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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Snapper abundant offshore; Trout inshore
(Preview)
Monday, 2/15, was a windy day, and seas offshore were about three feet and sloppy when I headed out to 22 miles west of New Pass with Brian and Marcia Wilson. The couple used live shrimp to catch six keeper mangrove snapper that ranged 14 inches to 17 ¾ inches. They also caught a 14-inch hogfish, seven por...
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0
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1121
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Tampa Bay Feb 21 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Feb 21 Fishing Report Fishing remains strong for me here around Anna Maria Island. The weather has been really nice and the fish are biting, what else could a charter captain ask for? With water temperatures moving up and down from night to day it keeps me on my toes as fish move with it, with...
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beachin679
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0
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234
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Big snapper, sheepshead, redfish, trout
(Preview)
Tuesday, 2/2/16, I headed 20 miles offshore in calm seas with Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonso, and Dick Arnett. The guys used live shrimp to catch seven nice mangrove snapper keepers to 16 inches, a dozen lane snapper keepers to 15 inches, seven porgies all around 14 inches, a few 14-inch grunts, and six she...
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0
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1246
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Anna Maria Island Feb Fishing Report
(Preview)
Anna Maria Island, February 11 Fishing Report Hello from Anna Maria Island. It seemed like winter would never come back around Christmas time when temperatures were 80 and above, but at last it has arrived. Now cold to us around here is air temps in the low 60s like it has been the last few days. To me...
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beachin679
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0
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392
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Fishing great when weather allows. 22-inch mutton snapper!
(Preview)
Monday and Tuesday, 1/18 and 1/19/16, began just as the preceding week had begun, that is, with a cold front that brought high winds and seas, along with some cold temperatures. The two offshore trips I had planned for those days had to be canceled. Wednesday, 1/20, it was still pretty breezy, but win...
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0
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1173
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Tampa Bay January Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay January Fishing Report Anna Maria Island fishing remains strong. The water has cooled a bit since my last report as it tries to get back down to more normal temperatures for this time of year. It can be tricky fishing when the water temps hit that low 62 to 63 degree mark. The fish kind of wan...
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beachin679
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0
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346
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Gotta love the grouper bite!
(Preview)
Saturday, 1/2/16, my first day of the new year on the water, was spent in the backwaters with Ann McManus, her brother, Phil Arnes, and their friends, Roger and Maureen Paruie. The group opted to fish the bay instead of the gulf, since a cool front approaching promised some windier conditions and buil...
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0
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1301
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Anna Maria Island January Fishing Report
(Preview)
Anna Maria Island January Fishing Report Happy New Year from Anna Maria Island Florida. I hope everyone had a great holiday. We had some tremendous fishing over the Christmas and New Year season. The weather was as nice as it gets for this time of year, almost too hot, surpassing the mid 80s. Wit...
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beachin679
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0
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229
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Red Grouper Re-0pen Today! Big Sheepshead Moving in Too!
(Preview)
Friday morning, 12/18/15, just ahead of a cold front that was about to bring rain to the area, I headed into the backwaters of Estero Bay with the Lang family--Reese and Kara and their two young children, Nicholas, and Brooklyn. The Langs did not mind if rain cut their trip short, as they mostly wanted t...
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1030
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Great Grouper & Snapper Fishing!
(Preview)
After a rainy Monday that caused us to cancel their trip that day, Erwin and Millie Metusiak, who have fished with me yearly for many years, fished Estero Bay’s backwaters with me Tuesday, 12/8/15. Winds were strong, so we fished around the islands, close to New Pass, wherever we could stay somewhat s...
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1020
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SW FL-Bonita beach: Tricky Winds & Seas, but Fishing Good
(Preview)
Sara Liegel had arranged an offshore fishing trip for herself, her husband Ryan, her parents, Wyon and Mary-Jo Wiegratz, and her brother, Nathan, for Tuesday, 11/17/15. But, the winds and seas began building over the preceding weekend and, by Tuesday morning, they were four-to-six feet offshore...
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1024
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: red grouper know it's safe to bite now!
(Preview)
After several weeks off the water, with a week-long family reunion to attend, and some rainy weather once back home, I finally got offshore fishing on Friday, 11/6/15, when I headed out to fish twelve to twenty-two miles west of New Pass with Glen Harris, his girlfriend, Dawn Welch, his son, Tripp, a...
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0
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1065
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Reds, Snook, Cobia, Shark, Grouper & Snapper
(Preview)
Season is gearing up for a busy fishing calendar around here, that is, if weather will cooperate. Thursday morning, 9/24/15, I fished Estero Bay’s backwaters, around the Horseshoe Keys, with Tennessee bass fisherman, Rick Dann. It took rick a little while (and one lost redfish) for Rick to quit fi...
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0
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992
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Tampa Bay October 13 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay October 13 Fishing Report Hello from Anna Maria. Sorry it’s been so long since my last report but I usually take my vacation around this time of year and have been away for awhile. Anyway, as I have said many times before in my fishing reports, October is one of my very favorites time of year to...
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beachin679
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236
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Nice redfish inshore; red grouper offshore
(Preview)
Labor Day, 9/7/15, I had a morning backwater trip scheduled with Dave Schwanke, his daughter Kaline, and Kaline’’s boyfriend, Tommy. But, when I awoke to get ready for that trip, I heard thunder rolling in the distance. Radar confirmed a mess of thunderstorms rolling in from the gulf. So we postpone...
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934
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Red & Black Drum Inshore; Grouper & Snapper Offshore
(Preview)
Monday morning, 8/3/15, I headed twenty-two miles offshore with Ron Sticha and his son, Noah. They had planned to go last Thursday, but that day was rained out, so we rescheduled, hoping to beat the PM showers predicted for Monday. Seas would have been calm, but some squalls kicked up in the late morni...
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1098
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SWFL-BonitaBeach: Rain, rain, go away--got some snapper anyway
(Preview)
Been trying to fish around the rain lately… Monday morning, 7/20, I headed offshore, 22 miles west of New Pass, with Patrick and Jessica Goodman and friends Ally Janson and Blake Cissell. The group used live shrimp and bait-fish to catch a nice variety of fish, including twenty-five red grouper sho...
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1068
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Super-Snapper Bites Two Hooks!
(Preview)
Joe George and his two sons, Eric and Brad, fished 23 miles west of New Pass with me on Monday morning, 7/6. The catch-of-the-morning was a 27-inch red grouper, which bit a baitfish. The guys also caught a dozen keeper-sized lane snapper, which they chose to release, along with yellowtail and mangrov...
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1156
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: great variety offshore & nice reds inshore
(Preview)
Evan Hamilton, Arly Smart, and Arly’s son, Justice, fished 22 miles west of New Pass with me in calm seas on Monday morning, 6/22/15. The guys used live shrimp to catch a 24-inch keeper red grouper, along with twenty keeper lane snapper, a keeper mangrove snapper, and three 13-inch porgies. They rele...
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0
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993
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Offshore Fishing Great for Grouper, Snapper, Shark & More
(Preview)
Ryan Hall, Matt Hoffman, Greg Wetzel, and Tom Brackmann headed 25 miles offshore with me on Monday, 6/8, hoping to catch some grouper. The guys did well, catching twenty-eight red grouper in all, three of which were keepers at 24 inches each. Those larger grouper bit on bait-fish, while live shrimp l...
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1086
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Lots of Action Offshore & Inshore
(Preview)
Monday morning, 5/18, Mike and Casey Calvert fished a catch-and-release trip with me in Estero Bay’s Mound Key area, using live shrimp for bait. The couple caught and released a good variety of fish, some of which were would-be keepers. The couple released a pair of 18-inch snook, a 16-inch black dru...
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1038
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Tampa Bay June 4 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay June 4 Fishing Report Tarpon fishing has been extremely good. Up until my last report the most Tarpon we had hooked in a day was 18 this season. One of my full day trips broke that a few days ago, after heading back in at 2:30 in the afternoon having had hooked 21 Tarpon and landing 6. Those are...
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beachin679
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204
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Grouper bite on!
(Preview)
Stormy weather began setting in on Monday, 4/27, with lots of moisture over the gulf. By the time Tuesday rolled around, there were scattered showers over much of the area, but Mike Boden and I managed a morning of bay fishing, with just a few drizzles, and returned to the dock just before the heavy rain...
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1112
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Tampa Bay May 1st Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay May 1st Fishing Report Hello fellow fishermen, Capt. Matt here with the Tampa Bay fishing report. I am really busy this time of year so keeping up with the report lacks a little bit, sorry for that. My main objective everyday is putting my customers on quality fish, which pretty much consu...
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beachin679
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222
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Bottom Fishing Yields Good Variety
(Preview)
Monday, 4/13/15, seas were predicted to be two feet or less, but NOAA definitely underestimated those. I fished with long-time customers Clement and Evelyn Wong, along with their son, Nathan and daughter-in-law, Joy. Seas were three feet or more, about 18 miles west of New Pass, and we actually cut...
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1132
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Crazy, hot snapper bite!
(Preview)
Monday morning, 3/30, after a windy weekend, seas had calmed down to two-to-three feet, and I headed twenty miles offshore with Paul Kikendall and friends, Greg, Rick and Tom. The guys did very well snapper-fishing with live shrimp, and caught forty keeper lane snapper to 14 inches. They released t...
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537
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Tampa Bay April Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay April 2 Fishing Report Fishing has been top notch as it always is this time of year. We did have two slower days after that strong cold front. Slower meaning we didn’t reel them in quite as fast but still landed 35 Snook on the very toughest day. Inshore fishing has been very good. There is m...
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beachin679
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233
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Kingfish are here! Grouper, Snapper, Redfish Too
(Preview)
Monday, 3/16/15, I headed offshore nineteen miles west of new Pass with frequent angler, Mike Connealy and his friend, Roger. The guys used live shrimp to catch and release lots of red grouper shorts to 18 inches, lots of mangrove snapper shorts, and lots of blue runners. As for keepers, they boxed ni...
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1065
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Tampa Bay March Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa bay March Fishing ReportCapt. Matt here from sunny Florida the weather has been great. This past week the afternoons have been high 70’s and just breaking 80’s a few days. Yesterday when sitting in my boat watching my customers excitedly reeling in Snook I looked out over the crystal clear wa...
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beachin679
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363
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Grouper, Snapper, Porgies, Red & Black Drum, Sheepshead
(Preview)
Monday, 3/2/15, I headed offshore in calm seas—what a treat that was, after a couple of battling or surrendering to windy, rough conditions. Long-time customers, Jim McGrath and Bill Crockett had a good morning of fishing 22 to 25 miles west of New Pass. They caught two keeper red grouper, both 23 inc...
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994
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