Author Archives: Admin

3.5 Offshore

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Name of Captain;
Jim Thirkill
Where were you fishing?
OFFSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report;
Yes
Date you went fishing;
03-05-2021
Your Name;
Jim Thirkill
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below
Went out for hogfish with Rick U, Mike B and his friend Mark.  It was a lot choppier than forecast so we didn’t go further than about 30′ depth NW of Gulf Harbors.

Caught quite a variety of fish, many hogs (one keeper), many grouper (one keeper sized gag), and a lot of sheepsheads.  

All in all a beautiful day.
If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box.
Jim Thirkill – 14.75″ hogfish

Jim Thirkill – 21″ sheepshead

3.5.21 Offshore

Posted on by
Date you went fishing;03-05-2021
Your Name;Chuck Coho
If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box.20″ S. Mackerel, caught off of Crystal River, in about 5 feet of water just off a sand bar.  Using a yellow and white jig head with a live shrimp. Tide was coming in. Water temp was in the high 60 deg.

3.4.21 Inshore

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Name of Captain; Terry Reelitz
Where were you fishing? OTHER
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; Yes
Date you went fishing; 03-04-2021
Your Name; Terry Reelitz
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below After arranging jigs in my tackle box by weight and colors I looked outside and saw the winds blowing AGAIN.

Grabbed a couple spinning outfits, picked up 2 dozen shrimp and a dozen fiddler crabs at Armed Angler and headed to Fred Howard.

Fiddler Crabs are the bomb – after reviewing newsletters how-to’s on Sheepshead rigs and using Fiddler Crabs (pinch off the big pincher!) proceeded to wrestle half a dozen Convicts above the water line. Biggest ranged 16″, 15″ and 13″.

Had a tough time hooking up fish on fresh shrimp, but a bonus Redfish rounded out the day.
If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box. Terry Reelitz 22″ Redfish March Year-Long

Terry Reelitz Sheepshead Shoot-Out Entry (16″)

2.25.21 Offshore

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Name of Captain; Greg Mercurio
Where were you fishing? OFFSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
Date you went fishing; 02-25-2021
Your Name; Jack Hexter
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below I made a semi-annual Yankee Capts trip this last week.  Left home on Wed 2/24 and drove to a friends home in Islamorada.  The next morning I continued South and arrived at the Yankee Capts at about noon.  Loaded my gear and met the new mates Jacob and Fabricio and waited to great Capt Greg and long time first mate Lindon.  Ate lunch at the Hogfish Grill which is next to the boat and got under way at 5:00 PM.  We drove West and NW for 14 hours and started fishing at 7:00 AM in 450′ of water on Pulley Ridge.  This is electric reel territory.  I started with 3 pounds of lead and a single hook on a 12′ leader.  There was 21 anglers on board and Capt Greg set the boat perfectly so all of us could fish on one side without too many tangles.  Fish started to come over the rail, all sorts of fish.  I forgot, one of the anglers was trolling on the way out and caught a 60# wahoo, nice fish!  Anyway, the bottom fishing was sporadic with Yellow eye snapper, vermillion snapper, and an occasional queen snapper which I dearly wanted to catch.  By sundown, I had caught my Queen Snapper, a bunch of vermillion snapper, and lat in the afternoon, I had switched to a 2 hook Hi-Low rig and started bailing the Yelloweye snapper.  I actually pulled 3 doubles in a row.  We were probably in 650′ at that time.  Snowy grouper were also coming over the rail.  As we moved off the hard bottom on to mud, some tilefish made their presence known and I caught several, but one was lunch to a shark.  At dusk, Capt Greg moved the boat “up on top” in 250′ and we fished conventional tackle (no electrics) for mutton snapper and Red grouper.    That evening I did fight two sharks but failed to find any muttons or grouper. I went to sleep at about midnight, woke up at 4:30  to take a leak and stayed up fishing the rest of the day.  Caught more yelloweyes, and an Orange Roughy, a first for me — I’ve never even heard of this fish before.  Several AJ’s and Almaco Jacks were caught by the boat, AJ’s were released and Almaco’s made it to the fish box.  At night the jiggers tangled with blackfin tuna but not to the extent to merit me trying for one.  Slow Pitch jigging was prevalent on the boat with a couple anglers even using small electric  reels on slow pitch rods. – to each his own.
All total, I came home with 5 Queen Snapper, 2 tilefish, the Orange Roughy, about 6 vermillion snapper and 25 Yelloweye snapper.  That’s a freezer full of fish!!

2.26.21 Other

Posted on by
Where were you fishing? OTHER
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
Date you went fishing; 02-26-2021
Your Name; Denis  Surette
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below Patty and I went to Howard park Saturday afternoon,it’s .the first time going to the beach. Patty reads and I fish. It was around 3 when I hit the water.There was a lot of people fishing just about all of them using shrimp laying it on the bottom just about all of them fishing off the rocks. I wade in the water usually up to my knees or higher and walk the shore. The tide was going out.It’s not very deep with a lot of grass on the bottom.
Today I was just going to use a 1/8 jeg with gulp on it. Lately it seems that the fish want dark colors now so dark brown was what I put on. After a few casts the puffers were active hitting it on the way down. [ 8 Caught] 2 lizard fish, 3 sand perch,  nothing big but a least I caught something,no one else caught a thing. So I had lunch at 4:30
Patty said I had another hr to fish so back I went into the water.
I put the jeg away and put a floating lure on . There wasn’t a lot of grass floating in the water today. At my amazement a puffer hit it after a few casts. A few more casts and a nice size jack hit it. A nice fight.  A few minutes later two lady fish were brought in.
It was time to leave.this was the best day I’ve had fishing this place with a lot of tight lines making my few hours in the water a pleasant way to end the day.

2.25.21 Offshore

Posted on by
Your Name; Ed  Cooley
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below:
Went out for a couple hours near Pasco 4 also caught big porkies, grunts and small gags one only 3 “, a beautiful day no win or wavesIf this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box.Shephead17” and 16 1/2”

2.26.21 Inshore

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Name of Captain; Chuck Boho
Where were you fishing? INSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; Yes
Date you went fishing; 02-26-2021
Your Name; Chuck  Boho
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below Went out of Crystal River. The owner of Ed’s bait store is very helpful if you ask “where are they biting?” Went out about 2-3 miles. Fished off of sandbars and oyster beds. 2-5 ft water. used single hook with life shrimp. caught some undersize red drum and spotted sea trout. Only one keeper
If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box. Spotted sea trout. 17″

2.25.21 Offshore

Posted on by
Name of Captain; Mark Cummiskey
Where were you fishing? OFFSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
Date you went fishing; 02-25-2021
Your Name; Mark Cummiskey
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below 17 and 15 ” hog fish

2.26.21 Inshore

Posted on by
Name of Captain; Terry Reelitz
Where were you fishing? INSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; No
Date you went fishing; 02-26-2021
Your Name; Terry Reelitz
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below Mary and I found ourselves with a couple hours of ‘what do you want to do this afternoon’ – my reply was, lets grab a couple dozen shrimp and see if there is a Mack Attack goin’ on…

So grab a couple dozen fat hand select shrimp and hit the water…

Hit North of Anclote channel just past #3 on north side, small/dinks Trout, water was 67 degrees. Moved to Green 7 just outside of Power Plant, slow,  no bites on shrimp.

Last stop, Green 5 outside of Gulf Harbor, bite was still slow, but found some Macks that were hungry.  Caught some dinks, but Mary got a nice 18″ Mack and I  crossed paths with a 26″ terror that I thought was a shark on the onset.

Ran out of shrimp and headed to the barn – ‘a good day was had by all’

Life in Florida is grand!

 

2.25.21 Offshore

Posted on by
Name of Captain; Mike Spanhel
Where were you fishing? OFFSHORE
Is this a tournament entry Fishing Report; Yes
Date you went fishing; 02-25-2021
Your Name; Terry Reelitz
Your Fishing Report: If this is a tournament report do not state the fish’s length in this box. State the length and species in the box below Terry Reelitz joined Capt. Mike, Stu Johnson and Mike’s neighbor Bruce ‘The Spaceman’ for a day spent Offshore with sights set on Red Grouper and Hogs.

A big negative tide created some angst as we motored out the North Channel out of Gulf Harbor. We got stuck foe a few minutes in very shallow water, a little maneuvering and push off with the boat hook and we were on our way.

Headed out to +75′ of water, incoming tide produced a moderate current, water was ultra clear and about 63 degrees.


We attacked first spot with the usual frozen baits, shrimp and live pinfish. Action started off fast and furious with Reds Grouper, Hogs and mango Grunts, plus an assortment of unusual guests. We actually moved from a spot because we were catching too many Octopus. Bite did not last long and we kept on the move not spending much time at any one spot. Think the moderate current kept action a little slower.

For the day, we caught 15 different species, hooked a lot of Red Groupers that all remained just shy of legal, plenty of Hogs with 3 legal, some of the biggest Black Sea Bass we have seen, with half a dozen making the cooler. The Grunts were big, fat and plentiful.

The trip back was smooth and comfortable – thank you Capt. Mike, a great day was had by all.
If this report includes a tournament entry please state the species and length of the fish caught in this box. Terry Reelitz 19 inch Red Groupe