Florida
Fishing Reports
Panhandle, West
Central, Central,
Southwest Florida and Bahamas
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Complete
Book of
Baits, Rigs & Tackle
Features: This one book provides all the important angling
know-how you'll ever need to fish fresh water or salt water,
big game or bass, spinning or baitcasting, flyrod or
canepole, boat or shore......
New Edition
By Vic Dunaway.
Published By Florida Sportsman A
Best Seller. 256 Color Pages, Illustrations
Buy
your copy here
for only $16.95.
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Sport
Fish of Florida
This Full color
256-page book from long-time fishing legend and
Florida Sportsman Magazine Sr. Editor, Vic Dunaway
features his 50-plus years of fishing knowledge.
Each of the 231 species is illustrated with
original full-color artwork from renowned marine
artist Kevin R. Brant.
What Is This fish? Is It Good to Eat?
Is It a Record? Answers to
these common questions, plus many others are
answered in this book.
Plus, Common and Scientific Names, Distinguishing
features, Food Values, Average and Record Sizes,
Range throughout Florida, Main Habitats,
Game Qualities and Best Fishing Methods.
By Vic Dunaway, Published By Florida
Sportsman
Buy
Yours Here
For Only $16.95
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Florida
Fishing reports are provided by professional Fishing Charter
Captains
and Fishing Guides throughout the State of Florida, The Keys,
and Bahamas.
Whether you prefer fishing salt water, freshwater, inshore or
offshore, flats,
back country or flyfishing, for bass, trout, marlin or
tarpon,
you'll find what's happening on the water here.
Click on region name below to see
fishing reports for that area.
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Florida
Major Cities By Region |
| Northeast |
East
Central |
Southeast |
The
Keys |
Fernandina Beach
Jacksonville
St. Augustine
Flagler Beach |
Daytona Beach
New Smyrna
Titusville
Cocoa Beach
Melborne
Sabastian
Vero Beach
Ft. Pierce
Stuart |
Jupiter
West Palm Beach
Boca Raton
Ft. Lauderdale
Miami Beach
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Key Largo
Tavernier
Islamorada
Marathon
Key West
Florida Bay |
| Southwest |
West
Central |
Panhandle |
Central |
Flamingo
Everglades City
Marco Island
Naples
Ft. Myers
Bahamas
Abaco
Central
America
Hawaii
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Punta Gorda
Boca Grande
Venice
Sarasota
Bradenton
St. Petersburg
Tampa Bay area
Clearwater
New Port Richey
Pine Island
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Homosassa
Spgs
Chambers Island
Cedar Key
Suwanee
Steinhatche
Carrabelle
Apalachicola
Port St. Joe
Panama City
Destin
Ft. Walton Bch
Pensacola
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Gainesville
Palatka
Ocala
Deland
Leesburg
Orlando
Kissimmee
Lakeland
Winter Haven
Lake Wales
Sebring
Okeechobee
Belle Glade |
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See Map of Florida By Region & The
Bahamas Here
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Fishing Reports -- SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
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(For contact
information, see the Charter Directory)
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Captain
Becky Campbell ~ Everglades City, Florida
Rather Be
Fishing Charters
Ph# 239-695-2029 Cell# 727-709-1375
email: captainbecky709@aol.com
August 15, 2009
Don’t forget snook season opens Sept 1.
Snook are on the beaches
and also in our passes. We are hooking up and
catching some Big fish (snook) up to 43". Talk
about exciting, think about it, free-lining pinfish
or shrimp on light tackle and having one of these
monsters grab your bait and almost pull the rod out
of your hand. That will get your attention fast
while in a split second he is up and dancing on the
surface trying to throw the hook back in your face
and making your drag sing like you have never heard
before. Just gets me excited just thinking about it.
There is nothing better sounding than a singing
drag, unless it happens to be your pole that's doing
all the singing.
Tarpon seem to be
everywhere, and you never seem to know when they are
going to eat your bait. These fish run from about 50#
to 175# with the average size about 90#. They are on
the flats, off the edges of the flats, in the passes
and along the beaches. Therefore we fish for them
while we are fishing for snook, redfish, and trout.
Now tackle buster are what these guys are, they will
put you and your equipment to the max
Trout are feeding
good and are really nice in size. We are catching
trout on the flats and also on the edges of the flats
and in the channels. Artificial and/or live baits
along with popping corks is my favorite way to
fish for trout. A lot of fish being caught with no
problem catching a good mess for dinner.
Redfish are
working the edges of rocks or around the oyster bars. I
like to free-line pinfish or shrimp on an incoming
tide. Artificial is good also, with my favorites
being jigs. Most of the fish seem to be in the slot
size, meaning you can take one home for some blackened
redfish. So no matter whether you like to use live
bait or artificial bait redfish can be a lot of fun to
catch and also good to eat.
So come on and give us a call cause the fishing is
good and a day on the water is great.
Capt Becky Campbell
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Fishing Reports -- WEST CENTRAL, FLORIDA
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(For contact
information, see the Charter Directory) |
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Half
Day and Full Day Fishing
Charters
Backwater - Inshore
Nearshore
Eco & Photography Tours
Fishing - Sightseeing
Custom Charters
All ages welcome
Up to 6 passengers |
REELIN
& CHILLIN CHARTERS INC.
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Captain
Terry L. Frankford
USCG Licensed & Insured
941-228-7802
35
YRS EXPERIENCE FISHING IN SARASOTA
AND BRADENTON
Email
Capt. Terry Frankford
Visit
our website:
www.charterfishingsarasota.com
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Captain Terry Frankford -- Sarasota
Reelin & Chillin
Charters Inc.
941-228-7802 ~ e-mail - terry.frankford@verizon.net
Fishing Report 11/09/2009 – Capt. Terry Frankford
Windy
conditions made for some tough fishing, however with so many
barrier islands in the Sarasota area I was able to find cover, and
fish. Around northern areas of Siesta Key - south to middle
Longboat Key were best during the North West blows. The shores of
Sarasota's mainland from south Sarasota to south Bradenton we
found calmer waters during the east blows, as well as near
shore along the beaches. Snook, redfish, trout, flounder,
shark, and spanish mackerel topped the list.
A
Fish Tail aboard the Reelin & Chillin
With
a low tide, and an easterly wind anglers of the Lakewood Ranch
Anglers Club and I headed out Sarasota's Big Pass south to Point
of Rocks looking for Spanish Mackerel. Peter Paris,
Joe Dovener, and Dick Barrett didn't waste any time getting into
the mackerel. Non-stop action for two hours ended with the bite
slowing down a little, and the last of twelve wire leaders biting
the dust between sharks and mackerel. These anglers caught over
thirty-five mackerel, Joe even picked up a nice King Mackerel. A
few blacknosed sharks made it to the boat for release as well as
several that just couldn't be stopped on light tackle. Joe had
some additional luck after moving inshore landing a nice sixteen
inch flounder.
Another
windy day Alan, Debbie, and Brooke Riggs headed out for an
afternoon trip. We hit several locations around Siesta Key finding
some small redfish, and snapper. A couple nice trout were landed,
however the trout are now out of season, and we did want a little
dinner. With the winds gusting at 25mph, and the low tide, things
didn't look to good for dinner. I decided to head for a deeper
hole adjacent to a large flats area to see if maybe
some reds were hanging around. Geez, I'm sorry, I just can't
remember exactly were. Anyhow, first Brooke nailed a twenty-six
inch red - then another - then another. Alan then landed a few
with these two anglers ending up with around a dozen nice reds.
They ranged from a couple undersized reds to a couple over
sized reds with the rest in the slot. The law says one per
person, that's all we kept of course - the rest were safely
released.
Captain's
Tip - Spanish Mackerel Gear & Rigs
I'm
going to give you a run down of how I set up for a mackerel trip.
I set up this way for the Spanish mackerel, and any by-catch that
might be around like king mackerel, and sharks. You may have
different brands, that's fine, I'm just letting you know what I
use and why, you can of course adjust any way you wish.
Rod
- Okuma Guide Select, 7'x 6" medium/heavy rod. Provides great
light tackle action with enough strength for larger fish if
necessary.
Reel
- Okuma Inspira IA 45. Provides a larger spool to hold 150yds of
15lb test line, and still light enough to cast for long lengths of
time.
Mono
Leader - from the 15lb test line on the reel I tie using the surgeons
knot a 4' piece of Berkly Big Game 40lb test mono.
Wire
Leader - I make my own wire leader, here's how:
I
start with a package of thin wire leader around 39lb test (yes 39
don't ask me why it's not 40). This wire found in your local
tackle shop comes in a 200' length. The first thing I do is take
the wire out of the package that is coiled up in a ring and cut
through it at one spot. Now instead of having one two hundred foot
single piece of wire I have a bunch of 20" pieces
to make leader with. Saves a lot of time pulling the
wire through two or three tie wraps and cutting each one
individually. Using the "haywire twist" shown on the
back of the package I wrap on a "size five" Fisher 90lb
test barrel swivel on one end. On the other end an Eagle Claw 1/0
2X LONG hook. This leader of course gets tied to the 40lb test
mono coming from the reel using a uni-knot.
The
bait of choice is the scaled sardine - I have been able to net
plenty along the beaches close to shore - just look for birds
feeding. Live shrimp works also as a second choice.
Now
I'm ready for almost anything - plenty of line on the reel for
long runs from a surprise king mackerel, little tunny,
or small shark. Forty pound test mono to prevent
chaffing from the tail and body of these larger fish. A wire
leader, and long shanked hook to get past the sharp teeth on these
critters. Notice I said "ready for almost anything" this
is because often something very large picks up your bait, maybe a
blacktip shark or a 40lb smoker king mackerel. This is where you
have an anchor with a fender buoy on the end that you
can untie quickly and throw over and start chasing the fish all
over the Gulf of Mexico. Trust me - it happens - it's a blast -
plan for it.
Hope
this helps you enjoy a great day on the water, Capt. Terry
Tight
Lines & Good Times, Capt. Terry FrankfordReelin
& Chillin Charters Inc.
941-228-7802
terry.frankford@verizon.net
www.charterfishingsarasota.com
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Capt Rick Rodriguez
Gulf
Grouper Deep Sea Fishing and
Dive Charters, Hernando Beach, FL
(727) 992-9494
Email: gulfgrouper@tampabay.rr.com
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November
11, 2009
Hernando
Beach Gulf Grouper Deep Sea Fishing Report
Unbelievable
Gag grouper fishing west of Hernando Beach
Florida.
We are having a great time catching
Gag grouper this fall.
So many keeper size grouper being
caught we have to stop at our limit and move
on to other types of fishing.
Most of the common areas like the
Tanks, Richardson Reef, Martins Reef, and
the Concrete Ruble are holding a lot of Gag
grouper.
Be prepared to use a lot of bait. There
are still thousands of short Red and Gag
grouper in the area eating us up. It is not
uncommon to catch over a hundred short
grouper in a day and use fifty pounds of
Threadfin Herring. The
only way to use less bait is to use cut up
Grunts and Mullet.
Other fish that are around in great
quantities are Spanish Mackerel, Kingfish,
Bonita's, Amberjack, and Red Snapper.
The Snapper and Amberjacks are
released since the season is now closed. However
they are a lot of fun to catch and release
since they provide non-stop action due to
their immense population. The Kingfish are
here now and are scatted in all depths of
water.
The closest Kingfish we caught lately
was in 20 feet of water.
It hit knocker rig on the way up when
an angler
was checking his bait.
To his surprise he had to hook the
fish in the eye with his circle hook and was
able to land the large King with a mono
leader. He
was reminded by his fishing buddies to buy
some lottery tickets after this great catch
since luck was truly on his side that day.
Off-shore in 50 feet there are large
schools of bait working their way south.
These schools of bait are under
attack by Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, and
Bonita's.
Great trolling action for these fish
with spoons, dusters on a plainer, and deep
diving lures. Look for the birds diving and
chasing bait near the surface.
These tell tale signs will keep you
fishing were the fish are and hooked up.
Off-Shore
Forecast:
Fishing of Hernando Beach is
consistently very good and will always have
grouper swimming around it's reefs for you
to catch.
December is looking like it will be
just as good as any other December in recent
past. Look
for awesome big Gag grouper in shallower
areas and ledges to eat larger cut up bait
like Boston Mackerel, Mullet and Grunts.
Same basic types of rock, ledges, and hard
bottom areas will produce great numbers of
fish. Do
not forget about the greatest fish to fry in
the Gulf of Mexico the "Grunt".
Grunts are great to eat and are worth
the effort to catch, fillet, and fry.
Recently some anglers brought back to
memory how great a meal grunt
make. They
are easy to catch, plentiful, and will keep
kids busy while you are working on catching
the big grouper.
Capt
Rick Rodriguez
727-992-9494
www.gulfgrouper.com
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Captain Bob Smith -- Sarasota, FL.
Tel: (941) 366-2159 Cell:
(941) 350-8583
E-mail: capt.bobsmith@verizon.net
October 18, 2009
Sarasota Florida Fishing Report
By Capt. Bob Smith
Finally some cooler weather is coming our way! As we see the
Gulf water
temperature drop, we should see the fishing improve. When
the water
temperature is in the low seventies, I think that is the best for
all around
fishing. For now, we have some seatrout, Spanish mackerel,
bluefish, Jacks,
ladyfish, and an occasional flounder in the shallow water on the
Middle
Ground grass flats. Live pilchards, shrimp and the DOA
artificial 3" shrimp
are some of the baits that have been working well.
The best methods of fishing the grass have been free-line or
popping cork
and drifting or anchoring or a little of both. I like the
Eagle Claw 202,
Size 4/0, Gold Aberdeen hook for fishing with live bait on the
flats. About
3 or 4 feet of 30 pound test clear mono leader on 10 to 12 pound
test line
and you have a very good grass-flats rig. Of course
ultra-light and fly
also will work well, but you may need to upgrade your skill level.
We have had some slow days fishing lately, but on the whole, the
summer was
good inshore and offshore. More than I can say for the
economy.
We should see the King mackerel start offshore this month and the
pompano
and blue action should pickup on the bay. Things start to
happen when the
weather starts to change.
Enjoy & Protect
My Website: http//www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
Thank you!
Capt. Bob Smith
Phone: (941) 366-2159 Cell: (941) 350-8583.
Email: capt.bobsmith@verizon.net
My Website: http://www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
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Fishing Reports -- PANHANDLE FLORIDA
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information, see the Charter Directory) |
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Book
Me A Charter Guide Service
- Apalachicola,
FL
850-653-2622
- email:
info@BookMeACharter.com
August 28,2009
Planning
a vacation to St. George Island, Cape San Blas,
Mexico Beach or Port St. Joe this fall?
We'd
love to hear from you, come join us!
Our early fall fishing season is just beginning, so
far the fishing has been great for the past couple of
weeks. We couldn't have asked for better
temperatures or fishing with evenings in the upper
60's and the daytime temperatures around 80-85.
One thing about cooling weather it brings cooling waters
which in turn trigger the fish to begin feeding up for the
upcoming winter season.
If you're thinking about vacationing on the beach sometime
soon, this is the time of year to do so!
The reason I love the fall- The rental rates are lower
after Labor Day! The beaches and shopping less
congested (even in our busy season it's not really
congested compared to other beach resort areas!) The
nights are cooler and days are still sunny and warm, last
but certainly not least the fantastic fall fishing!
Below
a highlight of July/August Inshore and Offshore
fishing photos...
We are offering a September
client appreciation discount if you'd like more
information feel free to contact us. Just mention the
fishing report when making the reservation.
Any of you that were
fortunate to fish with us during the spring or fall
fishing seasons in the past, know this is the time to go
inshore fishing in the area. If you've fished with
us in the spring expect the same type fishing scenario
as the fish feed up in preparation for the winter
season.
We do have boats open and ready to go fishing this
month. With a little notice and some great weather
we can get you out there for a wonderful day on the
water with one of our native guides.
So if you find yourself in the area or planning a
trip to the area and want to go fishing or touring
give us a call.
We
would love to hear from you!
Sandra
Allen
Book Me A Charter Guide Service
Apalachicola, FL 32329
(850) 653-2622
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Fishing Reports -- CENTRAL
FLORIDA
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