Cooler Weather = Hot Fishing on Florida’s Big Bend Gulf Coast

There’s something about cool weather fishing on Florida’s Nature Coast. Gulf of Mexico waters cool rapidly as cold fronts hit the coast on an almost-regular 3 day cycle. Air temperatures vary from the high 30’s to the 80’s as the Holiday season approaches, and water temperatures soon follow. In many cases, the Gulf water temperatures …

Get Hooked at Gulf Coast Fishing Tournament, October 12, 2019

If you’re a saltwater angler and paddler, avid or otherwise, you don’t want to miss the upcoming “Get Hooked…In Taylor County” catch, photo, release kayak fishing tournament. Sponsored by and hosted by the Gulf Coast Kayaking Club, Walter B’s store, Taylor County TDC and the Taylor County Chamber of Commerce this event will be held …

Get Hooked At The Gulf Coast Kayak Fishing Fall Tournament, October 13, 2018

Please not that this event has been postponed due to Hurricane Michael. You don’t want to miss this event!  If you’re a “yakker”, you need to paddle the backwaters of Taylor County and fish this tournament.  It’s a “catch, photo and release” format, hoping to conserve our inshore fish stocks.  The Gulf Coast Kayaking Club …

2018 Shands Saltwater Trout Tournament, Steinhatchee, April 29, Sea Hag Marina

The Shands Fishing For Kids Saltwater Trout Tournament, one of the largest and most popular fishing events in our Natural North Florida region takes place on Saturday, April 28 at Steinhatchee.  Weigh-in and a celebratory fish fry will be held at the Sea Hag Marina. With some excellent (and guaranteed) payouts, this promises to be …

Horseshoe Cove–A Hidden Fishing Destination On Natural North Florida’s Gulf Coast

Florida’s Big Bend coastline is the longest stretch of undeveloped shoreline in the lower 48 states, and Horseshoe Cove and the surrounding area is an excellent example of a place that hasn’t been overdeveloped or encroached upon by “civilization”. I like that—and so do the fish! It’s located south of the “forgotten” village of Horseshoe …

Don’t Miss Fishing Florida’s Big Bend “Halloween High Tide”!

Expect to see water flooded well into Big Bend creek during the “Halloween Tides” Fishing mid-day high tides, like the ones we’ll have the weekend of October 29 and 30 (Halloween weekend!), can be a good thing—fish move closer to shore and can’t get any farther, making it easy to catch both big reds and …

Fishing The Big Bend Marsh–The Closer You Get, The More Reds You’ll Catch!

In the fall, high tides flood, pushing water well into the creeks and marshes all along Levy, Dixie, Taylor, Jefferson and Wakulla Counties, on Florida’s Big Bend.  We don’t have many mangroves, but we do have lots of spartina grass which offers comfort to redfish, or red drum. When the reds get back in the …

Fishing in October? Cooling Waters Heat Up The Big Bend Inshore Bite

I was pleasantly surprised last Sunday when Steinhatchee Capt. Rick Davidson told me he’d been reading water temperatures in the 70s all day. The day was cool and there were pods of bait everywhere, but I didn’t think that the temps had dropped that much in the past few weeks. That’s a good sign, and …

Boat? What Boat? Try Wade-Fishing on Florida’s Taylor and Dixie County Coastlines

  Redfish are a common catch for anglers wading the Big Bend   I guess I’m guilty of assuming that everyone who fishes on the Big Bend has a boat.   I’m hardly an elitist, but consider myself lucky to have had access to, or ownership of, a boat for the last 50 years. However, I’ve …

Fall Fishing on Natural North Florida’s Big Bend Flats

  The term, ‘flats’, means lots of things to lots of different anglers. Bonefishers love to sight fish over stretches of shin-deep, pure white sand or marl. Tarpon enthusiasts often find their prey on ‘flats’ that are six to eight feet deep, and everyone knows that redfish prefer shallows where the rough, rocky bottom holds …