Fishing Reports

Another fun year of fishing has begun here on Mosquito Lagoon Florida. So far this January 2012 has seen great weather conditions with cool mornings and some fairly warm days, schooling Redfish have been great fun sight fishing targets, casting select size live shrimp to the visible waking and pushing fish on the shallow flats. Most of these Reds are in the slot size up to 27” with a few fish over the slot being caught also. Winter pattern has most all the fish bunched up together which makes for some of the best sight fishing of the year, most shallow water schools can have from 50 to 500 Redfish swimming together which makes for a fantastic fishing experience. Here are a few pics from a couple of recent charter trips including a shot of a Redfish triple with all 3 clients catching a Red ...full report

With water temps dropping into the high 60’s big fish finally starting to bite. Caught at least one fish over 8 lbs. each of the last 3 times out. Fish are biting live wild shiners on free lines. Both on the Butler Chain and Lake Kissimmee the fish are outside the grass lines and you catch a number of fish. Artificial bite is a little slow for bigger fish but you can catch some smaller fish up to 4lbs. on flukes and rattle traps when you see them schooling. Great Fishing! Capt. Pete Matson A#1 Bass Guide Service 800-707-5463 ...full report

You’ve got to love Florida winter fishing. I was fortunate enough to get a call from Phil about fishing in the Bradenton area. I live in Clearwater, but I have been fishing all over the bay area my whole life. So when Phil said he wanted to fish up the Manatee River I was very excited. The plan was to pick up at Fort Hammer and fish with live shrimp. The morning was very cold so we had to make sure that Phil’s eight year old son, Thomas, was kept warm. We started working through different spots and eventually landed this slot red: 14” red fish came to the boat all day long and so did the pesky lady fish. We also caught small snook, keeper trout and undersized trout, and three nice sized sheephead. We had steady action all day and Thomas said it was his best fishing day ever. As ...full report

Boca Grande Fishing Charters January Forecast Happy New Year Everyone! I hope everyone has a blessed 2012! The first couple of days of 2012 have seen a dramatic drop in temperatures here in Southwest Florida but it is supposed to warm up by next week and I can put my flip flops and shorts back on. Boca Grande fishing charters have continued to produce some outstanding Redfish action although they have slowed down a little from the 80-100 fish days this fall. I have had multiple 40 plus fish days and that's not including all of the Trout, Pompano and Flounder that are mixed in. The Punta Gorda fishing charters have been just as productive with a few Snook mixed in. As we get into January the Redfish and Trout fishing will remain outstanding as well as the mixed bag of Pompano, ...full report

December 20, 2011 Today we had an all day eight hour swordfishing trip. The seas were running 4-6 feet so we had to troll on the way to the swordfishing grounds. For the first two plus hours we never got a bite, and Eric and his father were looking disappointed, but we were sure we were going to catch them some fish. At about 5 hours into the trip, and about 11 miles offshore, we found a piece of bamboo floating in the water, and it was alive. Every few years you find a tree or other floating debris, and it has fish all over it. Today was that day and it was on fire! As we made pout first pass, the wahoo were jumping all over the surface, and bit off all of our rigs. Darin quickly re-rigged with wire leaders and we made another pass. We were catching wahoo and mahi-mahi left and right. ...full report

I couldn’t ask for a better way to end the year than fishing with long time clients all of last week. Fishing guides can measure success in many ways but one of the barometers that I trust the most is customer loyalty. Every time I get a call or email from a past client booking their next trip I feel a great deal sense of accomplishment. Now let’s get right to the action. December was a crazy month with periods of very high winds making fishing offshore nearly impossible. For those willing to brave the high winds and seas the fishing was good to excellent. On most of our trips this month we have been targeting sailfish, dolphin, and an occasional bottom fish. The first part of the month saw very good numbers of mahi moving through the area and it seemed everyone was catching enough ...full report

Hello fellow anglers. What a great fishing trip, a wonderful day on the water with a lovely couple in from Mississippi. Mrs. Cindy, recently in all the way from Afghanistan, came to enjoy some of the best fishing anywhere in the world. Von gave a plan of attack and he wanted Cindy to tussle with a big Redfish before she was planned to deploy back to Afghanistan on Monday morning. First we needed some fish for a fish fry and I had the Trout located in an interior lake and the plan was set. I met Von and Cindy at 5:30 at the dock and they were chomping at the bit, ready for the action that was to come. I loaded up for the short run to an interior lake close to the dock and about 3 casts later Cindy was hooked up and she jumped out to a four to nothing lead before Von got in on the action. ...full report

Last Wednesday, 24 Snook 36- 43".. 12 Spanish Mackerel 28-31".. 30" Grouper and 9 Cobia 8 shorts 1- 42".. by my self. Live bait ..can tell the spot..out of Yankeetown . Pretty much been doing this every day all the last week. See ya.. ...full report

North Florida Inshore-Epic! Capt. Ron Schurr November 8, 2011 Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report The inshore and backwater fishing here in Northeast Florida is experiencing some of the finest action all year. With the passing of the first few cold fronts, the water has cooled down putting the flounder, redfish, black drum and speckled trout on the move and on the feed. The flounder run is one the best in several years, with some calling it the "greatest ever". Thousands of fatties are migrating towards the inlets and off shore waters, making them easy to target along the edges of the St Johns River. Finger mullet fished on light jig heads and fish finder rigs from Mayport westward to Blount Island have been producing most catches. Bagging a 10 fish limit of these excellent ...full report