December provided some epic weather windows that a few were able to cash in on. Ill let the pictures do most of the talking. But needless to say great action on the troll as well on the bottom on the longer 10/12 hour trips. Even some great meat haul fishing for 4 and 6 hour trips recently. On the shorther trips we have been seeing a great ringtail porgy bite with seabass and vermillion snappers mixed in and of course plenty of red snappers. Offshore the wahoo trolling is picking up around major moon phases. With only one trolling trip this past month we landed 1 nice wahoo in the mid 50# range. Bottom fishing remains excellent with good catches of trigger fish, pinkies, vermillion, mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, african pompano and amberjacks. Lets go fishin!

Even with more wind, rain and cold than usual this November has been great! Tons of keepers mixed with some excellent trophy catches. Speaking of trophys, check out Walts 47.28 pound cobia! absolute stud for Northeast Florida! With water and air temps cooling this is the time of year either a 10-12 hour to the deep water or a 4 or 6 hour inshore would be the most productive trips. Inshore: First half of the month was dominated by awesome sheepshead fishing. Usually after a stop or two would have 5 or so fish in the box more than a couple times that was more than folks wanted to eat so we went and did some catch and release action! Either sharks, red snapper on 20lb spinning tackle (absolute blast!) or redfish on shallow structure. The last couple weeks have seen the redfish bite slowing down but plenty of trout to make up for it! Offshore: Winter is my absolute favorite time of year to fish Offshore. While weather becomes an issue sometimes. The days that are nice are absolutely epic! Bottom fishing can be lights out wishing you prepped a couple days at the gym by the time we are done with the first stop.10 hour trip can be split time wise between high speed trolling for wahoo and bottom fishing for Mutton snapper, Mangroves, trigger fish and vermillion snappers. 12 hour is great for tuna, sailfish and wahoo mixed with plenty of bottom fish listed above and a better shot at grouper until the closure.

Fishing has remained great through the summer even with climbing temps. Thankfully live bait remained easy all through the last week of July. Currently we are in a bit of a lull, but if i told you that all these pictures came off dead bait you might not believe me! Part of this business is having tricks up my sleeve. Let me show you how to catch kings on dead baits on your next adventure. Offshore: With pending tropical storm Jeff looming our way Fishing is off the chain. While every trip is different it hasn't been a struggle to bend the rods. Catching lots of kings, Cobia, bonita, snappers, dolphin and a couple blackfin tuna out deep. If Catch and release is more your speed there have been schools of hundreds of bonita running the nearshore wrecks allowing a load of fun for light tackle! As always if testing your strength and skill is on the To-Do list red snappers will beat you up until you say uncle! from 50' to 250' they're chewing. Inshore: we are seeing the start of the Fall bull redfish run which is one of my favorite bites inshore. Easy fishing, casual family fun and HUGE 40+" class Redfish. Loads of delicious Mangrove snapper if fish tacos are on the menu. It hasn't been a problem to fill the limit of 5 per person after a couple spots. Awesome grade of fish right now as well, very few short fish being caught with the majority being 10-16". The flounder action should only get better as we get closer to temps cooling down.

While fishing the last couple days has taken on a summer vibe. There was a great couple weeks of spring fishing! When the tide wasn't right for redfish in the creeks we had a ton of fun catching boat fulls of Spanish Mackerel. If requested we had no problem filling out limits with either trolling or casting jigs. There has been a big push of mullet and shrimp in the creeks recently. This means you never know what can be lurking in just a couple feet of water! With a couple tarpon sightings this week and jacks crashing bait. Plenty of wildlife around as well such as Spoonbills, Dolphins and Manatees. I expect to see many of our winter/spring fisheries like drum, sheepshead and spanish start to fade the next couple days with increasing temperatures. With that we can welcome Jacks, Ladyfish and Mangrove snappers. If your goal is redfish the next week of 5/10 your afternoon trip looks like the best shot if you can withstand the heat. If you are unsure feel free to send me an inquiry and I will get you set em on a high probability day. We are also excited to announce that we will be adding a new vessel to the fleet at the end of this month. A Pair Marine 24 deep V, with an overall length of 28' it will open up a plethora of options for nearshore, offshore and river fishing with groups of 4 or 5. Equipped with a half tower, meaning Captain Joe can gain an extra vantage point above sea level to enhance your sight fishing or viewing experience! Set up with a single 300 Suzuki outboard and Humminbird/Minnkota electronics we will get to our destination quickly, efficiently and quietly. Unless you decide to jam out to the sound system!

While most of the country endures below freezing temps the early hints of spring hit us this last week in Florida. On the upper Saint Johns river the Largemouth bass are spawning, pollen covers the boat every morning and the Redfish schools are getting feisty. I expect the action to get red hot next week with the forecast showing mid 70s all week. I am keeping my fingers crossed for only a couple more days sub 60*. If this happens we can expect to see the return of a lot of our seasonal fisheries such as Spanish Mackerel, large amounts of Bluefish, ladyfish and Jack Crevalles. While most of these species don't provide the best table fair they with out a doubt are a blast to bend a rod on. But don't be fooled Spanish Mackerel makes for a tasty meal as well as hot and heavy action. The last couple weeks have had periods of hot and cold weather leading to fish that haven't exactly been in a pattern. Every trip is a new day requiring a run and gun style of fishing being the most productive. Meaning we could take as little as 5-10 casts per spot until we start getting bites or move if we don't. During these weather patterns a 6 hour trip leads to plenty of time to explore the most areas and tide opportunity to find a school of willing fish. Often times one stop is all it takes to fill the box or end up having a great time catch and release fishing. The Redfish bite has been good to excellent with Trout and Black Drum mixed in. Hope to hear from you soon! Lets go fishin!

Without a doubt this time of year I tend to get the same question. "Is fishing even worth it in the cold?" the answer? ABSOLUTELY! this is hands down my favorite time of year to fish the Back Country. When the water temperature drops the fishing can get red hot. Most of the time once you find the fish it wouldn't be unheard of to catch a limit of redfish in the same spot with drum trout and sheepshead mixed in. The sight fishing for schools of redfish stays great if you are up for a little more of a challenge. A good low tide in the afternoon sun will be sure to bring them out of their holes and we will go out searching for schools and tailing fish. On higher tides first thing in the morning the trout bite has been excellent. Mostly sitting from the 14.5-16" range there have been quite a few bigger fish caught including the 25" trout pictured above. Bundle up and lets go experience some awesome fishing!