Earlier this week we hooked up to a few triple tail! This species frequents the Gulf of Mexico in our fall/ winter months. They like to hide under floating structure and dock pilings. A fun sight cast as these fish are aggressive eaters attacking what floats or swims by in the current. It is a favorite for the dinner table. Tagged and released a few today. Remember if you recapture ANY of the species we’ve tagged and report your recapture to Gray FishTag Research and they

Its officially open harvest on Greater Amberjack. Anglers are allowed one fish per day over 34 inches to the fork. Seafood lovers enjoy this catch smoked, they are an aggressive fish with fighting power. This week we were getting them fired up on large topwater plugs. These fish were chasing the plugs in packs of 5-10. Crashing the surface on the bait and getting hooked. At this location you have to keep them off the bottom. The guys did a great job using Penn Battle &

Mike & friends headed out into the gulf in search of a fresh catch. They were on vacation from Ohio and hoping to bring back something for dinner. We left out of Gasparilla pass and started at some snapper bottom. The guys caught a bunch of mangrove, as we drifted further away from the wreck to some patchy bottom the bite really turned on. Lane snapper, grunts and red grouper! One of which was legal size to bring back to the dock. No one will go hungry tonight, nice job

Lionfish is an invasive species that began showing up in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. It wasn't until this week that I found one on the end of a line. Nearshore fishing a patch of hard bottom out of Boca Grande FL, a spot where I commonly catch snapper and red grouper. During one of our drifts a guest hooked into a lion fish using a small weighted jig. The angler said it didn't put up much of a fight. Described it as "pulling seaweed off the bottom" Invasive species like

One of my favorites to catch in the fall/winter months are King Mackerel. The big brother to the Spanish Mackerel, these toothy fish are an exciting fight and quite frustrating if you aren't prepared. Their teeth can easily cut though heavy monofilament and fluorocarbon line. For the best success I use a wire leader that can easily attach to your mainline using a swivel. I use 58lb wire to a 4/0 circle hook, to a small stinger treble hook. They eat a variety of natural

Greater Amberjack are known for their tenacity. This is a strong fighting fish commonly caught on jigs, live bait and lures. Winter water temps in the Gulf of Mexico really get them fired up. Recently Capt Andrew was throwing around a large topwater plug. Chugging it along to see what he could bring up to the surface. It wasn't long until he had followers. BIG greater amberjack were chasing it in packs of 5-10. Just missing the treble hooks and making a commotion on t

Christian and crew set up a few miles outside of Boca Grande. Near shore fishing on our local wrecks and reefs are always exciting. Des hooked into a permit using a tsunami weighed jig. These game fish are fighters and a blast on light weight tackle. She got her fish to the boat and snapped a quick picture before release. Snapper bite has been great, plenty of mangrove & lane snapper hanging out on the bottom. Christian caught the largest fish of the day, on a Penn 2500

Near shore on our local wrecks out of Boca Grande/ Englewood beach area we've been catching a lot of lane snapper. These snapper have varied in size from your small under sized to large enough to take home for a fresh dinner. Easy enough to catch. They are eating frozen bait on a knocker rig. We started out on the wreck and really got them going with some chum. During this trip we used Chum Drop. We also caught a few grouper and helped FWC gather some data on red group

Joe, Micki & Raygin planned a family trip on the water. We started nearshore fishing some hard bottom for snapper and grouper. The girls pulled up a number of Gag Grouper, they are currently out of season but a fun catch and release. They caught plenty of Lane Snapper to bring home for dinner. Joe hooked up on a few nice barracuda that were hiding under the boat. They are an energitic fish that gives explosive eats on artificial. Next we headed inshore, Joe was up fir

Raygin & Steve have fished with me for years. They have been traveling to Florida yearly for vacation. All those great times, and fun in the sun convinced them to buy a house right here in town. We took them out to celebrate becoming Florida residents and to explore the gulf of Mexico! Our local weather has been iffy. Day to day you never know what the gulf is going to look like. When we saw 2 feet or less on the NOAA forecast we set out towards the west. We couldn't

Christams eve on the water with Don, Patricia and Heather. We had an action packed day in the Gulf of Mexico. Don caught the first fish of the day, a blue runner. He was pretty surprised when I immediately put a 20/0 circle hook though it and sent it to the bottom. I told him we were going to upgrade him. Time passed and we hooked up to a few more nice catches. Big Mangrove Snapper, great to take home for dinner. Sharks started to come in when the jacks showed up. The

Barry and Cameron joined us on the water recently during Barry's Holiday break from college. Our first goal today was a goliath grouper. Barry had been unsuccessful at previous attempts and we wanted to make sure this trip was a success. We hooked Barry up to a nice live jack for bait and it was not longer than a few mins he had a bite. Right away we knew it was a good sized fish running and taking drag. Even breaking the 80lb billfisher rod during the fight, but the 600

Nikki set out with us on a sporting day. Seas have been rough due to warm windy weather, we stayed close and hoped our chumslick would call something in for a bite. Our fish finder was showing great activitiy when we pulled on to the structure. Some baits were freelined, 50lb bullbuster main line to 60lb leader to a 6/0 circle hook. Others were sent to the bottom with a simple knocker rig. All of the baits sent to the bottom were picked up and broken off by goliath group

Heather was excited to venture offshore to catch a few fish she wanted to check off her bucket list. We arrived to the first reef around 8am. It was a cold morning, Set out live pinfish right away on free lined 6/0 circle hook. The rod hardly made it in the holder before there was a fish on. Cobia! First fish of the day was dinner and went in the fish box. After awhile we pushed further offshore. Once at the next location we didn't have to sit long before the action st