March promises to be a very busy month as we anxiously await Spring's arrival. There are a lot of great courses taking place and we have even added a new classroom location to accomodate larger class sizes when they are needed.
February 8th through the 24th is busy with another round of our extremely popular SA 200, Intermediate and Mid Range Ventures Course. This class is very comprehensive and really causes boaters and fisherman to think outside of the box. It is by far, the "Nuts and Bolts" to boating and fishing in Southwest Florida.
We had a great turnout for our Beach and Bay Cobia Class at the YMCA on January 30th. Now we just have to see what the water temperatures will do to start pushing those great fighters our way !
January saw the largest class yet at the Academy as 22 students attended our Inshore Fishing Strategies course. Captain Chris O'Neill, our Senior Inshore Staff Instructor, put on a great show. Hopefully the weather will start to warm up and the inshore fishing will really turn on.
1/14/10
Wow ! I have never seen weather this cold in twenty plus years in sunny Florida. Because the weather can be bad this time of year, now is a great time to attend one of our classes to put you in a better position to bag some fish once it gets warmer.
We have added several new courses that include Inshore Fishing and Kayak Ventures. We have some awesome Tarpon and Snook fishing courses starting, so check our Home Page frequently.
Have a Happy and SAFE Holiday Season !! We extend a sincere Thank You to all of our students that have made this possible!
12/21/09 The seas were rough and the water was dirty but we still managed to limit out on nice Gag Grouper. Trolling was not an option due to dirty water and lots of sea weed. We switched over to Bomber Jigs and managed to pull nice Gags off of several ledges in short time.
We fought a large Cobia for about five minutes before he popped the line on some structure. The Cobia will be showing up in good numbers soon !
December 13th and 14th were incredible fishing days! The fog was extremely thick, and we managed to get offshore only by using the radar and taking it slow.
When we arrived on the Grouper Grounds, the gags and reds were chewing. Bomber CD 30's in red / white were the ticket. We limited out on Sunday and released a bunch on Monday as we have all the grouper we can reasonably eat in the freezer. Please harvest our fish responsibly!
January will be an exciting month as we have added an Inshore Series to our School. Captain Chris O'Neill of Tail Chaser Charter Services brings a wealth of knowlege and experience that simply cannot be matched anywhere in Southwest Florida!
The first of the"Advanced Snapper Tactics" courses was a huge success as was SA 200, "Intermediate and Mid Range Ventures."
Look for the second "Advanced Snapper" Class in January just before the mandatory Closure on the Grouper kicks into effect.
Cobia will be sliding south just off our beaches and we have a Workshop scheduled for them as well on Saturday, January 30th.
The 2010 season is packed with great new courses that every fishing skill level will benefit from. We look forward to having you in an upcoming course.
November 20, 2009-
The Gag Grouper Have Arrived !! Trolling large lipped plugs just off the beaches out to 70 feet has produced plenty of keeper Grouper. We've found plenty of fish around small ledges and artificial reefs. There are good sized Red and Scamp Grouper mixed in with the Gags, and plenty of Kingfish up to 30 lbs , so you never know what you will catch.
We did several private lessons this past week and have many courses, workshops and seminars coming up in the next month at the YMCA and West Marine in both Sarasota and Venice.
Do not miss out on any of these informative and comprehensive classes.
**Get your Holiday Gift Certificates Early !**
November 1, 2009
October was a very busy month, with SA 200 and a lot of Private Lessons! It ended with a huge, Free Seminar at West Marine on the 31st, with over 50 Fishing Folks attending and taking advantage of the discounts we can offer our students.
The water is cooling off and the Cobia and Gag Grouper are showing up in good numbers.
We are featured in the November issue of Coastal Angler Magazine, Florida's Largest Outdoor Publication. Captain Kevin writes the Offshore Forecast for our large Region! Pick up your copy at the nearest outdoor, fishing or boating locations.
We are doing another FREE Seminar at West Marine in Sarasota on the 4th, and a talk for the Sarasota Power Squadron on the 5th.
We will be spending the evening with the Englewood Fishing Club on the 12th at 6:30 pm.
Kingfish Workshops are going on Nov 7th and 14th. Sign up NOW, space is limited and running out quickly!
We are already Booked for several Private Fishing and Boating Lessons and available dates are shrinking. If you may be interested in any of our services, especially Private Instructions, secure your date NOW !
Enjoy every day on the water and take the time to truly appreciate your Family and Friends as the busy Holiday season approaches.
Holiday Gift Certificates are Available
9/26/09 A Perpetual "Feeding Frenzy" all over the beaches today. From the Venice Inlet North, the water was white with bait and Predator Fish boiling all over.
Mike and I managed to catch countless Spanish Macks, Blacktip Sharks, Ladyfish and several other species. One Shark jumped 5 feet in the air and was spinning like Crazy with a fish in its mouth!!!
Tarpon were mixed all throughout the Bait Pods and several were hooked up near us. This will continue as the water Temps Fall over the next few months or so.
Looking forward the the Kingfish Run on the heels of these Spanish and Trolling for our Gags !!!
8/29/09 The weather was rough today on the Feeding Frenzy, but nonetheless, Cody Miller and Casey managed to catch some fat Mangrove Snapper, Spanish Mackeral and Bonita just outside of Stump Pass. We made a short day of it, then headed back to the pool to cool off.
The September Full Moon is coming up quickly and I'm hoping to get an Overnighter in.
Tight Lines
We saw a boat fire at the Crow's nest, a boat hard aground in Lemon Bay and a couple Man-of-War Jellyfish stings--One of them ME!! I probably had it coming to me. Enjoy and stay safe out there!
