft to10ft of water and once again, the mixed bag of species kept us busy. Numerous grunts, sea bass, sheepshead, grouper and a mackerel filled out our afternoon before we called it a day. Thank you gentlemen for the great time and look forward to seeing you again soon... Capt. Dan
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It has been almost a week since I've been on the water and it was great to be back out there today. I had to reschedule a couple of the charters in the beginning of the week, due to the weather conditions and with the few days off; I'm ahead of the game with the Holiday shopping.... Now back to the fishing report. I had Rob on board today out of Crystal River and he requested anything that bites and tastes good. I suggested starting the day targeting trout and he was all game for doing so. We ran down the river, headed North and worked the outer spoil islands with Mirrolure Lil' Johns and new penny gulp shrimp to catch our trout limit. The fish were really concentrated and actually caught all of them anchored, before we ran south to the rock piles. Down south on the rocks, it was sea bass heaven. It was absolutely a feeding frenzy and each fish we hooked and reeled in, there were several others following, which made it exciting for multiple hook ups. We also had a variety of grouper, sheepshead, grunts etc... as a mixed variety, but the black sea bass stole the show. Using a simple live shrimp on a 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head was the bait of choice and I thank you Rob for the outstanding day. Enjoy all the fine eating fish... Capt. Dan
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Wednesday, Nov 23 2011

Double Digit Reds

Wow, what a red fish day! I had Ross and Mindy on board again for their second day Crystal River Charter and the bite was on. We left from Pete's Pier Marina, began the day catching several trout on the DOA deadly combos and waited for the tide to get right for red fishing. After a great trout day on Monday, I wanted to target red fish for the afternoon tide and the conditions were shaping up perfect. We hit the creeks just after noon and the red fish were on the feed. We boated 27 red fish and it was fish on for almost an hour. Using free lined live shrimp was the bait of choice and presenting the shrimp in with the mullet schools, was our technique. We picked up a couple more trout for the afternoon and called it a day. I thank you both for a great couple days and really enjoyed the exceptional day today. Have a safe trip back to Minnesota and look forward to your next visit... Capt. Dan
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Tuesday, Nov 22 2011

Rocky Mountain Trout

Today was a charter I had arranged with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and James and Carol were my lucky anglers to win the trip. The game plan was to target trout for our 1/2 day Crystal River charter and we found some beautiful shallow water trout. Working the kelp grass beds to the North, we had steady trout action all morning and put several nice keepers in the cooler. The ever productive DOA deadly combos in the glow shrimp color was our top producing bait today. A quick little tip; when the water is a little off color like it has been especially to the North, the glow color really produces well. It was a great morning and I thank you both for the wonderful time. Good luck in your hunting adventures and enjoy the fresh trout... Capt. Dan
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Monday, Nov 21 2011

Thanksgiving week Trout

Ross, Mindy and Ed were on board for their annual visit to Florida and the gang was ready to catch some trout. We left from Pete's Pier Marina this morning and we covered all the bases from the shallow flats, to the outer spoil islands. We caught plenty of fish at all the locations, but the majority of the keepers came from the spoil islands. We used Mirrolure Lil' Johns on a DOA 1/8th oz jig heads and these baits are truly amazing. There scented, durable and they have not let me down yet (the trout like them too). We just targeted trout for the day, so there would be plenty of fish to take back home to Minnesota for several fish frys. I thank you all for the great time and I'll see you again on Wednesday... Capt. Dan
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