How do you know when its winter in Florida? Cue the WIND! Yup thats right, another windy winter for our anglers. Although, its better than snow right? Being a Cleveland Ohio native I know that all too well. All this wind, well it really creates some casting champions. If you can land your white bait under those mangroves in a 15 knot wind you are a great fisherman. We do get the occasional lower wind days throughout our winter months. Those days we try to get our gues

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

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

Lee and his crew have been fishing with us in for a few years now. This trip we took them nearshore exploring the local wrecks outside of Boca Grande. The waters were rough but the fish didn't seem to mind. The day started off with some smaller catches. Spanish mackerel were biting anything that flashed by them, flashy spoons ans jigs caught their eye. They are toothy and are known to steal tackle, use light wire as a bite leader. The barracuda began eating every macke