Tampa Bay to Sarasota, FLORIDA

      Hi everyone, I hope you had a great Christmas and a happy New Year. I hope Santa brought that new fishing rod. The past couple weeks has brought on some pretty cool water temperatures. As for the weather, if you are reading this from out of state, it has been pretty nice with a lot of sunny days with a few rainy ones mixed in. As for the fishing it has been pretty typical for the winter. Water temps are getting down in the mid to high 50 's at night and as high as 65 degrees during the warmer days.

Trout are now in season and have been one of our most consistent catches with a lot of keepers in the 16 to 20 inch class, no real monsters but a lot of nice eating sizes. On some of the better days we caught them as fast as you can possibly catch fish and I would say 2/3 of them where good keeper size. They seem to have been especially good on the colder days when the chilled water has concentrated them into a few small pockets of deep warmer water.

The mangrove snapper bite has been almost equally as good, though it seems we have to weed through a lot more smaller ones to get some nice size eating ones.

Redfishing is starting to pick up, most of them are in the 22 to 24 inch class. Extra low tides have concentrated them on the edge of the flats and they can be very temperamental. One day they eat, the next they can be very spooky and not want to open their mouths. Typical winter redfish.

I have been catching quite a few sheephead, many of which are good eating size over the 4 pound mark.

The black-drum are still inconsistent but we are catching a few while targeting other species, the larger ones being around 8 to 10 pounds.

Blue fish have been biting like crazy, especially on the fast moving tides. Pretty nice sizes, a lot over 20 inches and I bet our largest ones would have gone 24 inches. Small ones for you northerners, but then again Florida never has been know as a great blue fishery. They are sure thick as thieve though and a lot of fun on light tackle.

As for the rest of our fishing, we are catching a few grouper, a pompano here and there and some flounder.

As far as action goes, the bite has been fast for the most part. Most of my charters have been burning through 10 to 12 dozen shrimp per day.

I hope you enjoyed my report. The nice days have sure been pleasant. If you're heading out fishing good luck and have fun, there is a lot of good winter fishing to be had out there. Just remember the fish are very concentrated right now. Small areas hold a lot of fish right now so if you're off them a little bit you're not going to catch them, but when you are on them the bite can be very fast. Think a little deeper and a little warmer, that's the water you are looking for.

I have some days left in January, if you are looking for a fishing charter give me a call and remember snook season is right around the corner. Late Feb and March is when some of our best shallow water sight fishing for snook will be done. If you would like a day for those months it's time to start planning. Our best day during that period will produce as many as 100 snook per day on live bait and 30 plus on the fly, it can be as good as it gets!

Happy New Year, Capt. Matt

Capt. Matt:

      Just wanted to thank you for the WORLD CLASS fishing trip you guided my son Justin and I to on April 30, 2002! I have fished all over America including guiding and tournament fishing at senior levels and have never found a more professional guide. Your equipment, boat, bait, and knowledge are all SUPERIOR. After many "flats" trips in the Tampa Bay Area with other guides you are now my permanent yearly choice!

     This was the 1st time I was able to bring my son along and contacted you in advance with one request, "keep my son hooked up and don't worry about size". I cannot describe the trill of watching Justin land 76 Snook. And we had size to go with the numbers. And as you described in your 5/6 fishing report we only fished one rod at a time. As soon as we cast the 2nd rod( usually before) we were hooked up on the 1st rod and I just reeled in the 2nd rod to watch Justin have the time of his life. I do want to differ a bit from your report stating we could have caught 100 fish. I honestly believe if we would have fished both rods hard we would have caught 200.

     I am very grateful for your efforts. I have personally guided for bass, crappie and stripers and know what it takes to keep equipment in first class shape. I was especially impressed with the quality of your bait(Greenbacks) and the amount you had to chum and fish with. I am already looking forward to fishing with you next year and please feel free to post this if you wish and if any one needs a reference please do not hesitate to have them contact me.

Bill Manning, William.Manning@att.net

Capt. Matt,

I finally got around to scanning in the pictures of my daughter (Danielle) with her snook. Martha, Danielle and I really enjoyed our fishing trip that afternoon. It was easily the best fishing trip Danielle has ever been on and the largest fish she has ever caught. Thanks. I hope we get to come back and do it again some day.

Happy Fishing, David Dodson

      My Son told me to click on to your web site to get your latest fishing report. Glad to see that you referenced our fishing trip we chartered with you. I was the angler who lost the "BIG" one and then boated the 37 inch snook. Alan, my son was the one that battled the cobia. It was the first time I ever angled for snook or chased cobia on the flats. Have always been an off shore fisherman. It was a great experience, exciting and a lot of fun. You are a great captain and fisherman, definitely know where the fish are and techniques on how to catch them. My Son, Alan, and myself will definitely be back to fish with you. I told him to send you the pictures, hope that he did. Thanks again for the thrill!

Tom Radwanski - Jacksonville, Florida

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