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March 2025 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! Normally, the fishing reports get posted at the end of the month. However, we are super excited to be back on the water! As an added bonus, it seems like the fish missed us too, as the bite has been awesome. It’s been like fishing all new water, and it has made us go back to the basics on where to find fish. For the most part, the live bait seems to have the most success, but we are also fishing with soft plastic worms. Strangely enough, the fish are schooling like crazy in the open water, but they don’t seem interested in anything except the bait balls of shad. It’s all good, as long as we are getting some fish to the boat. Plus, at least we are out there again! Stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you on the water!
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February 2025 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Amazing has to be the word to best describe fishing this February. We totally understand that the targeted species is largemouth bass, but the overall bite including largemouth bass, chain pickerel, long-nose gar, catfish, and bowfin was off the charts! That, paired with beautiful weather made it extremely enjoyable to be a fishing charter Captain.
With the water temperature at 60 degrees, the fish are still being seen on their beds even though many of the fish have already moved off for feeding. This has allowed for a variety of fishing techniques and locations to try and still yield results. I hope the temperatures stay cool as it moves in to March, and the fishing should still stay red hot! Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water.
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February 2025 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Saltwater fishing in February was epic! With the water temperature around 59 degrees, the weather played a major role in the planning for a great day on the water. Most of the time, we’d prefer for an early morning start. However, trying to fish the rising or falling tides made us be a little more flexible. This month the flats were plentiful with speckled trout, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, and catfish. In the deeper water, we had a blast catching grunts, mangrove snapper, and small grouper.
We are especially thankful to Hammock Bait & Tackle, Devil’s Elbow, Oniell’s Marina, Water’s Edge Bait and Tackle, and Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle for always having the best live bait for us!! Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water!!
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January 2025 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Sometimes after fishing charters you come to realize that luck, or the man upstairs, was on your side! Without the expected spawn in January, there were lots of times that studying those bythemtry maps became the key to finding fish. Water temperatures stayed close to 63 degrees, and that is still about 5 degrees too cold for spawning here in Central Florida. So, much like the summer pattern, it came down to ledges, flats, and humps. In addition, a little extension on the fluorocarbon leader line was necessary because the water clarity was really good. After some fine tuning, we had success catching mostly largemouth bass. No crappie, long-nose gar, chain pickerel, bowfin, or catfish were caught. However, forecasted warmer weather looks to arrive over the next couple weeks in February. The spawn should be on, and then it’s game on! Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water!
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January 2025 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Here at Martin Family Charters, our main goal is to have fun and catch fish. In January, we did just that! We mixed it up, as we would fish for speckled trout, ladyfish, and Spanish mackerel in the morning, followed by targeting those tasty mangrove snappers in the afternoon. Most of our success came one of two ways. First, we’d use live shrimp under a popping cork on the flats. Then, we’d lower any bait whatsoever on wrecks, reefs, or under bridges. If the tides, weather, moonrise, or moonset were right it seemed like fishing was a piece of cake. However, like fishing goes sometimes we had to move from spot to spot trying desperately to do anything possible to catch fish. It wasn’t preferable, but even on one charter we ended up on a school of huge gaftop sail catfish! Anyway, hopefully those redfish and snook come to play in February, and we look forward to seeing you on the water. Thank you for reading!
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December 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
The ability to fish either coast based on weather conditions was crucial for Martin Family Charters this month. The extra half hour drive to Tampa proved to be worth it. Schools of baitfish are turning up in abundance, as the pelicans, sea gulls, and cormorants are having their fill. With the restrictions on speckled trout and redfish, it seems as though they are making a strong comeback as well. Even though you can’t keep any right now, it does provide a lot of exciting action! Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water in January!
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December 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
December was a great month for many of our fishermen that wanted to escape the cold from up north. However, little did they know it would still be a little chilly down here in Florida! For us, numerous twenty degree temperature changes were common which made fishing tough. Earlier in the year, we had success catching specks or crappie, but we couldn’t seem to find them stacked up in December. Even our bass fishing purest seemed happy to feel any type of a pull, whether it was a long-nose gar, catfish, bowfin, or largemouth bass. Total catch numbers ranged from a few to the high teens in a half-day, and the biggest fish caught was around 6 lbs. Hopefully, we’ll see those temperatures rise soon and the spawn will be on in late January! Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water.
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November 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
It seems as though there have been a few more cold fronts than usual, and it has had a slight impact on the fishing. The water temperature has dropped to approximately 63 degrees, but the water clarity is very high. This isn’t a huge problem, but we had to lengthen our fluorocarbon leader for a more natural presentation. Additionally, trolling is back! This time of year the hydrilla and nytilla growth suppresses, leading to be able to troll crankbaits in 12 ft deep water. Species caught this month included long-nose gar, largemouth bass, and chain pickerel. In all, any tactic that yields success is an option!
Thank you to all my November families and fishermen, and we look forward to an awesome December. Thank you for reading!
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November 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
We are on them at Martin Family Charters! November was one of the best fishing months in a long time, particularly in Tampa Bay. With the advantage of being able to fish both coasts, it gives our clients the best option based on numerous fishing conditions. Redfish, trout, mangrove snapper, and Spanish mackerel have been the most consistent species caught. However, I haven’t seen many snook, flounder, or sharks lately. Regardless, we always have fun and we’ll do anything we can to ensure a great day on the water. Thank you for reading, and we hope to see you on the water in October!
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October 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Woohoo! Saltwater charters picked back up in October, and it was so much fun getting back on the water. Granted, we have spent a lot of time on the water on our own, so we had a pretty good idea where the fish were. The speckled trout bite was awesome, but we continued to struggle to catch redfish and snook. We think that they are still being highly pressured with so many boats on the water. Other species caught in October included mangrove snapper, jack crevalle, ladyfish, porgies, grunts, and small grouper. In addition, it was the first time that we’ve ever seen two cutlassfish caught on the same charter. (See the picture). We are thankful for all our guests and families in October, and we hope to see you on the water in November!
