Crystal River Flats

It was a little choppy in shore Thursday so we stayed close in. The action was slow but steady. We caught many Spotted Sea Trout and managed 3 keepers within the slot size. We also caught  a couple nice Mackeral and Black Sea Bass. We were using live shrimp in mostly 5 ft of water.

This will knock your socks off

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=HcBaSP31Be8&vg=me

How to Land more Spotted Sea Trout

   Here's a little tip that has helped me land more of those larger Spotted Sea Trout. The Spotted Sea Trout has a very delicate and soft mouth and it tears easily. When setting the hook it's only necessary to just flick the rod a little bit instead of leaning into a big jerk to set the hook. You'll want a rod with a flexable tip for a light set. When fishing live bait besure the hook is far enough through the bait so the barb is exposed, this will allow the hook to easily penatrate all the way up to the barb for a sure hold.

  Now that you've got him hooked you need to get him to the boat. Keep a tight line but don't reel too fast or he'll jerk and kick against your tension and tear the hook out by tearing his own mouth. Slow and steady is the best way land the keeper sized Sea Trout. Always use a landing net, never try to hoist the fish out of the water and into the boat.

  This method has helped me and I hope it helps you.

Captain Jack

Invitation to post your photos and/or your fishing report

Hello Fellow Fisherpersons
   Please send me your reports and/or your photos for the site. They don't have to be anything special, just let people know what's happening in our area.

kustomkraft1@yahoo.com
Tom

A Good Day Fishing On The Crystal River Flats

It was a beautiful day, temperatures were perfect around 80 degrees, the winds were just right at 5-10 mph, and high tide cooperated at 11:00 am. The morning started out slow, we were on the flats about a mile and half out from Shell Island but didn't get a bite for what seemed like hours. We kept moving in closer a little at time. I noticed 3 Dolphins feeding and a lone Sea Gull diving on the scraps they were leaving so we followed their movement and before long we were getting action.

It was about 2 hours before high tide and we were in to within 1000 yards of Shell Island. The water was about 5-6 ft deep now and we were just on the edge of a large Kelp grass flat.

We were catching a lot of small Spotted Sea Trout and Black Sea Bass. It seemed like every time the Dolphins came near the action increased. As High tide came closer we started getting a few Mackerel and keeper sized Sea Trout. The bait was live Shrimp on a black wire leader below a small split shot supported by a small float. We also had one rod rigged with a 1" square piece of cut mullet, which we rotated with a live small pinfish when were able to catch one. The Spotted Sea Trout took the shrimp, the pinfish, and the mullet.

About 2 hrs after high tide the action slowed dramatically.

Crystal River October 25th 2011

   Temps were perfect for a great day of fishing and the sea was kind of choppy. We found the Sea Trout on the flats just outside Shell Island. It was just about high tide and the best action was on the edges of the weed beds. We caught several keepers on live shrimp (with heads and tails clipped) or I should say recently deceased shrimp. We tried both drifting and anchored with nearly the same results. We fished the bait 3 ft under a small float with a large splitshot.

  We caught a bunch of exciting Lady fish and not a single Cat fish, which was good.

Sept. 12th Report

The Bird Racks.
Went out to the bird racks this morning and drifted back and forth accross the flats that were about 5-7 ft deep at low tide. Fish were feeding on the surface all around the area, and the Gulls were diving for scraps. We put out live shrimp on floats and in less than a few minutes hooked up a nice Mac only to loose him after he fought his way 2 laps around the boat.

The rest of the early morning we only landed a bunch of the typical 13-14 inch male Sea Trout. With the full moon last night, clear skies and the low tide, the action quickly died off.

On the way back to the launch ramp we stopped in the Crystal River to see what was bitting there. We did catch 1 Redfish but only a 15" (catch and release). The ever present Catfish were more than willing to play "catch me if you can". The larger Cats can put up a good fight. This one lost the fight but will be around to try again another day.

May 31st

We were fishing the grass flats out of Crystal River in 3 to 6 ft on the out going tide. Caught a couple keeper Spotted Sea Trout just after sunrise then we started seeing alot of surface action around us. We cast to area where the fish were breaking the surface and caught a few small Cobia, about 24 ". The Cobia followed the hooked trout we caught right up to the boat. As it got lighter there were fewer and fewer Cobia feeding on the surface.

Have you ever tried this?

Sunday We were fishing the area out from Shell Island and weren't doing that great and looking for more action. It was about 3 pm and the tide still coming in. The wind was from the west/northwest and we had a pretty good chop. I thought we would try our luck drifting eastward over the grass flats starting around the channel at marker R8. As soon as the shrimp hit the water my wife had a strike, it was a yellow tail jack about 2 lbs. After landing that one I ran back upwind and dropped the anchor which put us just outside the channel between marker R8 and R10a in about 7 ft of water. We were fishing with live shrimp on a bobber. Now this was Sunday afternoon and traffic on the channel was really heavy, every time a big boat came by action would really heat up. It seemed that the fish were just waiting for those huge wakes surge out of the channel on to the spoil area so they could ambush their prey. When the boat traffic settled down so did the fishing action. We caught Yellow Tails, Macks, Trout, and Cats.

March 16, 2011


Ran about 12 nm out from R-2 and got into the Spanish. We trolled 5" red & white plugs as fast as they would stay in the water. Kept 14 and released about another dozen that weren't hooked too badly. On the way back in we drifted in 8' over grass beds and got one nice trout. Water temp was 66 deg.



Raymond Peters

Monday April 18th

Things are heating up and fishing is getting into full swing. Yesterday started off on low tide and a full moon visable all night so the bite was a really slow. I did see a trout fisherman hook into about a 80 lb Tarpon on the grass flats at marker red 10a. The battle lasted till the second jump, to say the least he wasn't setup to fight a tarpon.

 We had several bite offs that were probably Macs. The trout we did catch we small and had to release them. We always keep a bottom line out just to keep the action going and later in the day we caught several sail cats in the 6 to 8 lb range.

BJ

Crystal River Flats

Sunday April 10th
  My wife and I were out from 8am to 3pm fishing an area About 5 miles / 240 degrees from marker #1. We were over and around a hole about 25 ft deep. We always fish for what ever is biting, bobers, free line drifting, and bottom rigs, so we get a variety of fish. We caught a lot of lady fish, some catfish, a few Jacks, a couple Sea trout, and a half dozen Shark up to about 5 ft.  Of course it's always catch and release. We lost 2 contests with something really large that we never got a look at in that deep spot.
  Our bait was cut Mullet, Squid, and live Shrimp. We also had a chum block out most of the time. There were schools of bait fish around the boat all day. We were even surprised by an aerial display when a 6 ft sting ray came flying out of the water not too far from our boat.
  Action was constant and exciting, never knowing what was waiting to take the hook.

Sylvan Pro Fisherman

Warmer Water and More Action

Fishing is picking up with the warmer temps or I should say the catching is picking up.. We went out from the Crystal River at Fort Island Park. We fished about 2 miles out from Shell Island on the high tide and caught Spotted Sea trout , Spanish Mackerel, Reds, Catfish, and a few Ladyfish. We worked the edges around the submerged sand bars with Shrimp until we ran out and then we switched to small pieces of cut Mullet. Low tide really put a damper on the action. Most everything was small, the only keepers we got were 3 Spanish Mackerel and one Sea trout, but we had plenty of action. It was a good start to the season.

Kings Bay February Report

I talked to 2 fishermen at the boat launch next Charlies Restaurant yesterday around noon and they both reported some luck fishing the warmer waters of Kings Bay. One was flipping around the seawalls and and boat docks picking up some action with Large mouth bass. He said they were not hitting hard and it was difficult to get a good hook set. He said he had also seen a large Snook lurking about.

The other was fishing more open areas of Kings bay and had landed and released several good sized Sea trout.

It seems that it only takes a little sunshine and warmer day time temps to bring the fish out of deep holes where they have been holding just to stay warm and start to feed.

I was reminded the other day that the Progress Energy plants warm water discharge isn't very warm these days since the reactor has been shut down for around a year. I believe they are making power with  natural gas or coal until the reactor repairs completed and it's brought back on line. So for now the winter spots are the springs at Kings Bay, The Withlachoochee river, or parts of the Barge canal near the old river channel.

Don't forget that Sea Trout season is closed all of the month of February.

Wreck Fishing Charters in Naples, Florida with Tandem Charters by TONY DISARRO

Wreck fishing is one of my favorite things to do. Wreck fishing is when you fish over sunken wrecks. Wreck fishing is carried out from a charter boat
. Wreck fishing is a lot of fun and your experienced captain certainly knows how to make it a successful endeavor. Wreck fishing is pretty simple, once you have your boat in the right place.

Wreck

Wrecks can be anything from just a mile offshore to 35 / 40 miles offshore, which can mean that it will take several hours steaming to get to the chosen wrecks. Wrecks attract many fun and tasty fish to a concentrated location, providing anglers with a reliable fishing spot. Wreck hopping is very effective because you can just fish from spot to spot to spot, until you find a wreck holding some big and aggressive fish. Wreck fishingis usually a good way to hook up with something big that will really test thewilling angler.

Charter

This kind of fishing is highly recommended for children and family charters. Sportfishing charters to suit all ages and family groups. Our experienced and friendly charter fleet provides World Class Fishing at its Finest. Of all the different fishing techniques we fish on our charters, bottom fishing can be the most productive for a large catch of big game fish. For that ultimate fish trip in our paradise this is the charter for you.

Wreck fishing is another popular fishing charter we operate in Naples. Wreck fishing is done over submerged ships or boats, many known only to us. Wreck fishing is an exciting way to catch a variety of hard-fighting species, and you just never know what you're going to pull up.

Captain Tony Di Sarro is a full time sport fishing charter guide, who is fluent in both Spanish and Italian. He has fished Florida's West Coast in Naples since 1973. For more information on Offshore, Wreck & Reef Fishing visit Captain Tony DiSarro at Tandem Charters.com or call 239-250-5091.