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Tampa Bay Memorial Day Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Memorial Day Fishing Report Hi everyone, so sorry it’s been a while since I gave an updated fishing report. I am just so busy during Tarpon season it’s just hard to find the time to sit down and write a report. It’s pretty much eat, sleep and fish this time of year for me and I barely have enough...
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beachin679
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0
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193
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Great Grouper Action! Shark & more!
(Preview)
I spent about a week off the water, as I only had a couple of fishing trips scheduled and they were both offshore trips that were made impossible by the winds and rough seas, which were relentless for days on end. I finally got back out fishing on Monday, 5/19 and, even then, winds were still blowing about...
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fishbuster
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0
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822
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Big Game and Food Fish
(Preview)
Monday, 4/28, I fished a full day offshore with Bob Donelson, Kent McCarthy, Chuck Babcock, and Skip Hamilton. The guys wanted to go after big, catch-and-release fish, so we headed out to spots between 28 and 36 miles from New Pass. We released four goliath grouper, each angler getting a chance to wre...
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fishbuster
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0
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1153
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Tampa Bay April 29 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay April 29 Fishing Report It’s almost that time everyone! Peak Tarpon season is right around the corner. I will be adding the extra 10 horsepower of trolling motors to my boat at the end of the week so that I am ready to chase Tarpon every day until the middle of July. I can’t wait; it’s my favo...
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beachin679
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0
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204
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Goliath Battles, Shark Attacks & Red Grouper Action
(Preview)
Monday morning, 4/14, I fished a catch-and-release trip about 12 miles west of New Pass with Carol Harris, her daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Jeff, and their teen-aged sons, Bradley and Alex. The group used live shrimp to catch four Spanish mackerel to 22 inches, six ladyfish to 20 inches, twenty...
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fishbuster
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0
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1071
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SWFL-Bonita Beach:50 lb. King, 8 1/2-foot Hammerhead, Grouper
(Preview)
Monday morning, 3/31, it was a hard call on whether to fish offshore or inshore for the Frantz family--Mike and Sue, daughter Kim, and grandson Kevin. After many days of wind and high seas, predictions were for calmer conditions, with two-to three foot seas, but winds were still blowing pretty stron...
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fishbuster
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0
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1058
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Tampa Bay April Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay April Fishing Report Hello everyone, Captain Matt here from Anna Maria Island; Just shooting out a quick fishing report as I wait for the rain to clear so I can get out on the water for the rest of the day. March was an incredible month of fishing despite up and down weather conditions. We man...
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beachin679
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0
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204
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Big Gags Biting Gulfside; Drum Inshore
(Preview)
Winds were still gusting to 25 knots Tuesday morning, 3/18, after a gusty day Monday and heavy rain overnight. The only good news was that the wind direction was beneficial for the tide in the backwaters, where I fished the island groups by Little Carlos Pass with Steve Davis, his son Matt, and his son-...
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fishbuster
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0
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851
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: The Kings Have Returned!
(Preview)
Tuesday, 3/4/14, was a beautiful, calm day offshore. I spent it fishing with frequent customers, Ron Musick and Eddie Alfonso, and this time, Ron’s brother, Stanley Musick was in town to go with us. We headed out about 29 miles from New Pass, and had steady action all day. The red grouper bite was hot, a...
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fishbuster
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0
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889
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Tampa Bay Mar 16 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Mar 16 Fishing Report Spring fishing has been very good off the mangrove studded shore lines of Anna Maria. March is typically one of our very best months for flats fishing and so far it has lived up to expectations. The Snook, Redfish and Trout fishing has been explosive. Snook fishing h...
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beachin679
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0
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189
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Big Sheepies Rule!
(Preview)
Monday, 2/17/14, I headed offshore from New Pass about 17 miles, with Jim Swanger and Ron Kaplan. Seas weren’t quite as calm as predicted early-on, but they calmed down nicely by mid-morning. The guys used live shrimp to box seven 13-inch mangrove snapper, two 14-inch porgies, a keeper porkfish, a b...
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fishbuster
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0
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1027
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Anna Maria Island Fishing Report
(Preview)
Anna Maria Island Fishing Report As I said a few days ago in my fishing report, Tampa Bay flats fishing was about to explode and I would have to say it did over this past weekend. As water temps on the flats soared to the mid 70’s the last few afternoons, so did the fishing. From here on out we should have v...
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beachin679
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0
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161
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Tampa Bay Feb 22 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Feb 22 Fishing Report Spring is in the air and flats fishing is really beginning to heat up. This week coming up should mark the beginning of the flats explosion. Snook, Redfish and Trout are invading the clear shallow flats as I write this. Today’s water temperatures almost made it into...
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beachin679
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0
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200
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Big Sheepies, Bull-Red & 8-foot Shark
(Preview)
Tuesday, 2/4/14, I headed out 35 miles from New Pass to fish with frequent customers, Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonso, and Dick Arnett. We used live shrimp to catch four snapper—one huge lane snapper at 19 inches and three mangrove snapper all 15 to 16 inches—along with a keeper hogfish at 14 inches, and fif...
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fishbuster
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0
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1139
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Grouper & Hogs, Sheepshead & Drum
(Preview)
Monday, 1/20/14, was the first day in about two weeks that was suitable for offshore fishing. Successive, relentless weather fronts had forced me off the water for about a week, then into the backwaters for the next week or so. Another front, predicted to bring high winds and seas again was on the hori...
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fishbuster
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0
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1388
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Tampa Bay Feb 2 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Feb 2 Fishing Report So it looks like spring is on its way. I just got done checking out the 10 day forecast and it looks like low 80s to high 70s for the next six days. Things are really going to start changing around here quickly. The past few weeks we have been targeting Redfish, Trout, Shee...
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beachin679
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0
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181
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Tampa Bay Jan 21 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Jan 21 Fishing Report Well we finally got into our winter fishing patterns. I say finally because it can be really tough fishing when the fish get stuck in that limbo stage somewhere between their winter patterns and somewhere between the springs patterns. The biggest problem is when th...
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beachin679
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0
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207
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Inshore the only place to be
(Preview)
The week of January 5th, 2014, was pretty much a loss for fishing. We had near-freezing temps for a couple of days, thanks to a strong cold front that made it this far south, which is unusual. That front also brought high winds and rough seas, and the wind direction was such that it sucked most of the water...
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fishbuster
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0
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927
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Tampa Bay New Year Report
(Preview)
2014 New Years Fishing Update Well I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and a happy new year. I want to thank everyone for a great 2013. We ran a lot of charters, caught a ton of fish and some real trophies. The best catch was a massive Tarpon that I guesstimated be near 300 pounds. One of my fellow capta...
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beachin679
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0
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186
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Pomopano, Sheepshead, Drum
(Preview)
Saturday morning, 12/21/13, the winds, which had been pretty much steady all week, were still blowing hard, and seas were predicted to be three-to-four feet offshore. But, with dead-low tides in the bay, Butch Haggin, his son-in-law, John Sims, and grandson, John Sims, Jr. decided they’d have a be...
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fishbuster
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0
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948
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Tampa Bay Dec 26 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Dec 26 Fishing Report Water temps are still up in the low to mid 70s on the shallow flats during the middle of the day despite a couple of short cold blasts. I would call them more of a cool front than cold fronts because the water really didn’t cool off all that much. The weather was absolutely...
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beachin679
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0
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188
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: 30-inch gag best catch (and release!)
(Preview)
Monday, 12/9, I fished inshore in Estero Bay with long-time customers, Erwin and Millie Metusiak. The couple boxed six nice sheepshead to 17 inches, and released five smaller ones. They also released short black drum, a couple of stingrays, and four crevalle jacks to five pounds. Tim and Caroline...
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fishbuster
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0
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194
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Tampa Bay Dec 12 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay December 12 Fishing Report The weather sure is beautiful here on the island. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am living and working here out of Anna Maria Island. The weather is so nice here while the rest of the country is getting punished by winter storms; we are enjoying sunshine and 80 deg...
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beachin679
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0
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194
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: So now that gag season closed...
(Preview)
Tuesday, 11/26/13, I fished on a very windy morning in Estero Bay with Al Tooley and his two sons, Jeff and Aiden. The tide was up, making for favorable conditions in the bay, and the guys did well, fishing with live shrimp. Catches included a 25-inch keeper redfish, an 18-inch keeper black drum, and fi...
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fishbuster
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0
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1067
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Grouper, Snapper, Hogs, Shark, Drum-who could ask for more?
(Preview)
Tuesday, 11/12/13, I fished offshore with long-time customers Kari Vilamaa, George Dyer, and Paul Kikendall. We were one day ahead of a cold front that was predicted to bring strong winds and seas of six to eight feet offshore, but we had calm conditions all day, and we were able to fish in various spot...
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fishbuster
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0
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975
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Red grouper, Hogfish, Shark, Redfish & Sheepshead
(Preview)
Bob and Jo-Ellen Exby fished 18 miles offshore with me on Tuesday, 10/22, just ahead of a cool-front due in the next day. The day began calm, and seas of one-foot were predicted by NOAA, but we had two-to-three foot seas most of the morning, as winds picked up to 15 knots prematurely. The couple used live...
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fishbuster
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0
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1000
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Tampa Bat Nov 7 Fishing Report
(Preview)
Tampa Bay Nov 7 Fishing Report Winter is on its way and it seems now that we have had a couple of cool fronts, can't really call them cold when it’s 70 degrees out. Fishing has been overall good. Most of my fishing this past week has been on the flats for Snook, Redfish and Trout. We have been doing very w...
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beachin679
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0
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212
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: 22-inch Hogfish! Red Grouper, Snapper & Redfish
(Preview)
Friday morning, 10/11, I fished 22 miles offshore with Roberto Russi, his father-in-law, John, and friend, Bill. We used a grunt to land a nice, 25 ½-inch red grouper, and we also had something big cut 100-pound, braided line, so that might have been a bigger grouper! The guys used live shrimp to catch...
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fishbuster
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0
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974
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: Inshore & Near-shore Report-Reds!
(Preview)
Redfish have been the best bet around here lately, with trips scarce overall, and with favorable bay tides trumping some sloppy conditions offshore. Monday morning, 9/23/13, I fished the backwaters of Estero Bay with Doug Duncan, Eric Bastion, and Randy Cummings. The guys had originally planned...
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fishbuster
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0
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1002
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SW FL-Bonita Beach: September Backwater Trips & a Goliath Adventure
(Preview)
Labor Day Monday, 9/2/13, I fished the backwaters of Estero Bay with Lee and Lauren Wehr and their friends, Brian and Debbie Lucas. The group had originally planned to fish offshore, but with lots of rain over the gulf, they decided it might be safer to stay closer to the coast. We did, in fact, just beat...
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fishbuster
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0
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239
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