If the fishing was as hot as the weather everyone would be carring fish home by the boat load. For the last several weeks I have been limitting my fishing to just before daylight until about 10:AM. The redfish have gone deep into the marsh as well as up river. The trout are staying in the deep water until after dark then heading for the dock lights. One of my boys fished Saturday night and caught 50 plus trout off the lights and not one was a keeper. The flounder bite continues to be steady with most fish in the 2 to 4 pound range. snook seem to have gone somewhere but I don't know where that is, I haven't caught one in several week, if I had to guess I would say up river. The tarpon have been everywhere in the lower and hitting every bait fish moving, most of the fish are in the 10 to 20 pound rang.

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Today I fished by myself and the story was different from Saturday. I went up river at 6AM and started fishing back North from Thompson's Creek. I had been wanting to do that but got side tracked. Nothing special, 2 rat red's and a small black drum. From there I went to the docks north of the Granada Bridge. It's a long run but I had Dr. Jill's Ranger Ghost with a 90HP four stroke so gas wasn't a concern. I started about 3/4 of the way to the bridge and started fishing against the tide. Not a problem with 80 pounds of thrust on the trolling motor and a power pole to hold you in position. I caught 2 small trout off of one doch then went to kicking some flounder's butts. I brought 3 home to eat and released and lost another 10 or 12. Several would have weighed at least 4 pounds. If you have never fished for flounder with a jig you will think I need some fishing lessons.

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Dont't ever let anyone tell you it doesn't matter which end of the boat you are fishing because in certain situations it means are you catching or watching. I fished with a friend this morning, we chose to work the marsh because it is Saturday and we wanted to go somewhere and not get run over by other fisherman. He has a 14 foot boat which works better than my 18'4" Hell's Bay, they draw about the same water but you find places you need to turn around in and mine won't do it and backing up is not an option. That aside he caught a 26 inch snook and 5 nice redfish, me zero, the creeks were to narrow fo me to get a cast ahead of the boat. As soon as we got into the river I got several small redfish and a 8 pound black drum. In some situations the end of the boat you fish does matter.

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I have always said, I only catch fish when they let me and today was a perfect example. I fished with Capt. john Tarr, my tarpon fishing buddy. We went to his spot where we have caught many tarpon on fly in the past and we sat staring at the water from 6:30 AM until 9:00 AM, the tarpon for the most part were no show. From there we went to the backcountry east of 3 sisters island looking for redfish, they were few and next to none. Even on the incoming tide the water was trash, a lite gray color, not what you would expect just a few miles from Ponce Inlet. What we saw you could count on one hand, lots of mullet, to many really they add to the water clarity problem. Every time they get scared they stir up the bottom and poop on the way out. We fished the backcountry until 11:30 AM catching 2 lady fish 2 rat redfish and one flounder, pretty poor for the redfish capital of the world (ha ha) It isn't always good but I will tell you like it is. Tomoka River on the other hand will usually give you one or two nice fish in that length of time.

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This morning was just the opposite of 2 days ago. I took my friend Ron Rebeck fishing for his birthday, 60, doesn't seem we have known each other that long. Went to the Basin and got a couple of small trout then off to the river. The full moon was not our friend today it was slow, we each jumped a snook off about 5 pounds each got several small redfish just under the slot (18) inches but we found the mother load but they would not bite, to much of a good night of full moon feeding, we had a good time and that is what counts, good time good friends. Happy Birthday Ron.

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There are good days and there are great days and this was the second. It's hard to beleive after 52 years of fishing the Tomoka River that there is a peice of that river I have not been on, but I found one and it was great. I started the morning fishing the usual spots with limited success. The Basin seems to be just to hot even in the early morning, the water temperature is in the 85 degree area at day light and it gets worse from there so I have been going straight up river. There are a few snook hanging around the deep curves in the river but the bite is very slow. I use a DOA jig and bounce it right on the bottom with small jumps. This morning gave me a keeper flounder, a 6 1/2 pound redfish and a 4 1/2 pound black drum. The redfish went to a friend who loves them and doesn't get out much these days. On this new peice of water I caught a 10 pound redfish and broke another one off to keep it from cutting me off on my motor lower unite. I would rather take that route than let him cut mo off and have a long peice of braided line hanging out of his mouth to get hung on something end up a dead fish.

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It's been quite a while since my last report, new computer and program that either lost or would not work, but I'm back.
Fishing this summer has been as hot as the weather, for several months the flounder bite was the bes I have ever seen, I would catch as many as 10 per trip up to 5 pounds, all in DOA jigs. A few trout but nothing to shout about. The Snook bite has been off and on, when it's good it's ben great. Last week I caught 3, all 5 to 6 pounds on fly, great morning. The Tarpon have been here but not in the eating mood. This suprises me with the afternoon raines having set in. Usually the rain will trigger the bite, it puts a lot of oxygen in the water and the tarpon go nuts rolling and gulping.
One thing that has happened in the last month, I have had 2 encounters with fish I could not stop. Both fish were in the same place in the Tomoka River, both fish hit DOA jigs, I was using 20 pound power pro on a 6 ft. casting rod. This combination has stopped many a snook up to 13 pounds from going into the trees. These 2 fish no such luck. The first one got me into the tree fall and cut my 20 pound florocarbon leaser and the second one I put so much preasure I blew up a blood knot connecting the 20 lb to the 40 lb bite section. It's not over yet I'll get one out of the trees before it's all over.

Glad to be back

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This report is more of a story about why you never listen to the weatherman. I had a trip booked for a man and wife team. Monday night he called, they had been watching the weather forcast for Thursday, it was supposed to be raining and winds of 20 MPH so they decided to cancel their trip. It was windy on Thursday but no rain and lots of sunshine. I learned a long time ago if you listen the the weatherman as a fishing guide you will go broke, they have no idea what is going on. I would rather go and have to cancel than cancel and look like a fool for listning to the weatherman. In the Navy we called the weather forecasts a SWAG, Scientific Wild Ass Guess. Know you know where that tern came from.

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Today was a good day, not to much wind just enough to make you choose your spots carefully. I fished Doug Wenger and his son. Douge is a 25 year resident living on the Tomoka River. We started in the Basin and found a school of reds that didn't want to eat, what else is new. Fished the mosquito ditches and got a nice trout about 3 pounds, then I showed them how you loose flounder by not using a landing net, bad move. One of the flounder was about 3 pounds, the other one was a big one easly 5 pounds. From the basin it was to Stricklands creek for rat reds, they are everwhere. Everything was caught on DOA jigs. Not a bad morning.

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First day out in awhile, the weather was good for the first hour then came the wind. We found a school of reds but no takers, they came in form behind us, passed us and just kept on going, they must have had a date. We fished the canals and got a nice 3 plus pound trout and I messed around and lost 2 very nice flounder at the boat. One of the fish would have gone a solid 5 pounds. If you don't use a landing net on flounder you are going to loose a bunch of them and I know better. We also caught 6 or more rat reds. That's all for the fishing but the best part of the trip we got to see a very young deer fawn walking along the waters edge in Strickland Creek right in the middle of the day, it was no more that 2 weeks old and it couldn't have cared less we were there watching it.

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Today was the second day with Dr. Jill and it started off just like yesterday except I was the one with the big trout but I couldn't seal the deal. All I got for my effort was a small scale back on the point of one treble hook on my Mirr O lure. The rest of the day went just like yesterday, up river we got 6 redfish up to 5 pounds and 6 snook up to 5 1/2 pounds, not bad, our 2 day score was rather impressive if I do say so.

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Today is a good example of how quickly things change. Gary Lang fished with me in the upper reaches of Tomoka up past SR40, way back in the woods. We were looking for Large mouth bass and snook. All we got for a 4 hour effort was one redfish and one small snook. Today should have been on fire, it was the day before the front but it was dead. No tarpon or gar fish rollong around the I95 bridge and the birds were sitting tight, not a good sigh.

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I have said before, every day can't be a great day but some of them are fantastic days and today was one of them. My lady Dr., Jill Kerr was in from Arizona and for 2 days and we knocked them dead. Jill started the morning with a 8 1/2 pound trout caught in the Tomoka Basin on a DOA jerk worm. Not a bad way to start, we fished for 9 hours and ended with 4 trout, 6 redfish and 5 snook. The largest redfish was 6 1/2 pounds and the largest Snook weighed in at 5 pounds, not bad for a weekend day on the Tomoka River.

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Every day can't be a great day but every day on the water is a good day. Today was one of the good days, we fished the Tomoka River from US1 to I95. It started really slow and didn't get much better, We (Dan Williams) and myself caught 2 small Large Mouth Bass up river and nothing else until we got North of the island at which point we started getting small redfish, rats. Dan caught about 5 or 6 on a white jerk worm, I got 1 and then the fish of the morning, 8 1/2 pounds of her. Got this fish on a Mirr O Lure jerk bait, blue back with a silver flash and white bottom. We saw several other fish but were on top of them before we could cast to them. Several of these fish looked like Snook up tight to shore sunning themselves. Not a great day but a good one.

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Today was a great day. It started out slow, then about 10:00AM it got hot in the backcountry and I mean way back there. I fished Dan Williams and we ended the morning with 2 nice flounder that went home with Dan. We caught 5 redfish, the largest a 10 pounder I caught on a DOA jig back in a creek that wasn't 15 feet wide with treefall down both sides and less that 15 inches of water. That was a real butt kicking contest. Dan got a nice 8 pound snook and I followed up with a 6 pounder all in the same area of the marsh, not bad for 2 old guy's. Don't aks where we got them, your boat won't go there, we were in the Hell's Bay Glades Skiff. It was so shallow and narrow we had to search for a place to turn around.

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It seemed that every day was getting worse with the weather going down hill but I did get 3 days of fishing in. Tuesday the 29, I fished Steve and his 6 yrar old son from Jacksonville. What a little trooper the son was for 4 hours he held on to his fishing rod with a death grip landing 3 reds 2 flounder and one small snook. Wednesday the fishing ran about the same Tom Nelson had a great morning, Tom and his wife ended the morning with 2 trout in the 3 pound range and 2 flounder about the same size. Then there was Thursday the weather turned to crap and it rained all day. Can't gripe to much, we need the rain.

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Today was a great day, I fished Bruce Vredenburg and his 2 sons Zack and Hunter. We started in the Basin with Zack using live shrimp under a float. First fish Zack gets a Bluefish, he must have been lost. Next fish Zack gets a trout. Now it's starting to look bad for Bruce and hunter. We go up river and Bruce gets a Snook, then he gets Sook, same hole. We work down the shore and Zack strikes again with a Flounder. At this point Hunter switches rods with his brother and Zack takes Hunters rod with the DOA jig and throws back where he got the first Flounder and gets one on the jig. Hunter finally strikes with 2 more Flounder. Not bad for a 4 hour trip.

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I picked up Dr. Jill Kerr's new boat today and took it for a test run, now you know I just had ro fish from it. I launched at San Chez Park and fished Strickland Creek catching a few small reds and a couple of trout. From there it was off to the I95 bridge, no Tarpon but the wind was howling, thank goe for 24 volt trolling motors. Fishing down the shore line I goe 3 Large Mouth Bass up to 4 pounds. Lown river a little further I got 2 snook and a 6 1/2 pound redfish. That made super the following night. Called Jill and told here I broke the new boat in, she said she would get even next month when she comes in to fish.

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Today had to be one of the more unreal days I have spent since fishing Mosquito Lagoon the last time. I took Dan Williams there after promising him for the last year. We got to River Breeze Park at 7:00AM, there were already 20 or more boats there. Now you need to understand this is a Tuesday, doesn't any one work any more? After launching we proceeded through Bissit Bay and down Slippery Creek, well named today. Our first stop was south down the East Channel where Dan got 3 redfish up to 12 1/2 pounds. Next stop was George's Island because every thing was over run with boats. While fishing this area we got run over and cut off 6 times by local guide's. and for this reason I will no longer pay the Fed's $250 a year to guide there. The monkey's are really running the jungle down there, and there is no law enforcement there.

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Today was just a normal day compaired to yesterday. Joe Ensor and family got started a little later in the morning but still managed to have a nice trip. This was the first time Joe's son Pete had ever used an open face spinning reel but he caught on quickly. We fished the basin first thing and found nothing, next we went to Strickland creek and old faithful paid off with trout, redfish and lots of lady fish. There were no monsters today just a normal days fishing.

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I have said it before and I will say it again, what a difference a day makes. My charter with Jim Basham was almost a complete turn a round from Monday. We went to Strickland Creek off of the Tomoka River and found a few redfish and trout but they were in completely different spots from the day before. Jim also cot a nice snook on a live shrimp. From there we went into the river there it was mostly redfish with one or two trout thrown into the mixture. I did catch a Black Drum on my old favorite DOA jig, this makes 3 I have caught in the last several weeks. That goes to show they will hit artificial lures as long as you keep them on the bottom and move them slow. Snook in the main part of the river had lock jaw, even with some large live shrimp fished in the same places as the day before. Great day Jim, I like seeing people catch fish and enjoying themselves.

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Today was one of those days you shouldn't talk about to much. I got on the water about 1:00 in the afternoon looking for fish for my charter tomorrow and did I ever find fish. I launched at San Chez park on the back of Strickland Creek and the first stop produced 7 trout up to 3 pounds, next stop it was redfish I caught 5 up to 5 1/2 pounds from there I went into the river and started working south. There it was snook city, I caught 3 up to 5 pounds plus more reds. The total for the afternoon was 7 trout, 10 reds and 3 snook. Not bad for 3 1/2 hours on a windy day.

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If the wind we are having recently are the beginning of what March has in store for us it's going to be sloppy. The fishing was good, I had a chance to use a friends Hell's Bay Glades skiff to fish from. What a great boat, it is 18 feet long and 52 inches wide with a 25 HP motor is runs 32 miles per hr. and has a 12 volt trolling motor which is more that sufficient. I think there is going to be one in my near future. The fishing was steady, I ended the morning with 10 redfish up to 5 pounds, 2 keeper trout (they were released) 2 keeper flounder, they came home and went to Doug Bucanan who ownes the Glades skiff. All fish were caught on DOA jigs. Not bad for a nasty windy morning.

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Wednesday was very foggie and windy, not the combination I would like to see, but the fish didn't seem to mind. David Braddish caught 1 redfish and 1 snook (4 pounds) his first. I came up short with 1 redfish. I guess we shouldn't complain, we were fishing on a front that was moving through.

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Sunday afternoon was just a little windy for my taste but it didn't bother the fishing. I only has a couple of hours on the water but did mannage to catch 2 redfish and one 30 inch 10 LB snook. Not bad.

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Today was a great day with the exception of a mechanical glitch, the trolling motor would not work right. The fish were there and willing to bite. We fished 3 1/2 hours and caught 2 trout to 3 pounds and 15 redfish. I wish I could tell you they were big but I don't tell fish stories. Most were in the 15 to 20 inch range, lost of fun and kept thing moving.

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Wednesday was just a little slow, I fished a friend, Capt. Ron Rebeck. Again we went up the Tomoka river to the I95 bridge but it had slowed down. on my 5th cast I had a 5 lb snook, we ended up with one more snook a 2 largemouth bass, both in the 5 lb range all on swim baited. By late afternoon we decided to head for home, we fished 2 short peices of shore line heading north to the state park launch. First stop I got 1 ladyfish, 1 sea trout and 2 rat reds. Second stop Ron got even with me, he caught landed and weighted a 15lb Redfish on a DOA jig, way to go Ron.

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In my last report I said if it got any better it would have to go some. Well it's getting there. Monday I fished Tomoka River south around the I95 bridge and it was on fire, I never left the bridge and ended the day with 4 largemouth bass to 5 lbs, 4 snook to 4lbs, a 4 pound redfish and a 36 inch tarpon, all caught on swimming plugs. The tarpon was swabbed for a DNA sample for genetic testing. I was on the water from 12:30 and was home with the boat cleaned by 4, not bad for a quick trip.

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January! What a month it was, if February ia the same or better it will be over the top. The redfish in the Tomoka Basin have been loosing their mind with the cold weather. It has been mostly an early morning bite to get away from the other boats but when the wind was flat the fish were on top eating every thingin sight. Up river around the I95 bridge we have had a trout bite that is over the top I had Dr. Jill Kerand Tia McCrackin there and we caught 40 plus trout fron 2 to 4 pounds and lost several larger ones. There have been redfish, snook and tarpon in the mix. The Largemouth bass have started to show up and the size fish are outstanding. Capt. Paul Messick caught one the weighed 8 pounds and Tia lost one that would have cracked the 10 pound mark. I fished Sam Hudson, the associate editon of Florida Sportsman Magazine and we had a banner day. We caught redfish in the Tomoka Basin then went up river to catch trout, snook, large mouth bass, lady fish and tarpon, it was constant action all day.

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To say that 2010 went out with a bang would be a understatement. During and after the Christmas cold snap the red fishing turned on like I haven't seen in years. On Christmas morning I took my wife and a friend, Brenda Green who spends the holidays with us fishing. It's a tradition, we foung a school of red fish in the North end of Tomoka Basin, they had a school or mullet cornered and were beating them to death. The only thing the fish would hit was top water plugs, we used Mirro Lure Top Dog Jr., it didn't make any difference what color. By mornings end we had caught upwards of 20 fish from 26 to 32 inches, then the wind came up and the bite was over. Three days later in the afternoon I found another school of red fish in the same area, I set my anchor and started throwing a popping plug. For the next 2 hours it was non stop. When it ended I had caught and released 15 red fish up to 30 inches. Two days later I had a charter and found the fish again but they would not eat so we went up river around Inter State 95, from there past State Road 40 it was solid snook, the water was cold so they were on the surface sunning and would not eat but what a sight to see. There were also hundreds of cat fish that appeared to be in shock, 3 days later they were all dead floating belly up. They are all dead now and there are thousands of them floating, between the smell of dead fish and the buzzard poop it is a pretty rotten smell, but thats nature.

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It looks as though winter fishing is finally here, this past week has ben great. If you want redfish you fish the Tomoka Basin, if you want trout you fish either the basin around the mosquito ditches or the river. If you want tarpon and snook you go up river toward the I 95 bridge and there they are.
Thursday I fished the I 95 bridge and jumped 5 tarpon from 5 to 20 pounds, all were taken on the new mirro lure mini dean in black and white, silver flash. I couldnt get them to hit a fly, but back north around I caught 4 snook on fly, all on a white mighty minnow. The water temperature is at 64 degrees which means the brown alge is gone and the water is now gin clear.

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If you ask me how fishing has been, I would tell you it depends. It depends on the weather. This time of the year with fronts blowing through and I do mean blowing through, today it's 10 to 15 according to the weather man in reality it's blowing a steady 20 to 25 with gusts. A client once told me when the weatherman 10 to 15 and variable that covers his butt up to 50 mph. Now to fishing, weather permitting it has been good. The redfish are starting to school up in the Tomoka Basin and the Tarpon and Snook are starting their move up river to their winter home in the more stable water temperatures. 2 trips this week boated redfish, trout and flounder both days. Last week I fished up river with a guide friend and we jumped between 15 and 20 tarpon up to 25 pounds, we landed 1.

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Fishing for the last week has been on the up side and catching has not been bad either. Sundays charter didn't provide any giant fish but the quanity was good. When you have a youngster on board you need quanity rather than quality and we had it. Between the trout, redfish and lady fish we caught 20 plus fish, all on live shrimp except the trout, they came on a mirr o lure plug. As the water temperature drops the fish will start coming out of the marsh and get on the shore line of the Tomoka Basin as well as the Inter Coststal as well, should be the beginning of the fall and winter fishing.

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I have been slack in keeping up with my repors this month, but the fishing has been just as hot as the weather. The redfish were slow but the largemouth bass in the upper reaches of the Tomoka River have proven to take up the slack. They have been hitting everything that moves, from the standard jerk worm to live shrimp, not joking, a friend had his girel friend up river and she caught a 28 inch bass. This fish should have weighed in around 9 pounds, not bad. The Tarpon have been on a tear for the last week across the full moon, they are in the upper river and blasting live bait. As faf as artificial or fly I have only had a few hookups, nothing to the boat. Snook have finally started bitting again, yesterday (9-25) I got 3, a 4 1/2 lb. on fly a 7 lb. and a 9 lb. on a paddle tail jig. The flounder and the black drum should show any time now.

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The last 2 weeks have slowed down a bit. the water temperature is out of sight. Yesterday morning when I launched at Tomoka State Park It was 88 degrees in the launch basin. The fish were all holding in deeper water up river. Lots of tarpon rolling, only one follow however. Caught a 5 pound snook, a 4 pound redfish and a small largemouth bass on fly. The night fishing has been the way to go, mostly for trout and a few snook around the dock lights.

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Today was a new adventure for me, I fished with Capt. John Tarr from Edgewater, Fl. We launched from Riverbreeze Park in Oak Hill and headed North to some of John's favorite Tarpon spots. By 8:00 AM I had landed 2 tarpon on my 10 wt. flyrod the first was a friskie 50 pounder and the second a very respectable 70 pound fish. Both were caught on a polar fiber bait fish pattern tied by Capt. John. Not bad for a couple of hours of fly fishing.

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June was a hot month in more ways than the weather. The fishing was over the top. The Snook bite has been spectacular as has the redfish and large mouth bass. Sounds like a strange combination but true, the Tomoka River starts out as a fresh water stream way back in the works and flows north until it meet the intercostal water way. Just this last week for instance, Tuesday I caught 6 snook to 5 1/2 pounds and 3 redfish to 4 1/2 pounds on the fly rod. Thursday on a charter we caught 6 redfish the largest 32 inches and 10 pounds. Friday we caught 5 snook, 3 redfish, 1 black drum and 1 large mouth bass. Just this morning my oldest son Kurt called me and told of his 12 redfish catch before 8 AM all from the same spot, said he never moved the boat.

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This was the week of mix and match. Tuesday it was off to the head waters of the Tomoka river and Large Mouth Bass, I caught 5 fish the largest 5 1/2 pounds, all on jerk worms, golden brim color. Thursday it was saltwater only and 4 snook, 3 redfish and one trout. The largest snook weighed in at 5 pounds the largest redfish weighed 4 pounds, the trout was just a little squirt. Friday was a mixture, early morning in the Tomoka Basis yeilded 3 redfish, mid morning we went to the mid river and got 3 snook and a large mouth bass. The large mouth was in brackish water and hit a DOA jig, the will eat salt water patterns in the river.

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The weather is improving by the day, we are getting into our summer patterns and the fishing is getting more predictable. After such a hard winter is great to see the number of snook that survived the freeze. Friday I fished an old friend, Capt. Ron Rebeck, we had a great morning dispite the wind. We ended our trip at noon with 3 snook, the largest 5 1/2 pounds 3 redfish up to 4 pounds and a seatrout about 2 pounds. All were caught on paddle tail jigs bounced off the bottom from shore out over the drop off. Dispite the wind it was a great day.

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Fishing this past month has been very good considering what we went through this winter. The redfish are on the bite as well as the seatrout. The trout are eating everything in sight and their size tells the whole story. The redfish on the other hand are still a little hard to get intrested in eating, time of day, tide, moon, nothing seems to really come into play. Yesterday I broke my own rule of don't fish on the week end unless you are guiding but I wanted to see if I could get them to eat. The reds were on the shoreline crusing with their backs out of water at day light eating both crabs and glass minnows but I could not get them to eat a crab fly, a Borski bonefish slider which looks like a shrimp or a minnow imitation. The redfish won that round. There are snook around, most of them on the small side, up to 5 pounds but they are very willing to eat. The tarpon have not shown up in any great numbers yet but it is early. The weather has gon from winter to summer, no spring. The water temperature has jumped into the low 80's already on the flats and by 9:00 AM the bite has moved to the deeper water in the river. All in all fishing is good.

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Finally after the worst winter in my memory since 1948 the weather has finally given us a break. We lost a lot of fish due to 13 nights below freezing temperatures but as always things are improving. We did not loose all of our Snook population even though the game and fish comission said we lost between 500,000 and 1 million of them there are still a good number left in the Tomoka River. This river is fead by numerous under river artision wells which keep the river temper at a more stable temperature than surrounding areas. The big problem has been getting the fish to eat, they have been in the deep freeze mode for so long they haven't wanted to eat on a regular basis. This past week the air temperature has gotten into the high 70's and today it is supposed to reach 80 degrees which is bring the water temperature up quickly. Wednesday I caight 6 redfish and 2 trout, 4 of the redfish were on artificial lures and 2 on the fly rod. Friday things slowed down, I only got 2 trout and lost the largest redfish I have ever hooked in the Tomoka area. The fish ran non stop with 90 feet of fly line and then took 50 yards of backing. I eventuly lost the fish about 30 feet from the boat but did see it's tail once and conserativly it would have weighed between 20 and 25 pounds, but like all fish stories, it's the one that got away.

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They say no news is good news but that isn't always the truth. We hav had a very bad fish kill this winter and lost a lot of due to 13 days of below freezing temperatures. It has happened before and it will happen again, we live on the northern edge of the tropics and our fish are very temperature sensitave. The redfish did ok, the trout, we lost a few. The Snook and Tarpon got hit hard but they will return, they always do. 1988 was a very bad kill and we got over that. In the late 70's we had a very hard freeze, it killed a lot of our Mangrove trees even as far south as Mosquito Lagoon and we got over that also, so time will tell.

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Some days are good days and others are great, this was a great day for John Manske and grandson Zack. The trout bite was off the scale if you were throwing a DOA jig, if you were using a live shrimp forget it. John got one trout on live shrimp, Zack and I got some where in the neighborhood of 30 up to 3 pounds. Everywhere we went in the Tomoka River this morning there were trout. One redfish and snook zero, they didn't seem to like the falling barometer. Oh well it was fun, it always is whern kids catch fish.

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Some days it's better to move rather than get mad. Last Monday I fished by myself, I was in the North end of Tomoka Basin fishing the Mosquito Canals. I heard an approaching boat, it ran to with in 50 feet of me, 2 older fisherman motered by me so close that I could hav reached them with the tip of my fly rod. One of them looks over at me smiles, waves to which I replied I hope I'm not in your way, to this I got a lokk of what did we do wrong. With that I just left, went up river and proceded to catch 3 snook on fly, one 18 inches, one 24 inches and a third 28 inches. On the way back to the ramp I passed the same boat and they both smiled and waved, go figure.

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Everyone has heard of the bite before the front, well today was the day. It was rather nast in the weather department, fog, mist and overcast. Just what the snook doctor ordered. I didn't get on the water until 9:30 AM. I went straight to the north end of Tomoka Basin and it was dead, very little bait. I decided to head south and fish the docks on the intercostal, great move. The water temper was 64 degrees, wind 10 mph, NNE and good water clarity. I started with a redfish about 3 lbs, next a 3 1/2 flounder. From there on out it was strickly snook, I ended the morning at 12:00 and had hooked 8 snook. 2 got off, big fish bothe over the slot of 32 inches, 1 came home with me, a 28 inch, and the rest released, all of those fish were between 3 and 5 pounds, not bad for a few hours of late morning fishing.

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Finally, the water temperature has begun to drop. Sunday morning was 63 degrees as was Wednesday. Both days were great Sunday we has 3 redfish, the largest 9 pounds, with 15 trout up to 3 pounds and 1 flounder 3 pounds. Everything was caught on artifical lures, both flukes and paddle tail jigs. Wednesday the bite was pretty much the same, 3 redfish, no big ones this morning, i flounder and 18 trout. The fish were caught on both artificial lures and flys. The schools of bait are every where, find bait and the bite is on. We still seem to be on an early morning schudle for the trout bite.

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In my last report I said as soon as the weather changed it would start to get good. Well, this last front came through and the fishing went off the scale. Fisging Tuesday was so so but Wednesday the day before the frong the fish went nuts. I fished with a friend, Capt. John Miller out of his Glades Skiff, we were way back in the marsh where onlt that boat of an air boat will take you. We caught trout up to 3 lbs., snook to 5lbs, and a few lady fish. We each lost a big snook, just couldn't handle them in the close quarters on a 7 wt. fly rod.

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To say October was a strange month would be an understatement. Every kind of weather you could think of happened and the fish went crazy trying to figure out what was going on. Yes, we caught fish but it was never the same 2 days in a row. One day you would find the redfish on the banks crawling with their backs out of water and the next day they would be off shore in the same areas in 3 feet of water. The snook have never really shown up except in one area, the Bulow Creek area just north of the Tomoka Basin seem to be holding some nice fish, George Sharp, a snook fisherman plus had one week where he got into them and caught 6 or 7 keepers. The Tarpon have been few and far between this summer. The rains eaelier this year seem to have run them out ot the upper Tomoka River system, hopefully the cooler waters of winter will bring them back up river. The water is just now starting to clear up to the point you can see several feet down, as soon as the water temperature drops below 64 degrees the brown alge will die and the clarity will get lots better. Hopefully November will bring good fishing.

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Finally the rains have started to demenish, the freshwater content in the Tomoka river and surrounding area are dropping and the fish are starting to act normal. The mullet run is just getting started along with the shrimp which are being washed out of the marsh. This has made for some intresting fishing to say the least. If you can catch an out going tide on the creeks that lead from the marshes the activity in out standing. You notice will get very frustrated sometimes watching it because when the snook, tarpon redfish and trout are zeroed in on a patricular bait it is very hard to get them to eat anything but their quary. If you can however get them to bite it is out of sight. Friday I ran into that situation and ended up with 6 trout, 6 snook and 3 redfish, not a bad morning.

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It is deffinately snook time. Tuesday was very humbling, I went 6 for 11 in snook. 3 cut me off on the docks I was fishing, just coulden't handle them on 20 pound casting tackle. Next day I fished Dr. Jill on the same docks using heavy tackle an mannaged to get 3 hits, what a difference a day makes. Next day I had a charter and we got 6 snook, 2 of them were between 8 and 8 1/2 pounds, go figure.

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It's Snook time. The weather is getting just a bit nasty and the snook love it. This morning was a perfect example, the skys were overcast and the barometer was just starting to drop. The tide had just started in and I was totally under gunned. I was 6 for 11 on snook and one redfish in the boat. 4 of the snook were to much to handle on 20 pound tackle, 3cut me off on dock pilings and one on fly came unbuttoned, that was the only one I really had a chance at landing, the other 3 were around docks on the river. If you are going to do it don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Good luck.

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This week has been right up there with the good ones. Tuesday Mike Dimpsey and son fished with me for a all snook moening. Wednesday Dr. Jill and I got one redfish and 4 snook, her's was the best at 10 pounds. Thursday William Heresnick from Maryland, a trout fly fishing guide got 5 snook and jumped 2 tarpon. All in all not a bad week.

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Fishing in the Tomoka River area is starting to get back to normal, whatever that is. After all the rain we have had nothing is the same from day to day. Wednesday I got 4 Snook on fly up to 27 inches, today with a charter we got 5 Snook up to 29 inches, the best part was a 12 year old girl got a 5 pounder. If you plan fishing the Tomoka area don't even think about live shrimp, the water is so fresh they will not live.

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this is another test please delete

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The full moon has been a bear again this month, it seem as though the winds will never stop blowing, ad to that the full moon and it is first light or nothing. The last trip of the week started to change. Bob Orluk and son Jim mannaged to pick up 2 nice snook Jin got a 31 incher on a DOA jig and father Bob a 28 incher on a live shrimp. Both fish were up river, the Basin is very hard to fish on the weekend because of the amount of trafic. On that thought it is not a bad thing to fish the Intercostal and work the docks, no one hardely ever fishes them and there are lost of good fish there.

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This was another good week, it started on Monday fishing some old clients from a long tie ago, we started in the Tomoka Basin at daylight, the trout bite was off but we found some snook hold up in the NW corner of the basin, we did not mannage to hook up so up river we went, this move gave up the second Tarpon of the year, it was in the 15 pound range not a monster but a fun fish.
The following day I fished with Dr, Jill Kerr, we went to the north end of the Tomoka Basin where I caught my largest Snook on fly, it was 31 inches and weighed 9 1/2 pounds. It was in the same location at those from the day before. During the fight my fish scared several more that were laying in the same spot.

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This week was better than last week, the winds were mannagable and the fishing was good. Tomoka Basin has been good if you can find the bait. One morning it is everywhere others it is no where to be found. The trout bite has been great at daylight for about 45 minutes then it is over. The snook are scattered all over some in the basin some up river. The tarpon are still just as moody as ever and they are everwhere driving me nuts and that is a short trip some days.

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Today was overcast but we were still feeling the results of the full moon on the 9th. One trout came out og the Tomoka basin. We tried to fish the north end where I have been catching trout at first light but when someone runs over your spot and throws an anchor out on top of the oyster bar you intended to fish it not going to happen. This guy must really like me becausr he did it again up river about an hour later. In spite of it we mannaged 2 snook one about 18 inches the other got away before we layed hands on it, this fish was about 29 inches. Remember to check your knots between your braided line and your mono leader I forgot and it cost us a nice fish, and oh yes our friend came plowing by us and anchored in front of us on the shoreline we were working.

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Fly fishing in gale force winds is not for the faint of heart but Bob Lubarsky is not your average fly fisherman. Winds were supposed to be 15 to 20 MPH but they were more like 25 to 35 gusting to 43 MPH. Bob mannaged to catch 2 snook today, not monsters but under those conditions it was great.

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Scott and Linda Martin with their son Hunter fished live shrimp this morning. Hunter started the morning with a sea trout in the Tomoka Basin but the wind got up very early and it got real ugly so we went up river. Hunter again was the man with a redfish, next came linda with a 30 inch Snook followed by Hunter again hooking up with a 28 inch snook, this time he need a little. Scott came up with a big fat zero for the morning but was happy to see everyone elsr catch fish. Check out the photo gallery for Scotts picture holding the fish back at the boat ramp.

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Some times it seems as though the wind will never end this time of the year, this was one of those days. Neil Dorsey and Mike Klingensmith 2 seasoned fly fisher man knew how to handle mother nature and her temper. The redfish in the Tomoka Basin are still on a day time hunger strike due to some anglers whe think they can run and bump them like in Mosquito Lagoon, some day these cowboys will learn these fish will not stand fo that. We found several scholls od redfish with 50 plus fish in each school but you could not get close enough to them even on the push pole to get a cast to them. Up river the fish were not much mor receptive we put in 6 hard hours without putting a fish in the boat, the 2 that wer hooked (Snook) jumped off.
After dropping my clients off I han North into a small mosquito cana l and caught a redfish and 2 jacks and lost something else that never was seen.

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Not every fishing trip involves catching fish, today was one of those days. One of my regular clients who lives in New Smyrna Beach called me at 11:30AM and ask if I could take him and 2 of his friends from Wyoming fish. It seem that his motor on his boat would not run over 2000 RPM's and that's not going to get them to Mosquito Lagoon and back. The wind was less that favorable but you learn to deal with it. We fished the Tomoka river thinking we could get out of the wind, Oh foolish me. It was one of those afternoons that the wind blew so hard it just followed the water no matter where you went. We ultimately ended up in the upper reaches of the Tomoka at old ST. RD 40, now that about as far as you can go exceot in a canoe. There lots of birds and other wild life to see, manatees, alligators and otters plus lots of wild flowers. It was just a little bit early for the wild orchards.

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MOSQUITO LAGOON;
You have to love the place wheither you catch fish or not, the water is clear and the sight fishing is spectacular even when they don't want to eat. Neil Dorsey spent the day trying to feed fish that didn't want to eat for one reason or another. The boat trafic was horrible which tends to make the fish not really care if they eat or not. We were just after the full moon and the fish were still eating at night and if you want to throw in it was Friday the 13 go right ahead. Every place we tried to fish there were 2 or 3 boats ahead of us. Trying to get used and abusrd redfish to eat a fly is not the easiest job in the world, all in all it's better than working.

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March has been just another March so far the wind has blown, the fish have been crabby and I have failed to keep up on my reports.
The Tomoka Basin has been off and on again, we are getting into our summer patterns. The water temperature is just now getting in to the low 70's which means the alge blooms is in full swing, the water color is not as clear as it was this winter and the fish will be getting less spookie. The snook will be getting ready to leave the backcountry and head for the docks and bridges along the Inter Coastal. The redfish will move back into the marsh areas and the trout will be strickly a first light bite. The tarpon up river will start to get more active, this will be an early morning or late evening bite either way don't for get the bug spray.

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Tomoka Basin was less than calm this morning, the wind was south at 10 to 15 MPH winds and the water temperature 57 degrees at 7:00 AM. With this wind direction the basin was dirty with blown up sediment, not my choice of conditions but you make the best of what you are given. Dr. Jill and I got a late start this morning, there were already several boats fishing the west shore of the Tomoka Basin but none in the spot I wanted to fish. We started at the first mosquito ditch and proceded north until I hit the oyster bottom I was looking for. At this point we power poled down and started to catch a few small red fish on DOA jerk worms and paddle tail jigs. Next came a 26 inch snook and then Jill caight a 8.14 poinder, her biggest to date. Just as quick as the bite had started it was over. We moved up river but it was just casting practice. That made the morning along with a few trout. Not bad for a nasty morning weather wise and all on artificial lures.

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Today was one of the days I fish with Dr. Jill Kerr, always a pleasure. We launched at the Granada bridge and made the run to Tomoka Basin in just under 20 minutes. We went straight to a school of redfish and let them run us around for the better part of 1 hour with out as much as a bite. With that we went to the north end where I had fished a school the day before with good results. We shared the school with another boat and caught our share of rat reds. We next went to the docks on the Inter Costal Waterway to end our morning. It was great we each caught several nice redfish as well as getting cut of, one each by fish we could not get out from under the docks. We laugh we call this combat fishing, it can be very humbling. Jill also caught 2 nice trout which home for the evening meal for her family. Not a bad morning.

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The morning started out as many mornings this time of the year, very little wind but wait, by 8:30 it was starting to blow and not out of the direction it was supposed to. That's the life of a fishing guide, like it or not you are supposed to produce fish. We did, the water temperature started the morning at 56 degrees and by mid day had reached 61 degrees. There were no trout to be found this morning just redfish and that's not all bad. The Tomoka Basin started to get dirty early in the morning so we concentrated our fishing to the river. We ended the morning with 10 redfish the largest just over 5 pounds. By the time we made our run to the launch ramp, 5 miles south ot the basin it had gotten pretty nasty but we had it coming from behind and that makes for a smooth ride.

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Today was supposed to be fun fishing with Dr. Jill Kerr and it did start that way. The wind was supposed to blow out of the southwest at 10 to 15, not the best but fishable. We started fishing the docks on the Inter Costal Waterway north of Ormond Beach. This can be great fun if you can cast well and Jill can do that after speendinf a number of years on the lady's Pro Bass Tour fishing for Bass Pro Shop. This woman is deadly with a fishing rod in hand. First fish of the morning was a 6 pounder with 10 spots caught by the captain followed by a 5 pounder off the same dock by Jill. Several docks later Jill missed a fish and that was the las strike of the morning. We moved to the other side of the river in an attempt to get out of the wind but to no avail, with that move we decided to call it a morning, 9:30AM, and a short one it was. The good thing was we didn't get skunked.

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TOMOKA RIVER
Back on home waters today but the winds from Wednesdays trip followed us back home. A south wind is one of the most difficult to deal with in the Tomoka River and Basin, it dirtys up the water and makes life very difficult. The entire basin is no more that 5 feet deep with a mud bottom, this can even cause problems in the river if you have several days of wind. Today was no exception, the wind had things dirty for several miles up river eventhough the tide was falling. We ended the morning with one snook, one redfish and a ladyfish. When it's bad it's bad and I make no excuses for that.

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MOSQUITO LAGOON
This has to be one of the greatest places to fish in the winter, the clear water makes you feel as though you are in the Florisa Keys and the fish are just as spookie. Phil Wise of Jacksonville, Fl. found that out today. The morning started of overcast, not the best weather to sight fish in, rather like playing darts in the dark. The wind was out of the southeast fron the moment we got on the water so we ran tothe furthest point south I had planed to fish and started fishing to the North. First stop gave up a trout of 5 pounds on the first cast (not a good omen) next pass on the school of fish it was a redfish of about the same size. The school of fish dissapeared after that. Next stop heading North we found a school of redfish approximately 250 fish and they would have nothing to do with us. We stayed with them for about an hour but no luck. The next stop was one of defence, trying to get out of the wind but that was not to be. The rest of the day was spent trying to hide fron the wind.

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Saturday morning started off very cool, not as cold as the last 2 mornings but cold enough. The water temperature in Tomoka Basin this morning was 44 degrees. As soon as the sun broke over the horizion it started to warm quickly. We found redfish as soon as we got to the west bank of the basin, only one problem, they would not bite. They were in 6 inches of water and just laying there, Dr. Jill Kerr and I threw jigs, hard bates and jerk worms, nothing. We left those fish and went south to the pocket and found a school that was more receptive. I had snaged a mud minnow on my jig earlier and kept him for just this situation. I flipped him into the path of the moving school and we were hooked up, at the same time Jill threw a 5 inch DOA jerk worm into the school and she was hooked up. My fished was in the 7 pound range and Jill's was 13 pounds, way to go girl.
After several more failed attempts at these fish we went into the river south of the park where we have been doing very well on trout and redfish. We were not dissapointed we ended the morning with 10 trout up tp to 3 pound and 6 or 7 more redfish up to 5 pounds. Not bad for a cold morning, by the way the temperature topped out at 57 degrees. These extreem temperature changes make for moodie fish and tough fishing.

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Wednesday was one of the worst weather days I have fished in quite sometime, it was very cold and the wind was blowing a solid 20 MPH out of the northwest. The fish were in the Tomoka Basin but they were very much on edge. About 10:00AM in the morning I got to watch a pod of dolphin hit a very large school or redfish. If you have never seen this you have missed one of the wonders of nature, redfish were going everywhere including straight up. After such a show the fishing tends to be just a little margenial. I did however manage to get 5 redfish, the largest 8 1/2 pounds plus 4 trout up to 3 pounds. Not to bad for such nasty weather.

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Sunday was the perfect example of just because everything is right the fishing is going to be right. We had cold air temperature and cold water temperature but the tide was high and the fish had a very indifferent attitude. Don't get me wrong, we caught fish both trout and redfish but we saw many more than we caught.

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It's funny how people complain about the cold weather and they don't want to go out in it to fish. If you follow my report's you will see that the very best fishing comes on the worst weather, the colder the better. Today was a prime example of this the water temperature was up to 64 degrees and there were fewer fish that yesterday and much fewer that last Saturday. Not to complain, we got a 3 1/2 and a 4 1/2 pound trout while missing several others. No redfish, after going up river where we had fished the day before we got 1 snook about 22 inches, no trout and no redfish, they had moved withe the warm weather. Pray for cold weather and cold water.

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Fished Gary Robinson from Illinois, great fisherman, he can cast and it makes a difference. We fished Tomoka Basin early for trout and redfish, we caught about 8 or 10 mixed bag. Went up river about 10:00 AM and found a creek with trout and snook mixed in. Caught about 6 more trout up to 3 pounds and 4 snook, the largest 26 1/2 inches. Water temperature was up to 57 degrees which slows the fishing down.

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Fished Tomoka Basin with Dr. Jill Kerr, launched at the State park at 6:45 AM, water temperature 46 degrees, the coldest of the year so far. Fishing was outstanding, we caught a mixed bag of trout and redfish. Trout up to 8 pounds, redfis up to 13 pounds, all on artificial lures Mirro Lures, Cordell Redfins and DOA jigs. Not bad for 6hours of fishing, I love cold weather fishing.

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It was cole, nasty and I wish I had not made the run north to the blow out just south of High Bridge. The water was so low I hit bottom running Dr. Jill Kerr's Ranger Phantom going through the north cut out of Tomoka Basin. That is saying a lot because the little boat has a jack plate and runs really shallow. We got to the blow out and it was impossible to fish, there were crab traps every where. No place to cast and god help you if you got a fish that wanted to run. Went back to the Tomoka Basin, the Long way this time, when we got on the northwest shore there were redfish every where hitting very small mullet. We each got one fish, mine was 3 1/2 and Jill's 4 1/2. I saw some very large trout buried in the mud but by the time you see them they are heading out. The wind never did give us a break that morning.

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Tofay was a really fun day Tonald and Ivory Chavas from New York State were jut a lot of fun to have on board. The water was extra low and we were not able to get into some of the spots I wanted to fish but we madt the best of it. Ivory started the morning with a4 1/2 pound redfish follower by ronald missing his fish. Just that quick the reds shut down so we moved up river to where the Black Drum have been bitting, just not this morning, sowe just started going from one hole to another. we ended the morning with redfish, black drum, sheepshead mangrove snapper and oh yes the ever present catfish which chased us out of a few spots. It was great fun and they were good sportes.

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Mr Lawton and I fished Mosquito Lagoon today, it was his primary goal but yesterday the wind would not allow it. The water level is really low and the fish are concentrated into very specific areas. It was good however, we found one of these spots early in the trip which began at 11 AM. We made 3 passes on this particular flat and each time got a redfish on fly. All were between 3 and 5 pounds. We saw lots more fish but they were very spookie.

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Happy New Year:

The weather is still on the questionable side but the fish are still around. Today I fished Mr Lawton and his girlfriend Ninna. Lawton is a fly fisherman and not bad at casting. Today he mannaged 3 snook on fly, not bad since it has been 3 years since he cast a salt water rod. The snook were not big but any snook on fly is a good snook.

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Tomoka River is starting to show her nasty side, the weather has warmed up and the witer temperature is on the rise. This is causing the snook to spread out and get really pickie. Donald Huntzberry did mannage to get 3 in the 20 to 24 inch range on artificials today but we pounded a lot of shore line.

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last week was different to say the least. The weather can't make up its mind what it wants to do, one day it's cold (good fishing), the next day it's warm (not so good fishing), the next the wind will blow you off the water. It's getting to the point if you can't drop everything and go fishing it's hard to produce. When the weather warms up the small snook and redfish seem to be everywhere, just not in big bunches. Let it get cold and the fish will pile up in deep holes and off the edge of the channel on the Intercostal Waterway and 50 fish catches are not uncommon. Hopefully the weather will get into some kind of predictable pattern come the first of the year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

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Fishing this last week has remained out of sight. The Trout and Redfish just do not seem to know wher to stop bitting. Throw in a few snook and you have a full house. Saturday morning Dr. Jill Kerr and I fished for for 4 hours and mannaged to catch 15 trout up to 4 pounds one redfish and one snook. That was a slow morning. The weather has warmed up and today it is supposed to reach 81 degrees and that is not good for winter time fishing.

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Still feeling a bit full of turkey from yesterday I set out again withe Dr. Jill Kerr and her daughter Kala. Same spot different conditions. The 26, winds NW and cold, water temperature, 57 degrees. Today winds SW water temperature 54 degrees but the air temperature very nice and the fish were not at home, we mannaged about 25 fish total nothing like the 26 but respectable and Kala got to catch her own fish, great fun. I however got my rear end kicked by the good doctor, you have to be carefull teaching these lady fisherman to much it will come back to haunt you.

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Today was one of those days it was impossible to do anything wrong. I fished Dr. Jill Kerr, we started early, on the water by7:00AM and fishing after a short 15 minute run in very cold conditions. We both looked like modles out of an outdoor cataloge but we were warm. The first cast produced a nice 4 pound trout, now don't missunderstand me but first cast fish can be bad luck sometimes, not today however. For the next 5 hours it was non stop catching both trout and redfish. As we were leaving our spot Jill said she had only heard of such fishing, never experienced it. Thats quite a statement coming from a lady who once fished the lady's professional bass series. We stopped om the way back to the launch ramp in Tomoka State and just for kickes got into the trout again, just a few and Jill also got a snook just for something different. By her count the catch was somewhere around 100 fish for the morning.

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Today wa just plain fun, I fished by myself and had a great time. The trout were hungary on the last of the incoming tide and were hitting everything I through at them, most were caught on fly, my preference. I also caught 6 redfish and 8 snook, all this by noon.

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If last week is any indication of things to come this winter I don't know if I can stand it. Our of 4 trips the least number of fish caught was on Friday with a catch of 25 to 30 mixed trout and redfish. The other 3 days were all above 50 fish. It gets to the point you try to find something they won't eat rather than what they will eat.
The one thing that has me worried is the schools of redfish have not shown up in the Tomoka Basin and we are on our second cold snap with another one on the way. Last year by this time we were hip deep in over size reds. I guess only time will tell. The small snook are starting to pack into the upper reaches of the river which is good news for fly fisherman.

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I have done something I promissed I would not let happen. I have gotten very far behind in reporting.
October was an OK month, nothing spectacular except for the one cold snap the end of October. That one made up for all the slow days getting there. The month produced snook, trout and a few redfish, nothing to shout about. However the second day of the cold snap made up for all the other slow days that month. For 3 hours it was non stop catching, both redfish and trout. In that time period we caught somewhere between 60 and 70 fish, the largest being a 5 and a 6 1/2 pound trout in one spot. After that we moved to the flats and caught 3 redfish on fly rods the largest 7 pounds. Not bad for a half day trip. As I am writing this we are on the first day of our second cold snat for the winter hopefully it will be a productive.

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Today was a great day, the weather has been just a bit questionable but we have been able to get the fishing done before noon. Todat Mr. Robbins and son from New Mexico fished with me, all artificial, the son was a great fisherman, a guides dream come true, he could cast with the best of them. We started the morning at 6:30 AM in the Tomoka Basin with 2 trout on top water. Switched to DOA jigs and got 2 redfish. At this point the bite slowed down which is normal for mid summer heat so we went up river where we proceeded to catch 12 snook, not bad for a moenings fishing.

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This morning was the beginning of the bad weather with tropical storm FAY. Richard Pachero and I got 3 hours of fishing before the first rain bands hit us. We did however mannage to get 2 snook a red fish and one jack cravalle before the rain and wind moved in. For the next 5 days it was to be wind and rain. The snook however didn't seem to mind I heard all kinds of storys from fishing friends of mine. One was of 2 fisherman fishing just north of the Tomoka river that got 5 snook up to 17 1/2 pounds. It was an official weight not just hear say. Goes to show the fish eat no matter what the weather throws at them.

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we started a little bit later this morning, fishing Ben Bishop of Ponta Vedra, Fl. and son. This morning started later because we have been getting bit later. We mannaged a 3 1/2 pound pompano on a small buck tail jig, only one however there were lots of them skipping in the basin. The snook bite never happened this morning, just a few small fish in the 2 to 3 pound range, none of the big girls.

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This morning was just another morning in the land of the big Snook. I fished Chuck Coleman and his son this morning. Starting in the basin we got a couple of trout, saw a bunch of pompano but no takers. We headed up river and got a couple of small snook then Chucks son hooked the fish of the morning, it was a 33 inch 11 pound fish, along with several smaller fish it turned into a great morning.

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This morning started the same as most fishing Dr. Jill Kerr. We launched a 6:15 AM and started our morning in the Tomoka Basin, there were a few small trout but the most interesting thing was the number of pompano we saw this morning, they were everywhere. As we drifted the basin they were skipping out from under the boat, I was not prepaired for them, no small buck tail jigs. Later in the morning we went up river to our snook spot, again only one bite. It was however one of the monsters I am always talking about that live in the river. It hit a jig on the bottom in 10 feet of water an went straight for the shore jumping twice then it turned and ran to the middle of the river jumped again and cut a 40 pound florocarbon leader.
Just another Tomoka River fish story.

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This morning started just a bit slower than yesterday, I fished Rev. John Medlock and his son. We started in the Tomoka Basin with a few small trout, one was about 4 pounds but jumped off right at the boat. Around 9:oo AM we went up river for the snook bite but it just wasn't happening, I guess we hurt them to much yesterday. After several passes on the snook shoreline I just had to join in because the fish just weren't responding. On my first cast I hooked a 9 pound 31 inch snook we got it to the boat for a few pictures but that was all the snook action for the morning.

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Snook fishing has remained very good, this morning Bob Kawka, a high school friend fished the Tomoka river in the same places I have been for the last several weeks. To say the fishing was outstanding would be an understatement. We put 7 snook from 5 to 11 pounds in the boat, all were released, it's closed season. We jumped off 7 more and missed a good number more. We also started the morning with 2 trout both keepers that were sent home for his super. The great thing about the snook bite is it hasen't started until about 9:30 AM each morning.

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Today was my day I started at day light in the Tomoka basin, got a small trout and a 15 inch redfish. From there I went up river and mannaged to get 3 Snook, 2 on the fly rod the largest a 28 incher, great fun.

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Again it is the Tomoka River that is holding the fish. The Snook seem to be everywhere Dr. Jill Kerr fished with me today and got here first taste of snook. We didn't put any in the boat just jumped a few.

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Tomoka basin is still on the down side all action is in the river due to the water temperature. The river uis deeper and most fish are right on the bottom in water from 5 to 15 feet deep. Most fish have been taken on jigs fished down and slow. The exception to the rule was a nice 8 pounder David Braddish got on fly using a popping bug. Time of day doesn't seem to matter as long as the tide is moving.

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Fished the Tomoka River and Basin this morning and again it was slow until we went up river about 10:30 AM. Snook, I like them because they are like people unpredictable and they will eat when they are hungry, no matter the time of day. Between 10:30 and 11:00 we got 2 snook one was 27 inches and weighed in at 7 pounds the second on was 31 inched and just under 13 pounds. Both were fat, they have been eating. We missed 2 others but I will never turn up my nose at 2 like the one's we got.

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Fished the south end today with Claude Fenema and wife Debbie. We met at 6:30 AM at his house in New Smyrny Beach, fished the back country in the mangroves, the tide was super low this morning, it was the new moon. The new and full moon will give you the highest high and the lowest low of the month and today was no exception, you could walk in lots of places and not get your feet wet where normally there would be several feet of water. We found a slough across fron the Coast Guard Station at Ponce Inlet where there were a few Spanish Mackeral and some Blue Fish, the most we got from them was cut off. Next we went to a big sand bar across fron Inlet Harbor Resturant where we caught some small bonefish last but they haven't shown up yet. We did however find a good number of Bonnett Head Sharkes, they were everywhere and eating anything you got in front of them. We didn't land any but did mannage to get the hooks and splitrings torn off of several plugs. The show was worth getting up to see. I have fished the same area before and caught one of two but never saw them in the quanity as that morning.

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They say some days you win, some days you loose and then there are those other days, we all have names for them but we won't go there today. The morning started off as usual early morning, nice day fish every where, redfish pushing ahead of the boat and we threw everything at them that was legal and caught one small red fish for our efforts. By 8:30 AM the water was getting hot so up river we go looking for Tarpon, there were very few to be seen and those we did see were doing the quick roll with the tail flip and heading straight for the bottom. That was the morning, pretty weather wise but not so fish wise.

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Father's Day and what a great day it was, I spent the morning fishing with my oldest son Kurt on the Tomoka river and basin. As with last Wednesday we found redfish everywhere but coulden't make them bite.
We are both fly fishermen and prefer to do only that but after a while we did switch to spinning. I missed one small trout, got a very small redfish with 12 spots and jumped a lady fish. Not very great fishing but a great morning with my son. We met up with my other 2 boys at River Grill on the Tomoka for lunch. Can't ask for much more than that, I got to see my daughter in law and my new 6 week old grand daughter and that not all bad. Oh yes we made it back to the launch ramp before the afternoon storm hit.

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This wa the kind of morning when you are glad you have a very experienced fisherman on board. Dr. Jill Kerr and I fished in her new Ranger Phantom this morning, my firsed experence with a 4 stroke motor, nice and quiet, no bad oil smell but a bit on the slow side on the hole shot.
The red fish were everywhere along theWest shore but getting them to bite, well that was another story. We threw everything in the boat at them and nothing would entice a bite. Oh well thats why they call it fishing and there will be next Wednesday.

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Dan and Pam Canton, what can you say except they are great fun to be with and fish. We didn't set the world on fire but we did mannage a super slam, trout, redfish, snook and tarpon. Not bad for a relaxing morning on the Tomoka River Besides that we caught a few jacks and the always present mangrove snapper.

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I like to say I know how to catch Tarpon in the Tomoka River but some times I think I only catch them when they let me. Bob Allison would agree I am sure. We have tried for several trips to get him one but the best we seem to do is watch them roll and flip their tails at us. Trout, red fish, snook, everything else we can catch but the elusive tarpon is still out there some where waiting to be caught.

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fished with Rick Taylor and party, rick is local and his friends were from Wyoming, both freshwater fly fisherman. We fished the upper reackes of the Tomoka river and released 5 Tarpon up to 35 pounds and 2 snook both in the 5 8 pound range, all were caught on spinning tackle throwing Mirro Lures, both top water and suspending. We got a late start due to Rick's friends comming in from Orlando, you can only get people up so early. Everyone had a great time, the guys from out west saw a whole new side of mother nature. Welcome to Florida and the Backcountry.

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Fished Tom McFaelinand his family from Tennessee, on of my regular clients, fishing wa slow but the day wa great, we caught some small jacks, a bonnetthead shark and a huge lady fish, probably a healthy 3 pounds. Great fun for Tommy and his little sister. Not what fishing was last year Tommy caught a redfish his father had mounted for his birthday, what a nice present.

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For once I got to fishfor all the good it did, but I had a great time with my oldest son Kurt for 2 days. Saturday broke very cloudy and windy we had no sun until approximately 12 noon. Not the greatest for sight fish. The first spot we ran to in Mosquito Lagoon had 11 boats there ahead of us, so much for plan "A". By 1:30 we had several under size trout one under size redfish, then we found the tournament winner but she would not bite, this fish was about 8 or 9 pounds and as is tipical of large trout she payed no attention to anything we showed her.
Day 2 we fished a few of the docks just south of New Smyrna trying to catch a trout on fly, none to be found, although we did find some 2 to 3 pound mangrove snapper and located the first tarpon I have seen this year in that area. After going to the lagoon about 8:00AM we found a few redfish but they refused every fly we showed them. We ended the tournament with just some great memories of father and son fishing together.

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As with most mornings this time of the year the morning started with a slight breeze out of the northeast, by 8:00 AM it was howling and the water was dirty. The strange part of it was there were Spanish Mackeral all over the mouth of the creeks in the North end of Tomoka Basin. The bad thing was they were zeroed in on something and wouldn't eat any of our offerings. Neither fly or spinning lures would get a hit.
leaving the basin we headed up river to look for tarpon and snook. We were able to get out of the wind in places but the snook were no where to be found. Tarpon however were there and we mannaged to jump one aboyt 30 pounds. We were late getting up river and the wind was starting to put the tarpon down.
The big jacks are everwhere right now and the salinity is very high all the way to the State Road 40 bridge, good for salt water fish, bad for large mouth bass. Our trip ended about 2:30 having caught a number of jacks, some large mangrove snapper, gar fish and the one tarpon.

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Tomoka river and Tomoka Basin were the same as the Lagoon yesterday, very windy and the water was not very clean until we went up river.
The Trout bite was early which we wer not, coming from Orlando you can only get people up at a reasonable time to make the drive to the coast. We did mannage a few large Mangrove Snapper and a couple of Jack Cravelles on fly.
There were other things to do however, there were manatees, aligators and we watched a 5 foot rattle snake swim the river. On the way home we ran into a pair of dolphins heading up river to feed on the mullet.

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Tuesday in Mosquito was very windy, lots of fish but they acted as though it was the full moon rather than a new moon. During the course of the day we saw 100 plus redfish and didn't put on in the boat. 2 good fly casters and plenty of fish should have added up to some good numbers. Both Dick Gerding and his son had a great time on the water together, father is a lawyer and his son is a doctor so time is something they don't have to share very often.

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The full moon in mosquito lagoon played the same song as in the Tomoka River with the exception of there were lost of redfish to look at, not to catch just look at.
Julian Smiley, one of my customers for the last 7 years fished live shrimt to these fish for 6 hours and got nothing he cast to at least 50 fish and they would either run or smell the bait and swim on past it. This is not uncommon for the full mook on the flats, the only way to get a a fish is to throu a chung of mullet or ladyfish in a sand hole and put your rod in the holder and read a book. Not exactly my kind of fishing, I can teach a monkey to turn the handle on a reel when the line goes out.

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This months full moon really played hell on the fishing in shallow water, along with a high preasure system it mad fishing or should I say catching very slow.
The bite was very early and was primarly just trout in the Tomoka River area. The jacks are starting to show up as well as blue fish and spanish mackeral, yes spanish mackeral 20 miles from the ocean.

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This mornings trip was with Mike Maslak and daughter Julia. Julia was a real trooper, a good fisherman and a good sport. The weather was less than perfect and there was no live bait, a must have when fishing children as well as some adults. Only one fish was taken, a snook by Julia on a top water plug. Way to go girl.

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The bite was early again this morning, Dr. Todd McCall got 3 nice trout in the 3 pound range, all on top water. After the early bite there was nothing but boat traffic, the Tomoka Basin looked like a ZOO. I personally thing this amount of boat traffic is having its affect on the overall fishing on the entire river.

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As quickly as the trout appeared they seem to have disappeared, this morning gave up only 1 trout at day light but the baid was very scarce. Up river we found jacks and snook, neither in great quanities. There were some roving schools of large jacks but always just out of rainge. the weather was great except for the wind.

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Again this morning the bite was at daylight, the summer pattern is starting to take over early this year. Fishing with Troy Boulware and his brother Steven from St. Louis we got on the trout as soom as we got on the water, only this time there were no redfish and the average size trout was larger, starting about 2 pounds up to 3 1/2 pounds. Up river the tarpon have again done there no show trick, we saw a few but nothing like yesterday. The joys of fishing tarpon in the backcountry, if you are not already nuts they well drive you there quickly. We did however pick up one small snook. The Large Mouth Bass seem to have gone elsewhere again. Tomorrow is another day and another challange.

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Fishing is finally startint to pick back up inspite of the steady barometor. Bob Bausum and his uncle Jim hat a good early morning bit of trout and redfish, most of the trout were in the 15 to 20 inch range and the reds were all about the same.
up river between US1 and I95 the tarpon were everywhere,fun to watch but no takers. This is the first time this spring they have been this plentiful hope they decide to eat in the next few days.

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Neil Dorsey fished Mosquito lagoon, we had a great time. Neil is a very good fly caster and got a 10 pound redfish on a 7wt just as the morning started. We saw redfish everywhere, there were tailing, they were finning with their backs out of the water in 6 inches of water, it was great.
We saw more fish than I have seen in the lagoon in a very long time, the big reason was that other boats were not around and when they did discover us they couldn't get that shallow. Thank you Hell's Bay for your great boat.

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This will prove to be the most fun I will have had for the entire year when we look back on it. I had 2 gentlemen from Japan, Kiminori Shitashima and his friend Hiroshi Ishida. We went to the Tomoka Basin and sure enough right on schedule there were the Redfish who had gone missing 2 days before. The only thing they forgot was they were supposed to eat the fly when it is presented to them. We worked the school for the better part of 1 hour and finally departed for the upper reaches of the river where we were not dissapointed. the bowfins were happy to see us, several were taken on artificial lures but no takers on fly. After lunch we departed for a more salty part of the river wherer we found a few snook sunning themselves. One on fly and one on artificial. A very memorable trip for everyone. We also had close encounters with manatees and alligators.

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This time of the year weather is everything, Dan Lewis and party did not have the best weather but is was fishable. The tomoka Basin was up to it's old tricks of hide the fish. The Redfish school that has been there for several months has taken a leave so we went up river which is to the south, Tomoka River is one of those that flows south out of the Tomoka Forest area. This proved to be the right move, we found a flat where the Bowfins were starting to gather to spawn. Great fun for catch and release fishing. In the middle of everything a very large Snook got into the act and made one short run over a log and cut 20 pound braided line like it was nothing. The morning ended with a 4 pound Large mouth bass. That"s what is so great about Tomoka, varity.

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Welcome to the back country. This page will be kept up to date on the basis of fishing trips both with customers as well as just fishing. I will try to be as consice as possible and give you as much information as possible as to where, when and on what the fish are caught on.
So far this winter we have been catching trout and redfish with the main intrest on redfish in the Tomoka River and Basin areas. Some trips have been to Mosquito Lagoon with mixed results both on artificial lures as well as fly fishing. The fish have been there but they are beat up so badly they are not eating well.

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