Today was our annual Homosassa Elementary 5th grade fishing trip with myself and the entire Homosassa Guides Association out of River Side Resort. This is a fun field trip for the 5th grade class and besides catching fish; they include some science, math and good outdoor education. I had Mr. Hannet's group on board and these young guys had a blast catching more mangrove snapper and lady fish than they could count. Myself and the other guides kept it simple and fished the Homosassa Head Waters. This is such a big success with all the kids and nothing brings a bigger smile on our faces than seeing these kids catching some fish. Thank you to Capt. Mike Baize for coordinating the yearly event and Homosassa Elementary for the opportunity to teach our up and coming generation the outdoors... Capt. Dan

I don't know about the start of 2014, but the weather has to get better soon. On today's trip, I had the great pleasure of having the Urban family on board and we made the best of a chilly situation. I was hoping the weather man was right with diminishing winds to run offshore for sheepshead, but it didn't happen. The team and I made the best of a chilly day, and we had a little bit of action in the river. Trout, mangrove snapper and lady fish around the springs kept the rods bent for a little while. I thank you all for hanging in there and giving today a try... Capt. Dan

What a beautiful day and very comfortable conditions for today's team out of Crystal River. Bill and Karen were my guests for the day and they had a blast. The wind swapped out of the NE for us and allowed for much more favorable conditions for going offshore. Today, we agreed to leave the trout alone and target what ever else we could find. Red fish were our first order of business and from free lining shrimp around the oyster bars, to sight fishing them in the creeks, we caught quite a few. Two of them were mid slot fish, while the others were the typical winter "rat" reds. Next, we were offshore bound to anchor down on some sheepshead. Well... we eventually got in to them after about thirty grouper break offs. The gags were beating the sheepshead to the shrimp. (Yes, there's still no shortage of keeper gags inshore). The sheep's started coming over the gunnel and a fine catch of them ended our day. I thank you both for the fun time and look forward as always to our next trip... Capt. Dan

Another outstanding day with Phil on board and I don't believe you could have asked for a more perfect day. We started today's Crystal River charter making our way to the grouper grounds and trolling up some gags. The action was great and would have been even better, but we had to battle the floating grass for a little while. Phil had his limit and we ran to one of my favorite rocks and the Spanish mackerel were eating the bottom out of the boat. As we hooked the mackerel, the mangrove snapper came off the bottom and were in a frenzy. I was catching the snapper and Phil was taking care of business on the macks. With our arms sore and catching and releasing several others, we called it a day. Today was definitely one to remember and I can't thank you enough for such a great time. Here's Phil with another outstanding catch to take back to Pennsylvania... Capt. Dan

A foggy start to this mornings Crystal River Charter and Phil was back in town from Pennsylvania, ready to catch some fish. We began today's trip casting plugs on the shallow ledges and in just a matter of minutes, Phil had his limit of beautiful grouper. On our next stop, we anchored on the rocks and filled the cooler with a mixed bag of groceries for a few fish fry's for Phil to take home. The action was great and to top off the day, we drifted the shallow "yellow" hard bottom areas off the keys and topped off a fine limit of trout. It was as good as it gets today and I can't thank you enough for an excellent day. Here's Phil with quite the catch... Capt. Dan

A special day with a special couple. I had Bill and Nell on board out of Pete's Pier today and we caught a little variety and celebrated Bill's 86th birthday. For sure fire action and to the keep the rods bent, I ran back a little ways offshore and fished the shallow rock piles. Steady action with snapper, grunts, jacks, lady fish and grouper made up the majority of the day. We had a little birthday lunch celebration and finished out the afternoon trying to tackle a red fish. We saw a couple, but no takers for the team today. i thank you both for a wonderful day and have a very special birthday Bill... Capt. Dan

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

A fantastic day out of the Plantation on Crystal River and I had some special guests on board. I had the husband and wife team of Reel Adrenaline energy drinks on board and they had a day. Steve and Amber did a great job from a variety of species on the rock piles to jigging up a fine catch of trout. The bite was great all day and even though it was a little bumpy in the morning, the afternoon calmed down nicely. Live shrimp on the rock piles brought in the snapper, grunts, jacks and grouper. While the Mirrolure Lil' Johns tackled the trout, sea bass, cobia and blue fish. On the way home, I made a quick stop in the Salt River and Steve added a fine red fish to end the day. I thank you all for great time and please give Reel Adrenaline energy drinks try. They taste great and keep you going strong through out the day... Capt. Dan

What a hot one on the big pond today.... I was at the Homosassa Fishing Club with my great friend Capt. Mark Zorn and we fished the Maddox party out of Homosassa. I had Dr. Coco and Mr. Maddox for the day the day and we made our run west to the rock piles to get the day going. Steady action with snapper, grunts, grouper and mackerel filled the cooler and the Hank Brown jig heads with a live shrimp did the trick. The guys had a cooler full of assorted goodies, so we made our way back inshore with the incoming tide and found a couple nice red fish. Back inshore, it was a hot one with hardly any breeze, but we toughed it out and had a wonderful day. Here's our end of the day shot and I thank you all for the fun day... Capt. Dan

A special day with old time clients and excellent fishing. On today's charter myself and Capt. Mark Zorn fished the Homosassa Fishing Club, but we brought the guys up to Crystal River for a change of scenery. I had John and Carter on board and Carter is a legend in his own right and has been fishing these water for over 70 years (you should here how the fishing in this area used to be). It was a treat for me to show him the Crystal River area and we had a ball. To start the day, I made a run offshore to some of my favorite rocks and the grunts, mackerel and snapper fishing was non stop. John caught a surprise catch I don't see everyday and actually brought aboard two trigger fish to add to the species list. With a cooler "full" of fish, we spent the afternoon working the creeks and landing some really hefty back country red fish. Free lining live shrimp around the rocky points did the trick and the guys had a wonderful day. Here's Carter with today's big red fish and I thank you for the fun time... Capt. Dan