Crystal River Fishing Charters & Homosassa Charters

It was day two today with the Faulk party and myself and Capt. Rick Spratt had a fun time with this group. I had Mark and Scott on board for the day and we did great jigging some trout in the morning and finishing the afternoon, with a dozen sheepshead. The trout were picky today and had to go to the gulp shrimp to get our bites, while live shrimp on a knocker rig was our tackle of choice for the sheepshead. Capt. Spratt found some early arrival Spanish Mackerel and free lining live shrimp was the ticket for the macks. It was a great couple days with you all and look forward to your future visits... Capt. Dan

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

Another great day on the sheepshead grounds. I know this has been my main target species lately, but the action has been great and starting next month, the other inshore species will be back in the picture. I had Ron, Becky and Malcolm on board out of Pete's Pier Marina and the group was ready for some sheepshead tugging on the line. Running offshore once again to some hard bottom areas, produced a great day of sheepshead fishing. We kept fifteen for the for the day and released a few others and some nice grouper as a mix. Live shrimp from Blue Water Tackle in Homosassa was the bait of choice and another fine day in the books. I thank you all for a wonderful time and enjoy tonight's fresh fish dinner. Here's Ron with the big one of the day... Capt. Dan

Wow, what a day! Skip, Chuck and John joined me for a full day out of Crystal River and running down some sheepshead. With hardly a ripple on the gulf, we loaded up, ran to some of my favorite grouper ledges and the sheepshead were there. The water is crystal clear right now in the 20ft range and it's quite a sight seeing all the different species of fish swimming around on all the various structures. We stopped on about a dozen locations and caught over 60 sheepshead along with some beautiful gag grouper, sea bass and numerous grunts. This was a big catch today and I only take a couple off each location, but please know, we safely released twice as many as we kept to be caught again. I did make a tackle change from the 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head to a 1/2 oz knocker rig, due to the deeper water and it worked perfect. A great day with some great clients; I thank you all for the outstanding charter. Here's the crew with today's impressive catch... Capt. Dan 

I left the ledges alone for this charter and went back to the rocks to target the sheepies. Fred and Jim were on board for a full day out of Crystal River and with clam seas, crystal clear water and hungry sheepshead; the guys did great. We jumped rock pile to rock pile and caught a little variety on every stop. Sheepshead, grunts, sea bass, grouper and porgys kept the rods bent for a busy fish catching day. Live shrimp on a 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head was our simple tackle rig for the day. After noon, we left the offshore species and ran in the creeks in hopes of a back county red fish, but came up empty handed today. It was about a nice a day as one could hope for and I thank you both for a great time. Here's Jim and Fred with their catch... Capt. Dan

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

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

I continued today's 1/2 day Crystal River charter targeting the hot sheepshead bite. Dan and Renee joined me out of Pete's Pier and they had a great morning. We made our quick run offshore, anchored up and fish on! We only fished two locations and had some outstanding action on the sheepshead and a few grouper also bent the rods. Live shrimp was once again our bait of choice and we released several other sheepshead to keep our stocks on the up. Calm seas and good fishing; it was a fun morning. Thank you both for the great charter and look forward to seeing you next time... Capt. Dan 

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

You wouldn't know we lived in Florinda by the recent 20 degrees temperatures the new year had brought in, but today; we were back on track. I had to cancel or reschedule the first couple charters of the year due to the recent cold front; However, today was a "chilly," but normal winter day. Steve and Kyle joined me for a 1/2 day charter out of Crystal River for chasing down some sheepshead. We bundled up, ran down the river to a cold 52 degree gulf water temperature and in short order, we were on the fish. We targeted three different locations which produced several keeper sized sheepshead and released several others as well. Just a simple live shrimp on a 1/8th oz Hank Brown jig head was our bait of choice. The guys did great and it sure felt good to be back on the water. Thank you both for the fun day and look forward to seeing you soon... Capt. Dan