Port St. Joe Flounder Fishing

May 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

After seeing some of the locals catching flounder at the Port St. Joe Marina, I had to get into the mix.  I ended up catching 2 flounder - one was a nice sized fish that hit a small pinfish.  The other flounder I caught was on a dead minnow that I was jigging off the bottom.  I ended up losing one more flounder that was another good sized fish, but he got off right at the bank.

I had a nice dinner last night as well.  This was my first time eating flounder and it was excellent.  I have almost a week left of my vacation.  I’m going to try to do some surf fishing on Cape San Blas and hopefully, I’ll get back to the Port St. Joe Marina for some more flounder fishing.  I’ll post my results.

Pictures posted below.

Flounder - Port St. Joe Marina

Flounder - Port St. Joe, Florida

Space Coast Fishing

April 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

Space Coast Tarpon - (FloridaFishingLessons.com)     Space Coast Redfish and Tarpon (FloridaFishingLessons.com) 

Photos provided by www.floridafishinglessons.com

The Space Coast offers some of the finest fishing in all of Florida.  This area has built quite a reputation for its inshore redfish fishery, but there are plenty of other fish to come here for as well.  You can target the many types of fish from the surf, the Indian River, Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, area bridges, fishing piers, marinas or one of the many charter boats in the area. 

Some of the inshore species that anglers target are redfish, sea trout, snook, flounder, tarpon, ladyfish, sheepshead, whiting, spanish mackerel and black drum.  If you choose to go offshore, you can catch spanish mackerel, marlin, sailfish, tuna, shark, king mackerel, cobia, tripletail and mahi mahi.  There are many other fish species that are available inshore and offshore.

If you want to do some pier fishing on the Space Coast, the Cocoa Beach Pier is a good place to go.  King mackerel, spanish mackerel, whiting, bluefish, flounder, sheepshead, sea bass, snapper, tarpon and trout can be caught off the pier depending on the time of year you are fishing.

Surf anglers enjoy some excellent fishing right off the beach, although, it can be hit or miss just like fishing the surf anywhere else in the state of Florida.  Hit it right and you can catch tasty pompano, whiting, cobia, spanish mackerel and even sharks.

For more information on visiting the Space Coast, take a look at our tourism links below:

Port St. Joe Speckled Trout Fishing

April 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips, What's Hot 

I’m on vacation again in Cape San Blas, Florida.  I ended up doing a web design for a company called Cape to Bay Vacations and we swapped out some lodging.  Why Cape San Blas?  It’s simple.  My wife did some research online and found out that Cape San Blas is known for its pet-friendly beaches and I have a chocolate and black lab that love the beach.

I stayed at the same place last year and I fished mostly off the beach in front of our vacation rental and just a couple of miles down the road at the stump hole, but I decided to change it up at the start of this trip.  I headed over to the Port St. Joe Marina and I fished in Jetty Park of Port St. Joe (about a 15 minute drive from our vacation rental).

I started with some shrimp and I caught a few pinfish that I decided to use for bait.  I had one good bite this morning and it was well worth the trip.  On our family vacations, I typically don’t fish that much because I’m there to spend some time with my family.  I do get out and fish a little bit each morning and I have a couple of hours to figure out how to catch what’s biting. 

This morning, I caught my first speckled trout (not bad…..27 inches) and it was declicious.  The guy next to me caught 2 speckled trout and last a few fish as well.  Take a look at the picture below.  (I wanted to take a picture at the marina, but my camera was at the house)  I met some people this morning that were doing well on flounder in the same area, so I will see if I can catch a couple of trout and flounder tomorrow morning.

Port St. Joe Speckled Trout

Posted by:  Kevin Sewell (April 29, 2009)

Jacksonville Fishing

April 7, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

Jacksonville, Florida is a unique fishing destination because you have plenty of entertainment and conveniences that a larger city can offer, but you can still get onto a boat and feel like you’re away on a nice fishing trip.  Fishermen enjoy a variety of fishing in the area as there are excellent inshore, offshore and beach fishing opportunities available in the Jacksonville area.  The top species that anglers target in Jacksonville are redfish, speckled trout and flounder, but you can catch a variety of other fish as well.

The inshore creeks and saltwater marshes hold redfish, trout, black drum, flounder and more.  There are numerous anglers that enjoy flyfishing the inshore areas from a kayak or a typical saltwater boat.  If you’re visiting the area and you enjoy kayak fishing, take a look at the Jacksonville Kayak Fishing website for more information.  The jetty fishing can be very good as well as anglers will target sheepshead, redfish, black drum, trout, flounder and jacks.

Offshore anglers can expect to catch amberjack, tarpon, cobia and kingfish as well as many bottom species such as snapper and grouper.

For more information on visiting Jacksonville, Florida, take a look at our tourism links below.

Everglades Fishing

April 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

Fishing the Everglades is truly a unique experience that very few anglers will get to enjoy.  If you are heading to Naples, Marco Island or even Miami, you are not too far from the Everglades and you may want to consider hiring a guide to take you out for a memorable fishing trip.  The Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the entire United States and it boasts rare and endangered species. 

The fishing in the Everglades can be very fast-paced for a number of species.  With the brackish, shallow backcountry bays and rivers, outside islands, oyster bars and miles of canals, there are plenty of places to fish for largemouth bass, snook, redfish, trout and tarpon.

Most people have heard of the Everglades for the largemouth bass fishing, but there is a tremendous saltwater fishery in the Everglades as well, which gives you a couple of different options when you plan a trip down here.  Most of the fishing guides and charters will take you saltwater fishing for snook, tarpon, redfish or trout or bass fishing in the canals, so you need to know what type of trip you’d like to go on before hiring a guide.

The saltwater fishing consists of Florida Bay, Ten Thousand Islands and elsewhere in the National Park’s coastal zone.  While most of the anglers target snook, tarpon, redfish or trout in the Everglades, there are plenty of other saltwater fish to catch while you’re here.  Some of the other fish that are available are black drum, bluefish, bonefish, cobia, flounder, grouper, spanish mackerel, pompano, shark, sheepshead and snapper. 

For the freshwater angler, the bass fishing can be amazing in the canals.  More largemouth bass are caught here per hour than any other place in the entire state of Florida.  That says a lot knowing how many excellent bass fishing lakes that are available to Florida anglers.  Most guides have no problem getting their clients to catch plenty of bass using artificials, so expect to use a lot of topwater lures, plastic snakes, plastic frogs, big spoons, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, etc.  Just try not to get too distracted with all of the alligators that you may see while you are fishing.

Summer months are going to be hot and humid with temperatures in the 90s, while the winter months will cool off a little bit with temperatures in the high 70s most of the time.  Fishing can be good in the Everglades in the spring, summer, fall or winter.

For more information on the Everglades, take a look at our tourism links below.

Destin Fishing

March 27, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

Destin Fishing Picture With Huntress Charter Fishing 

Destin, Florida is known for its excellent offshore fishing, but there are plenty of other fishing opportunities here as well.  Shore anglers can catch a variety of fish from the beach, pier or jetty.  Fishing picks up in April and stays good through most of the fall for shore anglers.  Some of the common fish that are caught from shore are pompano, sheepshead, whiting, jack crevalle, spanish mackerel, blue runner, king mackerel, cobia and bonito.  Whiting, pompano and sheepshead are usually the species that are caught most from shore though.

Inshore fishing can be excellent in Choctawhatchee Bay year round for many types of fish including redfish, speckled trout, sheepshead, bluefish and flounder.  If trolling is your thing, try fishing for king mackerel, spanish mackerel, cobia, bonito and dolphin.  When the cobia arrive in the spring, many anglers sight fish for them and cast to them.  This can be very effective.

The offshore fishing is what most people think of when they hear of fishing in Destin, Florida.  The bottom fishing can be very good for snapper, grouper, amberjack, trigger fish and cobia.  Offshore trolling can be very exciting for marlin, wahoo, sailfish and dolphin.

For more information on the Destin area, take a look at our tourism links below.

Charlotte County Fishing

March 26, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

The Charlotte Harbor - Charlotte County area offers anglers so many excellent fishing options.  You can find some of the best tarpon fishing in the world in Boca Grande Pass, where tarpon fishing tournaments are very popular.  Deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico can be outstanding for a variety of offshore species such as grouper, tarpon, cobia, barracuda, amberjack, kingfish, mackerel, snapper, shark and more.

For the inshore angler, you can experience some excellent flats fishing in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound.  There are many places to fish with all of the bays, mangrove islands, canals, tributaries, salt water, fresh water and brackish water.  The opportunities are endless in the Charlotte County area.  Some of the other fish you can catch here are flounder, pompano, bluefish, sheepshead, trout, snook, redfish and bass.

For more information on the Charlotte Harbor area, take a look at our tourism links.

Spring Break Fishing in Apalachicola, Florida

March 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Featured Fishing Trips 

 Florida Bay Snook 

  • Capt. Nathan Donahoe finally allowed me pin him down on just when he thinks the Pompano will start biting here this season. After a more than a few moments of deliberation, while he’s not “feelin” the exact date yet, he has given the 3rd week of March as his official, pretty darn near on the mark every time, 2009 Pompano Prediction. Capt. Nathan’s prediction puts the pompano in here right smack dab in the heart of Spring Break. With Chris in the Keys this month, our Pompano Guide selection will be down by one. (Hint - make your reservations asap!)
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  • March 1st heralds in the re-opening of Speckled Trout season after a closure of the entire month of February.The Holland Boys are sure going to be happy to keep a few fish again. Redfish seem to be responding well to the gradual shifts in temperature we have been having but the morning it got down to 23 degrees overnight last month just about froze their lips shut. Look forward this month to big schools of Spanish Mackerel, pompano running the beaches, big redfish, flounder and some gator trout moving inshore.  
  • A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a gentleman who was interested in booking a 3 day tarpon fishing trip this summer with either Tommy or Chris Robinson, who he had heard were the best guides with which to catch them on a fly rod in our area. I assured him that the guides we do have available during the week he could come to Apalachicola were experienced and professional and that he would have a very good time with any one of them. Then something he said to me about how much instruction they would need to offer him sounded some alarm bells. Of course in my endearingly blunt manner (Stop laughing!) I just had to ask “So, have you ever cast an 11 or 12 weight fly rod?” to which he replied, “No”.  Yikes! Rewind! A few more questions later it was determined that this man did have experience casting a lighter fly rod for river trout and was planning on practicing with a heavier rod before his trip but his expectation seemed to be that his guide could successfully take him from ground zero to a record fish in 3 days. Now, granted there have been instances even in recent years where a person has caught a tarpon on their first day, first cast, first time with a fly rod in their hand but then people win the lottery too or else they wouldn’t keep doing it, right? And, a fishing guide who is worth anything is constantly helping to try to correct and improve an anglers’ casting technique and their ability to spot fish but generally the person on the bow has some experience flycasting and some working knowledge on which to draw.  At the risk of sounding like a commercial for Shallow Water Angler Magazine, a few suggestions to Anglers who may or may not have already booked their favorite guides for their favorite fish, and for those who have dreamed of the Silver King but haven’t actually made it a reality. Take a tip from Terry Gibson, read his article and Train Now for Tarpon Fly Fishing. He suggests that its probably not realistic to think one can go from desk jockey to successful tarpon angler (or any species for that matter) without putting in some time and effort in a training program prior to getting on the boat. 
  • Daylight Savings Time begins March 8th - Spring Forward & enjoy your Spring Break!

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