Mason Creek and ChassahowitzkaTypical to January it was difficult to keep your planned trips due to the cold fronts and lack of water due to strong north winds. In these conditions the trip either has to be cancelled or delayed.This month the best days are usually 1 to 2 days before or after the fronts and with the colder weather afternoon have produced the most redfish.I found them a little scattered in the backcountry and on the oyster bars and mangrove islands at the edge of the gulf. Although the redfish bite is not any thing like August through November the fish are scrappy, very deep in color and either in slot or larger.Trout were plentiful even in the back bays in 2 to 3 foot of water and on bars mixed with reds.Towards the middle of the month the fronts were spread farther apart to allow better opportunities and the bite got going.I am looking forward to February I will be targeting redfish and it should be fantastic |
Lots of redfish on the bars around the outer keys, free lining mullet has been very productive. We have had several trips landing 12 or more fish in the upper to over slot size. Me and Don Adolph ( from nothern California) caught 15 and had another six bust us of just north of Chassahowitzka Point. The trout have also been good in the early mornings in 2-3' of water drifting and jigging with root beer plastic grubs. I'll have more to add later in the monthI had to put this in now for a Michigan person who is jonesing for a report. Update on Mays report 08
fishing guide Jesse Lampert, (Smokey Mountain Fly Fishing) on the Tuckasegee river. It has been about 35 years since the last time I fly fished in trout streams, so trees were my first hook ups but I caught on fast to observe my surroundings before my casts. Brown and rainbow trout were plentiful although I lost several Browns one well over 20". It was a good warm up. Then I fished several streams on my own and did fair and could of done better with a little more knowledge on the selection on fly's. Then it was on to Tennessee to drift fish with Evan Dowdy (High Country Angler Fly Fishing Guide Service) fishing the Watauga river where within the first 15 min I had the slam of a brook, rainbow, & brown and only one tree. I highly recommend fishing with these guides, they are very knowledgeable and fun to be with. |
| FISHING REPORT 2008 |
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Upon return from my North Carolina Vacation I found the water temp raised 10 degrees in less than 10 days and the water had clouded up, so I shook off that overwhelming desire to return to the mountains and searched for fish. The first part of June was rather slow but peaked mid month. I had clients from Arizona.(my good friends Mark & Kelly and their father) Atlanta, North Georgia, West Virgina, New York, Florida and Maryland and all were good anglers. We limited on reds several times caught several trout 22-26" and a few nice sharks. The fishing seemed better this month on the out going tide, the reds and large trout were taking advantage of the flow of bait leaving the backcountry on the outer & mid keys and bars. Gulps both new penny and white worked well. The last week of June pin fish were both reds and trouts preference. |
| February and March 08 The reds and trout were plentiful and increased in size and numbers in late February. We were releasing the trout in February and looking forward to the March opening.The weather was typical low tides cold weather and strong winds were responsible for some cancellations and re-scheduling. All in all it was a productive two months in the backcountry and flats around the reserve and the St. Martin Keys. |
Scalloping has been excellent this year, no problem getting the limits. Three to four foot of water has been holding a lot of scallops retrieving 3-4 scallops at a time. The best time for beginners to learn to spot them is at slack tide when the grass stands straight up and the sun is bright. Families have been coming from all around central Florida. The children have been excellent snorkeler's some as young as 6 yrs. wearing life jackets and spotting for parents some actually diving and harvesting quite a lot. Fishing the back country and flats has been productive as well, some large trout and nice slot reds have been bitting. See Photo Album for more images |
Scalloping is a great family outing these are emails I recieved.
Ernie,
Just wanted to drop you a note thanking you for the hospitality over this holiday weekend.
You braved the holiday crowd to take my family on a scallop dive with great results. Your equipment,
location and knowledge of the area made the trip fantastic. "The trip exceeded our expectations".
We will refer anybody that wants to fish the big bend area to your service.
Thanks again!
p.s. It took me 6 hours to clean our catch but boy was the first supper good. Scallops with angle hair pasta
in a garlic olive oil lemon sauce. Wow!
Paul
Hello Capt. Ernest,
I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know we had a fantastic time scalloping with you on July 11th. I really appreciate the time you
took with the boys to help find and catch the scallops. After we got home it took us about three hours to get them all out of the shells.
Thanks for everything,
Natalie, Tom, Matt & Brandon
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We had an excellent summer even after fighting storms and reverse rain patterns. Every one who scalloped were terrific people and made my season enjoyable. Almost all trips the bag limit was met, so here’s hoping next year will be as good if not better and I hope to see everybody back. The redfish are really turning on, they are bunching up and the limit is easily met. This will be the case through December. Until the water cools the reds seem to prefer free lined baits (low and slow) both live cut and Gulps. With live bait I use a 1/4oz. egg shaped slip weight so the shrimp or pinfish can move close to the bottom. Circle hooks with a 1/8 oz split shot (or no weight) is working well with cut baits. The Berkley Gulps rigged Texas style (either flutter hooks or any lead shanked hook with a wire screw for the nose of the bait) and let them stay on the bottom for prolonged periods moving them short and slow occasionally. I have yet to go north to St. Martins and Suncoast keys since the end on scallop season staying primarily in the Mason Creek and Cass Point area. However next week I will investigate that area. Around Keys at the mouth of Mason creek there has been no problem in limiting out on nice middle to upper slot reds. Capt. Ernest Brundage |
Top of the slot red Linda's First red bobs 20" trout Bonnetheadshark Me & Capt JW with 8 scallopers
I am writing this report in long pants sweatshirt & wool socks on the 28th of October not looking forward to the 37 deg. low for tonight and hoping this is not a long term trend.
catching them in the backcountry along with the redfish on cut mullet. Also on the Crystal River large schools of jacks have been tearing up bait giving us a lot of exercise throwing plugs and reeling fast for them to slam them with a long hard fight. My research & development ( that means going fishing when I don't have a charter ) has been taking me to the Florida Barge Canal fishing the oyster bars and spoil islands targeting black drum and redfish. My first discovery was braided line is a must in the oysters mono sinks and gets into the oysters just to have a fish brake you off, where the braided will somewhat float on the surface. These trips will be available throughout the winter, call me. Capt. Ernest Brundage |
| Dolphins tearing up the mullet at Pety Creek betweeen Homosassa River & Mason Creek Click To Enlarge |
November, December 08 fishing report My fears of a cold fall starting in October came true. In November we had approximately 20 days at 10 degrees below average keeping the water temps in the low to mid 60’s. I like to fish a day before and two to three days after a front, with fronts rolling through every 4-5 days makes this hard to practice. The fish were challenging to find as they were held up in deeper water either farther offshore or deep in the back country. When it was cold and we did see them they were not on an aggressive bite. On one occasion north in the Sun Coast Keys we were red fishing a rock bar with no avail just to have them swim up to the boat looking like koi in a fish pond and would not take any bait we offered. However if (and this was a big if) the weather warmed above the mid 70’s and with winds laid down reds were plentiful and easy to see feeding on the shallow darker bottoms warmed by the sun and ready to feed. December's weather was a lot more seasonable we even had the reds tailing enabling us to sight fish. The Trout we caught were at the creek mouths with a tide flow. Hopefully December will produce some nice trout fishing before the January closed season. Capt. Ernest Brundage |
January & February 09 fishing report
least really proved itself out. Our best days were 4-5 days after a front (if they were spaced that far apart) with a shore breeze. But to many days were strong east or north winds making it impossible to anchor facing the bars and if you could the fish were no where in sight. Some of the better fishing was the day before a front before the winds blew, we able to sight cast for some of he reds. Large Sea Trout would be in with the reds many in the 20" range , we would turn them loose and hope to see them in March when the season opened. Capt. Ernest Brundage |
