June/ July Tarpon started off slow as the fish did not show very well till the middle of June and really din't eat well till the end of June. Bait schools of threadfin,, spanish and pilchards were also late in showing up which may have affected the Kingfish run. The Red snapper season opened in June and the rent was collected. Everyone I spoke with had no problem filling their 2 fish limit in short order and focused on mangrove and yellowtails with great results.The Red grouper population seems to be in a very healthy state with lots of smaller fish in close as well as out in water up to 180' with the bigger fish coming from the deeper water. Snook moved out to the beach and numbers are still low compared to normal .. more pompano being caught than last spring which hopefully will continue . The trout numbers are still good and early morning topwater action for them and redfish are providing excitement .

April and May This Spring has been the best year I have ever seen for big trout in the bay. The biggest problem was finding fish under 20" to max out the limit . The Snook seem to be making a come back from the freeze last year and are showing better numbers than last year. Still not as many ladyfish and jacks as normal. Redfish are showing good numbers but are hard to get to eat in the cold. The Gag grouper fishing was excellent near shore with good catches of mangrove snapper as well . The Kingfish run was not as good as usual with speculations being it warmed up so fast they blew by to the oil spill. Offshore Blackfin tuna were hit and miss with the occasional Wahoo , Red snapper were a pain while trying to catch mangrove snapper in the deeper water, and Amberjack in 150' range were thick.

March warmed up fast this year and the fish responded accordingly the last half of the month has produced more of the biggest trout I can remember. Inshore the early part of the month sheephead were the mainstay with some mackeral showing up in the passes lots of small trout along the edges of the grass flats with flounder here and there. The last 2 weeks the white bait(pilchards) showed up and the snook have moved from their winter canal hideouts into the bay with water temps climbing into the low 70"s.Pompano are showing up in good number around the passes . Offshore folks have been concentrating on mangrove and yellowtail snappers as the grouper closure prohibited all grouper in state and federal waters. Gag grouper will be open on April 1st in state waters and Red and Black grouper in Federal will re-open 04/01.Cobia are showing up on the close and M-reefs 1-10 miles offshore and some of the early tarpon I have seen in the bay. I am predicting a early tarpon run as the water temps are climbing fast and the Kingfish are starting to show up offshore. Anyway get out and go fishing as theis is one of the hottest times of the year for angle

February brought hope of non freezing temps and water above the 50 degree mark . 02/03/11 Fished the Myakka River with Tom Gould and caught over 30 Bass up to 6 lbs Did a 3 boat bay charter with Capt Johny Walker and Capt Billy Alstrom caught lots of trout ladyfish and redfish for a great day and friendly competition between boats . 02/15/11 Fished with Tom Harms of Montana in North Sarasota Bay who brought lots of luck with him. Tom managed trout up to 27" a 30" redfish and a 24"snook aand had some of the nicest sunshine we have had in a long time all of the fish were in veery skinny water as the temps are still hoveering around 60 degrees. 02/18/11 fished with Jim Hoddinott of Ottowa and managed on blackfin tuna in 160' of water and then went and punished his buddy Mark on Amberjack up to 50lbs on butterfly jigs. Also managed Gag grouper to 15lbs and true Black grouper 14lbs as well as red snapper. Let me go on record that I believe the fisheries management people are either so removed from the recreational anglers or are in bed with the commercial iinterest so deep that the current closures border on insanity. 02/19 fished the bay and managed three nice heads 6 trout and 4 mackerel which are the first I have seen for spring season vvery windy all day. 02/20/11 mashed the mackerel and trout with Ron Bizzick son Hayden in north Sarasota bay on gulps and shrimp.02/23/11 Fished with Rick White from Canada who caught trout up to 25" on top water lures in the morning along with ladyfish and flounder in the pm with gulps.02/27/11 Fished offshore with Jim Hodinott and hooked the first wahoo of the spring about a 35lb fish that threw the x rap back in lap at boat side other than that a slow trolling day .

January was cold overall but had some warmer days here and there and the bay fishing picked up .01/04/11 had a great day in Sarasota bay on the trout with the best bit in some time managed 14 keepers and caught well over 50 fish. New penny and the molting shrimp Gulps seemed to be the ticket just slowly bumping on the bottom or even laying still.01/08/11 fished with Ron Bizzick and son Hayden caught 15 small redfish on shrimp along with sheephead and ladyfish . 01/11/11 fished north Sarasota bay north of Buttonwood harbor and managed 2 keeper redfish 2 nice trout and 3 flounder. 001/14/11 fished with John Meiske and friends and had a tough day slow bite highlight of the day was a 32" redfish with lots of small trout. 01/16/11 fish with Bob Kreilick beautiful day in the 70's saw tons of trout on the east side of the bay and threw everything in the tackle box at them including shrimp with no takers, moved to the west side and did better but still a slow day. 01/20/11 Fished With Ron Johnson and hid from the wind all morning did manage 2 nice sheephead on shrimp with lots of ladyfish action also 2 keeper trout and 1 flounder. got blown out the rest fo the month by cold fronts and rain .

-----2010-----

December was the coldest on record and the fish responded accordingly on the 13th they closed Tampa Bay from large ships with 40mph winds .. did have a couple good days offshore and trolled up some Gag grouper trolling a new lure Exuma a 15-20' diver that worked well in the bay when trolled slow. 12/11/10 trolled offshore in 40' with John Peshkin and son Dan and caught 3 keeper gags 3 red grouper bottom fishing. 12/22/10 the win subsided enough to get offshore and did well on large amberjack up to 50lbs 8red grouper 2 mangrove snapper and 2 lane snapper .12/25/10 Trolled in Sarasota bay with Ray McConnell owner of Rays Offshore Tackle in Boca Raton aand my son Capt R.C. Gilliland managed 5 gag grouper all on the Exuma on one of the nicest days of December water temp around 54 degrees. Last day of the year fished offshore in 55' due to wind with Ken Vallrugo and crew and caught tons of short red and gag grouper , the word was the bigger fished moved out to 80' of water as the temp was to low.

November was a great month for grouper close to shore, with many catches inside the bay trolling plugs .11/12/10 fished offshore out to 20 miles and caught 2 nice gags and 6 red grouper with a N/E wind around 15 knots all day. 11/13/10 Trolled with Dave Banyard in 35-50' with X-rap 30' divers and dug up 4 nice gags and 1 Kingfish. 11/14/10 Wind finally let up and got offshore with Dr. Mike Mollod and crew and did well in 135' of water and collected the rent from the Red Snapper along with red grouper and 2 nice 10lb dolphin.11//18/10 trolled just offshore and managed 2 gags in a strong NE wind that kept us close to shore.11/19/10Fished with Craig Holliday and did well on the trout in the late afternoon in Sarasota Bay. The rest of the month the wind blew hard and had 8 cancellations couldn't hide from it even in the bay.

10/02/10 Participated in Mote for Kids fishing day for Economy Tackle explaining the benfits and techniques of kayak fishing , had a great turn out with over a hundred kids and their families with free gifts and dozens of different stations teaching fly fishing, castnetting knot tying . Really a great event don't miss it next year if you did not make it.10/05/10 Fished with Matt Meister and Damon Gilliland and found a huge school of over sized redfish south of Buttonwood harbor caught 4 up to 32" till they bailed off the bar for deeper water. Also managed 6 nice mangrove snapper and 6 trout. 10/07/10 fished with Rob Brown and Jim Mullet along Long Bar and Buttonwood harbor caught some nice trout on the east side of of the bay and reds on the west side along with reds and a huge flounder.10/08/10 Mote Shark charter with Dr Ken Pfahler and crew catching tagging and releasing a 61/2 Bull shark a 71/2 Nurse shark a 5' Blacktip and several Blacknose and Sharpnose sharks. 10/09/10 Fished with Ron Bizzick and son Hayden and caught Spanish mackerel and Kingfish till we tired of it just off Point of Rocks came in the bay and managed 4 nice Trout and one Redfish all on pilchards.10/13/10 Fished offshore with Dr. Mike Mollod who caught his 1st Sailfish off Sarasota in 130' feet of water , also managed 1 Blackfin tuna and found some prime Red snapper bottom catching and releasing Red snapper up to 12 lbs. Could not get a bait through the snapper to catch a grouper.10/15+16 Fished with Dr Paul Liefeld in a 20knot east wind making it very tough fishing, did catch a 30lb + Kingfish just outside Longboat Pass and several in the teens as well as big spanish mackerel on threadfin herring and Xrap 20' .10/17 Fished with Bob Foss and kids and had a ball with the kingfish and huge spanish macks 1 mile off Cresent beach put some baits down for sharks and caught a 7 foot nurse shark and some Blacknose . Anchored in 30' of water and caught 2 keeper gags and tons of short red grouper and scamp.10/19 started off in the Gulf 1 mile offshore beautiful flat day with threadfin schools as far as you could see, caught a 20lb king and 3 huge spanish and came in for a double grand slam on pilchards in Roberts bay. 10/22/10 Sam Arthur and his cousin Capt Freddie hurt the Spanish Mackerel just outside Big Pass and came in the bay and caught over 30 trout and were back at the dock by 1130am. 10/25/10 fished offshore 40 miles with Ken Vallrugo and Steve Allen and jumped a sailfish but could'nt get the hook in him south wind picked up to 20 and headed to the beach and hooked into 2 nice kings .11/27 fished off the beach and picked up a nice tripletail off a crabtrap bouy bbut the macks were full from the full moon feed. came back inside and caught lot's of trout and bluefish on the middle grounds.

09/03/10 Fished with Dr James Schmidt and managed 10 mangrove snapper in Big Pass on pilchards along with lots of small trout and several nice spanish mackerel .009/06/10 Trolled off the beach and pulled up tons of short red grouper and 2 nice keeper gags. 09/10/10 fished with Dennis Melkonian in the pm rain and did a double grand slam on redfish,snook and trout all on pilchards. Caught over 30 snook most way short but managed 2 in the slot and 4 nice slot reds.09/14 fished with Robby Hinkle in the am and managed 2 slot snook as well as many shorts and had a good topwater bite on the trout first thing in the am on zara spooks.09/22/10 Shark fishing charter with Mote Marine Laboratory caught a Bull Shark 7 foot 3 Blacktips up to 6 foot and a couple of Blacknose .This is different type of fishing where we set out 10 pot rigs and the customers get to handline the sharks in take measurements and tag the sharks for release. 09/23/10 fished with Jim Horwich in the pm and did well on snook trout and jacks all on pilchards . 090/26/10 fished w/ Dr. Jerry Curtis and trolled out in 30-40 feet for grouper in a strong east wind managed 3 keeper gags and lots of small red grouper as well as 2 nice kingfish and 4 spanish mackerel.

07/30/10 fished offshore with Steve Allen, slow bottom bite but managed several kingfish and dolphin up to 10lbs , 07/31 did a shark tagging research charter for Mote Marine and caught 3 blacktip sharks up to 5 feet a 7 foot nurse shark and a 10' 2" male Tiger shark all tagged and released .08/03 fished offshore with Ken and Christine Vallrugo out to 50 miles and caught Kingfish, Barracuda a nice 20lb Gag Grouper and 4 nice red grouper . Fished the Bay 08/04 and did well on trout up to 22 inches and nice fat spanish mackerel , as well as bluefish .08/12 4 days to Bimini Bahamas with Mark Goodwin trolling was slow and concentrated on yellowtail snapper which was fantastic 4-6lb flags . Diving was phenomenal north of Bimini near Great Issacs Lighthouse , where we had all the conch, lobster, and hogfish a guy could ask for . Guy Harvey purchased and remolded the Big Game club and remolded it and did it right , the dock master was great and the hotel staff attentive , the food service and quality left much to be desired so take a grill or get a room with a kitchen and you should eat like kings . 08/16 Kevin Dieter caught a 102 lb Wahoo high speed trolling off Sarasota in 160' of water which is the biggest wahoo I have heard of on this side of the state cudo's to Kevin . 08/20 fished offshore with class mate Ann Rollings and Gary Harney and had a great day with 3 gags 2 big kingfish a 40lb goliath grouper sstarted out in 120' and did better in 50' ..8/21 ran to the elbow with Scott Stottlemeyer and crew into the middle of the U.S. Spearfishing tournament and we were covered by divers waiting to jump in the water at sunrise caught tons of kings trolling hoping for tuna but did manage a nice 35lb wahoo. 08/27 fished with Dr.'s Mike Mollod and John Morritz and managed 2 nice kingfish up to 35 lbs trolling and a 80 lb cobia at our last stop and made the day .

July 31, 2010 --- Been a hot month with very good trout action in the bay and passes along with redfish and snook . From what I can tell by seeing snook in their usual spots on the beach and passes there appears to be approximately 1/2 of the population left after this winters deadly freeze. I still think they took a harder hit with the 3 years of red tide in a row 4-5 years ago. Offshore Tarpon still on the bite early morning and late afternoon best bite with the out going hill tides at sunset on fire. No oil reported in our area out to 90 miles and pelagics being caught close to shore. 7/1 fished the Offshore boat race handicapped tournament with Mark Sultana and had a blast putting the guys on trout, mackerel, ladyfish and jacks and bluefish. Fished in the bay the 2nd and the 6th with good catches of trout up to 24 inches along with nice spanish mackerel and big bluefish along with constant action of ladyfish and jacks fishing under the birds. 7/10th fished offshore with Mr Rob Brown Sr. and Jr. out to 70 miles and managed red snapper Muttons Amberjacks ,Black, Red and Gag Grouper as well as several Kingfish. July 16?17 fished the beaches for snook and trout and did well in New pass and Big Pass rocks with live pilchards picking up several mangrove snappers as well .

05/31/10 Been a busy month with great fishing inshore and off . The Tarpon are thick off the beach and in the bay along with one of the best trout bites in a while . The Cobia are on the near shore reefs with lots of Mackerel and Kingfish still around. 05/06/10 Fished with Brian Graham and crew and did great on Trout Bluefish and Macks on pilchards in north Sarasota bay . 05/08 Fished the North Bay with Brady Young and group catching Trout up to 25" along with small sharks mackerel and bluefish. 05/11 Fished with Gary Butner and friends Frank and Jane trolling off the beach and caught Gag grouper Macks and Bonita.05/13 Fished inshore with Tim Carney and his grand kids and had a blast catching 10 keeper Trout up to 24" on the middle grounds .Fished inshore with Mark Toomey and family and had a great day catching trout sharks redfish and macks all on pilchards .05/20 Fished offshore with Dr Mike Mollod and Ed Marin and did greta on Grouper up to 20 lbs and all the Amberjack, Barracuda, Bonita. 05/24 Fished with Bart Leereveld and friends for tarpon on the beach no takers and wwent in the bay and did well on trout on spinning and flyrod . 02/28 tarpon fished am with Sidney Smothers and managed a 60lb tarpn and missed another one along with 3 blacktip sharks up to 40lbs / Pm fished with John Masters and friend Jimmy Hooked up at 4pm on a 200+ tarpon and had to break it off at 9pm on of the longest battles I have seen . Hooked the fish off the BigPass bar and went northwest about a mile and broke him off south of point of rocks both fish ate a thread fin herring .05/29 Fished offshore out to 70 miles slow bite but managed three Blackfin tuna 22 dolphin 3-5lbs grouper and snapper. Fished with John Holt and family and did well on trout up to 25" on the Bird key flats . 06/01 Fished with Dr's. Mollod , Shwartz, Grogean and friend Justin to finally collect on the Red Snapper, limited out with Snapper up to14lbs Red grouper up to 15lbs 30 dolphin and a 20lb kingfish and a couple of nice mangrove snapper. Tips Fish Tarpon first thing in the am get some threadfins and pinfish with sabiki rigs or go on the outgoing tide and dip up swimmer crabs and fish just outside the bar , tons of bonita in 35-45 feet of water crashing baits , if you ever wanted to catch a shark now is the time try bonita or stingray for bait , offshore tons of little dolphin in 70-150 of water tuna further north Red Snapper open for another 50 days or so and they are thick lots of trout on the flats and macks around the passes fish hard now as no telling when the oil gets here. Good luck get out there

05/01/10 Have been busy last 2 weeks with the trout and redfish in the bay and Mackerel and Kingfish off the beach. The trout bite has been great in the bay fishing on the outside edges of the flats on the east and west side of Sarasota Bay.04/17/10 Fished just off longboat and murdered the mackerel on shrimp in a strong east wind , came inside the middle grounds and caught pompano, trout and ladyfish on Silly Willy's 04/20/10 Kingfished off the beach and got into a school of kings 12-15lbs and had them lit up with pilchards, must have seen 20 or more skyrocket chasing the chummers. Caught 20 or so teenagers and Mr Blacktip showed up and took a pilchard 21/2 hours later on 20lb suffix a #2 hook and 29lb Malin wire brought along boatside when of the best fights I have seen for a while .04/21/10 fished with Bob Thomas and son and grandsons Will and Grey had a great day catching mackerel and the east side of the bay and trout on the west side on pilchards. Fished Offshore with Dr. Mike Mollod and the Mayor of Longboat Key Jim Brown and caught some nice Gag Grouper and 1 Blackfin Tuna on a flat line on Pinfish in 135' .04/24/10 Fished the Sarasota CCA tournament with Kevin Bonasera who entered the flyfishng ddivision and had his work cut out for him in the 10-15knot wind we nmanaged 8 trout up to 23" and one nice red 281/2". I had good luck on the Sebile twitch bait supplied in the tournament box along the Strike King salt and coffee flavored caffeine shad 5".

04/24/10 Fished a bunch of architects in town for the AIA conference out of the Hyatt and did really well on trout, mackerel and redfish had three boats and despite the wind had a great day .04/27/10 Fished with Dr Ron Johnson and his son Mark and grandson Christohper and friend Phil . Christopher caught a 25" trout and managed 15 keeper trout all on pilchards for a great day . 04/28/10 Fished with Ken Vallrugo and friends Steve and Max caught 8 mackerel on the east side of the bay and 9 nice trout north of Buttonwood harbor drifting the deep grass beds all on pilchards and doa shad tails red with gold flecks .04/29/10 Trolled offshore with JD Dryer and son caught 7 kingfish up to 25 lbs trolling 15' and 30' Xraps and trolled up 2 grouper off the bottom in 35-45 feet of water north of the Venice Jetties. Fished the Florida Sherriff Boy's Ranch tournament out of Venice yacht club and had a blast . Fished with Brian 17 and "Gator". Brian caught a 23"trout and a 24 inch redfish and Gator caught a 281/2" redfish along with ladyfish and smaller trout all on pilchards . Had a great time fishing with them and thanks to Venice Yacht club for hosting the tournament and Gary Krayenbrake from the Sarasota Sheriff Dept for running the tournament . Fish the trout on the deeper edges of the flats with doa cal shad tails and exude soft plastics when the tide gets high get on top and use a mirror dine or sebile twitch bait of baby zara spook. Offshore have been finding the kingfish in 35-45 feet of water trolling xraps and spoons on #1 and #2 planners 6-7 mph . Lots of cobia around and tripletail and more and more sightiings of tarpon on the bay and on the beach getting war fast so go fishiing .

4/16/2010 Well it appears we are going from Winter straight to Summer the mid-80 degree weather is going to heat up the water fast . The Kingfish and Mackerel are thick on the beaches as well as Cobia and Tripletail.There are lots of threadfin herring and bluerunners for bait just outside the passes Good catches of Gag and Red Grouper in 80-100 feet of water. I have been doing good on pompano in and around the passes and the trout are finally warming up and eating on the grass flats. Occasional Blackfins way offshore and the Amberjacks are on the deep artificial reefs and Springs. Mangrove and Yelowtail anywhere from 40-150 feet . Keep some live shrimp in the well For the Cobia and Tripletai. A few reports of tarpon on the beach. Remember even if it's blowing 20 knots out of the East the beach is flat calm. Good Luck and try the Kingfish should be good from 15-50 feet.

Posted 4/6/2010 - Trout are on and off with the tide and are still warming up water temp getting up to 65 degrees and going fast,, schools of bait showing up just off the beaches mackerel are taking silver spoons Squids and Lil Cleo just off the beaches. Pompano catches are being reported in and around the passes try the Silly WiIlly jigs tipped with shrimp. Offshore grouper season is back on and good reports of Gags in 60-30 feet. Amberjack are thick on the D reefs and Springs with a occasional tuna on the troll. Cobia are on the M reefs so grab some pinfish on the way out. Lots of spanish sardines and threadfin herring in 15-30 feet of water and easy to catch on the Sabiki rigs. Get out and fish the Winter has been horrible and Spring is here finally good luck and hot drags.

Posted 3/24/2010 - Been a hard long winter and spring is taking it's time the water temp in NewPass on 3/22/10 was 59.6 on a incoming tide, I would move to the Keys but it is still cold there. The constant cold has the bay fish scarred to move much and they are either sunning themselves in the shallows or in deep canals near the flats. The sheephead are in the passes and seem to have come through the cold none the worse for wear. Mackerel are starting to show up in Tampa bay and I did catch one last week south of Long Bar. Scented baits like Gulps, Blurps and Triggers seem to help the Trout bite. Redfish are slow to take and are schooling , best success is a shrimp with a piece of scented artificial under a popping cork in the skinny water where they are sunning and a jig head with a piece of gulp and a shrimp under the docks. I have not caught a jack since January . It is warming up and we are 2-4 weeks behind the normal water temps so keep your retrieve slow and use some scented baits good luck and keep fishing .

Posted 1/29/2010 - Between the 2 weeks of frigid weather and howling winds fishing has been somewhat difficult. On the fish kills yes there were a lot of dead snook and pompano but there are also a lot left alive and well if not still cold. The bay has warmed up to 64-65 degrees yesterday 01/24/10 and the water just offshore is still hanging around 60. My observation is the fish are hanging away from the passes around deep channels on the edge of the flats have done well on trout around the Ringling flats and Lonboat yacht club north. Have been using DOA CAL newpenny color with 3/8 heads and just barely swimming them across the bottom. 01/18/10 Fished inshore with Ron and Hayden Bizzick caught 36 trout 11 keepers and 1 flounder and only 1 ladyfish all day Doa CAl new penny color and red and white 3/8 oz heads. 01/20/10 Fished offshore with Dr.Mike Mollod and In-laws caught lots of red and gag grouper and snapper in 50-70 feet of water the bite was slow and weather kept from going to deeper water 01/24/10 Fished inshore in 20-25 mile winds with Ron and Hayden Bizzick with friends Carlo and Eden. Did well on the Ringling flats and moved to the west side of the bay and caught tons of trout north and south of the Longboat Yacht club 15 keepers and only 2 ladyfish.

Posted 12/16/0912/07/09 Fished with Jim Hodinott and Capt RC Gilliland out to 60 miles offshore and caught 9 Blackfin tuna and a 35lb wahoo, 12/08/09 Fished offshore again and managed 3 Blackfins and had a small Bonita eat a Xrap 15 and when reeling it in a 600lb Marlin ate the Bonita and peeled oout 200 yards of line and jumped twice and let loose, 10 minutes later he swam within 30 feet of the boat just to give us another look.12/08/09 fished with Ron Bizzick and caught 6 Pompano on the incoming tide on Silly Willy jigs yellow and lime colors. 12/12/09 Fished with Ed and Nick Marin managed 2 Pompano silly willys and a triple hook up on snook on pilchards.12/13/09 Fished with Doc Mike Mollod out to 65 miles caught Gag grouper to 15 lbs Scamp and Snapper on Pinfish cut Mullet and frozen Sardines, Trolled up a KingFish 48

Posted 11/30/0911/23/09 Fished Near Shore with Hy Smith and gang made bait by Bird key, trolled up a Gag Grouper in 38' of water marked on gps and went back and anchored on the ledge and caught 3 Gags 5 nice Mangrove 2 King fish and 3 big Mackerel and a 7' nurse shark everything came off the bottom on Pilchards. 11/24/09 Fished Inshore with Tom and Robert Weigand in Roberts bay catching 6 snook up to 26" 2 reds up to 27" 5 nice Trout all on pilchards a double grand slam for the morning . 11/25/09 Fished Ron Bizzick son Hayden and Mr.Bizzick Managed 2 nice keeper snook in Sarasota Bay on pilchards. 11/27/09 Fished Inshore with Larry Weigandand sons Matt and Rob and nephew Tanner Weigand manged 6 nice trout up to 24" flounder lady fish and jacks all on pilchards in Sarasota bay. 11/28/09 Fished Ed Marin and his 3 sons Offshore caught 9 nice Mangrove snapper 3 Kingfish 11 keeper Gag Grouper and many 18-20" and 7 mackerel. 11/29/09 Fished Offshore starting in 80' trolling up 10-15 lb Jack Crevalle and Amberjacks up to 40lbs. Mr Cuda took our only confirmed Kingfish at the boat .. moved into 48 feet and caught 11 very nice Gag grouper in 45 minutes on pilchards and frozen sardines and pinfish.

Posted 11/20/09 11/18/09 Fished offshore beautiful day With Jim Hoddinot and Matt Meister , spotted a Sailfish on the run out in 113 feet of water and put out 2 trollers with a Tuna Alley blue/white from Bluewater lures and a purple Rattle jet and caught 2 dolphin cow calf pair 10lbs each and Mr Sailfish was never seen after boating the pair. Not much top water action but lots of weed out to the 50 mile spring trolled around and managed 2 Blackfin tuna one on the Tuna Alley and another on a Xrap 15 jigged up some 5lb Blue runners and made up some stinger rigs then started slow trolling caught several Kingfish up to 35 lbs and Amberjack up to 60 which are closed for the year and of course Barracuda.

11/12/09 Fished Dr. Ron Johnson and Dr. Phil Jorgensen wind north 10/15 and cold .Found the pilchards on the flat east of Bird key and spent the day hiding from the wind around Siesta key. Dr. Phil managed a grand slam and Dr. Ron was close but didn't catch his redfish. 8 snook 1 red 6 trout flounder and snapper for the day with lady fish and jacks plenty.. 11/15/09 Fished offshore out to 50 miles slow bite for us trolling managed Amberjacks to 40lbs Dolphin to 10 lbs Red Snapper and Hogfish and Red Grouper on the bottom. Moved into 25 miles offshore and trolled into some of the biggest Jacks I've seen 15 ponders along with big Spanish mackerel and Kingfish and the occasional Cuda. My son Capt R.C. had good success on the new Daiwa Conch jig catching grouper and a spot tailed hogfish, bonita and kingfish .

Posted 11/02/0910/30/09 Fished off Cresent beach with Sam Arthur and Matt Meister and caught 20 mackerel 2 Kingfish and a 4 foot Blacktip shark and many bonita. Started out trolling with 1" planners and pink and blue King spoons and then anchored and chummed and fished with live pilchards with about a foot of 29 lb malin wire leader. 11/01/09 Fished with Ron Bizzick and kids Hayden and Hannah and trolled up mackerel and Bonita off Cresent Beach. We then drifted with pilchards and Ron did battle with a 5' Blacktip for 45 minutes on a 12 pound spinning outfit one of the best battles I have seen for a while. Fished the PM with Dr. Troy Ploger and Nicole Allen of Tampa. Both managed Grand Slams in Roberts Bay on pilchards and Zara Spook Jr's. I will be doing a KingFish, Mackerel and Grouper Trolling seminar at Economy Tackle Friday at 6:30 pm.

Posted 10/27/09 The ever present shifting wind slowed the offshore fishing . Near shore out to 15 miles good catches of mackerel and Kingfish and Bonita on spoons with 1-2" planners and big lip trolling plugs X-raps 30/15's and Manns Stretch 30 . Cobia are on the M reefs along with lots of Blacktip sharks following the migrating bait schools. Had a report of a school of Sailfish on the Cuda Hole and the boat caught 3 out of 6 hook ups. The bay is coming alive with Redfish and the big Trout are moving back in. Big Mackerel are in the passes and just inside on the flats just inside the passes along with snapper and be ready for a Cobia with a pinfish or shrimp for bait.The pilchards or white bait are thick in the bay . Good reports of Flounder right off the beach . Fished Ron Bizzick and son Hayden 10/25 on the 3 tide day and the bite was slow managed some big Macks, trout and snapper along with lady fish and jacks.

Posted 10/22/09 - 10/13 Fished Roberts bay with pilchards and artificials tried out the Nemire gold spoon and got busted off by a huge snook along the Docks south of the field club picked up some nice trout on the white exude with a bright green head. 10/15 Fished with Paul Parr from Siesta Key and Kevin and Owen Smith from Scotland had a low tide at 8:00am so went outside to Point of Rocks and blistered the big Mackerel on pilchards we caught in New Pass. Fished the flats off Bird Key and picked up 7 nice Trout along with ladyfish, Jacks and Mangrove Snapper. 10/18 Fished baseball great Bobby Bonilla , Christine and his Son Brandon in a North Northeast 15-20 mile wind not the Northwest the weatherman called for. Needless to say hard to feel the bite but we did manage to put a grand slam together and capped the day with a huge trout in Roberts bay. Caught everythiing on pilchards caught on the flat just east of the Bird Key yacht club. Be prepared for the major offshore migration of Mackerel, Cobia and Kingfish reports of Cobia in the bay by the middle grounds just north of Newpass. Hopefully Mr.Pompano will soon show up try jigging with a Silly Willy jig Pink/White and Yellow/White available at Economy Tackle. Be careful offshore with the winter winds and good luck

Posted 10/08/09 - Hosted a CastNet seminar at Economy Tackle and 65 people showed up apparently need to do this about every other month had a blast and hopefully helped some people hone their skills. Fished just of the beach with Skip and Joey Rossi the pilchards had vanished after being thick on the beach for the last 3-4weeks. Plan B KingSpoons blue and pink and Xrap 15 blue and we had plenty of Mackerel up to 4 lbs and Kings up to 15. 10/10/09 Fished offshore with Ron Bizick and Steve Wexler we dropped some Xraps and Tuna Sticks about 40 miles out and about 3 minutes into the troll hooked a 38lb Wahoo and had a bite off on cable , I may switch to chain . Continued trolling out to 48 miles and caught one nice Blackfin tuna and some huge Cuda 5-6 feet and 3 Kings. Saw lots of terns but no bait hot hot hot weather. Came back into 130 feet and managed one Red Grouper and some Snapper . 10/12/09 Fished John Dittmeyer and his friend Joel for Snook had a hard time finding bait but located pilchards in New Pass . Fished Roberts Bay and around Phillipi Creek lots of 22-24 inch fish but could not close the deal with a keeper. The weather looks like it is about to cool off this weekend and the Fall Migration is starting Kingfish are on the beach and 10-12 miles off schools of bonita, sharks and kings are thick snapper are fat in the bay and watch for the stone crab traps line while running off shore and in the bay . good luck, till next week

Posted 10/6 - 09/30/09 Fished the a.m. with Capt. Randy Williams doing a little prospecting caught snook up to 35" on pilchards and pinfish also managed some nice mangrove snapper and trout in Roberts bay and Sarasota bay on the flats between Ringling bridge and the City Island. 10/02/09 Trolled offshore with Dr.Mike Mollod and Dr. Scott Grogean and caught a nice 65 lb wahoo on a Tuna Stick by Bluewater Lures I call it a hippie cedar plug has mylar on the front and sparkle exterior on the stick. Also put 4 Blackfin tuna on the boat and then bottom fished which was slow did manage a 5lb mangrove 2 tilefish , Lane and American red snapper in 140 feet of water and saw a sailfish tearing it up. 10/03/09 Fished with Ron Bizzik and son in the a.m. and managed 2 nice redfish and then offshore about a mile into a mackarel frenzy. Caught big macs till we were tired of them and then put out a shark rig and jumped a 50-60lb blacktip of spinner. Fished Ed and Nick Marin in the pm Nick caught a nice 32" snook on a huge pilchard and Ed jumped a 60lb tarpon and battled him for 4-5seconds on his 8lb test ultra light . 10/06/09 Fished this a.m. with Sam Arthur and Mike Davis about a mile off Point of Rocks and were covered up in big Macks and all the Sharks a guy could wish for. Caught all the pilchards we needed in one cast just south of Big Pass and were in by 11 am with 10 big macks. Near shore troll spoons under the birds 1/2 to 2 miles off with spoons or cast jigs into the fish breaking water. Cut a mack in half and let it down with some wire leader and you won't have to wait long for a tussle with Mr. Shark. Inshore dirft the flats for trout and fish the points and docks around the passes for snook and reds. Offshore Tuna sticks , Xraps and ballyhoo in 120 feet of water or more should produce good eats . keep at it.

Posed 09/28 - 09/25 fished with John Dunham and crew tried chumming with pilchards for snapper on M7 with little success moved north over some live bottom and caught small red grouper and grunts which did not hold our interest long. Started trolling and hooked into a 46" red fish, which ate a blue XRAP 30. Over the next hour we caught 5 bonita 2 big mackeral and 3 jacks from 8-10 lbs all trolling spoons and X raps on spinning gear. 09/26Fished with George and Sandy Mazzarantani and kids Myles and Marina. Loaded the well with pilchards at south lido beach started the day off with Sandy's first redfish then a couple of nice snapper off Point of rocks. The terns were jamming about a mile off the rocks and set up and drifted thru them and a big Mac attack ensued. After being cut off 4-5 times wrapped about 6" of wire on long shank gold hooks and stayed busy the next 2 hours on the 8lb spinning gear. The highlight of the morning was watching a 50lb spinner shark peel off 100 yards of 8lb test on about 4 seconds and breaching twice. Moved into Roberts bay and managed some nice trout and a snook for a grandslam . The weatherman says west winds for this week and a cold front wed/thurs whatever that is with the drop in temp the fishing is about to bust open. keep fishing till next time .

Posted 09/23 Fished the point of rocks 09/16 and picked up a nice17" redfish 18"flounder and 2 snook major high tides and waves made it tough, all took pilchards. 09/19 evening snook charter slow bite till dark caught lots of shorts and after the sunset caught a nice 33 inch snook in Phillippi Creek. 09/19 topwater bite was slow so loaded the well with pilchards in one castand headed to the Ringling flats where we caught mackeral , trout, lady fish and jacks and bluefish. Ended the morning in Big Pass and managed 1 nice redfish and 4 mangrove snapper.09/20 Tried getting out to 50 miles but the east wind stopped us at 25 miles where we started trolling in tons of flying fish and frigate birds. Caught three king fish up to 30 lbs lots of bonita and stayed with it and managed a 25lb blackfin tuna. The lure of the day was the X-rap 30 magnum the blue colors work great and rigged everything with wire after loosing 2 of them by a herd of wahoo last week. 09/22 flyfished the lights for snook till sunup and and managed a grand slam but was a lot of work fishing the bay passes and beach, lots of follow ups and nips, and rolls but the dirty water and heat slowed em down , much better on the in coming tide in the pm. till next time

08/30 Fished offshore and caught a variety of species , tuna,tripletail, tuna and dolphin snapper and kingfish and the rare african pompano and did well on the red grouper. Inshore fished on 09/03 and caught three nice reds on canal edges in roberts bay but the snook bite was slow 3 small snook and 4 trout. Fished on the beach Saturday morning and caught 7 nice reds, mangrove snapper and mackeral, which are schooling on the bait balls off siesta and lido key, again the snook were stacked in the passes but would not eat, probably the full moon. 09/06 fished offshore out to 50 miles little bumpy the first thing in the morning but glassed off around 8am . Spotted a funnel cloud that lasted about 20 minutes and missed a thunderstorm to the south of us. Caught lots of red snapper, 7 keeper red grouper and a 30lb kingfish, one dolphin . 09/07 went 70 plus offshore 2-3 three footers all morning and the bottom bite was shut down for us , the bottom show was amazing but no takers. Trolled due south in 180 feet and picked up 3 tuna and a 45-50 wahoo. Originally had a small dolphin on and got cut in half and the 2 long lines were cut clean with no drag being pulled , I am going to wire on everything from now on . I heard tell someone was reeling in a small dolphin and jumped a marlin in 150' . Also a 350 lb swordfish was taken this weekend. Well look for the reds to start gathering around the passes and the pelagics to start working their way down south. keep fishing and good luck .

08/24 Been a slow month for charters, Offshore the wahoo and tuna were in 120-140 feet some caught trolling and others on flatlines while bottom fishing for grouper. The local big bill fish HBA tournament had some impressive billfish catches in some bad weather, swords blue/white marlin, and a nice yellowfin tuna.Good reports of Grouper in 100feet out and the red snapper were incredible prior to closure on 08/14. I don't know where the surveyors are fishing but I have never seen so many red snapper, and cannot imagine why the season is closed so long . Inshore the action is early in the morning or late in the evening , lots of mangrove snapper in the grassflats and redfish in potholes and around the docks. Snook have been gathering in the passes and in the creeks and turn on in the rain. My flyrodders have been doing well at the dam on the myakka river with snook up to 36 inches with the occasional small tarpon. Trout are early and late on the flats near the passes where the water has been cleaner than in the middle of the bay . keep fishing /good luck

07/11 took Joe Perry and his wife Billie diving for the reef cleanup off Sarasota with Mark Rush dive instructor and pulled up trash off Fisher reef. Went way off 70 miles on 07/12 and limited out on the red snapper caught some decent red grouper and a couple of dolphin , and saw a sailfish free jump and the way in in 45feet of water. A huge push of clean water has the pelagics just off the beach 10-20 miles off. reports of dolphin and multiple sailfish hook ups in 50-90 feet.

07/14 went off out to 60 miles and did well on the red snapper with Keith Brooks and a couple of Vikings from Norway. Fished 07/15 out to 70 miles with Rob Brown who caught a sailfish and even though the bite was slow on the bottom, did well on red grouper, scamp and mangrove snapper , caught 2 small dolphin. Not sure where Mr tuna went did see one school in about 140 feet but they were very boat shy. Well off today with Mote Marine to try and catch some small scoolie dolphin for display. stay close and troll with ballyhoo and small rattle jets 10-20miles offshore and you might catch a billfish and supper dolphin. the bay bite has slowed get out early and try top water zara spooks . the white bait is still on the beach and now you can catch them there now the wind finally let up . will post again soon, keep going out.

The West wind and thunderstorms have slowed the fishing down offshore and inshore the last 2 weeks but did get out with good results .
7/01 fished in Sarasota bay in monsoon conditions caught 12 nice snook and 5 tarpon and some big jacks outgoing tide and all on pilchards.

07/04-07/06 fished offshore out to 60 miles and did well on Blackfin tuna , Red Snapper, Scamp, Grouper, Kingfish and caught a small cobia. Put 6 blackfins in the boat in ten minutes all on spinners and pilchards. Never every drive by a ball of bait covered up by sharks the tuna are in there with them. Keep going out can't catch if you don't go . The wind is supposed to let up and weather improve so will have more to report next time .

It has been a busy week,
06/13 Snook fished am and bite was slow , managed 6 fish no pigs did lose a good one in new pass. All on pilchards which, after spending 3 hours a week a prior, I found are all just off the beach. All the bay bait is small.

06/14 Fished off shore 80 miles limited out on red snapper 4 nice gags 4 tuna suspect wahoo cutoff 2 scamp and a couple nice mangroves.

06/15 Fished Islamorada Fl. keys for 3 days perfect weather ffc seas. 1st day 36 dolphin up to 35 lbs . Caught all our big dolphin on X-rap 30ft bonita color . I will not troll without one of these out have caught tuna dolphin and wahoo on them. Caught 1 blackfin at the humps.
Day2 26 dolphin 1 28lb cow 1 blackfin 32 lbs on hump west of islamorada hump fished 1/2 day on the 17th 2 30lb bull and cow pair bull hit the xrap and caught the cow on a spanish sardine tossed out 1 tuna and another the man in the brown suit got.Did not fish for them but saw 9 sailfish jump 2-20 miles off the reef

06/18 pm fished back in Sarasota got chased around by the weather but caught 15 snook around Philippi creek and the passes and 5 keeper trout , and at sunset sight casted tarpon at sunset with no takes .

06/20 Way offshore 70 miles red snapper bite was on fire and did not take long to limit out with some nice reds 1 gag 3 good red grouper 1 small blackfin , seems like the heat slowed the top water bite down. and always had a threadfin out on a flat line while bottom fishing . I heard the loop was in while I was in the keys and a couple boats did well on the wahoo. Inshore advice get your white bait on the beach and fish early and late , try a zara spook chrome on top water . Offshore troll early and watch for fish breaking . small weed lines 40-50 miles off shore .