Tampa Bay to Sarasota, FLORIDA

            Hello everyone, I hope this spring has been treating you well.  I know it has been a while since a fishing report; it’s just that I’m so busy this time of year it’s hard to find the time to get everything done.  I try to focus most of my energy in making sure that I am prepared every day for maximizing my fish catching.  The internet just has to take the back seat when I am on the water everyday.  It rained yesterday and blew like crazy today, I needed the time off to recoup a little and work on things like this.  Anyway the fishing has been very good to me these last few weeks, especially for shear numbers of fish.  Snook and reds have really been biting well, I can't think of one day in the last month we have caught less than 30 snook and reds on any of my trips and several days we lost count at 60 plus on live bait.  That’s pretty good action but expected for this time off year.  Most of the snook are in the smaller class, 22 to 26 inches.  I have been fishing some areas with larger fish, up to forty inches, it’s just that the action is not as fast in these areas and it is hard to leave the faster action of the small fish.  The really nice thing is that snook and redfish have been mixed together in a lot of spots, which is great.  Most reds are in the 17 to 25 inch class, so while we have some great catch and release snook fishing we are also getting lots of nice eating size reds for those of you who like some fish to eat?  It makes my job easy when the fish are feeding together like that.  Most of my fishing as of late has been in very shallow clear water, which really makes it fun, nothing like watching the fish swim over and swallow your bait underwater.  My fly fisherman especially like it.  We had one day last week where we had probably 40 snook and reds on the fly between two fly fishermen, in gin clear water, where we got to see nearly every fish take the fly. Flats’ fishing with a fly rod simply doesn’t get any better than that. 

    Offshore fishing is equally good for kingfish, tunny and Spanish mackerel.  The kings are averaging in the 8 to 30 pound range; the tunny in the 8 to 15 pound range and mackerel are 3 to 5 pounds.  Offshore fishing has been equally as fast as inshore, whether my guys are casting live bait or a fly. Most of my time has been spent on the flats, just because it’s what most of my fishermen have been interested in doing when I give them the choice.  All in all its April, what do you expect, the fishing is excellent.

    Tarpon fishing is right around the corner, I start switching over to mostly tarpon fishing May first.  It’s my favorite time of year and we put lots of fish in the boat. During each charter year sometime it’s hard for me to get too excited, but honestly when it comes to tarpon it still gets my adrenaline pumping. Every time we get our bait setup perfectly in front of a large school of rolling tarpon, the anticipation of the strike, and the first few explosive leaps.  I love it, definitely the most exciting thing I get to do day in and day out.  Most of the fish will average in the 75 to 130 pound class and we will most likely boat some in the 200 pound class each season.  I still have some peak tarpon days available so let me know if it’s something you might want to try.  Last year we averaged 5 to 7 hookups per day and had some days over 15. Even on the slow days we managed 2 or 3. There have already been a few large schools sighted so they should be right on time.  May through July is the very best time for tarpon in our area.

    I hope you enjoyed my report, look forward to seeing some of you on the water.

Capt Matt

www.captainmatt.com

Matt, both Mike and I were once again blown away with the fish you got us into! In the five or six years I have been coming up to fish with you we have never had a bad day! The offshore fishing this year for the kingfish was incredible and the day on snook was just about the best day fishing I have ever had (I won't even guess at how many we had on)! You can plan on us being back next year, and for that matter, every year! I have had the good luck to fish all over the world, and your area is at the top of my list for great saltwater fishing! Thanks and tight lines until next time.
Sincerely, Steve Brugger

  Matt, Hope all is well and the bite is still on! Just wanted to thank you again for a great time on the water. We had a blast! Also, wanted to see if you'd mind forwarding on the pic's your father took at your dock (FYI: trip was on May 2nd, caught several large kingfish). Anyway, Caroline, her father (especially), and I are all anxious to see if we made this month's fishing report. We'll keep checking, but we realize that your much busier fishing than advertising this time of year. Take care and we're hoping to plan another trip soon. I've already given your info to a friend that'll be in the Tampa area next month.

Cody cody@nutterinc.com

WOW!!! What a trip I had with Captain Matt!!! I went fishing with Captain Matt to catch a tarpon. Not only did I catch a tarpon but a wide variety of fish from grouper to snook. Captain Matt is very experienced at what he does and when I go back to sunny Florida I will fish with him again!!!! Captain Matt, Thanks for filling a dream with the tarpon I caught!!!

Sincerely, Eric

Captain Matt,

Just a word of thanks on behalf of my brother, father, nephew and of course myself. This past week we had a cold front come in and it dropped the water temp down into the low 60's but you once again were able to keep us on fish all day. We boated almost 20 Snook with probably that many more cut off. Several nice keepers included! This was our second trip with you and I assure you it won't be our last. If you would like to use me for a reference I would be glad to talk to anyone. Your knowledge of the area and where the fish are at is superb, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend your services. I look forward to fishing with you next month, Good fishing and tight lines.

Thanks again, Chris Brownlow, 863-412-0786

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

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