Keaton Beach Fishing Report July 16-17
Hot, Hot, Hot! The water temps and the air is hot and most folks are scalloping to avoid the heat. this last weekend looked like the Fourth of July all over again! over 250 boats were out there Saturday.
The HUGE High pressure stuck over us last week just kicked the trout right in the teeth and fishing was tough for three days: then Sunday I had Jimmy Douglas and his two pals from Homerville, Ga. and we managed ten trout, a 26" red, five Black Sea Bass and a couple of blues. We caught and threw back two monster reds one 32 inches long and the other 31"! All our fish ate live pinfish under Cajun Thunders.
I haven't heard any information regarding offshore, however all our waters are clear and clean and folks are having a blast at Keaton picking up all the scallops they want!
Remember S-L-O-W Down and FLY your DIVE flags! IT"S THE LAW!!
Another LAW! ....also many may not realize it is illegal in the State of Florida to ride or drive in any boat and have any( ANY) part of your body hanging outside the confines of the boat!
This is a common sense law and is for your Safety. It is particularly designed to keep you from losing your limbs in the event of an accident and for little ones to keep them from falling overboard as they reach over trying or actually touching the water as you are underway.
Folks, I see a lot of this in the canal....and it is very dangerous!
Please observe this law and keep your kids "in" the boat ...entirely.
Have a Great Time and remember Safety is No accident!
Keaton Beach Fishing Report July 8-9
We had great trips for trout and reds, both Sunday and Monday, with Stan Bryant, Tyler, his son and Kyle James all of Warner Robins, Ga. Sunday we took home seven trout, with the first fish of the morning a 5.5 lb. 26.5 inch trout for Stan. We brought in four reds to six pounds as well. We fished live pinfish under Cajun Thunders in 2.5 - 3.5 feet on the falling tide to land those fish. Well, then Monday this crew was fully trained, in the art of live bait fishing, and we brought back 19 trout with one red. Tyler caught a 24.5 inch trout which weighed 4.6 pounds. Again, we produced this fine mess of trout despite fishing a falling tide the entire trip; as our hi tide Monday was 8:19 a.m. and the lo tide was 3:52 p.m.
More folks than you could imagine took full advantage of the beautiful clear waters off Keaton Beach and enjoyed three days of scalloping and fishing and just general Holiday Fun! I am not sure you could have fit any more boats out there than I saw Saturday and Sunday. Down around Grassy Isle looked like the Spanish Armada was invading!
Remember to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n Be Safe and Fly Your Dive Flags! IT'S THE LAW!
Keaton Beach July 4th Report!
Trout and reds continue to please my One More Cast charters as we caught limits of trout five days last week. Live pinfish and pigfish rigged 24" under a 2.5" Oval Cajun Thunder float are the ticket as the warmer waters (90 degrees in some areas of brackish water) have fish somewhat lethargic. I fished in the rain with Rick Prietz and Jimmy Lien of Marianna, Fl. Tuesday, June 29th, and brought in 15 trout with two over 20" long. We fished four hours in depths of 3.5 to 4.5 feet of water.
Friday, I took Jeremy, Norma and Jay Baugh of Live Oak, Fl. out and we brought in limits of trout including three fish over 25" long! We also had one redfish.... oh, and a blacktip shark for Jay, who was tickled to catch it, as he is 12 years old!
Scallops are plentiful according to all the folks I talked to....I still haven't gotten in the water this year.....guess I figure July first is the real scallop season?
Be Careful out there, Keep one eye on the weather, and the other on your swimmers.
Remember to s-l-o-w down and FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS! It's the LAW!
Keaton Beach Fishing Report June 25-26
I was out of town over the weekend as I went to Columbus, Ga. to see my Parents for Father's Day.
My last charter Thursday, June 17 we had a GREAT Day! I caught a five pound, 25.5 inch trout on an Assassin Sea Shad in the "New" Candy Corn color bouncing in 6 feet of water. My charter had a double of keeper trout, in the first drift, and a 27" red to boot! We ended up with 15 trout which weighed in at a whopping 31 Pounds! Most of the fish came in on live pinfish, pilchards and pigfish fished under Cajun Thunders in 4-6 ft. of water.
Tuesday, of this week ( June 22) I went offshore with Billy Pillow and the Woods 'N Water Fishing Team with Matt Lorentz of Perry, Fl. and Ben Barbee and Cal Beanblossom of Sylvester, Ga. We brought in our limit of ten red snapper to 7 pounds, seven gag grouper to 12 pounds, three triggerfish with one over four pounds!, two kingfish, one 17 and one 27 lbs, several beeliners, and one and a half (cuda) black snapper; including Ben's seven-and-a-half pounder! Not a bad day for 85 feet of water, 50 miles offshore from Keaton.( and NO, we didn't see any damn oil!) we caught fish on live and dead bait alike...with no real preference from the fish?
Scallop Report:
Well, a bunch of folks went scalloping and most found their scallops so I heard, although I only talked to one person who actually went, Mark Casteel of Sylvester, Ga and he took a boat load of four others out, Saturday, opening day, in front of Big Grassy Isle and they limited out in about two hours.
I really haven't heard much else, but call Keaton Beach Marina (850) 584-9145 for more info on scallops.
Me, I'll be fishing!
Here are the results of the Nauti-Girls first annual Ladies Fishing Tournament:
Good Morning Pat: Well we hit the water Saturday 98(contestants) strong. Here are the results. I won't have my pictures 'til tomorrow. If you want pictures let me know. Redfish 1st place Leanne Carnes 6.15 lbs(she and her husband own the new Rachel's Cafe that just opened this spring in Steinhatchee) 2nd. Donna Ellis from Orlando 5.95 lbs. and 3rd. Place Elaine Huss 5.45 lbs from, I think, he is from Perry, but guides out of Riverhaven and Trout 1st. place Donna Ellis 2.45 lbs. Orlando a duo winner 2nd place Tracy Jones 2.40 lbs. from Oxford, Fl and 3rd. Carlette Witte 2.30 lbs. from Orlando. Largest Ladyfish went to Sandy McCann from Alachua 1.75 lbs.
We paid out four boat bonus prizes for women-operated boats!
Have a good one . Rhoda
Keaton Beach Fishing Report June 18-19
The trout fishing has greatly improved this week, as I had some great trips with limits of trout, and some BIG trout as well, after struggling last week to catch 6, 6 and 9 on some tougher days.
The Gulf water temperature jumped up to the upper limit which salt water can reach; which is 88 degrees as I recall? The trout seemed to pull away from the hill and moved out offshore and the reds went with them! We have begun to catch reds out in 5 - 6 feet of water with the trout, just like we did in JULY of last year. So the water is as warm as it can get. (Realize some brackish water near the shore will get 90 degrees but not without the fresh water mixed in etc.) And I was about as warm as I want to get as well....what with seven straight days over 93 degrees. It will work on you.
I had Joe Sheffield, Joe Junior and his buddy, all from Leesburg, Ga. out Saturday, thanks to Tina and Jay Balmer, and we brought back 17 trout with four over 20" long. We had three reds to go with them. We caught all these fish on live pinfish under Cajuns from 4 - 6 feet of water.
Monday, I had Howard and his daughter Becka Drew, of Tallahassee out and we caught 13 trout with three over twenty inches long with a FIVE pounder for Howard! Again we fished with live pinfish under Cajuns in 4.5 - 5.5 feet of water.
Tuesday, Floyd and Chris Lamon of Tennessee had our limit of fifteen trout with three over 20" long including a 4.7 pound trout for Floyd. We fished live pinfish and pilchards under Cajuns in 4.5 - 6.5 feet of water. We had only three shorts all day and two cats. No other trash fish!
Here are a couple of reports from Keaton Beach Marina.
6/12/10
Teddy and Debbie Fletcher of Sycamore, Ga. had seven trout, with a 27" and a 24.5 " for their top fish They fished live pinfish under Cajuns in 3 -4 feet of water.
Glenda and Sam Bryant of West Palm Beach Florida had a 42" cobia, two reds and a8 trout on live pinfish under Cajuns in 5 - 7 feet of water!
Everyone is asking about the scallops???
Sorry, I just haven't had time to be bothered about them.
I've been fishing (while I still can).
Scallop report: I am sure there are some there...I just haven't seen any 'cause the water I'm fishing in, ain't where they are.
.....but here are three simple rules on finding scallops....
simple rule number one
if you can't find them you can bet someone else can
so
simple rule number two
look for the BIG pile of boats all scrunched up together not moving....as in anchored up, picking up scallops!
Simple rule number three
try not to run over each other
just to get some scallops?
Fly YOUR Dive Flags
It's the LAW!
Keaton Beach Fishing Report June 11-12, 2010
Well, We continue to have some great trips on board One More Cast, like Tuesday, June first, when I took Dawn Taylor of the Taylor County Chamber of Commerce and Aaron Portwood, managing editor of Woods 'N Water magazine out and we had a great trip, bringing in eight trout to 25 inches long, a flounder and three reds to 7.5 pounds. We also caught and released a red over 35" long as part of a triple up of reds! The 35" red blasted a Mirrolure Paul Brown Series FatBoy and the flounder ate a PBS original both in the chartreuse pearl pattern.
Thursday, I had Cannon Campbell of Suwannee, Ga. with Bradley Cox and Matt Davis who managed to catch 15 trout despite splitting the trip into two parts...before and after the Thunderstorms which lasted an-hour-and-a-half. We caught all our fish on live pinfish under Cajuns. We also had a 29" redfish we had to release.
Friday, I had Max Fulda of Anderson, South Carolina out with Rick Patell of Madison, Florida and we brought back eleven trout and a Spanish. Max landed a 25.5 inch trout and a 24 inch trout to top off the stringer. Rick caught two of or keepers on an Assassin five inch Alewife Shad Assassin under a Cajun Thunder. The balance of our fish came in on live pinfish under Cajuns from 3.5 to 5.5 feet of water. We caught fish on both the incoming and the falling tide.
Monday, of this week, I had 12-year-old Patrick Vereen of Camilla, Ga. out and we caught him a limit of trout plus four of mine and he had two trout over 20" to boot! He was a great angler and could cast further than most of my adult anglers! It was a delight to have him onboard!
That's it!
KEATON BEACH FISHING REPORT
Well, before the Armada arrived (sometime Friday) I took Stephen and Larry Cook of Dallas, Ga. out and we brought in 11 trout with three over 20" and three reds to six pounds. We caught our fish on live pinfish under Cajun Thunders from 2.8 to 4.0 ft of water.
Saturday, I had Marc Owens with Becky and Dan Kelch of Tifton, Ga. out and we brought in 12 trout and three reds to 25 inches. Our largest trout was 24" and weighed 4.8 pounds, while our longest trout, 26" long, was right at 4.5 pounds. These fish ate live pinfish under Cajun Thunders from 2.5 to 4.5 feet of water.
Here are the reports from Keaton Beach Marina:
5/28
Greg and Joe Denly of Valdosta, Ga. had their limit of ten trout with one 27" long !!!! from 6 - 9 feet of water on Gulp!?! Did anyone get a weight on that hog? How 'bout a photo? sheesh Mareesh as Bert Deener would say! why not?
5/28-29
Brandon and Misty Hayes ( did you say misty haze?) of Alapaha, Georgia had their limit of trout both days (daze?) from 5.5 - 6 feet of water.
sorry Misty, I just couldn't resist on that one?
5/29
Mike Scott of Madison, Florida had a 36" amberjack , one 16" trout, 3 and-a-half sharks ( i don't write 'em folks i just report 'em as I get 'em) one 11" black sea bass and two flounder (14" and 18" ) on,...... ready for this.....squid...
Wow I'm tired........but get a load of the next one
Curtis, L. ( I swear it says "Curtis, L.") of Lake City, Florida caught 2 gag grouper, 30 hogfish, and 3 black sea bass:::: it says from 5 feet of water ???so there something going on here...... then it says "on squid and live pinfish" that part I believe.....
o.k. I am guessing he had 2 grouper 3 hog fish and 30 black sea bass from 35 or 45 feet of water {{after all it was Memorial Day weekend}}
5/30
Jimmy Douglas and Billy Holtzclaw of Homerville, Ga. had their limit of trout with a 26 inch red and were done by 12:30 Sunday; fishing in 6 feet of water with "pink plastic"?? don't you know you gotta keep an eye on those guys from Homerville!
5/31
Howard Goldstein of Valdosta, Ga. took Tommy Shepherd and buddy Alex out trout fishing for a while and when it slicked off they decided to go out and try trolling and they brought in a 34" Spanish Mackerel caught on a Yozuri Crystal minnow.
Hey Don't forget this great new Tournament for the Ladies in Steinhatchee!
The First Annual Nauti-Girls Fishing Tournament
Saturday, June 19th 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, weigh-in, 2:30 til 4:30 p.m. (must be in line before 4:30 sharp!) Entry Fee is $30.00 for each person on board, no exceptions. In order to be eligible for prizes: Ladies must hook, fight and land her own fish. Prizes include $350,$250,$150 for top three trout and $350,$250,$150 for top three redfish. A $100 bonus is to be paid to each prize winner which fishes from a ladies-only boat( one bonus per vessel.) Captain's meeting(Gulf Breeze Angler's Bash) will be held at Gulf Breeze Condo Club Friday, June 18th from 6:30 - 9:30p.m. Tournament contestants tickets will insure admission.
Keaton Beach Fishing Report Memorial Day weekend:
We continue to take great fish at Keaton Beach both inshore and offshore and NO there is no oil on any Florida Beaches! from Pensacola to Ft Myers....and certainly not in the Big Bend area!
Red Snapper season opens next week( Tuesday, June first) and snapper fishing will be simply Wonderful off Keaton Beach! Fish live or dead bait on most any wreck or live bottom holding bait from 45-65 ft. deep and expect to catch some snapper. Picky? Just want BIG Snapper, then venture on off to 85 - 100 feet and target the best live bottom with ledges and or high spots and have plenty of live bait. Either live pinfish, pilchards, herring, cigar minnows or sandperch will yield some monster reds now, if you know how to catch them? Fluorocarbon leaders would be best, and not light either, 40 - 60 lb test Triple Fish Fluorocarbon leaders would be a good idea for teenaged sized red snapper. Fish as light a lead as you can for better size fish. Good Luck! Send me some pictures?
Inshore our trout trips on board One More Cast are bringing limits of trout and nice reds to the dock.
Mike and Tim Sneed with Danny Reed of Reed Construction in Hawkinsville, Ga had their limit of 15 trout and a six pound redfish, on Tuesday, May 18th. We caught the fish on live pinfish under Cajuns in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
Sunday, May 23, Bill Gosa, Mike Young and Mike Sansbury of Leesburg, Ga. had 16 trout and a nice red fishing with me in 4.5 - 5.5 feet of water. We fished with live pinfish rigged 24" under Cajun Thunders and had one Spanish as well. If you see him, ask Bill about gorillas? By the way he had our largest trout, a 4.6 pound gator 25 inches long!
These reports from Keaton Beach Marina:
Thomas Love boat had ten trout with a Spanish mackerel from 4 feet of water using cut bait and live pinfish under Cajuns.
David Lee and his son of Macon, Ga. had their limit of trout for two days and fought, landed and released a 100# tarpon on ten pound test line!!! The Lees fished 5 -7 feet of water using "artificials"
Richard Lawson of Mayo, Fla. had ten trout and on red for he and his partner using live shrimp and Gulp in 4 feet of water.
Be careful this weekend and realize the Easter Bunnies will be out there! An Easter Bunny is someone who only comes out and goes( to church) once a year. In church, they don't know when to stand, when to bow, when to pray, when to sing or when to do anything as they don't go often enough to do well......Well and Easter Bunny on the water So let's all try to have patience out there and watch out for those Easter bunnies who only go out in their boats once a year!
from Mike King of Hahira , Ga.
"Hey Pat, went off shore Thursday on Hammerknocker II fished 60ft. to 75ft,
had 7 grouper one went 18lbs. one went 16 lbs. Caught most of them on live
pinfish. Had 120 rock bass and grunts. Threw back around 30 red snapper up
to 10 lbs. Tks. Mike King"
From Jim Bruchey:
Jim Bruchey:
Kendall and Zack Bruchey managed 7 trout largest 20�with three over 19. One flounder and some nondesirables, sharks ladyfish. Fished north in 4 to 7 ft. Live pinfish and Gulp under Cajuns. May try again this Sat. Maybe I will see you in, or out, of the water. We went Sat. 22nd. Later Jim
Hey, another New Tournament is coming up! This time for the Ladies!
the Steinhatchee Community Projects Board presents:
The First Annual Nauti-Girls Fishing Tournament
Saturday, June 19th 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, weigh-in, 2:30 til 4:30 p.m. (must be in line before 4:30 sharp!) Entry Fee is $30.00 for each person on board, no exceptions. In order to be eligible for prizes: Ladies must hook, fight and land her own fish. Prizes include $350,$250,$150 for top three trout and $350,$250,$150 for top three redfish. A $100 bonus is to be paid to each prize winner which fishes from a ladies-only boat( one bonus per vessel.) Captain's meeting(Gulf Breeze Angler's Bash) will be held at Wood's Gulf Breeze Condo Club Friday, May 18th from 6:30 - 9:30p.m. Tournament contestants tickets will insure admission.
Keaton Beach Fishing Report 5/21 - 5/22
Gosh...I must sound like a broken record.....But now is the time to go fishing! Stephen Cook of Dallas, Ga. and Ed Young of Live Oak, Fl. had a limit of trout and reds with me Thursday, then Friday Hume and his grandson Hank Coleman of Tallahassee, Florida had their limit of trout and reds with the top ten trout weighing over 26 pounds!
Then, Sunday, I took Jonathan Scheller and his Dad Mark with Bobby Miller, all of Nashville, Ga. out and they had fifteen trout and four reds with the top ten trout weighing in at ...READY FOR THIS! 30 pounds! Yep thirty pounds! Jonathan had a gator, 5.3 pounds and then we had three more over four pounds to make for a whopper stringer of trout!
That's 14 trout over 5 pounds for my clients this year on One More Cast!
All these fish on three trips were caught on live pinfish under Cajun Thunders in water 3.5 to 5.2 feet deep.
Dave Bosch and Bill Gburek of Tifton, Ga. and North Carolina were down from Monday thru Thursday and had their limit of trout and reds each day throwing plugs and fishing with live pinfish under Cajuns. Dave and Bill had their limit of reds Tuesday and Wednesday on topwater plugs and had a blast doing it!
Cal Beanblossom and Glenn Floyd of Sylvester, Ga. fished Saturday and had their limit of trout with two over four pounds, fishing with plugs in 2.5 - 3.5 feet of water.
These two from Keaton Beach Marina:
5-15 Tim Dorough & family had 8 trout a flounder and a black sea bass fishing in 6 feet of water with new Penny Gulp.
Barry Bryant had 8 trout and two flounder, fishing with live pinfish under Cajuns in three feet of water.
I saw a couple of guys who I believe were here last year doing the same thing. They were cleaning a limit of Spanish mackerel, last year they were from Stone Mountain Ga. so I guess they still are? I know they were trolling and where I am not sure of? But it is the first limit of Spanish ( 15 per person) I have seen this year.
That's it!
Keaton Beach Fishing Report May 14 -15
The trout and reds continue to please as we had 15 trout with the top ten weighing 26.5 pounds and three reds Wednesday, May 5th for Roger Nalls and Ivey Sumler of Albany, Ga. We caught our fish on live pinfish under Cajuns from 3.5 to 4.5 feet of water. we released three reds larger than those we kept. Roger had a 25.5 " trout as well.
Brian and his son, Kyle Watkins of Lake Park, Ga. had fifteen trout Friday, May 7th with three over 20" long. We had one fish on a Renegade while the balance came in on live pinfish under Cajun Thunders from 3.5 - 4 feet of water.
Monday, I had Dave Bosch of Tifton and Bil Gburek of North Carolina out and we caught fifteen trout...READY FOR THIS? all on PLUGS! Yep we caught fifteen trout, with three over 20", and Bil had a 26" trout to top off the stringer. We caught them on Bite-A-Bait fighters in Gold, Gold/Blue Back ( the new ones) and in the old Tennessee Shad pattern, and on Candy Corn. We caught a few on Renegade jekrbaits, and three of the larger fish on MirOlures MirrOMinnnows in the Silver/Black back with orange belly. And we caught a couple on gold/orange Bomber 15 Long A's ! We caught our fish on the incoming and the outgoing tides from 2.8 feet on the incoming to 5.2 feet deep on the outgoing tide. It was a HOOT to quote my buddy Bert.
Tuesday, I had Shane and Tya Camp of Hahira, Ga. out and they caught a limit of fifteen trout with Tya's 24"er the largest with three total over 20". They had the limit of fifteen trout by 10:15 a.m. We then spent a couple of hours to find two reds including one over 6 pounds. All our fish came in on live pinfish under Cajuns! it went from 10 -15 to 15 -20 knots and we still caught fish!
Here are a couple of reports from Keaton Beach Marina
5 - 4, 5 & 6
Bill Star, Larry Carlton and Jimmy Lawson of Forsyth, Ga. had their limits of trout for three days and two reds using plastic baits and Gulp.
5-8
Allen Cribbs of Jasper, Ga. had his limit of trout on Gulp from 4.5 feet of water
Paul, Kevin, and Lindsey Wilson of Lowndes Co. had 13 trout with three over 20" long and a red while fishing with Gulp in 5.5 feet of water.
Keaton Beach Fishing Report 5/7 - 5/8
WHEWwwww......will this w-i-n-d ever quit?
The trout were tough this week...and yet more reds showed up for anglers frustrated with trying to find or catch trout? Perhaps more ballyhoo showing up in the shallows has corralled some reds in areas they were absent before? We have taken reds on Precision Tackle's Thunder-Spin saltwater spinnerbaits and on live pinfish rigged 2 feet under Cajun Thunders aboard One More Cast.
It was tough for a couple of days including Friday & Saturday, while I managed to get Harvey, Dallas and Chance Greene of Albany Ga. 18 trout, two flounder, one red and one Spanish in spite of the 20-25 knot winds. We mostly fished live pinfish under Cajuns in 3.5 - 4.5 feet and caught several fish, including one of the flounder, bouncing Assassin's five inch shads in the Alewife pattern.
Sunday, I took Shane and Tya Camp of Hahira, out and it howled 22 - 25 knots; and yet, we had a great day, bringing in their limit of ten trout, three reds to 6.7 pounds and one Spanish. Shane caught his largest trout ever, a fish right at five pounds! We fished with live pinfish under Cajun Thunders in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
Here are a couple of reports from Keaton Beach Marina:
5/1
Sammy Lassinger of Keaton Beach, had his limit of five trout while fishing in 3 feet of water with live pinfish (under Cajuns?)
Ray Ford of Camilla, Ga. had six trout and one flounder on his boat from 8 -10 feet in Gulp and live (pinfish?) bait.
One other boat had 15 trout on Gulp and live pinfish from 2 -6 ft.of water.....but forgot to sign their name to the report slip?
that's it!
Keaton Beach Fishing Report 4/30 - 5/1
Wow! what a week!
We caught seven trout over five pounds in seven days on my boat! Trout are hitting live pinfish under Cajuns, striking Bite-A-Bait fighters, eating MirrOlure Paul Brown Series "Fat Boy" soft twitch baits and hitting Thunder-Spin saltwater spinnerbaits! Reds are biting too!
You will remember that last week, I told you Monty Lewis of Thomasville, Ga. had two trout over five pounds on Monday, then he had another trout of five pounds Tuesday. our top ten trout, Tuesday for Bill Torrey of St. Simons Isle and Monty weighed in at 27 pounds!
Wednesday, I took Joyce out for her first trip of the year and we had a blast! She landed two reds over six pounds on a Thunder-Spin spinnerbait with a copper blade and an Assassin Orange/Gold shiner tail. She also landed two trout on the same Thunder-Spin. I started out with a Bite-A-Bait fighter and landed a five pound, one ounce trout then switched after two more trout over four pounds to a MirrOlure Paul Brown Series "Fat Boy"soft twitchbait. WOW! on the next twelve casts I hooked three trout, over five pounds and landed none of them opting to let them get off at the boat rather than touch the trout!.
Thursday, I took Lawana and David Douglass of Monticello, Florida out and our ten trout weighed 26.5 pounds. The Douglass's also had three reds with two over five pounds! our fish came in on live pinfish fished in 3.5 - 4.5 ft of water.
Monday, of this week, I took Keith Watson and Troy Black of Valdosta, and Lake Park, Ga. respectively and we caught 15 trout, with three over 20" long, including a 5.2 lb. trout for Keith ( his largest ever!) and two reds over 6 pounds as well. The top ten trout weighed 26.8 lbs! We caught all these fish on live pinfish under Cajun Thunders in 10 -18 knot w-i-n-d-s!
here is a report Ashley Mock sent me on last Saturday's Special Olympics' Tournament:
According to Tournament Director, Perry Police Department Sgt. Lin Gray, the 1st Annual Special Olympics/Law Enforcement Torch Run In-Shore Fishing Tournament held April 24th out of Coastal Taylor County was a tremendous success. The early morning weather did not exactly cooperate, however, there were still approximately 100 anglers that signed up for the tournament and �weathered the storm� to fish in the tournament. As the day progressed, the clouds lifted, but the wind did not. Despite the windy conditions, there were several very nice fish that were weighed in at Keaton Beach Marina.
The tournament weigh-in was concluded at 5:00 with about 150 people present to see who hauled in the biggest catch of the day. Lee Coulliette of Perry, FL took top honors, and a $500 cash prize, in the Redfish category with his 1st place redfish that weighed in at 6.81 lbs. Paul Carter of Valdosta, GA took 2nd place, and a $250 prize, with his redfish that weighed 6.77 lbs. Phil Altice of Satsuma, FL took the $150 prize for the Redfish with the Most Spots turning in a very nice redfish that had (9) nine spots. The largest Speckled Trout of the day, which weighed 4.27 lbs, and was worth $500, was caught by Clifford Bean of Mayo, FL. The 2nd largest trout, worth $250, was caught by Lee McDaniel of Thomasville, GA fishing with the Coastal Angler Fishing Team and it weighed in at 3.74 lbs. And not to be out-fished by the adults, 8 year old Treyton Kirk of Perry, FL also made the tournament board and collected his $50 prize with a Shiner that weighed in at .43 lbs.
Sgt. Gray reminded tournament anglers and on-lookers that the tournament could not have been a success with the help of different businesses around town that sponsored the different prize categories and raffle prizes. Ware Oil/Huddle House sponsored the Largest Redfish and Young Striping and Sealing sponsored the 2nd Largest Redfish. Individual employees of Doctor's Memorial Hospital sponsored the Largest Trout and Perry Burger King sponsored the 2nd Largest Trout. Sandy Beach of Big Bend Properties and Amy Cruce of Dayspring Assisted Living sponsored the Redfish with Most Spots category, and Johnson and Johnson #21 sponsored the Largest Shiner category. All the businesses were thanked for their assistance, to include Jerry Cawthon of Keaton Beach Marina for allowing the tournament to have its weigh-in on his porch, and Joe Mattingly of Rocky's for loaning the digital scales. The tournament was concluded with a raffle of a pair of Costa del Mar sunglasses graciously donated by Waymond Carroll of Jack's Boats and Trailers, and a two night stay at the beach courtesy of Sandy Beach at Big Bend Properties. Ashley Mock's ticket was drawn for the Costa sunglasses, and TCSO Sgt. Buddy Lee won the two night stay. Again, the tournament was a great success and it is thought that it will the first of many annual Special Olympics/Law Enforcement Torch Run In-Shore Fishing Tournaments to come.
Keaton Report April 23-24 2010
Yikes it's Great! Hey, Monty Lewis of Thomasville, Ga. had two trout over 5 pounds today, Monday, April 19th on board my Parker! He and Bill Torrey of St. Simons Isle had 15 trout which weighed 37 pounds! all on live pinfish under Cajuns!
nuff said?
Hey, we had limits all last week as well, including limits for Ralph Gyro of Gainesville, Fl. for three anglers on Friday. We caught fish on plugs, live bait and Assassin Sea Shads in several colors. Four feet of depth is the magic! pure and simple.
here are some reports from Keaton Beach Marina:
4-13 Joe Bishop and Tony Hillard of Moultrie, Ga. had their limit of ten trout including a 24 and a 22.5 inch trout from 3 - 4 feet using Assassin's plastic and pinfish under Cajuns.
4-17
Ron Cadle of Live Oak Fl. had seven trout (?)
John Schimdt and Matt Colson of Valdosta, Ga. had their ten trout using Gulp "on the bottom" in 6.5 - 7 ft. of water.
Art and Peyton Cribbs of Perry, Florida had 10 trout and a few Black Sea Bass from 6 feet on Gulp.
The Dwight McDonalds of Perry, Florida had 12 trout and one flounder from 4 - 5 feet using "Gulp;"
John Reed of Live Oak, Fl. had six sheepshead from 20 ft. of water.
Don't Forget!
Shands 6th Annual Fishing for Kids Saltwater Trout Tournament presented by Comfort Systems USA is Saturday, MAY 1, 2010 at Gulf Stream Marina. Entry Fee is $100 & includes your ramp fee, registration and entry in Big Trout $250 prize and Big Redfish $300 prize categories. This is a five-fish (trout) aggregate weight tourney with four places paid from $1000 for first, $400/2nd , $200/3rd and $100 for 4th place. Also a "most-spots redfish" prize for $250 Go to
www.shandskids.org to register/pay, or for more information call (800)284-6472
Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 16
Does the phrase "Blow, Blow, Blow the man down! mean anything to ya' ?
Whewww... we have caught fish in some real howlin' w-i-n-d-s lately.
Wednesday, MAY 7TH I took Todd Smith with his children Kimberly and James of Albany, Ga. and we brought back 12 trout, with seven over 19" and one over 20" in 15 -18 knots w-i-n-d. We fished with live pinfish under Cajun Thunders in 3.5 to 4 feet of water.
I had Jud Alexander from Woodstock, Ga. and his son Nathan out Thursday, of last week in 20 - 23 knots and we caught the heck out of trout! Nathan caught the best fish, a Beautiful 25" 5.3 pound Gator Trout from 5 feet of water on a live pinfish under a Cajun Thunder! Yep the Original Cajun Thunder will draw fish up in five feet of water in 23 knot winds! Bet your cheap copy won't do that! Hey, we had fifteen fish with three over 20" as well. It was a great day! The next day we brought in 8 trout and the front had gone through and the w-i-n-d had quit completely. Then on Saturday Jud's other son Tanner came down from Valdosta State and joined us and we caught 16 trout with two over 20" including a 3.1 pound 23.5 " trout for Tanner. We caught four trout on Assassin eels under Cajuns then the balance on live pinfish under Cajuns.
Sunday, I took Lynn and Lucretia Norman of Jacksonville, Fla. out and we limited out with 15 trout all taken on live pinfish under Cajuns from 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
here are some reports from Keaton Beach Marina:
4/10
The Lee's from Macon, Ga had 10 trout including one 24" long , 3 Spanish using Gulp and the New Paul Brown Original MirOlures from 5 - 6 feet of water.
4/11
Ron Cadle of Live Oak, Fl. had his 5 trout and a Spanish on Sunday.
Doug Milling of Sylvester, Ga. had 25(?) trout from 4 - 6 feet of water using live shrimp and Gulp.
Buddy Webb of Ray City, Ga. had a limit of trout and one rock bass from 5.5 feet of water using a DOA{?}
HEY! I will be at Kevin's Guns in Tallahassee, Florida, this Saturday, April 17 at the SHIMANO TOUR giving Free Seminars on how to fish with Cajun Thunders, Thunder-Spin spinnerbaits, and Intruder weedless spoons. I will show you how to rig and fish with Saltwater Assassin soft plastic baits, whether rigged weedless, on a jig head or under a Cajun. I will also discuss MirrOlures and other hard baits. Kevin's will also have Shimano prostaffers, Geoff Page, Ed Zyak and Chad Linkous doing seminars on inshore and offshore fishing techniques. Cliff Mundinger will be doing talks on Freshwater Fishing. Come by and take advantage of the Great "One Day Only" low special prices on Shimano, Precision Tackle, Assassin baits and other brands of tackle. For more information about Saturday's Extravaganza call Kevin's at 850-386-5544.
2010 Steinhatchee Fishing Tournament Results
Grouper: lst place Matt Lasorsa 16.5 lbs.
2nd place Chris Charles 12.8
Trout: lst. place Kevin Prevatt 5.40
2nd. place Jeff Evans 5.35
Redfish: lst. place Lucus Ross 8.1
2nd. place Jeff Evans 8.05
Redfish with most spots Debbie Evans 9 spots.
Redfish youth honors Connor McKinnon 6 spots
8 years old
Don't forget the upcoming tournaments!
Next in line is:
Shands 6th Annual Fishing for Kids Saltwater Trout Tournament presented by Comfort Systems USA is Saturday, MAY 1, 2010 at Gulf Stream Marina. Entry Fee is $100 & includes your ramp fee, registration and entry in Big Trout $250 prize and Big Redfish $300 prize categories. This is a five-fish (trout) aggregate weight tourney with four places paid from $1000 for first, $400/2nd , $200/3rd and $100 for 4th place. Also a "most-spots redfish" prize for $250 Go to
www.shandskids.org to register/pay, or for more information call (800)284-6472
Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 9 -10
The trout really picked up for most folks as our water temps climbed up into the lo seventies!
I saw 74 degrees today, Tuesday, May 7th. Keaton anglers throwing plugs should be pleased as the "real" topwater fishing with stickbaits, propbaits,
and chuggers should start to take off over the next few weeks.
Saturday, the North Florida Gulf Fishing Club from Tallahassee, Fl. held their annual club meet at Keaton and here are the results:
Keaton Tournament Report as composed by Casey Cook, our
Tournament Director. - Steve Stinson President NFGFC
Another tournament and another record turnout for NFGFC. The April tournament, presented by the Keaton Beach Marina, was held April 3rd out
of Keaton Beach and 34 boats showed up at the Keaton Beach boat ramp ready to fish. The weather was beautiful and the fishing was awesome. We
knew the April tournament was going to be a slugfest, but I am not sure anybody could have predicted these HUGE trout were weighed in at this
tournament as two 6 pounders, a 5 pounder, and three 4 pounders were brought to the scales. There were 120 trout weighed, 18 limits, and
237.47 lbs of trout were weighed.
The team of Chuck Collins, Jeff Trent, and Austin Trent put a whoopin on the trout as they weighed a 5 fish stinger at 13.47 lbs and earned
the victory. The Bass Boys won $350 for their win and also took home $25 for their 2nd place big trout (courtesy of Custom Detailing) with their
6.05 lb shoemama. Congrats to Chuck, Jeff and Austin!
2nd place was awarded to the team of Ashley "Warrior" Mock and Matt Howell. This talented duo weighed in five trout tipping the scales to
13.08 lbs which won them $205. They also won big trout with Ashley's massive 6.25 lb beast worth an additional $245.
3rd place went to the team of Steve and Andrew Stinson. This father-son duo weighed in five trout at 12.64 lbs. Andrew Stinson, one of the most
talented 1st graders in the area, caught an impressive 3.73 lb trout. Team Stinson won $155 for their efforts.
The big redfish was caught by the team of Chad Frost and Michael Aman. Chad's red was a shade over 26" and weighed 6.41 lbs. Congrats to Chad
and Michael for winning the redfish side pot and $250.
The Kevin's big flounder pot was won by Ashley Mock as his 1.75 lb doormat won him $100 to Kevin's Sporting Goods. Ashley is now the leader
in the clubhouse for the Kevin's Sporting Goods Big Flounder of the Year award.
Last Friday, I had Howard Drew and his daughter Becka of Tallahassee, Fl. out and we managed seven trout fishing with live pinfish and Saltwater Assassin's eels in the Candy Corn pattern. We caught our fish in 5 - 7 feet of water.
Billy Pillow and I had a limit of ten trout and a flounder Tuesday, April 7th. Billy caught five of the trout, in 4 feet of water, on "those jerkbaits" five different colors mind you, and then I caught two of our keepers and the flounder bouncing Candy Corn eels by Assassin in 5.5 ft. Billy finished off our limit, in that same depth, using live pinfish under a Cajun Thunder.
Here are some reports from Keaton Beach Marina:
3/31
Craig Fletcher, of Keaton Beach, had four trout from 4 - 6 ft. of water using Gulp.
Greg and Tim Findley of Pelham Ga. had their limit of ten trout from 4 - 6 ft. also using Gulp.
4/2
The Ebberson family of Madison, Fl. had12 trout from 3.5 -4.5 ft. of water fishing with Bass Assassin Electric chicken.
Kyla and her Dad, George Miguel of Perry, Fl. had their limit of 10 trout with two over 20" from 6 ft. using Gulp.
Robert Gammons of Live Oak, Florida had ten trout, a gar and a Bluefish, fishing "plastic" in 7 feet of water.
Dennis and Pattie Nixon, also from Live Oak, had 8 trout from 4.5 feet of water using Gulp; then on April 4th had 9 more.
Offshore: Billy and Dec Pillow with Aaron Portwood, all from Perry, Fl. had their limit of six Gag grouper on opening day last week. They trolled up one and got the rest on live pinfish from 40+ ft.
Willie Odom's boat, with his crew from Madison, Fl. had 4 gags and 100+ pink mouths and 80 Black Sea Bass from 40+ ft. fishing with dead bait and live pinfish.
HEY! It's that time of year again! TOURNAMENT TIME! and Kicking off this year, for our region, is:
9th Annual Steinhatchee Community Tournament
April 10, 2010. Entry Fee is $30.00 per person with $3,250 in Prizes.
$650 for the Largest Trout, Red and Grouper, with $350 paid for 2nd place in all three categories.
Also $250 paid for the redfish with the most spots.
Weigh-Ins at Steinhatchee Community Center and Keaton Beach Marina.
Fish must be taken to the community center to win any and all prizes.
For tickets or more information contact: in area code 352: Casey Cove 498-1061 or Gulf Stream 498-8088 in Jenna, River Haven 498-0709 or Sea Hag Marina 498-3008 in Steinhatchee or 850-578-2897 for Keaton Beach Marina in Keaton Beach.
Next in line is:
Shands 6th Annual Fishing for Kids Saltwater Trout Tournament presented by Comfort Systems USA is Saturday, MAY 1, 2010 at Gulf Stream Marina. Entry Fee is $100 & includes your ramp fee, registration and entry in Big Trout $250 prize and Big Redfish $300 prize categories. This is a five-fish (trout) aggregate weight tourney with four places paid from $1000 for first, $400/2nd , $200/3rd and $100 for 4th place. Also a "most-spots redfish" prize for $250 Go to
www.shandskids.org to register/pay, or for more information call (800)284-6472