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October 2023 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Fall in Florida is an amazing time of year. With the inshore water temperature currently at 75 degrees, and the offshore temperature at 70 degrees, many species move up in to shallower water. October is typically a dryer month which really puts an emphasis on tides. Tidal movement has been key, and most of the time the falling tide has been the most favorable condition. Inshore on the Gulf side, thanks to the freshwater inflow of the Little Manatee River, Palm River, and Alafia River, the red tide typically halts before entering Tampa Bay. With that, we have focused on fishing the Gandy Bridge, the Howard Frankland Bridge, the Weedon Preserve, and the Double Bayou Pass. Inshore on the Atlantic side, red tide has yet to enter the Indian and Banana Rivers so we have been targeting where the water piles up on windy days. Year-round, live shrimp give us the best opportunity to catch speckled trout, redfish, snook, jack crevalle, flounder, and snapper. However, this month it seems as though our clients have really enjoyed catching the bonnethead sharks! For artificial lures, Berkeley Gulp shrimp and crabs have been a go to for us for a long time. Rigged with a circle hook or 3/8 jig head, bouncing the lures have yielded trout, ladyfish, and snook. Offshore, when the seas have been smooth, trolling ballyhoo has resulted in some kingfish and barracudas even though we mostly bottom fished. Catches included were snapper, grouper, porgy, grunts, and bigger sharks. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you on the water!
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September 2023 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
In contrast to September’s freshwater bite, saltwater fishing was pretty awesome this month! It was still hard to know exactly what species to target on a daily basis, but we were able to get the rods bent one way or the other. Special thanks goes out to all of our September clients, as they were flexible on the fishing locations. To be specific, there has been another green algae bloom in the Indian and Banana rivers, so we had to have a plan B. Ponce Inlet, Port Canaveral, and Tampa Bay are all great alternatives to Titusville, but I hope the algae goes away soon. Fish caught in the month of September included some small snook, redfish, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, and a good amount of jacks. Also, there were a couple of charters where our guests simply wanted to visit the sand bars, dock-bar hop, and see the dolphins or manatees. Either way, it was great to be on the water!
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September 2023 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
We’d love to say that fishing in September was epically awesome, but in all reality it was a little tough. The inconsistent weather made the fish scatter more than usual. Fishing was very similar to August, as high water levels led us to troll frequently using crankbaits. As always, we still caught some largemouth bass on Texas-rigged worms on humps and ledges, but using shiners only led to a few hookups. In addition to largemouth bass, we caught some long-nose gar in the canals. Looking ahead, fishing should start to pickup next month when we begin to get some cooler weather. Some of the larger females will begin to move to shallow water for a fall spawn, even though most spawning occurs in the spring. Anyway, thank you for reading and we hope to see you on the water!
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August 2023 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission made the right decision to postpone the harvest of speckled trout, snook, and redfish. All are delicious, but it is was great seeing all three species caught in August. Overall, fishing was pretty solid. We found the key to catching fish in the hot summer is to find a pattern, and it became pretty predictable when the fish would and wouldn’t bite. For instance, you would think that the morning would be best, but there were two variables that had the most impact in August, being wind and tides. Pretty much, as long as there was some water movement we could have some success, and the various species caught included jacks, catfish, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, and Spanish mackerel.
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August 2023 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
This time of year, water temperatures typically surge to almost 90 degrees. However, we saw the Simrad depth finder top out at 88 degrees, but that was only for a couple of days. With lots of rain, the water levels were way up in August which meant the fish had lots of places to hide. Tons of fry lined the edges of the canals that connected lakes, and the bass were zeroed in on the baitfish. This made fishing a little tough, and even when we used live shiners the bass weren’t interested. Other techniques needed to be explored, and we found that trolling crankbaits was the most successful. For the tournament angler, this is not a useful tactic, but there are two reasons why we troll. First, the kiddos love reeling in fish. Second, the parents enjoy the moving air in the August heat. Either way, we always try to do anything we can to have a fun, successful day on the water!
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July 2023 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Woohoo! Saltwater charters resumed in July, 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 July 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 July, and we hope to see you on the water in August!
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July 2023 – Freshwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
With the water temperature around 85 degrees, it has been a couple of months since the bass were on beds. This means that fishing the shorelines were relatively unpredictable in July, so we had to find the fish offshore. It was easy to find the fish, as they were blasting balls of baitfish throughout the day. Sometimes chasing these fish reminded me of two positive magnets, as the closer we got to the fish the further they swam from the boat. Yet, if they were close, all we had to do when the bass broke the surface was to make an accurate cast with whatever lure we had tied on. Most days this was a blast, but it was a little tough for our novice fishermen. With all that is going on in our world, it has been a pleasure to be on the water and spend time with some wonderful families. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to August!
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June 2023 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Please stay safe and healthy, and we hope to see you on the water in July!
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June 2023 – 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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May 2023 – Saltwater
BY: Tim / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Uncategorized
Vacation time with the Martin Family! Please stay safe and healthy, and we hope to see you on the water in June!
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