Saturday, Apr 06 2013

Waiting on the Wind...

It was a kind of hurry up and wait situation for my crew and I today. I had the Sweeney family on board and we killed some time inshore while we waited for the winds to calm some, so we could run offshore. Today's charter began to a breezy NE wind and we caught some trout on the first couple of drifts, but mostly shorts with a handful of keepers for the first few hours. I was chomping at the bit to make a run to some hard bottom area's that have been very productive lately. Finally after 1pm, the conditions were favorable to run West and I said "here we go". Once at the location, it was some great trout action. Bourbon colored MirrOlure Lil' Johns were the hot color and trout after trout came aboard; with a few macks mixed it. The day finished strong and I thank you all for the great time. Here's my crew with an outstanding catch... Capt. Dan
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A little breezy out of the SE today, but it's exactly what we needed to cover some ground inshore.  I had my great annual Maine clients, the Lewis family, on board for another wonderful day on the water. Capt. Dan here put his shorts on for the first time this year and it felt great to finally be warm. We began our day a little North of the river working some oyster bars with MirrOlure Lil' Johns in the very "hot" bourbon color and caught several nice trout on the first couple drifts. It was mostly keepers to shorts average and that is always a welcomed surprise. For a change of scenery, I took the group down south and worked the shallow flats off the keys and did just as well in the clear shallow water. The crew did outstanding and I thank you all for the fun time. The weather doesn't look favorable for the next couple days, but we'll be back soon as this front passes. Here's the Lewis family with their fine catch... Capt. Dan
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Tuesday, Apr 02 2013

Crystal River Ladies Team....

Spring has sprung folks! Yes, the Spanish mackerel have arrived in full force and they are here is big numbers. On today's Crystal River charter, I had the Lent family on board and these ladies did oustanding. We made our run offshore to about 8ft of water and jigged some hard bottom area's with bourbon and watermelon colored MirrOlure Lil' Johns. The spanish mackerel were in a frenzy and in between being cut off by the macks, we squeezed several nice trout in as well. Our condtions were beautiful and the gulf warmed to almost 70 degrees today. I can't thank you all enough for the great day and always look forward to seeing you again soon... Capt. Dan
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I believe I could have "almost", worn shorts on today's charter. It warmed up nicely and Doug, Virginia, Elizabeth and James had an absolutely beautiful day out of Crystal River. The trout action for us today's really heated up towards the end of the day, but was slow during the morning. We covered several area's, but had the best action in the mangrove creek mouths. We used the islands to block some of the SW wind and using DOA jerk baits and MirrOLiure Lil Johns, the gang caught some beautiful trout. It was a couple fish on at a time for a little while and time sure fly's by when you're having fun. I thank you all for the great day and congragulations on your fantastic catch... Capt. Dan
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Saturday, Mar 30 2013

Crystal River Mixed Bag....

A nice mixed bag today out of Crystal River with Bill and Ryan on board and this father and son team did great. We left from Pete's Pier Marina and began the day offshore on some rock piles jigging for trout. We caught several blue fish right off the bat and they are always a fun fight on light tackle. Along with the blues, we caught some sea bass and mackerel to add to the mix and the trout turned on later. We left the south rocks, ran North and with MirrOlure Lil' Johns in hand; and caught some beautiful trout. I made a quick last minute stop in hopes of finding a red fish, but there no takers today. I thank you both for a fun day and congratulations on a fine catch... Capt. Dan
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With the water temperature creeping back up, we ran offshore and got a jump start on the offshore trout. I had the Wallace party on board for the day and this fun group always has a good time. The gulf was as slick as could be for the morning hours which resulted in a slow bite, but when the breeze kicked in; so did the fishing. We used a combination of bourbon and watermelon colored MirrOlure Lil' John's for the baits of the day. The gang secured plenty of fish for tonight's fish fry and luckily, they didn't have to "buy any chicken". Thank you as always for the fun time and look forward to seeing you again... Capt. Dan
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Thursday, Mar 28 2013

Crystal River Big Red Bonus!!!

Another fun group trip today with good friend Capt. Zorn and we had the pleasure of fishing the Zimmerman party. It's been tough to make it out over the last week and today's pleasant weather was a welcomed surprise.  I had Jeremy and Jim on board and targeting trout was the days theme. The action for us was a little slow, but we had some action and a mixed catch including trout, mackerel, flounder and blue fish. Capt. Z's team did great with a limit of quality trout to make some happy faces. Today's big catch for my team was Jeremy hooking in to and landing a red fish of a life time. While jigging for trout, we lucked in to this beautiful fish and it was quite a battle on 10lb test. He played the fish beautifully, took some memorable pictures and watched her swim away. I thank the entire group for a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you all again. Here's Jeremy with his prized catch... Capt. Dan
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Friday, Mar 22 2013

Catching Them Late...

It was Hail Mary time for us today, but we found the big one's with a couple minutes left on the clock. I had the Lloyd family on board out of Crystal River and they were in town for spring break. The conditions couldn't allow us to run offshore, so we stayed in close and covered a lot of ground. The bite was slow for us most of the day and we saw some fish that wouldn't cooperate and unfortunately; we were also cut off by some dolphins who had eating our trout on their minds as well. Finally, I said hold on folks, were making a run. I made a long run up to the North and in less than an hour, eight hefty trout ranging from 18" to 22" saved the day. I thank you all for for the fun time and hanging in there so we could find them. Enjoy the rest of your spring break and the fresh trout... Capt. Dan
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Thursday, Mar 21 2013

Crystal River Cold Trout...

Yes, another cold front came through last night and we had to keep the jackets on all day today. Ron and Jack were my guests on board for today's full day Crystal River Charter and the trout bite turned on for us late in the day. During the morning hours, the action was slow with only a hand full of short trout and lady fish keeping our lines tight. Jack picked up a pompano to get the skunk off the boat and slowly keeper trout started trickling in. The sun warmed the gulf a degree or two and we worked the shallow flats with DOA jerk baits to catch our keepers. The guys finished strong with a fine catch and I thank you both for the fun time... Capt. Dan
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Wes, Nicki and Brooke joined me for a 1/2 day Crystal River Charter today and we lucked into some more healthy trout. Leaving from Pete's Pier Marina just before 9am, with caught the last of the incoming tide and fished a couple hours of the outgoing. We ran a ways south and worked some of the bays inside the keys with DOA jerk baits and my crew landed six beautiful keeper trout. A couple shorts kept us busy as well and we lost several other really nice trout at boat side. Some day's they just seem to come unbuttoned. It was a great morning and I thank you all for the great time. Here's Wes with a 24" gator that started the day... Capt. Dan
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