..Absolute Florida Flats Fishing,  reports excellent Spotted Sea Trout fishing in the central Florida and gulf Coast areas, saltwater fishing charters are yielding many big Trout, numbers in the upper 20″, in the Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, and New Port Richey inshore flats fishing venue.  Capt. Rich Knox’s longtime fishing guide service has been leading clients to some great light tackle inshore fishing, strong runs, head shaking, fat yellow mouth Trout on all our fishing charters. This week running several fishing trips out of Anclote Village Marina near Tarpon Springs had George and his two sons John and Matt,  returning for another fishing fix from the north, caught,  kept some and released some beautiful Trout totaling about 2 dozen, along the west central Fl. gulf coast, using all artificial lures, Berkley 5″ and 7″ jerk-shad, Mirrolure’s Mirrodine, And 1/4 oz. jigs with a paddle tail in the 3″ variety and pilchard imitation.  Saltwater inshore fishing charters have been producing very good numbers of fish even in just a 1/2 day outing this year due to the spring like weather were having, water temperatures have rarely fallen into the fifties,  even Red-fishing charters have been successful when the tides are right,  upper slot red’s in the 25- 27 ” and 5 to 7 lb. range are not uncommon. There are still schools of pilchards ( baitfish ) here that usually leave us for the winter and vacation south in the Florida-Keys, but they sometimes are hard to find and you really don’t need them this time of year, plus it takes time to cast net them up in the morning and your in jeopardy of losing the best part of the tide.

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Fishing Reorts from, Absolute Florida flats Fishing, longtime guide service 20 yr. running flats fishing charters out of Tarpon Springs Fl., at nearby Anclote Village Marina, went on a inshore fishing trip Tuesday the 14th, right after the coldest front of the year, on our flats fishing charter were Mike and Susan visiting friends Dick and Linda from Hudson, Fl. , when we left the dock at 10 o’clock the water temperature was 55* F, we gave the day a little time to warm up and there was a late tide, heading south to Clearwater Fl. to our 1st stop of the day. Slowly trolling motoring down the edge of a flat ran off several nice sized Spotted Sea Trout, we set up immediately hopeing we had’nt run the fish into the next zip-code, the wind was very light barely blowing out of the south, the air temperature was rising steadily as we fished in all directions trying to locate the fish. Using a combination of artificial lures and live select shrimp the tide picked up and began to move nicely when the action started, a nice size Trout measuring 17″on a shrimp, we got the skunk out of the boat, a few minutes later another  and another, the pinfish were sure hungry as a live shrimp didn’t last long unless it was in the fish. By the end of the 1/2 day of fishing we had caught  over 15-20 Trout, and some Ladyfish we were even releasing alot of the Trout,  they got bigger as the day went on, some well over the 20″ upper limit, end of the day high air  temperature was 74* F and the water temp rose to 57* F, this week the weather man is predicting temp’s in the 80′s, fishing on  the inshore flats will just improve, red-fish and even snook were biting the week before.

Absolute Florida Flats Fishing,  reports good Spotted Sea Trout fishing on  a ½ day Flats fishing charter on Thursday February 9^th, Capt. Rich meet his client at the dock in near Tarpon Springs at 7:30 am. as we were a couple days past the full-moon, the tide didn’t really begin to come in good south in Clearwater, Palm Harbor area till 8 am., so we had a nice morning run on the SILVERKING flats skiff. The wind was out of the North East at 10 to 12 mph, we had a cloudy,  cool,  low sealing that I was grateful for, as Mike was wanting to fish artificial lures, when we arrived at our 1^st stop,  I lowered the Motor Guide Trolling motor down quietly and began working the outer edges of the flat with ¼ oz.jigs with a paddle tail baitfish imitation,  the 1^st cast produced a nice Trout in the 20” range, we power poled down, we would catch a dozen before we had caught them all or ran them off, fished on a ways and released a few more. Mike and I hit many  inshore  flats catching nice trout on most stops and several double- headers,  fish over 20” and 5 lb. , as we fished our way back to the Tarpon Springs and New Port Richey Area near the top of the tide switching back and forth from the jigs, jerk-shad and the Mirrodine  hard bait, the water temperature rose to a 68* F  high for the day,  we were fishing some rock piles and hooked a nice snook, we got a good look at him,  but he or probably she,  didn’t take long to wear through the 20 lb. leader, we were using, very exciting, nice strong run ,  a real-good sign for February, soon all the flats species should be on hand, I have even heard fishing reports from other longtime fishing guides that they are beginning to encounter King Mackerel,  it’s  going to happen early,  get your gear ready . This would be a good time for the long-rod also with the amount of Tout and other things developing everyday, A clouser in the Pilchard look variety, or a deceiver in the shallower water will work real well,  use stealthy approach’s for these fish are very spooky in a foot or two of water !

Absolute Florida Flats Fishing reports, with longtime local guide, Capt. Rich Knox , ran several ½ day fishing charters out of Tarpon Springs, Fl. the week of January 30 th to February 5^th, even though we had a quarter moon phase we were able to connect with some real nice Spotted Sea Trout , using a combination of live select shrimp,  pilchards  and artificial lures, we also caught some acrobatic Ladyfish ( POOR MANS TARPON ) on light 8lb. spinning tackle. The fish were more receptive to the live shrimp than any other bait, jig’s worked well also. The tide in the mornings really didn’t get up very high so we were relegated to fishing  deep waters and some good drop-offs of productive inshore flats and river channels. The weather was outstanding, with high temperatures in the mid 70’s the morning lows were in the 50’s, wind breaker weather, as the dry cold ( 50’s F ) heated up quickly, there was a good bite on the outgoing tide in the morning and again after slack beginning of incoming tide the fish began to turn on you had to keep moving catching a few fish per stop. If this winter is any indication of what’s in store for us this spring,  it looks like it will begin early. You should call your favorite fishing  guide, and book a few days of some great inshore flats fishing, there will be a number of great Florida flats fishing opportunities. If your visiting the West Central Gulf Coast of Florida give us a call and lets go on a fishing trip full of MEMORIES we are only a thirty minute drive to our marina near Tarpon Springs if you are in the Tampa Bay area, New Port Richey, Clearwater, Florida Gulf Coast.

ABSOLUTE FLORIDA FLATS FISHING, went on a 1/2 day fishing trip with some long-time fishing friends on Tuesday 1/24/12, the day after the new moon phase, leaving the dock after 8 am. the air temperature was already into the 60′s the water temperature was 65* F, The sun was up a bit with a gentle S.E. wind, flat calm. On our first stop we eased up onto the fishing flat with a good incoming tide in the shallow draft flats fishing skiff by trolling motor,  we observed some real nervous water just south of  our position so we moved the charter boat into casting distance, two good casts in front of the fishes slow moving direction spooked them,  they rushed the boat, right toward us as we looked down the big black backed Spotted Sea Trout numbering 50 some fish in only a foot of water zoomed by us ! We waited a long minute till they settled, we slowly approached, made long cast, and began working the 5″ Berkley jerk-shad toward the fish with the tide, BOOM HUGE SURFACE STRIKE, a big GATOR TROUT, we got the skunk out of the boat ! We worked that school till they got tired of us and spread out with more water on the shallow inshore fishing flat. We continued to try and stay with the tide fishing from Clearwater, Tarpon Springs to New Port Richey almost every flat produced nice Trout and some Red-Fish, time really flew, at the end of and top of the tide 4 1/2 hrs. had gone by, with no moving water and a good sea breeze out of the west holding the tide in, we decided to return to the dock and clean plenty of fish for dinner, turned out to be Bill’s Birthday Gift, what a great day , just beautiful on the Florida Gulf Coast, the temperature when we hit the cleaning table was a balmy 76*, You wouldn’t have known it by Bill’s smile ! ! !  Ha  Ha.

                        YO-YO-WATER TEMPERATURES CHANGING UP AND DOWN

ABSOLUTE FLORIDA FLATS FISHING charters had a good day flats fishing with clients John and Cory  after sitting out for a while due to passing cold fronts, as the morning lows dictate water temperatures, daily lows were below 60* F until Friday, as it was 60* F when we started out on a Spotted Sea Trout  fishing trip from Anclote Village Marina near Tarpon Springs. We headed south to the Clearwater area as the flats were still out of the water leaving Tarpon Springs, caught a beautiful sunrise on our journey south as we left the dock at 7 am. With the tide coming in strong, air temperature was 50* F, with a nice gentle S.E. breeze, it was a brisk wake up call, very refreshing, it warmed up quick, arriving at our first stop fished some deeper areas with ¼ oz. jigs to cover as much ground as possible with a slow retrieve just fast enough to keep the bait imitations from getting snagged. Cory got the skunk out of the boat rather quickly with a nice 2-3 lb. Trout; we tried some live select shrimp which only drew the attention of some very hungry pinfish. The tide was pouring in so I decided to go to nearby inshore fishing flat, we switched up tackle to Mirro-Lure, Mirro-Dine 3/8 oz. and some Berkley Jerk Shads, these baits also allow you to cover ground, with push pole or Motor Guide electric trolling motor on slow to get really shallow, on several backcountry inshore fishing flats we caught and lost some bigger trout in the 4-6 lb. range. Strange enough the flat I was waiting to get on wasn’t as productive as I had hoped, fluctuating water temperatures, always trial and error, JUST FISH, we had a great time on the water, got plenty of sun, and had plenty of fish for dinner it was 74* F on the dock when we returned. The weather has stabilized for now temperatures for the sun coast are forecast to be in the mid to upper 70’s for the next week this will only improve Trout fishing, Red-fishing and more.

                  ABSOLUTE FLORIDA FLATS FISHING, went on a saltwater flats fishing charter on Thursday, January 12th with the Thomas brothers, Clyde from SanFrancisco visiting Gordon who lives here on the west central florida gulf coast in Lecanto, the brothers get together a few times a year and usually do some inshore flats fishing. We left the dock at 8 am. as we were a   few days after the full-moon,I had already caught a few dozen pinfish so we’de have some live bait, and headed south to Clearwater to catch the beginning of the incoming tide, we started out fishing some deeper water drop-offs 1 with a live bait and 2 of us throwing artificial lures so we could cover a good piece of flats fishing at low to incoming tide 3′ to 7′ of water, the 1/4 oz. jigs began the action using a combination of baitfish and shrimp imitations, some nice Spotted  Sea Trout, they were spread out or maybe even moved off us after catching a few, these fish were in the upper teens to 20″. So each spot would yield a few fish then we would have to try other options, the day turned out to be a beautiful day, as the day before we had winds to 35 mph gusts and 1.2″ of well needed rain, but the air  temperature was still 58* F in the morning, at Anclote Village Marina in Tarpon Springs, water temp was  65* F. We fished our way back to the north with a good incoming tide, we switched to Berkley Jerk-shads 7″(weedless) and mirrolure mirro-dine, there was a little to much floating grass so we put up the plugs ! We began to move up and onto the fishing flats-near Tarpon Springs, the sun was up high so you could see real-good, as was the Spotted Sea Trout fishing, we caught our biggest fish to 25″ ,5-6 lb.,at the end of the 1/2  day fishing trip, the temperature was 74* F and the brothers ended up with there limit of trout, tomorrow the reinforcing front will come through with high winds and cooler temperatures,  after which hopefully the nice mild winter we are having here in Florida will contnue and the fishing will heat up again.

        ABSOLUTE FLORIDA FLATS FISHING went on a fishing trip Monday January 9th, after the cold front passed through last week, it took a little bit of time to warm back up into the high 70′s ! We left the dock mid- morning, let the sun drench the inshore saltwater fishing flats, and warm things, the water temperature was 62* F,  and the tide was coming in good with that warm south wind. The water quality was very-good, started out using Berkley 1/4 oz. jigs with small white bait immitations and there 5″, 7″  jerk-shad rigged weedless ( texas style), trying to locate where the Trout fishing was going to be the best, depth of water etc. The majority of the Trout were in 2′ to 5′ of water, some even shallower soaking up the sun at mid-day in potholes along the edges of the fishing flat we were on ! The jerk-shad produced the best as we could work them slower than the jig, there were alot of baitfish on every flat we visited, mostly pinfish and some ( pilchards ) , can’t believe there still in the area, I quess there stuck here for the winter, they will find a warm water refuge, as the gulf water temperatures are even colder than the inshore flats. Red Fish were also in the area, but refused everything we tried they were in the 25″ to 27″ range, it would have been just about fruitless trying a live select shrimp for the pinfish, tried a Berkley Gulp shrimp, they were not interested, there was no shotage of food on any inshore flat. Alot of the fish we encountered were just there for the sun, soaking it up, we hardly spooked them, they just  slowly moved of us. We managed some nice Trout though enough for several great fresh fish dinners.

           ABSOLUTE FLORIDA FLATS FISHING,@ 727-376-8809, reported water temperatures falling 10* F from 70-72* F, to 60-61* F , on the west central Florida gulf coast flats, this week with some very cool morning days, after a cold front blew through the area inshore flats on December 27^th. The conditions kind of put the fish in a confused, lethargic and somewhat a bit of shock, as that is a big change in such a short time. Captain Rich Knox ran fishing trips on Dec. 28^th and the 29^th as his clients really wanted to fish with their families as part of their Christmas vacations!  The Trout fishing , flounder, ladyfish and bluefish seemed to be the most receptive of all the species, that were enjoying the really nice month of December we had, whitebait was scarce but we managed to collect enough for both fishing trips, along with pinfish and grunts, they all worked as the temp’s were still falling ! The fish moved from the shallow flats to the deeper edges and drop-offs, deep-holes and dark bottom residential canals and docks, swash channels on the fishing flats from Clearwater, Caladesi island, Honeymoon island to Tarpon Springs, Anclote key and some channels and canals in the New Port Richey area. The best time to fish was with the mid-morning low-tides, the beginning of incoming from 10am. Till 3pm., this was also the warmest part of the day! The Trout were all in the 18’ to 22” range coming from 5’ to 7’ of water they were spread out,  but this to will change, there were good numbers of these fish along the outer edges of the inshore fishing flat, as the water temps got colder the second day they moved into a little deeper water, until the sun got up good and they began to sun and feed in 3’ of water,  the key is patience. The flounder came mostly from fishing some deeper docks, the Bluefish and Ladyfish locations were givin up by the birds mostly.

                 Today January 1^st opens the start of a new era for now as the trout fishing will be open year round in both the south and north zones, the limits are the same 4 fish in the southern zone with 1 fish over 20” and 5 fish in the northern zone also with 1 fish over 20”. The Spotted Sea Trout measurements are 15” to 20” in all state waters. Inshore flats fishing will just get better as the normal temperatures seemed to have caught up to us finally for the remainder of the winter I suppose. More fish, bigger fish will begin to group up in good numbers to spawn, try not to keep fish over (Trout) 24” if you care about the fishery, as the bigger the fish in the gene pool the better,  these fish will begin to use all the Florida Gulf Coast Flats fishing secret hangouts on incoming fronts and between the fronts (Best  time to Fish),on flats, rivers, bayous, deep-holes on an inshore flat out of the wind, shell bars, channels, residential canals loaded with docks and rocks all the structure you can think of. This time of year it’s usually best to go artificial lures first cover some ground till you find a good number of fish, and use shrimp, pinfish or cut bait in some cases with stubborn fish.  Push-Poling a flats fishing skiff opportunities abound for Fly-Fisherman as the fish Trout, Red fish,  use the shallow gin clear flats to sun and a quick meal, all the above mentioned fish and more! By the end of the year the fish began to feed strongly! On our last few fishing trips although conditions were tough we still managed a good catch for some Great Fresh Fish Meals per adventure and had great fun. The best to you this year and may your rods be bent and your lines tight. HAPPY NEW YEAR  ! ! !

   ABSOLUTE FLORIDA FLATS FISHING went on several flats fishing trips this week with some locals and out of towners seeking Floridas wonderful weather this December.Fishing was up and down like the water temperatures, with our big Trout making the strongest showing. Captain rich had the pleasure of taking out the Fred Pugh family , wife Jeanie, daughters Sarah (left) and Katie on a 1/2 day flats fishing charter , we started the day by netting up a couple hundred scaled sardines and on to some good Spotted Sea Trout fishing ,after which we tried some good red fish flats but to no avail today but had a great time as the southerly breeze and all-day sun provided us with a great day on the water Dec. 23rd .

                                                 Tuesday Capt. rich had Ohioians, Eric and son Tommy Johnson a student at Ohio State, we caught some keeper trout , red fish , ladyfish , and sea bass all on light tackle spinning outfits that made for some great fun and good battles. The forecast for the next week seems to be the same highs inthe mid-70′s to high 70′s and are lows are going to be around 60* F we have been starting our day out in shorts and wind breakers . For some good Florida december fishing call 727-376-8809 and HAPPY HOLIDAYS !  ! !