Two days of unfortunate cancellations due to the weather; I sure was ready to get back on the fish. On today's trip out of the Plantation on Crystal River, I had Chuck and Terry on board and we made a hard run to the grouper lands. It was smooth sailing at 40mph to the 12ft range and I must say the bite was on. I anchored, sent down the thread fin herring and "WHAM"... In just a matter of minutes we had our limit, and some fine sized gags too. We wrapped up the grouper game and ran back inshore to tackle some trout. The team and I made a long drift in 4ft of water of the keys, picked up about a 1/2 a dozen keepers on cork rigs and called it a day. I thank you both for the great time and congratulations on an awesome catch... Capt. Dan.

The roughest charter I've been on in quite sometime and it was bumpy. I had Mike, Jason and Pat on board and I told the team it wasn't going to be pleasant, but we wanted to give it a try anyway. A very stiff NE wind greeted us at the mouth of the river with a 2ft-3ft chop as well. I was able to make it out a couple miles and have some luck. The bite was slow and we turned a beast of a grouper in the 17lb range and some break offs as well. That pretty much summed up our day, but we always have a good time fishing together. Thank you guys and I look forward to next time... Capt. Dan

With a nice weekend of rest due to the front that came through, I was ready to get back on the big pond. The shallow water grouper fishing has been excellent this season as many of you know from my previous reports; but today we had the first official North Easter come through and it fired them up even more. As the days get shorter and the cold fronts begin to come through, these conditions really turn on the grouper bite and this what makes fall in our are so special. I had the pleasure of the Peregrine family on board today out of the Plantation on Crystal River for some grouper digging. The NE wind was up as it was expected as the front came thorough, so I stayed shallow and fished the 10 ft range jumping from various rock piles and ledges. Every piece of structure we fished today was producing grouper and it was another one of those special days. It won't be long before I'll be trolling and the grouper will be hitting plastic. A great job today team and I thank you all for the great day... Capt. Dan

A day for me to get creative on the grouper fishing, as it was howling pretty good right out of the West for some rough conditions. I had the Miller party on board out of the Plantation on Crystal River and grouper was on the menu. I was a bit worried with the rough conditions, so we took our time running to a depression I've caught some grouper trolling before. Well, as luck would have it; we anchored beautifully on the transition and sent down some live pin fish. The bite was really excellent and we went 4 for 11 on grouper bites, while hooking and loosing some hefty fish while doing so. The seas were rocking us around pretty good and to finish up the afternoon, we added a couple red fish to the day and were back at the Plantation just after 1pm. A very fun day and I thank you all for the great time... Capt. Dan

The weather didn't look the best for us this morning running out the Crystal River, so I had to stay inside and find some up close gags. Joe and Joanne were on board for their second grouper trip in two weeks and once again, grouper was on the menu. To be honest, I was really worried with the weather the way it was, so I made a quick 3 mile run to a shallow ledge and it was loaded. We went three for six on the first spot and moved a couple hundred yards down it, to find our fourth fish to get our limit. The white caps started rolling in and it got rough in a hurry. We spent the rest of the day inshore poking around and I thank you both for a great day... Capt. Dan

One of those special days today when the action was incredible and we had a ball. Myself and my great friend Capt. Clay Shidler fished the ladies team of 3 anglers on each boat out of the Plantation on Crystal River. Grouper was the main feature for today's trip and we fished the 12ft range off Crystal River. We anchored up on a low profile rock and the bite was on. Six beautiful grouper came on board using a combination of thread fin herring and live pin fish. A mix of mangrove snapper and grunts also kept us busy, before we ran inshore to hit the tide for the red fish. Back inside, the red fish action was terrific and today was just one of those very memorable days to be on the water. Thank you all for the outstanding time and I look forward to seeing you again soon... Capt. Dan

Always a fun day with the Platz team and they were in town for their annual Labor Day weekend grouper trip. I picked up the team from their house on the river and we headed West. We loaded the live well with pin fish and sent them down on a couple different ledges. A couple heavy weight grouper got the best of us, but we tuned a good one. The bite quit though, and I had to make a run out to 20ft to get back on the fish. We anchored up and had steady action for the rest of our trip. A good day and I always enjoy fishing with you all... Capt. Dan

A little bit of a hiccup with the weather for us today, but we were patient and it cleared out nicely. Today's team of Kurt Sr. & Jr. joined me out of the Plantation on Crystal River for a grouper day. I had to wait the approaching storm out, so we red fished a little bit. As the rain came, we waited under the Salt River bridge and then made our run to 8ft of water. Soon after getting the boat anchored, we chummed up the gags and the guys had four beautiful Crystal River gags on ice. A fun day with a great crew and I thank you both for the excellent time... Capt. Dan

A very pleasant day offshore with Joe and Joanne and we caught the big one of the year... "so far". I picked up the couple at the Plantation on Crystal River and we made our way West. I ran out a bit deeper than I did yesterday and the bite was awesome. We once again sent down a combination of live and dead baits and the grouper were hungry. Three fine gags came aboard and then "big Moe" hit. Joe sent down a live porgy and it got slammed. He wrestled the big fish, turned him and won the battle. A beast of a grouper of almost 20lbs and Joe has one to be proud of. A great day with a good mix of other species as well, and congratulations on a fine catch... Capt. Dan

A great day with the Coleman family to start off September and we found the gags. The wind was up a bit for us today, so I tried some old spots I haven't been to in quite sometime. I anchored on a ledge in 7ft of water and the bite was on. A combination of threadfin herring and live pin fish kept our rods bent and the team caught some beautiful heavy weight gags. Another fantastic day in Crystal River and I thank you all for the fun time... Capt. Dan