Thursday, Feb 02 2012

Crystal River "Speck"tacular...

Mike from Texas experienced trout fishing at it finest, out of Crystal River today. We left the dock at 8am sharp and ran down the river, while hungry trout were awaiting us. Using MirroLure Lil' Johns in the glow and watermelon colors, we had our limit in short order. We had a couple mixed variety species as well, including pompano, bluefish and spanish mackerel - spring is on it's way. Our next stop was the offshore ledges is 17ft of water and we found some beautiful sheepshead. It took a little while for the sheepshead bite to get going, but when the tide turned, the sheepies turned on. For an extra bonus, a school of bonito cruised by and Mike hooked up and had a great battle with a poor mans tuna. Great weather, fatastic fishing; it coulnd't had been any better. Thank you for the great time and hope to see you soon... Capt. Dan
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Monday, Jan 30 2012

Fresh Water Cat Surprise

A fun 1/2 day charter with my good friend and client Bill, out of Crystal River today. We had gusty NW winds, so we stayed in the safety of the river and caught a little variety. Free lining live shrimp in the spring holes produced mangrove snapper, red fish, and trout. We kept eight mangrove snapper and unfortunately the red fish and trout were a little short on one end. A pleasant surprise was when Bill caught a chunky fresh water catfish that put up a great fight. I haven't seen one of these in a while, so we took a quick picture and released it to fight another day - you never know what the next cast can bring. Thanks as always for the fun time and enjoy the fresh fish... Capt. Dan
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Saturday, Jan 21 2012

Crystal River Sampler

A little bit of everything from today's trip, from the inshore species to the offshore. I had Clell and Lee on board for a full day out of Crystal River and the day for the most part, was identical to yesterdays charter. We started the day targeting trout and it was a little slower than I had hoped, but we caught a few keepers and some red fish mixed in while we fished inshore. The winds finally calmed just around noon, and we headed off to the sheepshead grounds. We anchored up and in short order, the sheepies were coming in one after the other. For a bonus, Lee caught a beautiful shallow water gag grouper that was 8lbs and put up a great fight on our light 10lb tackle. I thank you both for the fun time and great catch today. Look forward to seeing you soon... Capt. Dan
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A picture perfect day out of Crystal River and Dan, Erin and Mark had an outstanding charter. We left from Pete's Pier Marina just after 8am and began the day jigging trout right were I left them yesterday. It was a little breezy for the first couple hours of the morning which made the boat positioning a challenge, but the crew had their sea legs and did great. Using MirroLure Lil Johns, DOA cal shad tails and gulp shrimp was what the trout were in the mood for. The winds slacked off around noon and we made our run offshore. I targeted some under cut ledges today and the sheepshead bite was excellent. We totaled close to thirty sheepshead for the afternoon and kept a bakers dozen, while releasing the others. Live shrimp once again was the bait of choice for the sheepshead and I thank you all for the fantastic day. Here's our mixed bag catch of trout, sheepshead, grunts and sea bass... Capt. Dan
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Thursday, Jan 19 2012

Flying Solo

After a week off the water, today was my homework day and l was ready to find some fish. Having several charters lined up, I always like to do the best I can for my clients and have a pattern established. Leaving just after 9am, I spent the morning jigging for trout with MirrOlure Lil Johns and totaled nine keeper trout which all were safely released. The trout were holding tight around the structures and the gulf water temperature was 57 degrees. I didn't check on the winter sheepshead, but they are pretty predictable and let's see what tomorrow brings. For those of you that don't know, I'm obsessed with fly fishing and today I brought one of my 8wt fly rods along. I normally don't fly fish on my group charters do to casting restrictions, but for one on one trips, we can make it happen. (In the near future I'm going to expand more on the fly fishing side). That said, I pulled up to a shallow shell bar and sight fished a couple trout; with one just over 20" and a under slot red fish on one of my home made Homosassa special flies. It's always enjoyable catching fish, but when it's on the fly, it's that much more rewarding. Well, that's today's recap and we'll see you soon... Capt. Dan
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Today was our 4th annual kids fishing trip with the 5th graders from Homosassa Elementary School. Myself and the rest of the 16 members of the Homosassa Guides Association donated our time, to give these youngsters a great fishing trip to remember. It's fun fishing, but a little science and math is involved as well. Recording the air and water temperatures, measuring and weighing the fish and enjoying the different types of wildlife; the day is a great exerpience. I had Mrs. B's group on board the these young lady anglers had a ball. Were anchored up, found a school of trout of all sizes and it was fish after fish. We recorded over 40 trout and everyone caught plenty. I thank everyone for making the event a great success and nothing is better than seeing these young anglers catch their first fish. Here's my crew with one of our Little Homosassa trout... Capt. Dan
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Friday, Jan 06 2012

Crystal River Sampler

What a picture perfect day to be on the Gulf of Mexico! I had my long time Maine guide friend Jim on board, for a full day of some offshore and inshore fishing. We began the morning to foggy conditions and stayed in the river catching trout and lady fish until the fog cleared, to safely make our run offshore. A little after 9am the fog cleared and we were offshore bound. Targeting some rock piles in the 17ft range, we loaded up on a great mixed catch. Large sheepshead, black drum, flounder, grunts, and grouper gave us an awesome show off the different structures we fished, to make for a busy day. Keeping just enough for dinner and releasing close to 20 keeper sheepshead, we ran back inshore and finished the day with four beautiful back country red fish. I was so pleased to be able to put Jim on such a variety of species, after he has done such a great job guiding me on some fantasttic Maine brook trout and salmon over the years. Thank you Jim for the fun time and hope to see you soon... Capt. Dan
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Saturday, Dec 31 2011

Year End Fun

What a great way to end the year by taking some fantastic young anglers fishing. I had Robert, Mack and Will on board from California today out of Crystal River, for a half day charter and just some fishing fun. It was a catch and release day and we caught an awesome variety of species. While fishing the river, the guys caught mangrove snapper, trout, red fish and lady fish. It was an extremely foggy morning and it took most of the morning for the fog to burn off, but when it cleared, we made a quick run to a couple rock piles for some steady action. The sea bass and grouper gave a good pull on the lines for several stops, but the highlight of the day was seeing a 200lb Goliath grouper swim under the boat in 6ft of water for an unbelievable surprise. The boys counted over 30 fish and it was the best fishing day they have experienced. I thank you all for a great time and ending the year on a perfect day. Here's Mack and Will with a double header sea bass catch... Capt. Dan
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Friday, Dec 30 2011

Homosassa Trout & Sheepshead

Another fun day at the Homosassa Fishing Club. Today we mixed up the groups and I had the younger generation on board. We left from the dock just after 9am, ran out the Salt River, towards St. Martins River and tried our luck at some trout. The morning trout bite was slow, so plan B was to target the shallow hard bottom areas and find some sheepshead. The sheepies were there and in no time, my crew had several beautiful Homosassa sheepshead in the cooler. Our afternoon shore lunch was on order and for the middle part of the day, myself and Captains Mark Zorn and William Toney did a great spread of fresh fish, hush puppies, beans, etc.... To top off the afternoon, we fished for another hour or so and finally found a couple keeper trout to end the day. Here's Maggie, Robert, Emma and Leila with their great catch and I thank you all for the fun couple of days... Capt. Dan
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Saturday, Dec 24 2011

Christmas Eve Sheepshead

Dr. Marks from Sanibel Island joined me this Christmas Eve, for a full day out of Crystal River. With the action being so great on the shallow hard bottom areas, that was were we spent our day catching some tasty seafood species. The morning started out with a foggy, light drizzle; but ended with blue skies and sunshine. The sea bass bite was outstanding once again, but I encountered more sheepshead this charter for a welcomed surprise. Grouper, trout, Spanish mackerel, grunts, sea bass, sheepshead and a end of the day red fish, was our total plethora of species for the day. Great action, good laughs, funny stories; it was truly a perfect day on the water. I thank you for the great time and have a Merry Christmas... Capt. Dan
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