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October 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
It’s been said over and over that it’s called fishing, and not catching. For the month of October, this reined true. The fish should be congratulated for doing such a good job hiding. Normally, with the down-scan and side-imaging on the depth finder we are able to find them, but not so much this month. However, we did manage to land a few fish on every outing, and no one got “skunked”. Weather played a huge role with the bluebird skies, but as soon as there were clouds, wind, or rain the fish started to bite. Looking forward to a better November, and I hope to see you on the water!
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September 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
We have had a close eye on Hurricane Helene towards this end of this month, and our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Here at Martin Family Charters, we understand that your family and safety comes first. Our cancellation fees will always be refunded in situations like these, and please let us know if we can help in any way. As far as fishing, we had limited success with harvesting large fish, but we made up for it with the multitude of species caught. On one charter alone, we landed at least one mangrove snapper, redfish, black drum, flounder, jack crevalle, sheepshead, and speckled trout! We are hopeful that the larger fish begin to migrate inshore as cooler weather approaches in October. We look forward to seeing you on the water!
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August 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Martin Family Charters has moved to Northeast Florida! We will miss Tampa Bay, Port Canaveral, and The Butler Chain of Lakes, but we look forward to many great adventures in Flagler Beach, Palm Coast, and St. Augustine. Stay tuned, as we have an exciting August fishing report coming up!!
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July 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
It was just a matter of time before the summer heat came. With the water temperature up to 84 degrees, timing is key. Luckily, our groups have done a wonderful job of starting early in the morning, and we have had a few days of some early cloud cover and light rain. It’s not always the case, but most of the time the weather will really impact our catching success. For July, the fishing was a little inconsistent, but still good. One trip in particular, we struggled to catch fish early, and then around 11AM we were catching fish two at a time! With the unpredictability, as a Captain, that is the wonderful challenge to do everything possible to increase the chances of our groups success. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water again soon!
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July 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Much like June, we have had consistently manageable seas off both coasts. This has allowed us to run up to 10 miles offshore, but unfortunately the seas tend to get a little choppier come August. With the 24 ft. Sea Born, most of the groups in July elected to stay in the calmer intercoastal waters. The inshore bite was solid, but not phenomenal. Catches included mangrove snapper, ladyfish, catfish, snook, redfish, stingrays, sharks, croaker, sheepshead, and a couple different species of trout. Especially for the families, this has been a wonderful month of helping the kiddos catch some fish while enjoying the saltwater experience. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water!
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June 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Sometimes fishing is on fire, and it can can really make any Captain look like the Master of the High Seas. Yet, this is fishing, and many experienced fisherman recognize the ebbs and flows of catch rates. This month was a great month for action with lots of different varieties of species caught, but not a lot of keeper size fish. However, we’ll give it some time and we’ll be having a fish fry soon enough! Thank you to all my groups in June for respecting the sustainability laws by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and we look forward to seeing you on the water again soon!
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June 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
We have been very fortunate that the weather hasn’t been really hot just yet. Not only does this help our overall enjoyment of the day, it also helps the fish stay active. Fishing was been on fire, but as a Captain it is an important time to put in the extra time scouting for the future months. Naturally, the warmer the water temperatures gets the more lethargic the bass will get. However, for now let’s keep enjoying the weather and catch lots of fish! Thank you to all my groups in June, and we look forward to seeing you on the water again soon!
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May 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Being a fishing charter business, we always do everything we can do to have success on our trips. With that, May was…EPIC!! Granted this is typically one of the best months to fish out of the year, we found fish in a variety of depths and locations. Also, it was a lot of fun to dig deep into the PLANO Z-SERIES TACKLE BAG and use some of the artificial baits and lures that have collected dust. Our primary catches included largemouth bass, bowfin, catfish, and some late season crappie. Thank you to all of our guest in the month of May, and we look forward to seeing you on the water again soon!
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May 2024 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Inshore, the flats fishing on both coasts are finally starting to improve. We are currently catching sheepshead, mangrove snapper, catfish, ladyfish, and speckled trout in Tampa Bay. In the Indian River, Banana River, and Mosquito Lagoon we are currently catching black drum, mangrove snapper, catfish, and some speckled trout.
As a Captain, it is always understood that it is necessary to have success on every charter. So, to give clients every advantage I put on the dive gear and explored some of the wrecks and reefs off both coasts. Off the West Coast near Tampa Bay, the clarity seemed to improve around 5 miles off the coast in about 40 ft. of water. Hanging out close to these structures were several grunts, sheepshead, pinfish, flounder, and a few goliath grouper. This was reassuring because it confirmed our recent fishing charter catches. For now, in order to catch amberjack, grouper, and larger snapper we had more success further offshore in 80 ft or more. However, off the East Coast we have had much different results. Many of the spots only a couple miles off the coast were holding jacks, grouper, bluefish, sharks, croaker, and lots of weak fish. Most likely this is because of two variables. First, the seas off the East Coast are more unpredictable and rougher. Second, it starts to get deep quicker off the East Coast which provides the ingredients to host a multitude of species. In all, both coast provide unique opportunities to have success based on weather, seas, tides, structure, and depths.
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April 2024 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
First things first…we hope everyone is staying healthy and safe! For the majority of April, but the bite was wonderful while it lasted! The largemouth bass have moved off their spawning beds, and we found that they were a little scattered. This was not a bad thing, because it made us think outside the box and throw different lures. Jerk baits, jigs, and swimbaits caught the most fish, while the live shiner bite was a little slow. However, we look forward to an awesome May, as the fish in the lakes will be ready to feed. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water!
