Tuesday, Oct 15 2013

Rough Grouper Fun Day....

Be glad you weren't offshore in a canoe today. "Wow," it was a rough one, but I was in good hands. I joined my great clients Lee and Clell in their beautiful 30ft Hydra-Sport offshore boat for some grouper digging. The marine forecast called for much better conditions then it was and I'll just say it was rough.... We made it out to the 30ft range and then actually made our way back towards shore. The seas were manageable in 20ft of water and that's where we found our gags. We caught a couple trolling, a couple on live pin fish and had a fine limit to shore for our efforts. I thank you both for asking me to fish with you and look forward to doing it again soon... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
My team found some of the big boys offshore Crystal River today and Ken, Brad and Aaron were in grouper galore. I met the guys at Pete's Pier Marina just after 8am and headed West. It was a bit bumpy for the morning hours and we made our way out to the 30ft range. I haven't been this far offshore in a while, but it was good to be there. We sent down the plugs and "wham" fish on. The grouper action was very good and we put 5 really nice gags in the cooler in just a coupe hours. But...... the sixth fish took quite some time. I was determined to catch a limit for these guys and I made a several mile run to catch the last grouper. Brad caught the last keeper just after 2pm and we called it a day. A big catch and fantastic day offshore Crystal River. I thank you all for the fun time and look forward to seeing you soon... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Friday, Oct 11 2013

Homosassa Big Haul....

Quite the catch today out of Homosassa and myself and fellow Homosassa Guides Association Captains Mark Zorn, William Toney and Rick Spratt had a good one. My crew was Lyle, Tom and Chuck and these gentlemen had a fine mixed bag of grouper, trout, sea bass, grunts and Spanish Mackerel. Slick calm seas made for easy running and we were able to do a little bit of everything. The other guides did fantastic with big mixed bag catches too and Capt. Toney did outstanding bringing in his limit of trout. It's always a special day when the fishing is this good and I thank you all for the great time. Here's the Turman party with an impressive day on the water... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Unfortunately, yesterday's trip was a blow out with the cold front coming through. We toughed it out for a couple hours before we surrendered to the gusty NE winds. However, today was the turn around day and the grouper were ready to eat. Rick, Pete and Larry were my guests for today's Crystal River grouper charter and they did great. The NE wind blew the floating grass offshore and made it possible to troll again and that's just what we did. Hot head Rapala x-raps did their job and the grouper were definitely wanting the bright colors. We trolled up a limit of quality gags and spent the last hour or so chasing down some bonito. A beautiful fall day and I even put my jeans on for the first time in quite a while. Here's the guys with today's catch and I thank you all for the great day... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Another one of those days when the majority of the grouper got the best of us. I had a Kit, Brendon and Larry on board for the day and we began today's charter filling the live well with pin fish and heading to the grouper grounds. The floating grass has shown back up and makes trolling impossible and from what I've seen, it may be here for quite a while. So, we opted to bottom fish and had excellent grouper action. The bites were there, but unfortunately, we had close to fifteen break offs to go along with our keeper and a few shorts. The gang enjoyed the short lived tug of wars and to ensure some fillets for dinner, we ran inshore and caught some trout. The trout bite was good and in a couple quick drifts, we put 6 keeper trout in the box to end the day. I thank you all for you hanging in there and I look forward to our next charter... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Big change in the "grouper mood" over the last few days and they were back on the feed today. Jen, Matt and Helen joined me out of Crystal River for a full day charter and we loaded up on the grouper. The conditions were about the same as they have been with breezy in the morning, and then calming some in the early afternoon. We eased our way spot to spot and the 20ft range was the hot bite. The gang did great on the grouper and after we had our limit, we hit the Salt River area to find a red fish. The reds were spotty and I checked several shore lines before we found a couple. Finally, I saw a couple on the other side of an oyster bar and we sight fished a beautiful over slot fish to end the day. A perfect day and I thank you all for a great time. Here's today's crew with a fine catch of grouper... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Monday, Sep 30 2013

Bonito are Back...

A bit of a slow one, but we caught some grouper and bonito to save the day. I had Mishel on board and our plan was to catch a few more grouper for her final day of her three day Crystal River charter. The bite has been excellent the last few days for the gags, but today it just wasn't so. We trolled various rocks and ledges and were only able to come up with one keeper. The bonito are back on the scene harassing bait fish schools just offshore and we caught one just for fun. Bonito may not be good table fair, but they will definitely give your drag a work out. They are constantly on the move, so try to find out there direction and lead them accordingly if you would like to run one down. I can't thank you enough for these last few days of great fishing and I always look forward to fishing with you. Here's Mishel with a "poor man's tuna" a Crystal River Bonito... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Sunday, Sep 29 2013

Crystal River Big Gags....

We set the bar for the big grouper of the 2013 season and Earl, Mishel and Bruce did great. I met the gang at Pete's Pier Marina and we made our way West. It was a little bumpy for the morning hours of today's grouper trip, but the winds finally calmed and the grouper turned on. We set out the plugs and found some really nice grouper. Earl had the big fish honors and he landed the largest grouper of the 2013 season... so far. Rapala x-rap 20's were the magic plugs and I can't thank you all enough for the great day. Here's Earl with quite a grouper to be proud of - especially with it being caught insight of land. Great job... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
I think I'm still rockin' and rollin' as I type this report. It was a windy one on the big pond, but Mishel, Earl and Dan hung in there and we caught some good ones. Not being sure if I was going to be able to give grouper a try, so we stayed inshore, tucked inside the mangrove islands and found some red fish. No real big ones today, but two slot fish and a couple little ones to get our day started. All the red fish posed for a quick picture and we watched them swim away. The wind calmed ever so slightly and we trolled some shallow ledges to find a grouper. Well, we did great and everyone caught a keeper gag and even had a couple get the best of us. Rapala CD 14's were the plug of the day. Definitely tough conditions today, but everyone did great and i thank you all for the fun time. Here's Mishel with one of today's gag grouper... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog
Yes folks, today was one of those days when the fish were on the feed. I had the Partain family on board and these guys hit it out of the park. I met the family at Pete's Pier Marina and we made our way offshore. Today's plan was to drop some live baits on some ledges, find a couple grouper and then hit the rocks with a mixed bag of species to keep the rods bent. Well, the grouper were hungry today and just about every stop we dropped on produced some quality gags. I was really surprised how aggressive the grouper were, and the gang turned all of them except one break off. With an outstanding limit of shallow water grouper, we ran to the snapper rocks and loaded up on mango's, grunts and a flounder. We hit it as good as it get's today and I thank you all for the fun time... Capt. Dan
Published in Blog

Reservations

Please call (352) 418-2160 for reservations and directions.  You can also email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

U.S.C.G. Licensed and Insured
Federally Permitted by NOAA
Back to Top

Facebook