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Capt. Greg

Fishing Report – Tarpon Springs – Springing Into Action

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This past week was hopefully the last curveball mother nature will throw at us this year! With a cold north wind and even colder water temperatures the Charters this past week were a little challenging. I started off the week with a repeat customer of mine that always seem to have the cold follow him down here. We decided to start a little later in the day to give the fish and the water a chance to warm up a little. We fished the inshore waters off of Tarpon Springs, and were rewarded with some very nice sea trout and a couple of redfish. The next trip was with some new clients that wanted to learn the area around New Port Richey and Port Richey, the water was still a little cold but better than the day before. The sea trout again started us off, with 5 or 6 very nice trout, after that we began our search for redfish. Although we did find 2 or 3 good schools with 100 to 200 fish in each of them, they were very finicky and we could only get a couple fish to commit to the baits.
This week has started off with a bang, the Sardines that we use for live bait have shown back up and the fish were ready to eat them. We had some very nice sea trout and wound up the day with about 20 nice redfish. The only draw back to great weather is the crowds that start to invade to shallow water. Most are not used to how shallow it actually gets every winter and they do allot of damage to the grass flats in our area. The good thing is it will grow back and the fish love the warm water as much as we do.
Now is the time to go fishing if you can.

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Fishing Report -Tampa Bay – As Good As It Gets

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The past few week have been the busiest of the year for charter fishing in the Tarpon Springs area. The fish have also been very busy, we have had several days of non stop redfish action. and the snook that were waiting for the warmer temperatures are waiting no longer. with the weather is finally getting the notice that it was time for spring the fishing in the Tampa bay area has gone ballistic. The past couple of weeks have been the best I have seen in a couple of years, I had the pleasure of fishing a long time client of mine that brought along some business partners that have never fished in our waters. We pulled up to an area off of  Tarpon Springs looking for redfish and never moved for three hours,  we caught well over 50 redfish up to 28 inches. This scenario was repeated several times over the next week, when the tide was right the fish were ready. I was also able to get the snook that have been so finicky to finally begin to eat. Another good client brought his son Alex to catch some redfish and snook and boy did he, He landed several reds and caught the biggest snook of his life, a very respectable 30 inch fish. Now is the time if you are thinking about going fishing to go, the tides are still important but if you get here to go, do it. Our Tampa bay fishing Charters are very busy but there are still a few days left for April.

Fishing Report – Boca Grande – Red Hot

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After another cold front brought us more north winds and cooler water temperatures, the big question was how it would effect my charters for the week. Well not to give you a short answer but it didn’t do a thing to them. I started out in Charlotte harbor running a couple of Airboat fishing charters that were some of the best I have had all year. The redfish have been eating anything we get near them and the size of them have been amazing. The tides were low but as the week moved on the water level was high enough that I was able to fish out of my ranger Banshee extreme. It was much easier to maneuver the banshee around the fish, we fished the same group of reds and they did not disappoint. Bryan and Heather were out with me on a inshore fishing charter and caught so many reds that Heather was ready for lunch at 10 AM. Most of our fish were caught on live shrimp but we were able to catch quite a few with Exudes and top water mirrolures.
I was able to run a couple of inshore fishing charters off of Tarpon Springs this week also. The Trout bite is still strong as ever with limits coming over the side of the boat in short order. Steve and bill fished with me on a Tarpon Springs Charter and had plenty of trout for dinner by late morning, then it was off to see if the reds up north here would be as cooperative as the ones down south. We did manage to find a good bunch of them but the water was a little to shallow and they would not let us get very close. So we decided to go and fish some docks and were able to catch a mixed bag of Redfish, Sheephead, and Flounder.
This week looks like it is going to be a great weather week and with the sardines starting to show back up the snook wont be far behind.

Fishing Report – Tarpon Springs- Its getting good

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This past week was a busy one I fished every day with both my Airboat and my 2400 Ranger bay boat. The first few days were spent in Charlotte harbor fishing the extreme low tides with the airboat and the fishing was outstanding. Bob Dolan and his sons caught several slot redfish along with many speckled trout. Joe Marina and some of his friends fished off the airboat and had a banner day Charlotte Harbor Fishing, FLwith several oversized reds along with a limit of keeper reds and trout. I did use my Ranger for a couple of trips this week in the Anclote Island area off of Tarpon Springs. I was able to find a very good supply of sardine to use for bait. Tom Heller and his brother fished one of the days and we were trying to hold off an impending cold front, the fish did not seem to mind the weather at all. The best bite of the day happened right as the front was overtaking us. They were able to boat several trout and a couple of snook in a very short time before we had to run for cover. The final trip of the week was a long time client Joe Romanowski and his friends. These guys Snook Fishing Tampa, FLare from Michigan and bad weather has followed them the last 4 years in a row. But this year was different the sun was shining and the snook were biting, the bait of choice was again live sardines. With water temperatures starting to stay in the high 60’s it is about to really bust loose, everyday more and more snook are starting to show up from there winter homes and the trout and reds are starting to roam the flats looking for food.

Fishing Report – Port Richey – Its On Baby

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Just as we thought we were done with old man winter, he shows us just exactly who is boss. March is typically the month that our spring fishing takes off. However this year we have had a couple off late season cold fronts that have put spring on hold for a little while. The fish are ready and when we do get our normal weather of 80 degree days they have been chomping at anything we throw there way. Last week I fished a long time client and some of his co workers in Snook Fishing – Tampa, FLCharlotte harbor and the snook were very cooperative. We boated 15 to 20 nice snook with a few being in the tight slot for snook. All of the fish were caught on sardines which are becoming easier to find with the warmer water. I also got to fish another good client and his 7 year old son last week. Jeff and Weston had a great time fishing the New Port Richey area and the redfish bite was on. We sat in one spot for almost three hours catching several slot sized reds and a few snook to boot. Wes is going to be a very good Redfish – Boca Grandefisherman, at his young age he is baiting, casting, hooking and reeling in his own fish. Later this spring we are going to get him his first Tarpon down in Boca Grande. Yesterday was the toughest trip I have had in a few weeks as the wind was relentless it was blowing 25 to 30 out of the south west and it made everything rough. I had Jim Andrews on board with a couple of his friends, we secured some bait and off we went. I expected a good bite with warm south breezes but the heavy winds were not to the fishes liking. We fished several areas with limited results until we finally found the honey hole. We sat in a little bay just south of Port Richey and caught several Redfish – Boca Grande, FLnice redfish some in the slot and some over. It turned out to be a great day, just a tough start. Now is the time to get out the weather is warm and the fish are ready.

Fishing Report- Charlotte Harbor – Spring is Coming

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At least we are hoping it is. This past week has been another cold one to say the least. On Thursday I was supposed to have a split day charter with some fishing in the morning and a Airboat ride in the afternoon. When I went to bed the weatherman was talking about temperatures in the low 30’s that morning. I had a feeling the fish would not feel like moving let alone eating anything we would be offering, so we opted to just let it warm up a little and do the airboat ride after lunch. When I put the airboat in the water at 12:30 the air temperature was only 49 degrees! Just a little chilly, but we did it, having to stop every 10 minutes to warm up a little. I will say my clients were troopers!

That started off a cold week of charters for me. I loaded up the airboat and headed to Charlotte harbor as I was getting ready to run 5 days of Airboat fishing charters. I really though that Thursday was the cold day but Friday morning met me with 31 degrees. Not exactly optimum conditions again. The fish were still very cold and there was no water because of a steady north wind for the last 4 days. This was perfect tides and water levels for the airboat, the only problem was the fish were like popsicles. My good friend Capt. Clay was running my clients from Thursday for me and called me that morning to tell me the water temperature was 39 degrees. I have never seen it that cold. To say the least the fishing was slow, I think we managed to catch 7 or 8 redfish and snagged 6 mullet, quite a day!
As the week moved on and the weather got warmer so did the fishing. The schools of reds we have been abusing on the airboat charters came back and got very hungry. We were able to catch 30 to 40 again and you could actually feel your hands after holding the fish. The last day I had was Tuesday the 10th and we finally got a few Snook to eat again. I was a little worried about them with all the cold, but they seem to have made it just fine.
I think it is finally time to start to get ready for the Spring push as the airboat charters will be coming to an end at the end of this month. The Snook will be ready to eat, the bait will arrive, and the temperatures will be wonderful! Lets hope anyway!

Fishing Report – New Port Richey – Getting Closer

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For most of us February usually still means cold air temps and even colder water temps. This is not the case here in Florida this year, we have had a few cold snaps but overall the weather has been absolutely beautiful. The fishing has also been awesome, as our water temperatures start to warm up the natural bait starts to show back up and our inshore species are going to be quick to respond. I have been in Boca Grande this past week running airboat charters on the last of our negative tides. The Redfish and Trout were still the biggest hit down there, with the occasional Snook popping his head out for a look. I fished 6 days and every day we had a limit of Reds and Trout, but as the week wore on we did have to work harder for them. The main reason was the water temperature came up almost 10 degrees in one week. This makes the fish spread out and start to look for food outside of the holes they have been living in for a couple of months now. This is not a bad thing as it is probably going to be the start of our Springtime season. It is getting here a little early but everything is in place for a great season. We are still using mostly artificial lures while doing the airboat charters, but it will not be long before I am throwing the net for sardines again. If you are thinking about doing some springtime fishing this year now is the time to set up you trip as the days are starting to fill up.

Fishing Report- Charlotte Harbor – Made It Through The Cold

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With the cold weather that came down from the north last week the biggest question on my mind was how would our fish react to it? I am very fortunate to have a type of charter that is almost weather proof. My Airboat charters always take place in the winter months, and I actually want the cold fronts to come through, the north wind that follows a front will push even more water out of the flats making it very hard for the fish to be anywhere but in the holes. And with the airboat I can drive right to them, it is usually like fishing in a barrel.
This week that exact scenario played out, we had hard north winds blowing for the last part of the week. I was the only charter boat that was able to get to the fish and catch them. We had 5 days of absolutely great red fishing, with very few fish in the slot. Now that is a good problem to have, especially when the air temperature is in the low 40’s. The only draw back to the cold was the Snook bite we experienced the week before was gone, as the linesiders took to the deep water for cover from the cold temperatures.
It looks like we are closing in on spring rather quickly with the short duration of our fronts. Before you know it the bait will be back and the migrating fish we love to chase will be here.

Fishing Report – Boca Grande – Still Smoking

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Even thought the calendar says it is supposed to be winter, you could not prove it by the weather or the way the fish have been eating. This past week was one of the best Charlotte Harbor airboat charter weeks I have had. We were able to catch 50 to 60 oversized redfish on every trip. Along with all the other trout and reds through out the day. there were times that we would have every rod in the boat hooked up to a red, sometimes 4 or 5 at a time. I was exhausted after fishing these days. Who said fishing isn’t tough. The other big surprise was the way the big snook ate this week. We normally catch alot of snook on the airboat  charters but not that many big ones. We had 4 or 5 fish that were over 38 inches long! That is quite a fish on light tackle and throwing artificial. The trout were also out in abundance but at times seemed like a nuisance as they would grab the baits before the big reds could get it. I know that’s a tough problem to deal with but it happens. It looks like we are going to finally get some cold weather this week. and I hope it will keep the fish in place for the next month or so. We have been fortunate the past few years to have great weather all winter long which usually means great fishing all winter long as well.

Fishing Report – Tarpon Springs – Warm winter Hot Bite

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The week after Christmas was just about the best week of fishing I have had in quite a while. I ran 6 Airboat fishing charters in Charlotte Harbor and we absolutely tore the fish up. We had well over 75 fish every day with a good mix of Redfish, Trout and a few snook mixed in. It seemed like all we had to do was find the mullet and we would find the reds to go with them. All the fish were caught on Artificial lures, which means alot of casting but there were very few cast that were not rewarded with a bite.
The day after New Years day found me back in New Port Richey running my inshore charters out of my Ranger 2410 Bay and my Ranger Banshee extreme. We fished the same patterns in Port Richey and Tarpon Springs as we did in Charlotte Harbor. The results were pretty much the same, lots of Redfish and Speckled Trout. I was able to find Scaled sardines the last few trips and with them we were able to abuse the trout population in the Tarpon Springs area. The Snook also responded well to the early return of the sardines, they were not as active as they will be in the spring but there were several willing to have a taste of our early spring.
It looks like we will be getting a little bit of cool weather later this week which will work very good into my plans as I will be back down in Charlotte Harbor running Airboat Charters the rest of the week. Check back and see how we did and look and some of the world class fishing that is available when fishing with Capt. Greg DeVault