Fishing Report June/ July 2014
Dennis Thompson with a 26″ trout caught off Keaton, Saturday, June 21 with One More Cast
Sea Hag June/July Fishing Report
Trout were tough over this weekend with Saturday the 27th being the worst. We only managed to catch six trout, however, Dennis Thompson, who was fishing with Pete Rogers and Allen Richardson, caught a 26.5 inch trout for top honors. Things recovered Sunday with 15 trout for Billy Miller and Steve Hourigan of Tallahassee, Florida. We fished live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5′ – 4.5′ of water, mostly on the falling tide, to land our limit Sunday.
I had Will and Wanda Waters of Douglas, Georgia, out June 24 and we brought back a limit of 15 trout, again using live pinfish rigged under Back Bay Thunders in 4.5 – 5 feet of water. Wanda jumped TWO tarpon, one over 150 pounds and the other around 120.
Bo Lester of Adel, Georgia, had his limit of five trout using Gulp under a Cajun Thunder, also on Tuesday.
Report from Sea Hag at Keaton Beach
On June 2nd, Mr. K. Willie of Americus, Georgia, had his limit of five trout, up to 18″, in five feet of water while fishing with live shrimp in the early morning.
Yikes! Scallops Season is officially HERE!
Remember to fly your dive flags.
IT’S THE LAW!
There are two tournaments based at the Sea Hag Marina coming up in the next two months. In August, the Elite Redfish Challenge tournament will take place on the 23th. Shortly thereafter, the Annual Sante Fe Lady Raiders Inshore Slam on the 13th of September. For specific information, just call the marina.
As the flats come to life this month, many anglers will use artificial lures to find trout and redfish. While I love fishing topwater plugs, there are many situations when fish will favor a slower, deeper presentation. Because some of our best fishing is in shallow water, one challenge is to be able to select the most appropriate suspending lure in 3 feet of water or less. My go-to lures include those made by Live Target, Mirrolure and Rapala. For specific lures and how to fish them, I’ve posted a blog that will provide some more details:
https://bitemefishing.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/suspending-lures-in-shallow-water/
There is a wide selection of the very finest lures, including those I’ve written about, at the Sea Hag Ship’s Store. For those of you that would rather soak live bait, the marina can provide live shrimp and pinfish, along with frozen bait and chum for offshore and nearshore fishing. This will be one of the very best fishing months of the year, so make your reservations and let’s get on the water!
Now for some reports and pictures from our guides:
Capt. Steve Rassel 352-359-5902 www.lastcastras.com
Flats fishing got off to a great start in March. There were plenty of trout and the big surprise was the large numbers of Spanish around the sand bars. Redfish can be found around the rocky areas and still a few in the 20 lb. range in the shallows. The strong March winds will begin to taper off and the southeast wind will warm the flats rather quickly. Look for large numbers of trout to start showing in the deeper areas and moving into the shallows as the water warms.
Capt. Brian Smith www.bigbendcharters.com (352) 210-3050
Captain Tommy Thompson 352-284-1763
http://www.flanaturecoast.com/capttommy
Steinhatchee and the waters of Taylor and Dixie counties consistently produce great catches throughout the year. On cold and bright sunlit winter days, we’ll target big seatrout and reds along the rocky shoreline using gold spoons or suspending plugs. But if it’s unseasonably warm this winter, we may even fish topwater plugs as the sun warms the rocks and shallow mud bottom.
Steinhatchee is exceptional for the fact that we have relatively crowd-free waters and excellent marine services. For those of you fishing with live bait, it’s available at the Sea Hag—along with ice, fuel, drinks and snacks.
Capt. Scott Peters, Jr. 352-356-7502 www.badtothebonefishingcharters.com
