Fishing and Boating
Our Fishing and Boating expert, Capt. Tommy Thompson, will tell you where the best fishing spots are, what’s biting, and tips on making your fishing and boating trips an exciting adventure!
Hungry For Spanish Mackerel? Fish Cedar Key’s Seahorse Reef and “The Hook”
There’s no doubt in my mind that the small islands that we now generally refer to as “Cedar Key” was once the upper end of a ridge of land that stretched well southwest into the Gulf of Mexico. But eons of time and moving water have worn down that peninsula, and it’s now mostly submerged, …
Cedar Key, Florida’s Main Ship Channel—No Ships, But Great Access to Some Excellent Fishing!
In the 1880’s, steamships plied the waters between New Orleans, Havana, and Cedar Key. Yet after the hurricane of 1896 and the depletion of the cedar trees by pencil manufacturers, Cedar Key became a sleepy fishing village on Florida’s Big Bend. But in spite of the town’s loss of commerce and population, its main …
Paddle Steinhatchee, on Florida’s Big Bend Coast
We’ve come full circle. Now, modern interpretations of eons-old paddle craft are the latest rage when it comes to fishing. Many are as simple as rafts and others, like Hobie’s Master Angler 12, are fitted with modern conveniences like cozy seats, pedal or electric drives, depth sounders, and even live wells. But no matter your …
New Artificial Reefs Deployed in Taylor County, Florida’s Gulf Waters, October 2015
During this past summer and fall, Taylor County deployed 2 new artificial reefs on the permitted Buckeye Reef site. This site is approximately 26 nautical miles off Keaton Beach. The first reef deployment consisted of 120 constructed concrete cubes. The cubes were placed in patches of 4 cubes per patch, for a total of …
Southbound To Yankeetown (Florida, That Is!)
I remember my first encounter with the waters near the mouth of the Withlacoochee River. It was the mid-1980s and my Mom and Dad had just moved from St. Pete to Yankeetown. Our boat, a Boston Whaler Montauk, was well suited to drifting the flats off Pinellas Point or for trolling for Spanish mackerel near …
Slow Down (Paddle!) Levy County’s Backwaters at Shell Mound
Whenever anyone asks me to recommend some Gulf fishing waters that are protected from early winter winds, the Shell Mound backwaters north of Cedar Key always seem to top my list. Located about 10 miles north of the town of Cedar Key and halfway to the town of Suwannee, Shell Mound offers visitors not only …
Natural North Florida’s Three “F’s” (Fall Flats Fishing)
The term, ‘flats’, means lots of things to lots of different anglers. Bonefishers love to sight fish over stretches of shin-deep, pure white sand or marl. Tarpon enthusiasts often find their prey on ‘flats’ that are six to eight feet deep, and everyone knows that redfish prefer shallows where the rough, rocky bottom holds crustaceans …
Great Kayak Fishing Access at Rocky Creek, on Dixie County’s “Road to Nowhere”
At Casey’s Corner Store, on Highway 358, in Jena, on the way to Steinhatchee, you can veer left onto the “Road to Nowhere”, CR361. About 5 miles south you’ll cross Rocky Creek, but just before you reach the creek, you’ll see a sign marking “Rocky Creek Boat Ramp Road”. If you’re a small craft boater …
Looking For “Dallas Creek” in Taylor County? Try Spelling It, “Dallus”!
Don’t ask me, but Dallus Creek’s name is spelled with a “u” and not an “a”. I’ve never seen it done that way, so I suspect someone went to Texas, had a bad time, and came home to “dis” the Texans! No matter, Dallus Creek is located between Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach, Fl. It starts …
Florida’s 2015 Recreational Scallop Season to Close 9/24, But Don’t Despair!
In early June, the “buzz” along Florida’s Nature Coast is all about recreational scalloping. The season usually opens the last Saturday in June, and folks at our Big Bend ports gear up for a busy season. This year’s season was no exception, and limits of bay scallops just kept coming in, almost to the end …