by Captain Dennis Voyles
August 14, 2002 
Inshore fishing has picked up considerably due to last week's cold front. Water temperatures dropped a full nine degrees making a day of getting your limit of trout more frequent. Most trout are being caught in 8 to 12 feet of water, although shallower areas are holding feeding trout as well. The floating grass seems to be thinning out some allowing anglers a wider lure selection. Top water action  is also possible now that the floating grass is disappearing. Pinfish fished under a Cajun Thunder float is still very effective in areas where the trout are a bit finicky. Jigs and soft bodies such as Saltwater Assassin are nearly irresistible to trout but remember to try several different presentations and colors.

Redfish in the area are still schooling and are not hard to miss as you cross the flats, especially at low tide. I have a Carolina Skiff, so I need very little water under me, so I see Redfish schooling two out of every three trips. Some of the schools have only a dozen or so fish, but other schools may reach into the hundreds. The ultra shallow Redfish spots are holding fewer fish lately, but some of the Reds absolutely huge.

Ms. Erath shows off two nice Reds and a Trout (7/28/02)
Scalloping is still king of the flats as far as numbers of people out there. Most everyone is limiting out in just a few hours. North to the sand bars is doing very well and to the south, the first shallow water is yielding lots of scallops, though some are small. Meat yield is steadily improving. I had a 10 gallon limit last week that yielded 4 ¾ pounds of meat. Scalloping is a great family sport, and good exercise for both you and the kids. If you are an avid fisherman, take advantage of your time in the water to study the activity of the baitfish. Float very slowly along and the baitfish will resume their normal activity. By watching their movements you can learn to mimic their action with your lure presentation.

Not only did the Grady White Club of Tampa Bay have a good time on their Scallop Trip at the Sea Hag Marina, but the Sea Hag Marina employees had a great time with them! For more information about the Grady White Club in the Tampa area click http://tampabaygradywhiteclub.com.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 7/18/02
Courtesy of Captain Dennis Voyles Fishing out of the Sea Hag Marina
Scallop season is in full swing and limits of the tasty muscles are very common now. Overall the size of the bivalves have been above average and those who have been scalloping already have been very happy with what they are bringing back to the marina. Scalloping is just line fishing. Success varies from boat to boat and person to person, but most people are limiting-out in less than a couple of hours.

Selecting the best site this year is a toss up. North of the river out from Rock Point has been both popular and productive. Just south of the river's mouth and as far south as Pepperfish Key have been pockets of boats filled with scallopers doing just as well.

This is really a great family sport. Last week I had a charter of six people with a 76 year range in ages and every single one of them enjoyed the day on the saltwater. If you haven't been out before and aren't sure where to go, you can arrange a half day charter through the Sea Hag Marina.

Inshore fishing has taken a back set to scalloping so far this month. Trout fishing is spotty and only a few limits of trout have been caught. The good news is that some of those caught have been exceptionally large. Try fishing in 6 to 12 feet of water using salt water assassins or live pinfish.

Flood tides associated with the new moon over the past week are the reason the redfish action has been so good. My clients had no trouble catching redfish but they did have trouble hauling in keepable sizes. Two of every three they landed exceeded the 27-inch maximum and had to be released.

Large Spanish mackerel are being caught just past Marker 1. To find them, watch the surface for bait pods trying to escape these toothy marauders. This scrappy species is fun to battle with and has been biting well on Clark spoons cast or trolled near the active bait pods.

The offshore action for grouper has picked up some. The most strikes have been coming while trolling Stretch 30s or the new Megabait (a better looking, cheaper competitor to Mann's) in either red or blue colors. Bottom fishing with live pinfish is also productive right now.

The weather forecast shows fewer rainstorms and more days with oven-like temperatures, so grab your mask, fins and snorkel and come on over to Steinhatchee for some cool scalloping.
This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 7/7/02
Fishing out of Steinhatchee on Sunday, July 7th the goal for the day was to fish and then dive some of the spots I’ve found over the last winter to get a better understanding on the bottom layout. By 8 a.m.
Bob-the-cobia-hog and I caught about 60 pinfish and headed offshore. We fished and then I dove four of my spots.

Fishing two different large rocks in 60 feet was an almost complete bust but fishing live bottom in 60
feet seemed to be the ticket. The bite was kind of a weird one. Early the grouper were hitting live
pinfish (significantly preferring pinfish over spot tail pinfish) and later in the afternoon dead frozen
sardines were preferred over live bait. Also in the morning the grouper seemed to soft mouth the bait and not really hit hard but in the afternoon it was more like a regular grouper hit.

I dove two different large rocks and each one had a resident jewfish. Both jewfish were small, around 60 to 80 pounds, and they were the largest predator on the rock. One rock was approximately 80 meters x 30 meters with a relief of 4 meters and largely undercut. The second was smaller with a relief of only 2 meters and also undercut. Both rocks held only a few gag grouper with only two or three of legal size but there were quite a few secretive small red grouper hiding in the crevasses. There was the usual assortment of small AJs, numerous mangrove snapper (quite a few large), a few spanish macks, but only a couple of small hogfish, and no
nursesharks. One of my objectives was to scout these large rocks with the deep undercuts in hopes of finding some lobsters but no spiny or bulldozer lobsters were seen (spiny season opens in 3 weeks). No doubt the jewfish kept the lobster population at zero. I also dove a separate ledge line that had a 5-foot relief that went on for about 200 meters-there were few grouper there also (and no lobster either). As opposed to the wintertime the large structures were holding few grouper.

In contrast to these large rocks, my dives over live bottom held significant numbers of grouper. One dive was in a good sized area of live bottom entirely composed of gorgonians and soft corals. The grouper were quite abundant with large ones in the 10 to 13 pound class hanging out. Obviously this spot was unknown to divers as the large grouper were not skittish and offered good
spearfishing shots. There were some good-sized mangrove snapper as well and they weren’t skittish either. Looking behind as you swam along you could see a procession of grouper, snappers, and grunts following along.

While diving one thing I noted was that the gag remained underneath a pod of baitfish (small cigar minnows) and they followed the pod as it swam about the live bottom. Keeping this observation in mind we found and fished three new spots in 58 to 62 feet that had live bottom and held baitfish near the bottom. Fishing each spot for about 25 minutes two of the spots held good grouper with
one spot yielding two nice gags, one fat red grouper, and we released one 21 inch red grouper before we moved off to search for another spot. On the third spot we immediately caught two small black sea bass and so we stopped fishing to look for other spots. The sequence usually consisted of catching three or four small red grouper and then the larger gag would start to bite. While fishing the abundance of sublegal red grouper was amazing and it got to the point of being a pain.

Low tide was at 6:18 a.m. and high was at 12:03 p.m. Barometric pressure was steady around 30.02 PSI. It was 4 days pre new moon and the surface temperature was 82.5° F. Seas were light and the wind was out of the southeast. Pods of baitfish were numerous 5 miles offshore around 18 to 20 feet and there was not a lot of surface weed so trolling would have been good. Offshore from 50 to 60
feet the water was churning everywhere from the small Bonita chasing the abundant pods of glass minnows. At 10 a.m. underwater horizontal visibility was outstanding at about 25 meters and vertical visibility was around 12 meters. There was no thermocline and the bottom water temperature was 82° F. Clarity was good and there was no brown algae accumulated on the bottom that sometimes
interferes with fishing. Later as the outgoing tide grew stronger the vis dropped to around 11 meters. While running to another spot in 55 feet of water I thought we had a school of redfish feeding on the surface but it turned out to be small 3-foot sharks tearing up a compacted pod of glass minnows.

We ran 89 miles and we finished the day with 6 gag to 11.43 lbs and 2 red grouper, the largest going 9.28 lbs. There were also a lot of small swimming crabs swimming on the surface and at the cleaning table the stomachs of both the red grouper and gag contained these crabs. Earlier, on the water I netted one crab and dropped it down but nothing took it. I also had a hard time catching
grouper on circle hooks on account of the soft bite. After missing many fish I switched to J hooks which did the trick. It was nice to finally have a serious fishing trip and have the time to survey some of my newer fishing spots.

Brian Kiel - President, Gainesville Offshore Fishing Club

Brian Kiel with Red Grouper 9.28 lbs.

Close up of business end

Bob-the-cobia-hog with a 9 pound gag

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 6/13/02
I've been busy preparing for Scallop Season - fishing has been good inshore and offshore although beware the afternoon showers are now becoming pretty consistant. Here are the catches of the week:
Click photos to see enlarged.... I left the names of the parties in the office so email me if you know a familar face and I'll update the name...


Voyles Party 6/13/02

Nita from Adbiz.chum with trout 6/8/02

Fishing aboard the Neva-Miss...
This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 6/4/02
Courtesy of Captain Dennis Voyles Fishing out of the Sea Hag Marina
Now that the kids are out of school, it's an ideal time to bring them over the Steinhatchee for some trout fishing. The water has warmed up enough to make the trout action fast enough to keep even elementary school age youngsters occupied. There have been lots of reports of parties of trout fishermen catching huge numbers - some of which may be short - but they are still fun to pull in. The bigger trout are being caught on pinfish near the break between the grass flats and deep water.

Offshore there have been a lot of big grouper being caught lately. Although trolling Stretch 30s is still catching some grouper, they are not as productive as they were as recently as a month ago. For example, on our boat one of the biggest fish brought in this past weekend was caught on a Stretch 30, but most of our grouper were caught on threadfin herring and Spanish sardines while bottom fishing. There were a few colors of Stretch 30s that the grouper were interested in while we were trolling. The blue colors like mackerel and blue holographic tempted a few to bite and the red shades working best were redhead and fire tiger. Sand perch, a color that was immensely popular with grouper a few weeks ago has cooled off temporarily. This is another situation where it can be beneficial to have a variety of colors on board to offer.

Kingfish are still active offshore and seem to relate to live bottom and bait pods. To interest them, try trolling Stretch 30s below with shallow running lures above or try putting out a flat line with either a live bait (like a pinfish or a blue runner) near the surface while bottom fishing for grouper. Ron and Jill Voyles celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary this past weekend by fishing out of Sea Hag Marina. They landed 16 keeper grouper with the smallest a 26 incher and the largest a bruiser that topped the scales at 20 pounds. Happy Anniversary!

If the wind lets you get offshore, watch for baitpods as a clue on where to fish. A really calm day may be an opportunity to see Kingfish slashing through the baitpods. Inshore we've had the usual Redfish situation. It has been hit or miss, depending on the strength of the tide. The stronger the tide, the better the chance of finding Redfish actively feeding near oyster bars and rock outcroppings.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 5/31/02
Sorry that I've been late on the reports. On the holiday weekend my brother got married in the Keys and the previous weekend held such awful weather that no one stopped to take a picture or give a report once they hit land. They ran to their warm cars and trucks!
Here is the fishing report for June and July in the Hunting and Fishing News of Ocala: Wow! April and May have shown us there is some really fantastic fishing in the Steinhatchee! The weather has cooperated enough to allow plenty of offshore boat trips. A wide range of catches which included many schoolie Dolphin, bag limits of Grouper, super-sized Kingfish, Hogfish, Red Snapper, Black Sea Bass, Amberjack, and extremely large Cobia were consistent throughout the two months. Inshore has been great too. Spotted Seatrout, Spanish Mackerel, Redfish, Cobia, Jack Crevalle, and even large Permit have been landed on the grass flats north and south of the Steinhatchee River mouth.

For June expect to continue catching Spotted Seatrout on the flats. The grass flats north of the river mouth and east of the Steinhatchee Reef will be producing most of the trout, the larger ones being caught in 6 to 8 feet of water. Another excellent area is the channel just south of Bow Leg's Point. To find this area, turn south after marker 9 in the Steinhatchee Channel and travel for approximately 7.5 miles. You will pass over a sand bottom, which will turn to a grassy gray color. It is in this grassy color that you want to fish. Also try the shallows around Pepperfish Key. Try a hot pink 1/4 ounce jig head with the Saltwater Assassin grub tails in the colors of electric chicken, candy corn, and neon mercury. Other grub tails that are working great are Riptides Gold-n-Glows with and without the firetail, Mann's Sting Ray grub white with pink tails, and C-Tails, C-Twins, and C-Shrimp in the pink glitter and chartreuse glitter. Seems all the pinks are doing well. If you like to toss a lure, try the 5M Mirrolures, Top Dog Lures Sr.'s, Jr.'s, Pups, and She Dogs, and the milky white with a red head Long "A" Bomber Lures. Storm and High Roller make a chug lure that also produce some fine sized trout. You can also try using live shrimp on a 2/O long shank hook with a 3/4 ounce sliding sinker leader under an Equalizer Cajun Thunder float.

Along with the trout, expect to catch Redfish! To catch one, be sure to fish in and around the oyster bars during high tide. Be sure to throw a Johnson gold spoon in the 1/4 ounce to 3/4 ounce range. Also working well for the Redfish is large live shrimp using a 3/O hook.

Large Cobia are expected to be hiding near structures such as channel markers and pilings. Expect them to approach the boat as well. If you see this fish, try casting a live pinfish in his direction. Some folks use a large bobber to keep the bait near the surface. You may also use a balloon. Cobia are finicky eaters so if the live bait does not work try throwing everything in your tackle box at them. You may be pleasantly surprised. If you are trout fishing, rig a larger pole with a free-floating pinfish (or with a float) and stick it in a rod holder just in case a stray fish happens by while you drift. The Cobia must be 33' in length to keep. Measure from the nose to the fork. They are also excellent to eat!

In July, expect the inshore fishing to taper off due to the amount of scallopers in the water. That's right; July 1st is the beginning of scallop season. Scalloping is easy and great for a weekend of family fun. Scallop season runs July 1 through September 10. Basically, the only materials you need for scalloping are a snorkel mask, fins (or water shoes) and a mesh bag to hold your catch. Once you're geared up, you'll need a boat to take you out, a diver's flag to snorkel in the water and a recreational saltwater fishing license. Motel rooms and wetslips can be reserved at Sea Hag Marina (352-498-3008) and all the scalloping items can be purchased there as well. Be sure to make your wetslip reservations early as we are filling up fast!

Offshore, Grouper fishing will continue to flourish. Bottom fishing with Spanish Sardines, Cigar Minnows, Thread Herring, or Mackerel using sliding weight grouper rigs (6 oz. 7/O hook, 8 oz. 8/0 hook, or 6 oz. 12/O circle hook) will work fine until the hot summer weather becomes overwhelming. To beat the heat, try trolling Stretch 30+ lures between the known hot spots. The bottom running some what in a north and south fashion between these spots is a consistent rock bottom in the 50 ft water depth and often housing some nice grouper. The hot colors of the Stretch 30+ lures that are working now are the Holographic Perch, the Red Tiger, and the Fire Tiger. Trolling a Chrome Blue Back Stretch 30+ or Stretch 25+ on a shorter line may entice some nice Kingfish while you search for the grouper. For the hottest colors working at the time of your trip, check out the Sea Hag Marina website at www.seahag.com (updates occur every Tuesday night) or stop in and ask our friendly and knowledgeable staff for the latest fishing hot spots, colors, and lures.

This Week's Steinhatchee Fishing Report 5/28/02
Courtesy of Captain Dennis Voyles Fishing out of the Sea Hag Marina
While fishing inshore with a charter this past weekend we saw lost and lots of scallops, enough to make it look like we should be coming up on another bumper year. But, be patient. The scallop season doesn't start until July 1 and the penalties for early scalloping could take the fun out of the whole summer.

For those of you focused on grouper fishing for now, the Stretch 30s are still working fine, but things have slowed down a bit. The grouper are not chasing lures as assertively as they were even two weeks ago. What seems to be working most consistently right now is bottom fishing. My theory on the slow down is that the warmer weather and corresponding arrival of bait pods have increased the available food to the point where grouper are no longer interested in running down a Stretch 30 like they were a month or so ago. The grouper are still in their usual depths and can still be caught as far out as you are willing to burn gas to get to in a boat. There is no real magic number on depth; more important now is finding the grouper that are actively feeding. One bait that has been working somewhat better than many other bait is a (frozen) Spanish sardine.

The Cobia are increasingly being found in larger numbers inshore. What fun it was this weekend to have 4th grader Maylinn (“call me Mo”) Mowrey from Mayo on my boat when she tangled with about a 40 pound Cobia. Although MO was willing to reel that fish all the way into the cooler, the 12-pound tackle on her trout fishing set up was not quite rugged enough to handle a Cobia that weighed almost what she weighs. The best success with Cobia has been sight fishing for them near any type of structure. Any channel marker, bird rack or even just cruising the flats will give you a chance to see that the Cobia are in large numbers right now. The lesson MO learned was to keep a stout pole ready to throw at the Cobia as soon as you see one while you are trout fishing. MO are her dad Jeff, mother, Tammy, and big sister, Sara, each landed an
oversize (more than the 20-inch slot limit) trout while fishing with me in 4
feet of water on Memorial Day. We found the chicken bone color of Salt Water
Assassin lures most effective, followed by Orange Glitter and the good old
stand by, Electric Chicken. The paddle tail did a little better than the
split tail on Monday, but it's good to have some of each because the
preference can change by the hour. The Mowreys also caught a nice assortment of
redfish, flounder, blue fish, lady fish, and black sea bass during our trip.

King mackerel - some of them very large - are continuing to show up offshore in 45 to 70 feet of water. It seems that everybody has a different favorite lure that they are using to catch the kings, especially the Stretch 30s which this species has been hitting on very regularly. From my own experience this past week and in talking to a lot of folks at the fish cleaning table here at the marina, the common denominator in hooking a king was using some shade of blue, no matter what shape it was in. I wish I could remember who told me this first last Sunday — one of the Sea Hag's customers saw a 7-foot sailfish offshore from Steinhatchee. What a sight that must have been! Hey, summer is here, get out and enjoy this warm weather and awesome fishing!

- Capt. Dennis

Since I was not here this last weekend, I do not know the details of the Memorial Day Weekend's pictures - but here they are in no particular order (remember, click pictures to see enlarged):

Debbie and I were down this past Memorial Day weekend and had a great
time. Thanks for the hospitality of the people at Seahag. The 22 lb Amberjack
was caught by Debbie Payne of Gainesville, Ga and William Gaskin of Warner
Robins. Have great day!
- William Gaskin

Fishing Reports 5/15/02 thru 4/12/02
Fishing Reports 4/11/02 thru 3/7/02  (wrong page - I will fix 4/17)
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
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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