Fishing Feature: Trophy Creek Outfitters in Monticello

Lots of folks living in and visiting our Natural North Florida region don’t think of rural Jefferson County as a Mecca for fishermen, in fresh or salt water.  Of course, there’s lots of great hunting land, but we need to consider that Jefferson County stretches all the way from it’s short Gulf of Mexico coastline …

Off The Beaten Path: Jefferson County Florida’s Short 6-Mile Gulf Shoreline

If, on a fishing trip to the Jefferson County coastline, you think you’re the first human to ever see this shoreline, you’re wrong. This rugged 6-mile stretch of our Big Bend is now, for the most part, uninhabited and relatively unfished, due in part to the fact that it’s rocky and shallow. But now we …

HURRY! Enter TODAY! The Florida STAR TOURNAMENT starts 5/28/16!!!

The CCA Florida STAR Tournament starts this weekend! This year CCA STAR has gone statewide and has over $500,000 in prizes & scholarships up for grabs, and all you need to do is sign up and get your clients to sign up as well! The first captain who guides his client to the capture of …

Fishing Feature: The Importance of Lure Color and Style

Lures catch fishermen; fishermen catch fish. That’s a true statement, and while many anglers on Florida’s Big Bend lug tackle bags and boxes holding vast numbers of lures and baits, most of them have their “go-to” lures rigged and ready to fish.   Springtime flats fishing usually begins in earnest when the water temperatures get …

The “Shacks” at Steinhatchee—A Cut Above The Average “Shacks”!

Not too many years ago, when they were Paces’ Cottages, what’s now the Shacks at Sea Hag Marina were exactly that–SHACKS! But since the purchase of the property by the Norwood family, and after a lengthy and elaborate upgrade, these cottages and houses are now some of the best rental lodging in Steinhatchee.  That’s great, …

Fishing Feature: The Often Overlooked Waccasassa Bay, Levy County

  According to Dunnellon resident Buzz Phillips, who’s been fishing Waccasassa Bay his entire lifetime, the fishing’s not as good there as it was twenty or thirty years ago. That may be true, but the unspoiled waters reached by leaving the Waccasassa River are hard to beat when many other Big Bend ports are crowded …

Fishing Feature: Cedar Key’s Main Ship Channel

Cedar Key In the 1880’s, steamships plied the waters between New Orleans, Havana, and Cedar Key. Yet after the hurricane of 1896 and the depletion of the cedar trees by pencil manufacturers, Cedar Key became a sleepy fishing village on Florida’s Big Bend. But in spite of the town’s loss of commerce and population, its …

Spring is Cobia Time on Florida’s Big Bend!

Our Big Bend channel markers provide good cover for predators. Proof comes in the springtime when visitors to our coastline question the appearance of boats circling almost every marker alongside the Barge Canal south of Yankeetown and either of the major channels at Cedar Key. Spring is “cobia time” and lots of anglers are on …

Too Windy To Fish The Gulf? Head Up A Big Bend Coastal Creek

    Springtime often means that the winds howl on Natural North Florida’s Gulf Coast.  It’s not unusual for winds to be light and variable, 3 to 7-knots, in the morning hours, but turn to a 20-knot westerly sea breeze by noon.  The land heats up faster than the water, and that convection causes rough …

CCA-Florida’s STAR Tournament Begins May 28, 2016

Everyone needs a new truck, boat and trailer, or valuable outdoor-related prizes.  And kids need scholarship money! The 2016 CCA-Florida STAR Tournament begins on May 28 and ends on September 5.  Tagged, slot-sized redfish are being released all along Florida’s coastline, and winning is a simple matter of becoming a CCA Member and entering the …