The main topic this winter is wind. Most offshore anglers were not able to pursue grouper this past weekend due to high winds, again. Saturday Allen Carver and I ignored the Small Craft Advisory and ventured out to the Sea Bass area. The forecast was correct, winds were blowing out of the Northeast at over 15 knots but as luck would have it at by mid-morning the winds laid down allowing us to venture further out to the Grouper area. The seas stayed under three feet for most of the remainder of the day. I used an Aqua-Vu ™camera for the first time and let me tell you THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING! The first stop we made had no Grouper hanging around the area so we left it without dropping a line. Spot two had thousands of Black Sea Bass and Florida Snapper but no Grouper so once again we left without fishing. On the third spot I could not believe my eyes, Grouper were thick and directly below the boat. I was amazed at the number of species under us. From an anchored position I could see no less than twelve species of reef fish. The model camera we used was the Aqua-Vu ZT120. The picture is sharp, not grainy like I expected. We could see clearly for about fifty feet. I cannot believe the excitement that this adds to the trip. It works so well that Sea Hag Marina will becoming an Aqua-Vu dealer in February. Anyway, the Grouper are hitting very well. Frozen cigar minnows, threadfin herring and Spanish sardines will all catch fish this time of the year. For reasons that I do not understand, trolling is still not working well on grouper. Perhaps the cooler water temperature this winter has something to do with it.

Black Sea Bass are still heavily involved in propagating their species and can be caught quickly in most waters over twenty feet. The male Black Sea Bass have their spawning "hump" just behind their head and have beautiful coloration.

If you would like to add some fun to your grouper trips, try throwing 1 or 1 1/2 oz Bucktail jigs on medium action spinning gear. The Grouper absolutely SLAM the Bucktail jig! And what a fight on twenty pound test line. White and white with a red head seemed to work best last weekend.

Alan Carver with Red Grouper caught on white bucktail - click photo to see enlarged

Inshore fishing has picked up since more trout have moved into the mouth of the river. Mirrolures, especially TT and TTR in 11 26 and 28 (colors) are working well. Candy Corn and Limetruese colored Saltwater Assassins caught limits of trout last week as well. The key to catching trout in this water temperature is fishing very s-l-o-w-l-y. The trout have not yet moved far up the river like in years past or in the numbers that used to appear in the river. More cold weather is in the forecast for the remainder of the week so maybe this will move more trout into the river.
Huge offshore Redfish are still haunting area grouper rocks however seldom are any of these reds small enough to keep. If you happen to catch some of these brutes handle them carefully as their own body weight can cause internal injuries if held up only by the mouth. Always support the belly of a large catch-and-release fish to minimize the stress on their internal organs.
Small male Sheepshead are still awaiting the arrival of the large spawning females on Steinhatchee Reef and the nearby natural rocks. To date very few keeper-sized Sheepshead have been caught. Last year the run happened later in the spring but this year the young males are indicating a February start.

If the winds will not allow you to fish it might be a good time to take care of some maintenance on the boat or trailer. Lower unit oil and wheel bearing grease are very cheap compared to what they protect.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 1/8/03
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 1/2/03

Caught aboard the Neva-Miss with Captain Bill Shearin:

Wes Wood and friends!

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 1/1/03
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles
Happy New Year !!!!

The trout have not yet moved into the river in any appreciable numbers and Redfish are scarce to put it mildly. As far as inshore fishing, the mouth of the river is likely the best bet as most days are so windy inshore vessels dare not venture far. Pinfish have vacated the local scene and Mirrolures will be the bait of choice for the remainder of the trout season. Sheepshead are getting ready and will move onto artificial and natural rocks in 25 to 35 feet of water soon. The normally timid feeders become very aggressive during their spawning run. To rig for Sheepshead you will need a 3/4-oz egg sinker, a 1/0 long shank hook and a barrel swivel. Slide the egg sinker on to your main line and tie on the swivel. I like to use size five-barrel swivels made by sea striker. Now tie about three feet of twenty-five pound test fluorocarbon leader material to the other end of the swivel. There are many hooks that will work but my favorite is the Mustad size 1/0 long shank. Use live shrimp, blue crab legs or fiddler crabs.

Black sea bass are fully involved in their annual spawning ritual and can be caught just about everywhere in the short reef areas. The sea bass seem to be running unusually large this year. My aunt Ruby has a great recipe for sea bass, here it is (this is REALLY good). Wash the fillets and pat them dry. Mix equal amounts of yellow mustard and sour cream. Dip the fish in the mix then coat with cracker crumbs. Lay them flat on waxed paper and refrigerate until firm. Deep fry until golden brown and enjoy. My relative always called this "mustard bass" and it is really good. Most any species will work but Sea Bass is excellent this way.

On the rare occasion that the winds allow, the grouper are really biting well, and some very large grouper as well. Last week several grouper over twenty pounds hit the cleaning table. Bottom fishing remains the preferred method by most. Shallow water trolling can be excellent this time of year using stretch 25's and/or Rapala. Concentrate your efforts just outside the sea bass areas. Amber jack can produce some fun action this time of the year as well. The springs and rocky reefs in 50+ feet of water will hold impressive Amberjack this time of the year.

From all of us here at the Sea Hag Marina, we would like to with you a happy and healthy New Year!
This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 12/27/02
From BRIAN KIEL, President of Gainesville Offshore Fish Club
The wifer and I fished Friday, December 27th out of Steinhatchee with the intended goal of showing her what an outstanding grouper bite is all about.

Once the babysitter arrived we left the house and arrived in Steinhatchee at 10 a.m. A late start and deep inside it was killing me as I anticipated the slack tide around 1:30 p.m. was gonna put a damper on the day. She’s never been one to really spend the whole day fishing so this was kinda like a compromise, as she doesn’t like getting up early or like cold weather -there was frost on the boat cover as I prepped the boat in Gainesville.

Heading out the seas were negligible with light northerly breeze and we went to 54 feet where I had done well the week before (approximately 25 miles offshore). We threw a float on some good bottom in 54 feet with fish just off the structure and we left that spot for a friend who had followed us out. We fished a couple of spots nearby that yielded some nice grouper the week before but the bite was almost nonexistent. Despite some really good looking hardbottom we caught just a couple of short reds and gag but no legal grouper. Fishing in this area for quite awhile we didn’t pick up a legal grouper all morning. Or early afternoon. It was a little frustrating.

Radio chatter reflected that not many people were catching fish. A lot of short grouper, some grunts and blackfish but no one mentioned that they were doing OK in the grouper department. A grouper fishing friend ½ mile away only caught 2 keepers for the entire day while a second friend, the one we marked a spot for, by the end of the afternoon kept 4 gag and some grunts and black seabass. Both were fishing in 54 feet. It was pretty popular out there as we counted 17 boats fishing, trolling, and moving about. Thinking that maybe all this activity maybe causing the fish to stay closed mouthed we headed further out to two numbers in 60 feet. The first spot we immediately caught a black seabass and we pulled anchor for the next spot. On the way to the second we passed over a sharp edged 3 foot change of relief and turned the boat around. It was 3:50 p.m. and as soon as our bait hit the bottom it was picked up by hungry grouper. For the next 30 minutes I enjoyed watching Pat fight some nice fish and perfect some of her angling skills. One hard pulling fish turned out to be a nice red grouper that went 27 inches and 10.45 lbs (weighed at the house). I thoroughly enjoyed watching Pat struggle to keep that rod tip up and try to gain some ground. Her second fish was a nice gag that went 11.47 lbs and also tested her abilities. She wasn’t making any headway and in my mind I thought the fish had the upper hand but she managed to bring the gag to the surface. She caught a few more nice gag that went into the fish box but we had to leave them biting as we were already WAY late.

It was a weird bite today, as the grouper seemed to soft mouth the baits. They would pick the bait up and pull the rod tip down heavily but they were not engulfing the bait as they do in the warmer months. Circle hooks generally work well for me but today they were not helpful in this type of grouper bite. Half the grouper hooked on circles were barely hooked (see photos) and that was after letting the grouper have the bait for a good length of time. Switching to J hooks I thought the hook up percentage increased.

High and low tide was 7:36 a.m. at 2.3 ft and 1:48 p.m. at 0.6 ft respectively and it was 1 day post last quarter. At lines wet the barometric pressure was 30.37 decreasing to 30.28 psi once we stopped fishing. At 10 a.m., the river temperature was 53.6 degrees and the two anglers trolling for trout stated they hadn’t caught a thing. Offshore water temperature was 61.3 degrees and there were no surface weeds to prevent trolling if one was so inclined. All fish were caught using either threadfin herring or cigar minnows and you could not see bottom at any depth we fished.

Ran a total of 68 miles for the day and at the cleaning table of the 5 gags and 2 red grouper, all the stomachs were empty with the exception of the largest gag (13.03 lbs) and the smallest red (9.45 lbs). The gag had a 4 inch long scorpionfish while the red had a freshly caught 6 inch juvenile white grunt. It was a fine day to be out on the water and the babysitter wasn’t even upset when we arrived home 2 hours late……

Brian Kiel, President of Gainesville Offshore Fishing Club
I’ve attached 5 pictures:
1. Pat trying to make headway with a stout rod

2. Barely hooked!

3. Pat & a 11.47 lb gag

4. Pat & her 10.45 lb red grouper

Another Pat caught gag (note circle hook barely hooked)

Sea Hag Marina Christmas Sale December 21st thru December 29th!
20% OFF ALL Tackle, Marine Supplies, and Gifts
(Sorry NO discount on Fish Licenses, Groceries, Bait, or Alcohol)
This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 12/17/02
Report from Brian Kiel of Gainesville Offshore Fishing Club

WhooYaa! I finally get to go fishing for a full day and I’m not talking inshore! It’s been a month and a half since I’ve been offshore.

Fished out of Steinhatchee with Bernie “Thumbs” Fowler on Tuesday, December 17th. We arrived a little after 7 a.m. with not much water at the public ramp. Using a fishing rod as a probe to determine where the ramp end was we hung one axle off the end of the ramp and we just barely got the boat off the trailer. Despite little use of late both outboards started on the first crank. It’s already shaping up to be a good day………

Feeling a little naked running offshore without live bait we stopped and picked up some black seabass for bait. Since seas were flat we decided on the way out to try a couple of numbers in 54 feet that Bernie was given. Running out we ran over some nice bottom in 52 feet and found fish using the bottom finder. Fishing at 10 a.m. we picked up 3 nice gag but the bite died so we moved to Bernie’s first number only a few miles off. This spot was in 54 feet and the bottom was significant. It appeared to be a large rock acting as an undercut ledge since we could see a second echo on the bottom finder under the rock. On the bottom finder we could also see fish swimming around on the bottom and then they would be off the screen. Fifteen feet off the bottom you could also see fish showing and most likely they were AJs. Thankfully they didn’t bother us at all. We released quite a few sub-legal reds and a few gag and one 22 ½ inch gag. “Thumbs” also boated another keeper that had rocked up but managed to bring up after almost ten minutes of leaving the rod in a holder and the line slack. “Thumbs” also caught a nice bull red that went 31 ½ inches and after a quick photo went back into the water. While he knew it was a good fish he said it didn’t fight much. We kept 4 gag here including two nice ones the largest going 11.63 pounds (weighed at home).

We then went to the second number and although there was a good change in relief of at least 4 feet (hump) there wasn’t anything overly spectacular about the spot but you could see fish on the bottom finder. Just like the other spots as soon as you dropped down the gag were biting. I was feeling the pressure here as Bernie had already kept 5 gag and I only had two. I told him there was no way he was going to catch and keep any of “my” fish so he ate lunch and started throwing a jig for AJs. While he was messing around I caught a nice 24 inch red grouper and a few minutes later had a double hookup on a rod in my hands and one in a rod holder. I practically had to beat Bernie off that rod. I forget which one but one of the two went 12.24 lbs (weighed at home). With ten fish in the fishbox Bernie started fishing again and we ended up releasing numerous legal gag to 25 inches. A nice way to end the day.

Low and high tide was at 6:47 a.m. and 1:36 p.m respectively with a 3.1 foot tidal range—meaning excellent water movement. Barometric pressure was 30.15 decreasing to 30.09 at the end of our fishing day. It was three days pre-full moon and the solunar tables reflected today was supposed to be a good day, which it turned out to be. Early morning river temperature was 52.7 degrees F. and the offshore temperature was 62.0 warming mid day to 62.8 degrees F. Had we wanted to troll offshore weeds would not have been a problem out to 52 feet. Water color/clarity seemed good but you still couldn’t see bottom in 54 feet.

Radio chatter reflected that it was a temperamental bite and some people were having problems turning on the fish. We noticed that catching a few grunts would get things stirred up and the bite going, either that or it was just a good bite for us and just may have been a good location (?). Interesting (and as expected) we did not catch a single black seabass except for when we stopped to catch bait. We both commented that we didn’t really have the fish under control today as we missed quite a few fish (no break offs however) and I even switched to J hooks as my circle hooks didn’t seem to be working well. Bernie was trying those red “bleeding” hooks and he kept ribbing me about how he would “loan” me one. Personally I don’t think it made a hoot of difference and I’m sure he was only kidding. One of the problems may have been the dead bait as it was soft from a previous trip and consequently refrozen. We ended up using 2 ½ boxes of cigar minnows and Spanish sardines.

Ran a total of sixty miles for the day and kept 9 nice gag to 12.24 lbs and a 24 inch red grouper. At the cleaning table of the five gag I cleaned 3 had empty stomachs and the two largest gag had one large prawn-the largest I’ve ever seen in any grouper stomachs. The 12 pounder also had two fish vertebra columns measuring 12+ and 14 inches long in it’s gut (see photo). I also noticed that only two gag had significant fat bodies in the gut cavity (again see photo). Gotta admit that both shrimp were in such fine shape that I had them for breakfast this morning. Pretty darn good!

--Brian Kiel--

Attached are five photos:

1. “Thumbs” with a nice gag

2. “Thumbs” with a nice offshore bull red

3. “Thumbs” in action

4. Me with a nice double from a rod in a holder (w/circle hook) and fishing another rod

5. Gut contents of 12+ lb gag. Note fat bodies intertwining viscera and two fish vertebra columns. Only the largest shrimp was in this gag gut-the second is from another gag.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 12/18/02

Grouper caught December 15th - Andy Lawrence and Robert Kirby
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles
Is it me or has this winter been REALLY windy? We had a lot of anglers hanging around this past weekend hoping for a chance to soak some cigar minnows on their favorite offshore rocks. Finally on Sunday the wind let up and the grouper poured onto the cleaning table. Only three offshore vessels left the marina Sunday morning and all three returned with limits of grouper. Bottom fishing is still the most effective method for grouper at present, but I expect trolling to start picking up any day now. The large masses of floating weeds are gone and some very short weeds that look like short lawn clippings have appeared. The weeds that I saw yesterday (Tuesday) were not the kind that would foul a trolling plug. And, by the way, yesterday was absolutely as smooth as glass.

Huge offshore Redfish are haunting many areas starting just off the flats and extending well offshore. One group of anglers reported that they were unable to get their baits to the grouper through the Redfish schools. Black Sea Bass have begun their annual spawning ritual and are schooling in many areas offshore and nearshore. Squid seems to work best for catching them though they will hit most any bait that they can get in their mouth. Most people use heavy equipment on Sea Bass, but on light tackle they actually fight quite well for their size.

Shallow water trolling should become effective as our water temperatures continue to fall. The short reefs out from Pepperfish Key and Horseshoe Beach can produce impressive grouper numbers during the next two months. Shallow running Rapalas and the Mann's Stretch 25+'s work best in these shallow areas of live bottom.

Joe Cristillo, Louis Teets, Jack Bussinger, and Mark Jordan (not shown) caught these fine Grouper
Sunday December 15, 2003 (Click photos to see enlarged)
Some nearshore rocky areas and artificial reefs have begun to hold the first wave of spawning Sheepshead. Most of these fish at present are young males hoping to get a chance at the first group of spawning females. Their bite is still very soft but a sensitive rod will help put a tasty meal or two in your cooler. I am constantly amazed at the Sheepshead ability to survive the onslaught that we inflict upon them each year. At the height of their spawning season Steinhatchee Reef looks like the Miami Boat Show. If the present daily bag limit continues, eventually we are going to do damage to the Sheepshead population.

Inshore fishing is spotty at best. The water temperature has pushed the trout into the deep holes but not yet forced them into the river. A few trout are being caught at the mouth of the river but not in the numbers that we have experienced in the past. One of the common topics up and down the river is why the trout do not move into the river like they used to. I don't have the answer but there are some interesting theories around. Here are a few: The increased population has the river too polluted, The river is running too hard, the river is not running hard enough, logging has put too much acid in the water, there is too much boat traffic, the cormorants are too thick, the winter is too mild, and we overfished the trout that used the river. The sand trout never did show up this year in any numbers to speak of, another mystery. Redfish have all but exited from the fishing scene as I suspect they are deep in the tidal creeks out of reach for most vessels.

That's it for this week, have a wonderful Christmas, or in captains talk that's, "Felice Navigate".

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 12/12/02

Captain Paul Cronk's Charter aboard the Willa Mae landed these fine Grouper.
Left to Right: Daniel Osborne, Steven Crosby, "Fast" Eddie Crosby, Capt. Paul, Doyle Bailey all from the Canton, GA Area. Click on photo to see enlarged.
If you ventured offshore last Saturday trusting the weather person's forecast like me, you still probably want to knock this person up side the head with a two-by-four. The two-foot waves (predicted) were sitting on top of the seven-foot waves (actual) and then there were the occasional king waves, which were gigantus It wouldn't have been so bad but the wind and tide had the waves pushed real close together, making navigation difficult to risky. The good news though is that the grouper ARE biting, and quite well to boot. Bottom fishing with Cigar Minnows or Threadfin Herring is putting a lot of Grouper in the "box" right now. Allen Carver and friend "Joe" landed their limit of grouper both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Several of the fish were well over the fifteen-pound mark. I tried trolling Mann's Stretch 30's both days last weekend with almost no success. Our only good strike while trolling ended up going in the barn and slamming the door shut. Even with the vessel directly over the fish we could not get him to come out of his hole. I asked several people who troll regularly and we all agree that although the floating weed problem is getting better, the grouper are not quite ready to chase the large plugs. "When will they start?" you ask. Well, I am not psychic (perhaps psycho) but it should happen soon. Last year at this time trolling was awesome, and continued to be good well into June.

Large spawning sized Black Sea Bass are biting well starting at the twelve-mile mark. Hunter Johnson landed three keeper Sea Bass on just two hooks Saturday. The sea bass on the bottom hook had passed the hook out its gill and another one grabbed it. At the height of the bite we would bait just the top hook (on a double hook rig) and on the way up a second fish would hit the bare hook. Several times the whole school of fish would follow the hooked fish to the surface. We also caught a huge offshore Redfish that attacked a foul-hooked Sea Bass. The bull Red was admired then released boat-side.

A few Kingfish and Spanish Mackerel are still in the area, but not in the numbers of a month ago. Justin Voyles landed a hefty thirty-six inch Spanish on Saturday using a Fire Tiger Stretch 30+ in forty feet of water. To my knowledge (which is very limited) no Cobia were landed this week.
Trout fishing picked up some this week with several nice catches coming in from the flats. Mirrolures are working well now that the Pinfish have exited from the flats. Be sure to have an assortment of colors in your box, as cold water trout can be really picky about color. The new Pinfish color by Mirrolure has been very popular this past week. The trout have not yet moved into the river, but the winter is setting the scene for it to happen this year. Redfish have been difficult to locate, and even more difficult to catch. The annual run of Silver Trout is overdue and looks to a wash this year.

Matthew McCarron's FIRST GROUPER measured in at 36 inches. Him and his friends braved the high seas on December 11, 2002. Click all photos to see enlarged.

The marina will be closed Christmas day, and will likely close early on Christmas Eve. If you are having trouble finding that "perfect" gift, Sea Hag Marina offers custom gift certificates that can be redeemed for anything in the store (even charter trips). Sounds like the easy way out, but at least they can get what they want, instead of a pair of sox or a new tie or an umbrella (that will end up in the corner of the closet). These gift certificates can be ordered over the phone with a credit card and can be mailed directly to your house or stop by to get one from the store.

Oh, last but not least, please take a moment to think some good thoughts for Captain Paul Cronk this Friday. He is having some surgery (I don't want to go into any details) but your thoughts and/or prayers would be appreciated.

Enjoy our beautiful resources, and please bring all of your trash back to be properly disposed.
--Captain Dennis Voyles

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 12/04/02

December 4th Captain Paul Cronk with clients, John Ferlisi and Bill Prichard. Click to see enlarged.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 12/04/02
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles
I am not sure if the temperature gauge on my depth finder is correct, but the water read fifty degrees on flats last Sunday. Now that is very cold water. It seems that most people who ventured onto the flats returned wondering what happened to all of the trout that were more than willing to slam grubs and Mirrolures just a week or so ago. Even some of the tidal creeks seem totally void of fish. I poled my skiff nearly to the treeline in several creeks saturday morning and didn't see as much as a mullet. These cold fronts have definitely put the hurt on inshore fishing at least for the moment. Some trout are beginning to show up in the mouth of the river but very few, and their bite is really soft. Live shrimp seems to produce the most action. Most of the fish caught at the river mouth are whiting and croakers, both of which I personally consider excellent table fare. Some legal sized mangrove snapper can reward those who can detect the softest of bites.

The Sea Hag Babies give it a try on Thanksgiving Day!
It was all we could do the keep the little guy from climbing overboard!
On Saturday I had the pleasure of fishing with John Melchoir Jr., John Sr., Derrick, and Mike who are all from the Gainesville area. Due to excessive northeast winds we were forced to fish the river all day, but we worked hard and managed to finish the day with seventeen keeper fish. The twenty-eight degree start did not seem to affect their enthusiasm for this great sport. We had our best results from fishing very, very slowly up and down drop-offs mostly near the mouth of the river.

Capt. Andy Lawrence of Reel Job Charters and his clients, Tim Horn and Seth Horn of Live Oak, Florida, caught these fine grouper. Unfortunately with the time change the afternoon darkness sets in too soon for better picture taking this time of year. Click photos to see enlarged.
The most frequent question asked here at the marina is, "Are the Trout in the river yet?" To date, the answer is, "No," but if we continue to get below average temperatures it might happen and soon. And if so, please do not restrict the navigational channel, or if you do, expect some very close traffic.
On the seemingly rare occasion that wind subsides enough to allow offshore vessels to venture out, the grouper are biting very well. Trolling is still not an option in most areas and the few who have trolled have had limited success. Black Sea Bass are beginning to gather on offshore rocks for their annual spawning run. Some bragging size sea bass have shown up at the cleaning table here at the Sea Hag Marina. Captain Paul Cronk told me that one of his clients landed a triple on sea bass, one on each of his two hooks and one hanging on to the sinker. Now that's an aggressive fish! King mackerel and Cobia have all but disappeared from the scene for now, but should start showing up again in March.
The winter run of convict fish should start this month, but December's Sheepshead fishing is usually sporadic at best.
Be careful out on the water, December can have some very thick sea fog. Good luck!

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 11/27/02
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles

This large Grouper was caught November 26th aboard Neva-Miss with Captain Shearin (click photo see large)
It's Grouper time! The extreme cold from last weekend's Arctic blast hurt the inshore trout fishing but put the grouper bite into hyper-drive! Several vessels returned to the Sea Hag Marina dock this past week with impressive grouper catches. Light winds for five days in a row allowed offshore anglers to fish their favorite rocks and the grouper were ready. The offshore water temperature has fallen into the low seventies bringing with it hoards of beautiful gag grouper. Captains Paul Cronk and Bill Shearin both had great trips offshore returning with dozens of grouper and very happy clients. Trolling is still difficult-to-impossible due to floating and suspended weeds throughout the water column. I cannot predict how much longer the offshore weeds will remain, but it is unusual for such a large area to contain this quantity of flotsam. Bottom fishing with frozen baits (Cigar Minnows, Threadfin Herring and Spanish Sardines) is the best approach at present. Several very large Amberjack have accompanied the grouper to the cleaning table as well. Bill Shearin's Sunday clients told me that they caught their limit of Amberjack, which coincidentally was the same limit that their arms could withstand!

Captain Paul Cronk's crew landed these nice grouper!
Shown Beth and Bob Swett and Bobbie and Phil Elzey from Georgia
Click photos to see enlarged

Captain Shearin's catch aboard the Neva-Miss! Shown are Jeff, Billy, Chris, Russell, and Jason.
Jason did not catch ANY fish but he had a great time!

Three consecutive mornings of below freezing temperatures has really hurt the trout fishing on the flats. The water temperature has fallen into the mid fifties and most anglers are struggling to find active trout. Amy and Greg Raub, Yvette Webster and Richard Brand ventured out to sea with me in twenty-eight degree air temperature. The fish of the day came early when Yvette landed a forty-one inch bull Redfish (twenty two-inch girth) after a thirty-five minute battle. I must tip my hat to Fin-Nor reels as this monster Redfish made two of the fastest runs I have ever seen a Redfish make. I believe a lesser quality reel would have suffered substantial damage from this battle. The Fin-Nor Ahab reels have by far the smoothest drag system on the market. Despite the bitter cold we managed to find several legal Redfish (Yvette had the largest at 27") way back inside a tidal creek later in the day. Amy landed the largest flounder of the trip a hefty three pounder. Legal sized trout managed to avoid us all day but we did catch a few shorts in the tidal creek.

Though the temperature in the river is nearly ten degrees warmer than the flats the trout have not moved into the river to date. Some croakers, whiting and small Sheepshead are being caught near the mouth of the river however. If the trout do come into the river this winter please remember that it is neither legal nor safe to anchor in the marked channel. It is also illegal to tie up to a channel marker. Your best bet is to anchor just out of the navigational channel and cast into the hole. Sometimes crowded conditions can cause tempers to heat up so try to be patient with your fellow anglers. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 11/21/02
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles

Last week I had the pleasure of guiding four very accomplished senior anglers for a day of flats fishing. Jape Taylor, Aubrey Williams, Hank Purdy and Otto Olsen all from Gainesville enjoy the sport of angling for pure pleasure and sport. They fish with skills and knowledge gathered from four lifetimes of angling experiences, both freshwater and saltwater, some near and some very far away. Though we returned to the Sea Hag Marina with a cooler full of trout, Spanish mackerel and black sea bass, the fish caught ranked far behind the joy of simply spending a day on the water with good friends. The jokes, the ribbing and idle threats of throwing each other overboard reminded me of my boyhood friends and the pure pleasure of the "trip" not the "take". Several fish lost near the boat were not mourned but declared long-range releases. And, at about midday Aubrey hooked the fish of the day. His friends all put their rods away to cheer him on as the fish made long, fast runs. I worried that the twelve-pound test line would not last long with such a huge fish. During the battle all of us guessed the species of the unseen monster. Fishing in only eight feet of water we could rule out nuclear submarines and killer whales, though this fish fought like both. After nearly forty minutes Aubrey coaxed the fish close enough to the boat for my landing net. A forty-five inch Redfish, my vessel's new record. After a brief photo session and high fives we released the trophy to recover and possibly bring pleasure to many more anglers in the future. Ted Williams said it best; "A trophy fish is much too valuable to be caught only once." How true. After all, the photo can be admired for years to come.

I must tip my hat to the Bill Hammock group who fished with Sam Leneave Tommy Thompson Billy Kiggins and me this past weekend. These guys fished in driving rain, winds to thirty knots and near freezing temperatures for two days and never once complained. The fishing was tough but they were able to return to Atlanta with a modest amount of trout, Redfish and flounder fillets.

Two fish caught by the Hammock Crew. Weather was too bad to take any other pictures! Click photos to see enlarged!
Fishing during cold fronts can put the true test to your skills (or luck). Redfish will remain near tidal creeks and rocky outcroppings much as they do the rest of the year. You may need to slow down your presentation or switch to slower running lures during cooler water periods. Trout fishing suffers more during cold weather. Some trout will move in close with the Redfish and others will move out to deeper water. The deepwater trout may shut down and will be difficult to catch until the weather improves. During extended cold blasts many trout will seek refuge and warmth in the holes of the river, although the last few winters we have not had large numbers of trout come into the river.

Last week we caught trout in as shallow as a foot of water and as deep as twelve feet. Soft plastic grubs such as saltwater assassins Arkansas shiner and limetreuse scored heavily as did several colors of Mirrolures (including 20MR hot pink which is not normally a part of my tackle arsenal). Top water action has slowed down compared to a week or two ago, but don't put your plugs away yet as a good warm streak could fire things back up on top (my personal favorite). In areas with thick turtle grass the Cajun thunder float serves two purposes. The float keeps your jig from fouling in the grass and the two brass beads create noise to get the trout's attention.

Grouper fishing continues to improve during the winter months. The wind however is the most limiting factor during this time of year. Grouper will move in very close, as shallow as eighteen feet deep in some areas. If the floating weeds will ever subside, trolling large lures such as Manns stretch thirties will be highly effective for locating and catching limits of both gag and red grouper. I cannot report any hot colors that are working right now, as no one has been able to keep a plug down for more than a few seconds before it fouls with weeds.
Pelagic species such as cobia and mackerel become more uncommon every day as water temperatures and daylight length fall. Both species will begin to trickle back toward our area starting in early march.
Sheepshead will begin moving toward their usual spawning areas this month, though they likely will not start biting yet. Though uncommon, some Sheepshead can be caught on artificial reefs and/or natural rocks offshore in the next few months. The best Sheepshead fishing however normally occurs in March.
Enjoy our beautiful resources.

of Sea Hag Charters This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 11/14/02
Sea Hag Marina Fishing Report by Captain Dennis Voyles
of Sea Hag Charters
Gordon Lightfoot mentions the winds of November in his song about the Edmond Fitzgerald, and the wind was the focus of attention this past week. When the weather allows, offshore fishing is hot right now. Both red and gag grouper have returned to their winter haunts. Captain Paul Cronk (352-498-7317) hit a proverbial "home run" last Friday returning to the dock with twenty-eight huge grouper and an assortment of other offshore species. Neva Miss charter captain Bill Shearin docked with an impressive 230-LB box of grouper and Florida snapper in Saturdays high winds. Several vessels, including myself returned to shore early due to Saturday's twenty-plus knot winds. (Shown left Weslery Buckles, Brett McQuaig, Jerry Bishop, and Ricky Dowdy -all from Palatka, Florida with Capt. Paul Cronk - click photos to see enlarged - with the new time change - the shadows are creeping up on the pictures - sorry!)

Offshore trolling is still difficult to impossible due to the floating weeds. I am certain that pulling Stretch 30+ would be effective right now if we could just get the plugs down to the grouper. I tried trolling in several places offshore but even in the areas that look good on top have weeds suspended throughout the water column.

Dave Wood, Todd Fbeda, Paul Penninger, and not shown, Mark Jordan

Click photos to see enlarged

Inshore, the trout are actively feeding in all depths and just about any method you fish can be effective. Mirrolures fished in six to twelve feet are producing impressive photo opportunities. The Mirrolure TT21 and TT23 were the favorite this past week. Cast the lure out and count half the depth, twitch two times, stop for two (and repeat if necessary) is my personal favorite presentation. However, try several speeds and combinations until you find one that works. Some days the trout will rise to the plug high in the water column and other days they want the bait right in their face. The direction of the pull can make a difference as well. Try twitching the bait forward by keeping your pole down, and then try upward pulls moving the plug toward the top. Pay attention to the motion that provokes the most strikes. For soft bait fished on leadhead jigs, electric chicken and candy corn are still hot in shallow depths. The Cajun thunder float will allow you to fish slower in three to five feet depths. Friday, Jeff Brown and his girls fished a half-day with me and returned to the marina with eleven nice trout. All of the trout were caught in less than five feet, and all on electric chicken. Friday's fish wanted the chicken pulled three times then stop. Most strikes occurred while the chicken was resting. Oh, one other thing… we were always near a school or two of two-inch threadfin herring.

Kay Young with Trout!

Redfish are still hugging the shoreline near hard sand and rocky areas. The weaker tides of winter are restricting all but the shallowest running craft from the normal Redfish haunts. Some reds are being caught in sand holes on the flats at or near low tide. The approaching full moon should bring higher than normal high tides (if the wind allows) making the Redfish even more aggressive and accessible.

King mackerel and Spanish mackerel are still smashing bait pods in the area. Huge schools of bay anchovies and young of the year threadfins are preventing the toothy ones from initiating their southward trek. Little tunny are feeding on the schools as well. Flocking birds will lead you to the most actively feeding mackerel and tunny. The larger Kings seem to hang around the outside edge of the feeding frenzy. My personal favorite plug is the Rapala magnum CD-18 in fire tiger or mackerel trolled at a brisk five knots. Don't forget to reduce the drag on your reel considerably to allow for excessively large fish.

Mark Geier and John Erickson with awesome TROUT!
Sheepshead should start showing up soon to prepare for their annual spawning run. The bite can start as early as December depending on the severity of the winter, however March is usually the height of the run. When the sheep do show up please take into consideration that they are spawning and take only what you need. The limit of fifteen fish per angler is more than enough for a meal or two of fresh fish. Ok, I'll get down off of my soapbox now and get back to work. Good luck on the water, and remember that dense fogs are common this time of year. I was almost hit last spring by a boater racing through a fog bank. Be careful!

Fishing Reports 10/30/02 thru 8/23/02
Fishing Reports 8/22/02 thru 5/16/02
Fishing Reports 5/15/02 thru 4/12/02
Fishing Reports 4/11/02 thru 3/7/02
Fishing Reports 3/7/02 thru 1/19/02
Fishing Reports 6/27/01 thru 1/7/02
Fishing Reports 6/26/01 thru 3/11/01
Fishing Reports 3/11/01 thru 4/2/01
Fishing Reports 2/3/01 to 3/10/01
Fishing Reports 11/00 thru 1/30/01
Fishing Reports 6/1/00 thru 9/25/00
Fishing Reports 5/6/00 thru 5/22/00
Fishing Reports 4/26/00 thru 4/29/00
Fishing Reports 3/27/00
Fishing Reports 3/3/00 thru 3/10/00
Fishing Reports 1/21/00 thru 3/3/00
Fishing Reports 1/10/00 thru 1/1/00
Fishing Reports 12/31/99 thru 9/18/99
Fishing Reports 8/25/99 thru 4/3/99