seatrout
Kick Off Your Spring Fishing at Keaton Beach, on Florida’s Big Bend
I’m not April foolin’ when I say that when the grass flats start to ‘green up’ near Keaton Beach, the fishing there is hard to beat. It’s no secret that warm weather brings new life, especially in the form of spotted sea trout, to waters everywhere along our Big Bend. Unfortunately, that warmth can …
Rigging Rods and Reels For Big Bend Flats Trout Fishing Action!
Rigging for trout fishing on our Natural North Florida grass flats needn’t be hard or complicated. I do recommend light rods and reels for the “main event” of seatrout catching. 2500 to 4000 class spinning outfits are just fine, and I’m a real believer in using braided polypropylene lines like PowerPro or SpiderWire. You don’t …
Water Temperatures Cross The 70-Degree Threshold on Florida’s Big Bend–And The March Fishing Is Great!
This past week (the first week of March 2015), Gulf of Mexico water temperatures finally crossed over the 70-degree mark. And the BITE IS ON! All the ports in our regiion (Yankeetown, Waccasassa, Cedar Key, Suwannee, Horseshoe Beach, Steinhatchee, Keaton Beach, Econfina, Aucilla, St. Marks and Panacea) report great catches of spotted seatrout and redfish, …
14th Annual Steinhatchee Community Fishing Tournament, March 14, 2015
This is a huge event, and with temperatures moving steadily higher this week, you can expect to see lots of fish (and to have lots of competition!). In addition to over $3600 in prizes, there’s a raffle that includes donations from local businesses. The weigh-in is at 4:30PM at the Community Center. Entry fees ($30 …
Florida’s Big Bend Coastal Creeks Offer Excellent Wintertime Fishing–Just Don’t Get Stranded By The Tide!
Fishermen are lucky. When wintertime arrives in Florida, all that’s usually necessary is a light coat to keep away the cold. However, cold-blooded fish species like seatrout, redfish (red drum), black drum and sheepshead, are not so lucky. They’re cold-blooded, and as water temperatures fall into the 50s, they seek the warmth of deep creeks, …
It Takes Patience To Catch Big Spotted Seatrout on Florida’s Big Bend
Spotted seatrout over 20-inches are considered to be trophy or “gator” trout. And these big, wily critters are not easy to catch, even on our Big Bend coastline where there’s probably less pressure on game fish than in any other area in Florida. Of course, you can catch plenty of “keeper” fish, mostly in the …
The Advantages of Using Plastic Shrimp Instead of the Real Thing
Many Big Bend anglers are convinced that plastic (can you say “fake”?) shrimp are the equal of live shrimp when it comes to fishing on our coastal grass flats. It used to be that artificial shrimp looked nothing like the real thing, but in recent years they’ve almost reached a degree of hyper-reality! D.O.A. Lures’ …
Cold Weather Means Big Seatrout at Steinhatchee
It’s December, and the cold-ish weather has brought cool water temperatures to the Gulf and River at Steinhatchee, in Taylor County. That mean lots of seatrout are schooling, and anglers returning to the Sea Hag Marina have been bringing in steady limits (5 fish, one can be over 20″, none under 15″). Many folks are …
Investigate the Inside of Cedar Key’s Islands and Find Seatrout and Redfish
All too often anglers spend lots of time circling the islands near Cedar Key, failing to realize that on higher tides that there’s enough water inside the islands to float small boats and paddlecraft. Two examples are Atsena Otie Key and Snake Key, located due south of the boat basin at the end of SR24. …
Big Bend Waters Cool Down in September–And The Fishing is HOT!
I was pleasantly surprised last Saturday when Steinhatchee Capt. Rick Davidson told me he’d been reading water temperatures in the 70s all day. The day was cool and there were pods of bait everywhere, but I didn’t think that the temps had dropped that much in the past few weeks. That’s a good sign, and …