  Pictured above is Capt. Frank Bourgeois and his new boat! Always Fishing & Guide Service 10-29-01 From Tampa to Crystal River this fishing is about as good as it gets, as always there is a catch. Mother nature is on the offensive again. All the northern cold fronts head this way early fall and the fishing goes up and down… This past week has been so wonderful with trips picking back up and the fish slamming just about everywhere. Between eight and eighteen feet of water is abundant with fish at this time of the year. If you like shallow water grouper fishing as a sport fish this is the time to do it. I know a sport fish? “Yea” in the shallow waters off the central west coast of Florida is just about as good as it gets for shallow water grouper. A Fact is grouper tend to be in deep waters but most of these fish will never see deep water. Thirty to fifty miles offshore west of Hernando Beach is thirty to fifty feet of water. The charter boat Always Fishing had three trips for grouper this week and I have to say on the average we caught and released over fifty grouper each day. All trips took grouper home to eat and released all the rest. Well one of the things I like to do when I can, is catch white bait and go to the eight foot reef and use them to chum for grouper. Then I get out my fly rod and fly fish for grouper. Of course I also get hooked up into many big gator trout and a occasional red fish. The inshore waters “Bye For now … Catch a bunch” 6-18-01 Florida Fishing Report for: Hernando Beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Capt Frank is booking Tarpon trips in Boca Grande this spring. Http://www.alwaysfishing.com Backwater-to five miles out, inshore-to twelve miles out, offshore-over twelve miles out Hi all: Ok its time to go fishing… I told you I would let you know when it was time to go fishing and now is the time on the nature coast. Spring has brought new heights to the fishing in our area. From Anclote Island to Aripeka the snook and redfish are in full swing. White baits are still the choice for catching these fish in the daylight hours. Then there is trout fishing. This is another story; in fact, the fish are getting bigger each year, since the net ban has been in effect. I am still finding that the bigger fish are coming from the deeper water. Spanish Mackerel are everywhere and all a person has to do is fish. To find these types of fish find grass flats anchor and chum. They are always on the move and a flashing spoon with a wire leader will do the trick as well as any baits. Grouper are on the move in to the inshore waters, a little late but as they say better late than never. We are catching the grouper in 45 feet of water and as a bonus we have picked up some nice king mackerel. 5-5-01 Hi all: Ok its time to go fishing… Well I have just returned from the fishing in Boca Grande and let me tell you it was fun. This time I took Carol and we checked into the Weston’s on the beach. I launched the boat in Lemon bay and took her on the scenic ride down the I.C.W. (inter coastal waterway). Talk about beauty, wildlife still flourishes there and mere words can’t describe the beauty this area has to offer. After about 20 miles of sight seeing we pulled into Boca Grande Pass at a idle just in time to see another boat hook up into one of those spectacular fighting silver giants. In about 20 minutes we saw so many fish I new that my charters would be pleased. The rest of the week proved to be as good as I expected and all hooked up on fish. Back on the home front I have not been fishing here but talking to Hernando Beach Bait and Tackle, Nancy reports Grouper fishing is getting better in the shallow waters. Cobia and Spanish mackerel are being caught in the same areas. Redfish are still in the backwaters and trout can be caught where the shrimp boats are not working. Dixie Lee Bait & Tackle reports trout fishing is wonderful in four to five feet of water and the shark fishing is outstanding with many over five foot black tip sharks being caught. He also reports that the shallow water grouper fishing is picking up where there are more and more keeper grouper are being caught in the shallow waters. I have no more trips planned for Boca so I should be reporting more often as I only have a computer at home… 5-3-01 Backwater-to five miles out, inshore-to twelve miles out, offshore-over twelve miles out Hi all: Ok its time to go fishing… Well I have just returned from the gulf and let me tell you it is beautiful. The water is gin clear wind down and when looking down in the water is like scuba diving without getting wet. But all the beauty is not so good for fishing. You have to change your fishing tactics a little to fool the fish. The fish need to feel safe in the sense that your baits are normal food for them to eat. Some tricks you can play on them is not to use hardware like big barrel swivels bright sinkers bright hooks or snap swivels on the lures. Triple fish flora-carbon leaders will help but I like to use triple-fish “camo” line for leader material. What fish do not see will no doubt be the best way to lure the fish into biting your baits. Remember in the clear water to make sure you ad to you leaders in other words make them longer. Some keeper grouper are being caught shallow but most of them are coming from deeper waters. Many smaller grouper are being caught even out to fifty feet. With the clear water live bait is the choice baits and remember use long leaders. The Tarpon and cobia are being caught regularly north of Bayport and a report from a friend told me Anclote Island has plenty of Tarpon there too. 3-20-01 Hi all: Well this past week led us to a couple of inshore trips. Waiting for spring to finally blossom on the inshore waters in this area is so unpredictable…I know right now for sure the trout are in sixteen to eighteen feet of water. I know it’s hard to believe but it is true. Now this tends us to believe that this is now an offshore trip, as you have to go fifteen to sixteen miles to catch them. About a week ago the fish came in to eight foot of water for a couple of day’s and left as another cold front approached the Nature Coast. On one of the trips I brought the two fishermen out fishing the inshore waters and was not doing very well. Being good fishermen I figured they would like to visit a small reef I have about twenty miles off of Bayport. Being good fishermen was the trick in catching grouper, sea bass and triggerfish on eight lb trout fishing equipment. After catching about one hundred fish and release most of them we headed in with two tired and happy fishermen. Sorry to say I believe most of my charters will be cancelled this week too. The forecast is for twenty to twenty-five kts of wind and rain for the first part of the week. For the people who follow my fishing reports I hope you realize how hard it is to write them when you don’t have much of a chance to go fishing when the weather is bad. Hopefully the weather will take a more spring approach and the reports get much better. On the other hand all my fishing reels have new line on them just waiting for the weather to clear. Captain Frank Bourgeois 2-18-01 Backwater-to five miles out, inshore-to twelve miles out, offshore-over twelve miles out Hi all: Finally!!! The fish are really biting. I thought all the fish in the Gulf had left me for a holiday in a warm climate. This past week brought us to new beginnings in Grouper fishing on the Nature Coast. I had two trips this week for Grouper digging and both trips I had explained to the customers that the fishing would probably be less than average. Boy did the fish prove me wrong. After forty years of fishing I still am amazed on how much the fish can fool me. Without a lot of hot air I can only say we outdid ourselves. On both days we caught over 30 Grouper and over 150 other fish each day. Only 2 Grouper out of all the Grouper that was caught was of keeper size. Making a few calls to some of my Captain friends I found out that they too started to catch many Grouper. I know that the 22-inch Grouper rule is to protect the fish but in the shallow water this rule makes it hard for the law-biding citizen to catch his dinner. Lucky for me I don’t eat fish. I truly believe with the passing of time and if most people will abide by the law the grouper will grow to keeper size and all will be happy again. I see with the warm weather we are having, things are on schedule for a great spring fishing season. PS: I saw my first large bait school on Thursday in about twenty foot of water. On the inshore waters the trout have not come in as of yet. I foresee the trout fishing to pick up soon. The Jacks are being caught in the mouths of the rivers and cannels, and on a fly rod these feisty creatures will try any fly angler. Sheephead are still being caught on the rock piles and let me tell you this year they are bigger than I have seen in a long time. Bass fishing is about to explode. The biggest bass of the year are generally caught in February and March so do not pass up a trip if you like Bass fishing. Captain Frank Bourgeois 02-02-01 After taking the month of January off for maintenance and just plain not fishing, the warmer weather allowed me to finally think about going fishing. Sad to say the fishing is not up to par yet here on the Nature Coast. Every day has to be approached with different methods of fishing. If you are looking for grouper the only advice I can give you is to look for trips to take you to the middle grounds, which for us here is about a eighty mile ride and I know of no charter boats that go there from here. On the other hand you can still catch fish. Offshore fishing right now is about as good as it can get for the large sea bass. The large hump head only come closer to shore in the winter. These fish are great for the light tackle enthusiast. A jig or just about any live or dead bait will work for the sea bass. As a table food the sea bass is to many one of the best fish to eat in the gulf. I don’t usually write about what others caught … but … talking to other Captains around the state and they are saying the same thing, “ this is as cold as the water temperatures has been in a very long time” I have had reports from everywhere saying the same thing. Well not to worry the fish are still here they are just dormant and buried in places you will never find doing just like us waiting for the water to warm. Inshore fishing is a bit different as the water temperature changes more often. One day the gulf looks like a ghost town and the next it seems like it is full of fish. If the sun warms the water look for the grass flats to produce large trout and the shore banks to have hungry redfish waiting for your baits. I have been fishing in Homosassa area for redfish and in just one month changed so many times it is almost impossible to know when to go fishing. The person who is lucky enough to go fishing often will have the best luck at least they will be there when the fish decide to eat. Captain Frank Bourgeois 01-01-01 At this time of year every day will be different. Cold fronts will be a factor we have to put up with. One thing you cannot fight is Mother Nature. We can only learn how to make the best of the time we spend on the water. The fishing has been forever best, when the barometric pressure is changing. I believe the fish can feel these changes and they feed to fatten up. They do not know how long the cold front will be here. After the front goes thru fishing has been generally poor, but you can still catch fish the rivers and deep cannels. Baits that will get fish mad and bite out of anger is what you need to catch fish after a cold front. On the inshore waters look for potholes to hold fish after a cold front and fish them slowly with jigs or baits that move slowly. Grouper this past week have been coming from fifty to sixty foot of water. The inshore reefs are so very dirty from all the wind we have had, but still hold fish. A little secret in the shallow waters is using bait that puts off a lot of smell like squid and sardines put together. Light leaders also help in the colder waters, as the stiff leaders tend to make the bait look so unnatural. Bass fishing is a good place to spend time in the winter. Weekie Wachee River, Homosassa River, Crystal River, Cotee River, Lake Tarpon and Lake Rousseau are places to spend time fishing when the wind picks up. Try to fish when the tides are high. Fly rods are the answer to having a lot of fun in the rivers as well as the bass the Mangove Snapper, Jacks, Reds, Snook and Ladyfish will attack your flies. Remember you need a saltwater and fresh water license to fish for both freshwater and saltwater fish. Another great fighting fish in the rivers, which can be caught on pieces of shrimp, a small hook and a sinker is Sheephead. There was an article in the local paper of a person lost in one of our areas and I would like to maybe help the readers of this article avoid a similar experience. Carrying a cell phone in a boat is a good thing but very limited to the rescue of anyone who don’t know where he or she is. A couple of things that I think are mandatory in any boat of any size are as follows. The price of anyone’s life is worth listening to what I have to say. Here is a list and approximant price of equipment I have all the time, in any boat I go in. Water proof plastic box $10.00, GPS under $150.00, Marine Radio $100.00 - $150.00, first aid kit $12.00, extra batteries $10.00, a flashlight for about $5.00. Now to explain: the waterproof box need no explanation as for the GPS (Global Position System) this unit can be bought in many stores and even some stores offer classes to learn how to run them. This equipment is so important and many small boats think they don’t need one as they can see shore most of the time. The waters from Anclote Island to Crystal River offers over one hundred and fifty miles of shore line and some of the backwaters look so much alike anyone can get lost or stuck. I believe if you can give someone your exact location, rescue would be so much easier. Imagine this call, person broke down “I am stuck” rescuer “ where” person stuck “in the gulf” OK lets do it again, person stuck “I am broke down at position 28 32.00 – 082 00.45 please send help” rescuer “OK”. This is a better means of letting people know where you are. Cell phones are good but sometimes out of the range of their antennas especially in the backwaters. Another bad thing about using cells is that they cannot be tracked. Here is a good reason to why we carry a marine radio for communications while on the water. The US Coast Guard monitors channel sixteen twenty-four hours a day as well as tow boat company’s. All the rescue companies also carry on their boat a piece of equipment called a radio direction finder. This piece of equipment will find you by the signal your radio puts out. I really hope this clarifies the value of spending money for your safety. Grab a rod and head for the water the fish are biting. 12-21-00 Winter fishing tips By Captain Frank Bourgeois Hernando County, Florida Winter fishing is only as tough as you make it. Remember at this time of year the fish in Florida are not adaptable to the cold. If you think about it fish even bite in the waters that are frozen and fishermen have to fish thru the ice. The fish will bite but the cold waters will slow their metabolism down so they don’t need the amount of food they do in the warmer waters of spring, summer and fall. Maybe if they swim fast it might be colder for them. I don’t know this to be a true statement but if you have patience and know the fish are in an area they can be caught. The waters are clear in the winter as the allege bloom is not present so you should use light lines. Here are some tips for you to use. If I am fishing for Sea Trout I downsize my lines to eight lb test even six would not be to small as for redfish eight lb is not to small but remember the drag on the reel are there to protect the line not the fisherman. On to offshore fishing, the line I generally use is fifty lb I downsize to thirty lb and for Bass I switch to a spinning rod with ten lb test line. I use either clear line or Triple fish camouflage as some of the braided lines can be seen to well in the clear water. Another tip is a shock leader. Many companies are selling fluorocarbon leader materials and I suggest using this material instead of mono leaders. The reason being is the fish cannot see the leader made of fluorocarbon as well. Because the water is so clear another trick is polarized sunglasses. A good pair of Ocean Waves will cost you about $120.00 or a pair of Bill Dance fishing glasses purchased at Wal-Marts for about 7 bucks will work. Polarized glass is the answer for even for those who wear prescriptions. You can purchase a new pair of polarized sunglasses or buy clip on glasses that are polarized. After you put your sunglasses on try to see the baits that the fish might be eating in any giving area. Try to match the size of them with your lures. Take the time to see what the fish are eating and your catch ratio might increase. Just one other thing, when casting to fish in the clear water always try casting to the side of the fish if you spot one. They also can see the line overhead and will spook. Noise is another factor in fishing the cold waters of winter. Maybe the fish are more occupied in their environment than looking for food. I have found that a sharp noise in the colder weather spook fish more than when the water is warmer. When moving around on a dock, pier, boat or even wade fishing move slowly and softly. Try to cast as quietly as you possible can. Low cast and soft baits will help reduce the noise when the lure hits the water. Here is another trick, after the casts wait a while before you retrieve you bait. Two things might happen the fish will be nervous from the splash then get brave and eat your bait or forget the splash then follow your retrieve and then try to eat your lure. Grab a rod and head for the water the fish are biting Capt Frank Bourgeois 12-08-00 Look for the changes to take place. Clear waters will make the fish hungry but remember the fish can see too. Triple fish flora carbon will be the ticket for your leaders. The less the fish see the better it is for you to catch them. Light tackle fishing with Steve Solts last week proved in eight foot of water that light tackle would do all I said it would. Being a good fisherperson helps light tackle enthusiasts achieve their goals in catching grouper. The fights are much longer than pulling up a fish with 50 – 80 lb test ling on a broomstick rod. Steve and I caught about 10 grouper one being over 25 inches. The big trout are on all the eight-foot rocks also. Saturday I did a trip to the twenty-five foot reef. This was a total run of about twenty-one miles to the first stop. The reef was just filled with grouper and giant sea bass. As a table fair sea bass are about one of the mildest tasting pure white fish there is. They also make for a great fight on trout rods and trout jigs tipped with a little squid. Funny I was just sitting here thinking of all the fishermen who lose their sense of fun fishing for smaller fish on light tackle. Just targeting big fish on large equipment is not bad, please! Don’t get me wrong I do that too. Like I said, I was thinking of all the days I chased six-inch brook trout with a fly rod, as a kid, it was fun. So chasing two lb Sea Bass with eight lb tackle is fun too. Here is what I am leading too. Stan Hickson was having a great time catching a fish just about every thirty seconds when his light rod carrying a 4000 stradic and light line bent to the water. After what I would say was a superb job of angling. We boated a Grouper that was over twenty-four inches. I fished from the Cote River to Anclote and to my surprise the fishing was not so good. I figure in about two weeks you will find this area to be hot as the change always happens with a dull time first. Remember the fishing trip is always great the catching might not be, so don’t give up it always gets better. I have entered the Pro Redfish tournament for next year. The tour will be on TV and viewed on the Fox Network and on the Internet (36 shows). For more details go to http://redfishtour.com. I am looking for sponsors who could use the advertising on the boats, trucks, shirts and a major links on the Internet. If you have any interest please contact me soon. The major sponsors for Redfish Tour are as follows Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Cebela’s, Ocean Waves and more. Always fishing Guide service is expanding we know have fishing guides from Tampa Bay to Cedar Key and the East Coast. Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Captain Frank Bourgeois 11-28-00 Well I have put off this report as long as I can… Fishing was good and let me tell you I was just slamming fish just about everywhere. Then the wind came and I haven’t been out for quite a while… The forecast for the week ahead is not any better. Offshore fishing will be on hold for a while. Inshore fishing is producing some nice trout and plenty of redfish. The trout are good size and are holding in the grass flats from Anclote to Cedar Key. Look for the sand potholes and fish the edges with plastic baite for the best results. Redfish are on the way into the backwaters and if you find any potholes you will find the red’s. Minnow creek in Hernando Beach as well as Homosassa will be your best bet. The main thing I have to report is that I have entered the Pro Redfish tournament for next year. The tour will be on TV to be viewed on the Fox Network and on the Internet (36 shows). For more details go to http://redfishtour.com. My partner Steve and I are looking for money sponsors who could use the advertising on the Boats, trucks, shirts and a major links on the Internet. If you have any interest please contact me soon. The major sponsors for Redfish tour are as follows Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Cebela’s, Ocean Waves and more. Always fishing Guide service is expanding we know have fishing guides from Tampa Bay to Cedar Key and the East Coast. Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Capt. Frank Bourgeois 11-16-00 Offshore fishing is my type of fishing for this time of year… I like the fact that you can catch the numbers of fish even if they are too small to bring home. I love to catch twenty-inch fish on light tackle then release them. The sad part of the system is that grouper for a table food is excellent and too many people are keeping the shorts. I met some people in Homosassa over the weekend that keep all the twenty inch fish they caught even one that was shorter. Their comment was no matter where they fish they are always in state waters…. Hats off to the Ocala Truck Center they booked two boats from Always Fishing Guide Service and fished for their Christmas fish fry. The group brought home grouper, grunts, sea bass, triggerfish and snapper. Time marches on Grouper fishing usually at its best till the first of the year on the inshore rocks, so if you want to go give me call Thanks to R&R trailer in Hudson, there is a new Performance trailer sitting under my flats boat. I am gearing up for the winter months ahead, were I usually fish a lot for trout in the waters off Tarpon Springs. The trout fishing from Tarpon to Hudson is usually great and the food at Hooters, that speaks for itself. Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Always Fishing Guide Service is expanding; we now have fishing guides from Tampa Bay to Cedar Key and the East Coast. 11-8-00 Fishing here has been great last week I took out a few trips and let me tell you we did great. On one trip we boated 50 grouper. The bad and the good prevailed. Out of the 50 Grouper we released 15 between 20 and 21 ½ inches but took home 8 over 22 inches. On another trip we slammed the mackerel. The mackerel are everywhere and let me tell you they are fun to catch. Kings are here but who knows for how long. I have seen many boats out fishing this weekend and I am sure they all did well. Be sure to increase your line strength and use wire leaders for the mackerel. For you grunt fisherman the grunts are big. Light tackle and squid will produce a lot of fish and a lot of fun. Inshore fishing produced some nice big trout for a pair of fisherman this week. Make sure you check your locations as in some areas the trout fishing is closed. Don’t forget traditionally November is the best month of the year for shallow water Grouper…. 10-29-00 Well the fishing and the day’s were lovely but now again the wind has picked up. I truly believe Mother Nature in all her wisdom-designed wind to protect the fish. No mater what gadgets man develops to find and catch fish, 25 knots of wind usually makes it very unpleasant to go fishing. Pryor to the windblast, we had a field day of fishing pleasure. Bass fishing on Lake Rousseau was fun, but the big Bass were in the post spawn stage and we only caught the smaller ones. The same thing happened on Lake Tarpon with the biggest bass out of eight fish caught being about three pounds. On Saturday I went to Homosassa to fish for redfish… after the tide made it hard to catch fish we traveled to about eighteen feet of water to slam some nice fish. Grouper and many other reef fish fell to dead white baits I brought with us. In the course of the day each angler caught about seventy-five to one hundred fish and released all of them. Don’t forget traditionally November is the best month of the year for shallow water Grouper…. 10-20-00 Finally the weather has broken and we can go fishing again. Wow this has been a long transition for us to go from summer to fall patterns. Shallow water fishing is about to break into the best fishing of the year and you better be prepared to fight the big ones. In the shallow waters of the Gulf the fish move into shallow water and feed till Christmas. The fish try get the fat built up to withstand the winter months ahead. They don’t know that winter only last two months here. I have been trout fishing this week and caught some nice trout over twenty-five inches, but to the surprise of the customers they have caught some nice Grouper on the trout trips. Fishing with Salt Water Assassins and Love’s Lures for trout, I have found that the red colored baits have produced more Grouper than trout and the bright colored lures like chartreuse produced the trout. I also did a Redfish charter and found a new gold spoon that just made the redfish go wild. This spoon I bought at the Florida Sportsman show a couple of weeks ago are sold by Capt. Mikes. Well I have three trips booked before my next report so I will have more to chat about then… Till then, Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Capt. Frank Bourgeois 9-25-00 Dodging rain and thunderstorms and a hurricane was the pattern this past week but the fishing and company once again was great. We did as wonderful before the hurricane with trips producing grouper up to thirty inches. It seemed like all the fish in the gulf were eating with the anticipation of the bad weather ahead. Gator trout were in about eight foot of water and were hungry for Bass Assassins and Love’s lures. Cobia and large redfish were the ticket for inshore waters. Then it happened the weatherman said stay home and I have been here since. Oh well maybe in another week things will come back, they usually do. Well I didn’t do a report in hope things would get better and it did. The fishing is hot I hope it stay’s this way for a while. All the fish are eating. I have been out most every day and we have boated some nice fish. Inshore trips have been a lot of fun while catching trout, grouper even large sail cats and sharks. Offshore fishing is on its way to being a great year with the twenty two inch rule if everyone leaves the smaller fish alone they will grow and make it possible for all to catch some fish… If you are in the Tampa area come meet Capt Frank at the Florida Sportsman show on Saturday September 30, 2000 at 5 pm. Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Capt. Frank Bourgeois 9-11-00 Dodging rain and thunderstorms was the pattern this past week but the fishing and company was great. One of the finer points of being a guide is you get to meet so many new friends. On one special trip with Captain Mel Berman, he brought his friend Mr. Fox who to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans is the publisher of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers newspaper. Mr. Fox is new to fishing and let me tell you he takes to it like a duck to water. Capt Mel and I had so much fun watching him pull some of the biggest trout of the day in. Tournament fishing was also on the agenda this past week. Sat in Homosassa Florida the Red fish Tour was in town to host a tournament. Believe me I am not new to tournament fishing and I have won my share of them, but they were Bass fishing tournaments and it was a little different not trying to catch the biggest fish I could. My partner Mark and I pre-fished on the day before and found the fish we wanted to fish for on the next day. With a lot of confidence of doing well we went to the Captains meeting and learned the rules. With little sleep we headed to the water in Crystal River waited till exactly 6:45 and headed to our fishing spots. We caught fish and just after the tide change the fishing just took off. Mark Augustine my partner and a superb fisherman took a gold spoon out and landed his first fish of the day which was bigger than mine so we culled out the smaller one. The fish were doing fine and we had two fish to weigh in, by the way this was a catch and release tournament, we had to bring them in alive to the weigh in. The it happened Mark on his little gold spoon hooked and we landed a real big Red fish the hook was imbedded in its crushes and we could not get it out. Mark measured the fish and determined it to be twenty-six and one half inches so we put the fish in the live well for a while to revive. After the fish revived Mark then preformed well in taking the lure from the fish and I revived the fish again with the aid of the Keep-Alive air system. Our emotions were running wild and made plans to leave the boat ramp and get the fish to the weigh in with out dying. We made it back to Homosassa them put the fish in a plastic bag filled with water and proceeded to the official weigh in station. People were in high spirits till we put the big fish on the table. Sliding the fish up to the flat side of the rule the fish appeared to be about a sixteenth to one eight in to big. With disappointing hearts Mark and I headed to the house. If you are looking for great Red fishing head this way but don’t be surprised to find out that most of the fish will be too big. As far as other types of fishing the trout fishing is also wonderful on the inshore grass flats. Sheep head are also abundant and can be seen just about everywhere. Grouper are headed in to the shallow waters as of last week we have been catching them in thirty-five foot of water. If you are in the Tampa area come meet Capt Frank at the Florida Sportsman show on Saturday September 30, 2000 at 5 pm. Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Capt. Frank Bourgeois 8-27-00 Saltwater fishing: (inshore to 12 miles out) (offshore beyond 12 miles) (backwater to 5 miles out) Things are changing slowly as we are approaching the end of summer. Labor day is almost upon us leading us into one of the best times of year to fish. Catching keeper Grouper right now is a little tough, but not impossible. I hate writing negative stuff but it has to be said. Just maybe, all the horrible stories I have heard about people catching short Grouper and bringing them home is true. “Misconception” you cannot go to federal waters and catch twenty inch Grouper then bring them back to state waters, even if the rule is still twenty inches in state waters. All the rules in the world will not help our fish, if we the fishermen, will not control ourselves. I am sure charter boats abide by the rules, as they have no control on who goes out with them. Law enforcement can book a trip on their boats without the Captains knowledge. Most fishermen who break the rules take advantage of the lack of law enforcement we have on the water. All the rules that are passed are not placed there to hurt the fisherman but to try to help the fish survive. Please have control on the fish you kill and maybe our grandchildren will have a fish to catch too. On a happy note I am a proud member of the Mercury Pro fishing team. Last Friday I upgraded from a 90 hp Mercury to a 115 hp Mercury. Seems I did not realize the 115 ran on two cylinders at idle and four cylinders at higher speeds. This new motor is really a sweet thing as it is quieter, more fuel efficient and of course more powerful. On my eighteen foot Flare center counsel boat turning about 5200 rpm’s I get about 44 mph. I have a 23-pitch four-blade prop and a Bob’s jack-plate to help me along. I know you want to know about the fish. Well let me tell you if you just want to catch fish there are plenty of light tackle fish to be caught. Trout still are being caught all along the west coast and my charters are still doing great on them. Bass Assassins, Loves Lures and D.O.A. are still my choice for catching more fish than live shrimp. I find at this time of year the shrimp will catch more pinfish and catfish than trout. Short Grouper are still hanging around the trout grass as well as fierce fighting black tip sharks. If you are in the Tampa area come meet Capt Frank at the Florida Sportsman show on Saturday September 30, 200 at 5 pm. Grab a rod and head for the water “ The fish are biting” Capt. Frank Bourgeois 8-3-00 Saltwater fishing: (inshore to 12 miles out) (offshore beyond 12 miles) (backwater to 5 miles out) Offshore fishing is about to change. With the addition of the rains we have had the last two-day's, hopefully the bait will get active. I have trips for the rest of the week. I am looking forward too seeing if my theories are correct. After the wind and rain, the water is usually stirred up, so I will fish tight to the structure. Chum and bright jigs tipped with smelly bait will probably be my best bet to locate fish. I am sharing this information with you in hopes that this will help you in making your trip bountiful. If where you are fishing, the water is clear, try trolling to locate fish. If you catch one look in the same area there will be more fish nearby. Live bait at this time of year is probably the best to use, but don't cancel your trip if you can't find any I have been doing real well with frozen bait. Grouper fishing on the last four trips, we just about limited out in waters not more than forty-foot. A little rule I follow is to stay in an area where I catch fish but move around. I try to stay within a mile of the main rock. If you can, fish the fifty-foot break, for this area is not as effected by temperature and weather changes as much as the shallower rocks. Inshore: The inshore rocks are still holding fish. Cobia, Mackerel and Grouper are still the fish to target. Trout have been caught in the ten-foot grass flats near Cutters and near Marker 10. Back-waters: I have had a couple of trips for myself, flyfishing for the backwater fish and let me tell you what a blast. For some reason my fly rod has been magic. Red fish and Snook have both taken flies instead of plastic baits. I believe I am imitating the glass minnows they feed on. Grab a rod and head for the water " The fish are biting" Capt. Frank Bourgeois Associate member F.O.W.A. 352-666-6234 info@alwaysfishing.com http://www.alwaysfishing.com Return to The Outdoors Guide Home ____________________________________________________________ |
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