This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 5/15/02
Courtesy of Captain Dennis Voyles Fishing out of the Sea Hag Marina
The last school to take a spring break must be the trout that had been schooled up around Steinhatchee. While trout are still being caught here, it's a little tougher than what we've been accustomed to over the past several weeks. I'm not an expert, but I do have a theory about this. It seems the trout are taking a time out to recover from a spawning season. They should be back on the feed bag soon though as water temps are rising their metabolism needs fuel.

Adbiz.chum landed their share of trout! Click to see enlarged!
If the temporary decline in trout fishing has saddened you, there is another species available to distract you. A lot of cobia are in this region right now and they are biting on just about everything that you can imagine. This past weekend we caught a 20-pounder in 50 feet of water on a Stretch 30 and a sixty pounder bottom fishing. Inshore, lots of cobia were responding to jigs, pinfish and shallow-running hard baits. If you have some favorite cobia spots, take time to check them this week because the cobia population right now is fairly large.

Offshore fishing kept improving over the last week as the tides got stronger each day. The Sand Perch Holographic continues to lead the pack as the number one Stretch 30+ grouper trolling color. While we caught the most grouper on that lure, the biggest grouper we brought in was caught on a redheaded, white-bodied Stretch 30. I also noticed that the Fire Tiger Stretch 30+, which had been very productive, cooled off this week, so it's taking a rest in the bottom of the tackle box. The Kingfish continued to go after the Blue Rapala MagnumCD18 when it was trolled a short distance behind the boat.

The Holloway crew caught some nice fish too!Click to enlarged!

Unusually large Spanish mackerel have begun to show up offshore in 40 to 50 feet of water. Their favorite target was a Stretch 30 in Hot Pink.

Captain Voyles cleaning Grouper and Kingfish at Sea Hag Marina's shaded fish cleaning facility.
The strong tides this week should produce some good fishing so get on the water if you get a chance. Good luck.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 5/7/02
Courtesy of Captain Dennis Voyles Fishing out of the Sea Hag Marina

Inshore fishing was more challenging this past weekend because of the tides associated with the quarter moon. The Saturday and Sunday high tides were a
full 20-inches lower than those during a full moon. Less water means fewer fish close to shore, but in spite of the less-than-ideal tides, there was still a lot of fun to be had on the water.

Captain Paul Cronk's boat brought in a massive 9 pound trout that was well over 30-inches long. Congratulations Captain Cronk! (Sea Hag note: The fish is pictured above. In all the excitement I forgot to bring home the details of the fish. This is from memory and I hope it is right - The fish weighed 9lbs. 1 oz. and was 31" long. It was caught by David Stovall.)

My fishing partner on Sunday was Dr. Natalie Norwood and we started out looking for the redfish in some of their usual haunts, but the low tides did not allow my usual spots to hold fish.

We got sidetracked by a large wake being pushed across shallow water near tater island. It was 4 to 5 inches tall and the water behind it was dark. We eased over toward the wake and saw the kind of thing I usually only get to read about. This was a combined school of redfish and black drum working shoulder-to-shoulder (or maybe it's fin-to-fin) as they feasted on shallow water delicacies. There were well over 500 fish in that school. We spotted two other similar schools a short time later.

This was a no-miss fishing situation. All we had to do was to get up close and toss a jig near the school. These fish wanted to eat anything they could get their jaws around. What did not work as well was the noise from the Cajun Thunder cork. The noise seemed to be spooking the fish, maybe because it sounded different in the very shallow water where they had schooled up.

Apparently we arrived just before this school was being dismissed for the day. We caught a half dozen redfish and black drum and suddenly they were gone.

This was a good reminder of how to find fish in less than ideal tides. When the tide is weak, consider moving into fairly shallow water if your boat will allow it because the fish are likely there feeding on smaller morsels. Or, move way past your normal distance and go after the fish that prefer consistently deeper water. The weaker tides will make you slow down your presentation because the fish are not usually in a chase mode.

Offshore this past weekend I had the pleasure of guiding the Williams party from Atlanta.

Our first stop Saturday morning was at the artificial reef where we hoped to find some Amberjack. Instead, we found ourselves involved with a school of more than 30 barracuda that were intent on terrorizing the usual artificial reef dwellers. Although we couldn't coax any Amberjack into biting, we did manage to get a pair of hogfish through the barracuda maze. None of us were sure how we accomplished that. Just luck seems the best explanation. We would not have been surprised to haul in just the head of a hogfish given the aggressiveness of this group of barracuda.

Next we moved over to where the water was 52 feet deep and started trolling for grouper and Kingfish.This weekend the hottest Stretch 30 color for attracting grouper was Sand Perch Holographic. Second place went to Gold Back Mylar and the third most attractive color to the grouper was Blue Mackerel.

The common factors in getting the Kingfish to bite were trolling through a school of flying fish and to offer something other than a Stretch 30. We used the Rapala Silver blue mackerel in the 7-inch CD18 mag trolled in the prop wash only 30 feet behind the boat. Because of the razor-like teeth of the king mackerel, we used short leaders made of Malin wire and a haywire twist. The shorter Kingfish lines also kept the Rapalas from getting into the stretch 30's

With the moon approaching new moon phase we can expect increasing high tides right up through Sunday. That bodes well for inshore fishing. If you are a weekend angler only, you'll do well on Saturday and Sunday, but if you can talk the boss into letting you have a few days off, Monday and Tuesday ought to be productive days, too.

Good luck fishing and remember to check your safety equipment before
leaving the dock.

Richard Lumsford from Atlanta, Georgia, caught this 55+ lb. Cobia near the Bird Rack (29 41.68'N/083 32.482'W) in shallow water with a live pinfish.

Click photos to see enlarged!
The Stovall crew fished a second day with Captain Paul Cronk and caught a nice cobia along with a fine catch of Grouper.

Click photos to see enlarged!

Neva-Miss Charters 352-498-9242 took out thr Regal Boat Company Team and landed these fine Grouper.

The Big Bend Bash was a huge success! "What was the Big Bend Bash?" you ask. The people who visit and host forums at WhopperStopper.net have a few get togethers throughout the year so that folks can put faces to the names they see on the website (which is an awesome website to find fishing information). Folks came from all over the Big Bend area and fished, told stories, and had a fantastic barbeque on the Sea Hag Marina deck. I was having such a great time, that I did not get up from my chair to take pictures! Approximately 65 people showed up and fun was had by all.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 5/1/02
Courtesy of Captain Dennis Voyles Fishing out of the Sea Hag Marina
The past weekend's combination of the full moon with its exceptionally high tides and the high pressure system stalled over Florida made for excellent fishing. Not only were all the oysters bars around Steinhatchee flooded with fish, but so was the Sea Hag's fish cleaning table. It seemed like almost every boat brought in a variety of species in large sizes.
Inshore fishermen were bagging limits of trout. Trout have been biting particularly well in two spots — near Pepperfish Island south of Steinhatchee and near the Bird Rack to the North. A variety of grubs under Cajun thunder corks will work, but electric chicken, candy corn, and space guppy seem to be favorites. They are made by Salt Water Assassin and generally fished with 1/4 oz jigheads. The speed and presentation varies from day to day and even tide to tide so try several speeds and pauses till you find the one that works. The redfish seemed to be excited about the full moon this weekend as several guides brought in limits of 27 inch reds. Gold or silver spoons worked slowly over oyster bars were exceptionally effective. Once again the Pepperfish area was good for reds. The folks I fished with this weekend caught over a dozen different species in a single, near shore outing. It was lots of fun trying to guess what we would pull in next based on how hard it was pulling and what kind of bait were using.
Offshore, the king fish action is still super. Several weighed in somewhere in the mid to upper 20 pound range. Most were hitting on Stretch 30s that were intended for grouper. The grouper fishing remains productive as well. Grouper have been found to in 45 feet of water and out as far as you are willing to go. An extra bonus to offshore fishing this weekend were the schoolie dolphin. Most were under five pounds but a wonderful welcome to any fish box. One boat of anglers from Bradenton hooked a huge bull dolphin but it didn't make it all the way to the boat. The hottest Stretch 30+ color right now is working so well that I warn my clients to use potholders to handle. Red Tiger is hotter than a two dollar pistol right now. The other Stretch 30s colors that are working well, too are Black Back Milar and Holographic Perch.

Click Photos to see enlarged!!

Dophin and Grouper landed aboard the Neva-Miss Charter.
Several bait pods are located on the flats just south of the river mouth. The pods I found Saturday had Spanish mackerel, trout and jacks associated with them. When you find them they can provide for some fast and furious fishing. Cobia have also arrived on the flats and are following large eagle rays and sting rays. Take along a stout baitcasting outfit to toss at passing Cobia while drifting the flats. As the water temps continue to rise the numbers of Cobia will continue to rise. Also remember the Cobia limit was reduced to one per person last year.
Zoe Harris, celebrating her 29th birthday again, and her family landed these nice Spanish Mackerel on the Squatty Body. Shown is, Zoe, Steve, Kendra, Mathew, and Kyle.
This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 4/25/02
The tournament results..... I will fix this later... I'm tired and going to bed. All my employees have had to take some time off so I am working 12 hour days. Yuck! I will update next Tuesday (I promise)! I failed! :( But I am very sick - forgive?

Early am of a beautiful day!

Anna Patterson weighs in her shiner at .05 lbs.

Chase Norwood with help of sister Chaeli weighed in the pole and all to get a register on the scale at .03 lbs.

Darin Bryan winning grouper at 22.9 lbs. Shown here with his dad!

Aaron Silcox with the winning Cobia at 59.1 lbs..

Mark Taylor (18.00lbs.) and Mark Holloway (20.85lbs.) hold the second and third place groupers!

A nice dolphin caught in 50 ft water and a 30lb. King!! Nice catch!


The Garretts get a nice King and fine grouper.

This would have been a $1000 grouper had Mrs. Hartsfield enter the tournament!

More grouper....


A giant Permit! Pampano do not come this large! This gentleman landed this beast while fishing for trout in 4 foot of water!
Rock Bottom had this nice catch!

Some nice trout...

That's it on my photos... anyone having tournament photos please email to danielle@seahag.com
This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 4/15/02
This is a little bit of a repeat but these tips are working great right now!

Spanish Mackerel The Spanish Mackerel are chasing bait fish near the Steinhatchee Reef (see below for Reef coordinates and relief heights). I've also had stupendous reports that the Nine Mile Bank (29 41.10'N 083 34.60'W) and the Little Bank (29 39.95'N 083 34.25'W) are also housing the Spanish. I've heard that taking a 230 degree heading for 4 mile from Marker 1 will put you on them as well. Calculating that on my chart software returns a spot at 29 36.507'N 083 31.147'W which actually shows some bottom relief on the map. Located very close to that area is the Steinhatchee Short Reef (29 36.632'N 083 28.482'W) which for those of you in small boats, can fish rather comfortably since it is only 4 miles from the river mouth. You can catch Spanish Mackerel trolling or anchored. When traveling in these areas, keep an eye out for bait pods jumping. Most likely this bait is being chased by the Spanish Mackerel. If trolling, travel around, NOT through the bait pod, and troll silver Clark spoons, Fairwater Spanish rigs with the tinsel tails, Got-cha plugs with white hair tails, or Floreo lures (with white or natural hair tails) just beyond the white water edge that the movement of the boat produces. If you anchor up, I suggest chumming the bait and fish to the boat. You can then fish with live shrimp or cast the artificials through the chum slick. Shown in the pictures are Ed Oehmig and Harry Whitener who fished the Nine Mile Bank with Key Largo Flash'n Bucktails primarily in the white color tipped with a strip of a Spanish Mackerel belly (click photos to see enlarged).

Grouper Offshore, Grouper have been phenomenal! Doesn't seem to matter whether you are trolling or bottom fishing but on a given day one method or the other seem to produce more. For trolling, Sea Hag Marina recommends the Mann’s Stretch 30+ in the colors of Perch and anything with the word "tiger" on it. I have folks trying the new Sea Snakes to which Mann’s has added a snake like grub tail to the head of Stretch 30+. I have not gotten any reports back on the new lure. As for bottom fishing, Spanish Sardines are selling well, along with Cigar Minnows, Squid, Thread Herring, and Mackerel. Folks are fishing in about 50 foot of water. Some hot spots are
the Super Ledge (29 22.817’N 83 45.675’W) and the Crack (29 23.819’N 083 42.722’W). Since the bottom at these points is part of a shelf, trolling
between and around these two numbers will allow you to find other hot
spots yet undiscovered and housing some really nice grouper. These folks aboard the "Frayed Knot" followed these exact instructions and caught these fine grouper on April 14th trolling the Fire Tiger and the Red Tiger Stretch 30+ lures.

Neva-Miss Charters 352-498-9242 brought in a couple boat loads of Grouper on April 12th and April 13th.

Bluefish and Amberjack While fishing the flats and especially the reefs, expect to catch some really nice Bluefish and an occasional Amberjack. Shown here is Alison who landed this fine Bluefish aboard the adbiz.chum boat on Alril 13th. It took a group effort and a boat chase to keep this large Amberjack from breaking some small test line.

Kingfish It is the season for the Kingfish to be in. I've been told when you see the pretty purple and pink wild flowers lining the county roads, it's Kingfish season. So far it has been a little slow but I'm hear from folks further south that they are thinning and moving to the north around the big bend. So far we have seen a few smaller fish and I suspect this weekend will prove that the bigger ones are finally starting to appear. Troll a chrome colored Stretch 30+ with less line out so that it will stay closer to the surface. These young men were more than excited to land their first Kingfish of the season.

Sharks What luck for the Page girls and their friend to land such large beasts this time of year! These girls had great fun a a BIG story to tell back at school about their Spring Break.

Don't forget the Optimist Club Fishing Tournament is this Saturday, April 20th. We will keep Sea Hag Marina's tackle and bait shop open Friday night until 9:00pm. Stop by to get all your fishing needs. Also, our Tiki Bar will be open as well. To find out more information about the tournament, click here. And one more thing, the Sea Hag Marina has had some room cancellations for this weekend. To check out our accommodations click here. Be sure to call 352-498-3008 to make a reservation.

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