What happened to Spring in Homosassa??
I’m back with vengeance!! Let’s go catch some fish & Scallops!!!
First, I’d like to thank all of my friends who have helped me get through the toughest emotional time of my life. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get my poop together. I thought dealing with the death of a family member or close friend was hard but compared to losing the love of your best friend through a divorce it just doesn’t compare. I guess, I was the only one that believed and meant it when we said, “For real & forever”!!!
As I said above, we had no Spring, it went right from winter to summer. The Gulf of Mexico water temperature is already in the 80’s. The rapid weather change had the fish scattered and confused as well. Though I’m happy to report the bite EXPLODED last weekend during the 20th Annual Citrus County Builders Association Tournament. There were some really big fish caught and weighed. The top three Redfish were all over 7 pounds! There were many fat Trout weighed and some very nice Snook added to the box in the youth division and some HOG Red Grouper were also brought back to Riverside Resort! Fishing with my tournament partner, John “Buzz” Lersch we caught 14 trout and 4 redfish and were on the leaderboard briefly for the second largest trout and also for the Homosassa Slam, the five heaviest trout combined. We just need 1 or 2 “Gator” trout at least 25 inches long or longer to be in the money, maybe next year!
On a recent ½ day charter with Bobby Thompson from the Orlando area and his son Robert Thompson from Winter Park, Robert managed to catch the biggest fish of his lifetime, a 28 pound 40 inch Cobia! We had a nice chum slick working with an aquarium swimming around my Young when Robert caught a Pinfish, one of the many species they caught that afternoon. I rehooked the Pinfish on a bigger rod and tossed it out to free line behind the boat in the middle of our chum slick. It wasn’t long before the line was screaming off that reel. I grabbed it out of the rod holder, stuck the fish twice and handed the rod to Robert and said have fun. It was an epic battle walking Robert around the deck of the boat before it tired and was tossed into the fish box. At that point the three of us were jumping around hooting and hollering like three young boys. I actually think Bobby was more excited than Robert! With the Gulf water temperature warming as fast as it has, many Cobia have already been caught this season and if you’d like to try your luck with” Mr. Brown Suit” you can book your charter right on our website, www.HomosassaRedfish.com or give me a call at 352-382-3939 to check availability.
Last year fishing out of my custom built Young boat we had an awesome Gag Grouper season coming back with our limit on most charters. On closing day, December 10th, we were back at the docks at 10:30 AM with our limit! If you want to have your arms broken by catching to many Gags, the season opens July 1st, the same day the Scallop Season is scheduled to open. My tournament partner, Buzz has 25+ years of offshore experience and works with me on the offshore charters as my Offshore Consultant. So when you fish offshore with me you get a BUZZ for free!
The last couple of years Scallop Season has opened a few days early, no word if that’s going to happen again this year. If you’ve been here in the past for the opening of both Gag Grouper and Scallop Season on top of the Fourth of July, you know what a zoo it will be in Citrus County. We do two scallop charters per day, the morning charter is from 7 to 11 AM and the afternoon charter is from Noon until 4 PM. Some clients will book the entire day and spend the morning scalloping and the afternoon swimming in the crystal clear spring water at the beginning of the Homosassa River. Click on this link, https://vimeo.com/107273821, to watch a short 4 minute video that Steve Chapman from the Florida Fishing Radio Show made last scallop season. We have many clients that return year after to year to enjoy what is best described as an “Underwater Easter Egg Hunt”! Multiple boats are available for large parties or groups. This is our busiest time of the year so please book your Gag & Scallop charters early. Let’s go CATCHING!!!
Upcoming Events
May 3 – Full Moon
May 10 – Mother’s Day – “Gift Certificates Available”, surprise your special “MOM” with a memory that will last forever!
May 15 – Stone Crab Season Closes
May 23 – September 7 – CCA Florida STAR Tournament, www.ccaflstar.com
May 25 – Memorial Day
June 6 & 7 – 31st Annual Cobia Big Fish Tournament
June 12 – Rolling Stones concert in Orlando
June 13 – I’ll be with the “Three Amigos”, BooDreaux, Steve Chapman and Captain Mike Ortega, on The Fishing Florida Radio Show in Orlando, from 6 to 9 AM, broadcast in the Central Florida area on 740 AM – The Game. Or you can listen live on-line at www.fishingfloridaradio.com – click on Listen Live. If you’d like to call in and talk some fishing the toll free number is 800-729-8255 or locally 407-916-8255. It would be great to hear from my Orlando/Central Florida area friends!
July 1 – Gag Grouper & Scallop seasons open
July 15 – 17 – ICAST Show in Orlando, I will be in the Denali Performance Apparel booth during the show, www.DenaliPerformance.com