The Advantages of Using Plastic Shrimp Instead of the Real Thing

Many Big Bend anglers are convinced that plastic (can you say “fake”?) shrimp are the equal of live shrimp when it comes to fishing on our coastal grass flats.  It used to be that artificial shrimp looked nothing like the real thing, but in recent years they’ve almost reached a degree of hyper-reality!  D.O.A. Lures’ …

Investigate the Inside of Cedar Key’s Islands and Find Seatrout and Redfish

All too often anglers spend lots of time circling the islands near Cedar Key, failing to realize that on higher tides that there’s enough water inside the islands to float small boats and paddlecraft.  Two examples are Atsena Otie Key and Snake Key, located due south of the boat basin at the end of SR24.  …

Fish The Wild, Wild Waters of Central Taylor County, Florida

The Taylor County Gulf shoreline is hardly “civilized”, but if you compare the area between Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach to that north of Keaton Beach, you’ll find a vast difference.  Heading northwest from Keaton Beach,  you’ll see a few homes and settlements at places like Dekle Beach and Adams Beach, but from there on, it’s …

Look For Redfish at Yankeetown and The Mouth of The Withlacoochee River

I suspect there are more redfish at Yankeetown, in southern Levy County, than people.  When the fishermen are at home, it’s a sleepy place with just two marinas (Yankeetown Marina and B’s) and one restaurant (Ike’s Old Florida). But when the fish are biting and it’s a pretty weekend, things here can get busy.  Well, …

Clear Cool Water Brings Redfish Close to Big Bend Shores

Now that fall’s here, the waters along our Big Bend and Natural North Florida shorelines have begun to clear.  This past summer’s excessive rainfall kept our waters murky for months, but it’s now dry and the runoff from our swamps and creeks has slowed (Of course, runoff of  water isn’t really a problem in our …

How do successful anglers find bait and the predators that prey upon it?

Anglers of all skill levels sometimes have trouble spotting bait, a critical element in the “fish-catching” equation.  Here’s a hint of what to look for on Florida’s Big Bend: Calm, still waters like we often have on fall days, make it easy to spot jumping or schooling mullet. And when it’s calm, even small schools …

“Good Vibrations”–All About Making a Racket While Fishing Florida’s Big Bend Shallows

Someone asked me the other day about my favorite lure color. Of course, my standard answer is, “light colors for clear water and dark colors for stained waters.” That’s probably a good general summary, but I remarked that while color (and smell) is important, noise might be a bigger factor in getting fish to bite …

Winter Trout Tips from Keaton Beach Inshore Guide, Capt. Pat McGriff

Capt. Pat McGriff spoke at the January 2011 meeting of the Gainesville Offshore Fishing Club. Pat is a very successful inshore fishing guide, based out of Keaton Beach, on Florida’s Big Bend, in Taylor County. Here are a few of Pat’s suggestions for successful wintertime trout fishing: If you’re targeting big trout in water that’s …

Wintertime Means Clear Inshore Waters on Florida’s Big Bend — Learn to Fish Them!

Take a look at my latest Florida Sportsman Big Bend Fishing4Cast.  There are some good tips on fishing the super-clear Gulf coast waters that we experience during the wintertime along Florida’s Big Bend. Also, if you’d like to read a few of my archived Big Bend Fishing4Casts, some of the 2008 columns are on my …