Fishing with Capt. Mike

Mark fishing for sea trout with Capt. Mike

We woke around 6 and had cold cereal for breakfast. Not knowing what weather conditions would be like today, we opted for something light to be out on the water. Mark had made arrangements with one of his neighbors, Mike Baize, for a private fishing charter in the area around Homosassa. The primary focus of the trip was to familiarize Mark with the area and the techniques for fishing this body of water. Captain Mike was originally from Henderson, Kentucky in the western part of the state but has operated a fishing charter in the Gulf for many years. We met Mike at the Homosassa Public Boat Ramp next to McRae’s. We were out on the water by 8 am. We had used scopolamine ear patches for motion sickness, but the water was very calm so it was doubtful that we would need it.

Mark with a nice redfish

Capt. Mike took us to several rocky points on the many islands of Mason Creek, the Homosassa River and out into the Gulf where sea trout tend to feed. He had us using jerk baits that were soft plastic fish that we cast out and allowed to begin to sink. We would jerk suddenly then allow them to sink. Mark and I caught three sea trout each between 15 and 19 inches and were happy to learn how to fish for them. Later in the morning we moved further out to areas around islands where there is more mud mixed in with the rocky bottom and fished for redfish. The technique for these fish is to cast a shrimp on a lead jig very near the shore. We would feel small pinfish nibbling at the shrimp, but a redfish would come by grabbing the shrimp and, hopefully, getting on the hook. We were allowed one redfish over 20 inches, so when we got our fish we headed back to the dock. Mike filleted our fish as we regained our land legs and watched the pelicans grabbing the heads and bones from the fish. Mike offered to take Mark out to show him some good fishing locations once he got his boat. It was a fun day on the water.

The day's catch of sea trout and redfish

We boated past “Monkey Island,” where a population of monkeys can be seen each year from spring through fall. The monkeys are moved from the island in the winter for their safety.

It was after 2 pm by the time we got back to the house and froze most of the fish.

Mark made some excellent fish chowder with some of the sea trout that we caught. We enjoyed the asparagus on the side as well. We were both very tired from our day on the water, so we had a more relaxed evening and watched a little television before turning in for the night.