Keaton report June 30 July 1 2017

her best to date! 6.1 28"

1803 Dawn Taylor of Perry, Florida with a 27" 6.1 pound trout 6/22/17

1818 Joe Claborn of Tallahassee with a keeper cobia caught on ten pound test 6/27/17

Keaton report June 30 - July 1 2017

Last week, on Thursday, I took Dawn and Richard Taylor out and we had a "chamber of commerce" day ( Dawn runs the Taylor County Chamber of Commerce) We brought back 10 trout and two reds with Dawn taking top honors by landing her largest trout to date, and the largest trout of the year on board One More Cast, a 27+" long trout weighing in at 6.1 pounds! She caught the trout 2 hours after the Hi tide while we were "red fishing" in 3 - 3.5 feet of 88 degree water. Yes, she caught it on a live pinfish under a Back Bay Thunder.

We had 14 trout and three reds for Jim, Zach and Kendall Bruchey of Moultrie, Ga. also last week. The Brucheys fished in 4.5 ft. to land most of the trout and 3' - 3.5' for the reds on top of the tide.

Tuesday, of this week I took Joe Claborn of Tallahassee, with his brother, Major and nephew, Travis, from Benton, Arkansas out and they had a great trip despite some lousy weather which shortened our trip. We brought back 10 trout with two over 20" and two reds to 26" and Joe capped off the day in the pouring rain by landing a keeper cobia on the trout tackle. His 40" ling ate a live pinfish in 3 feet of water while we were seeking reds. Heck of a fight!

Scallopers need to go south, from all report I heard they are finding the little molluscs below Grassy Isle. Nothing this side of Piney Point according to the locals in the know.

All I got ..except to say, Fly Your Dive Flags It's the LAW!

KeatonReport July 14-15 2017

1837 Just one of a limit of trout caught by John Ackert( 83 y.o.) with his son Andrew, both of Tallahassee, on July 9th

From the Burgers

Susan Burger

"0618 Susan Burger of Live Oak Nice Red!

0616 Chris Burger of Live Oak with a nice trout"
 

chris burger

Keaton Report July 14 -15 2017
 

We have had some fantastic fishing this week! We had limits on three out of four trips this week, while the off-day was due to lack of breeze. Water temperatures are running 88 - 90 degrees yet trout are still biting as we have been catching great limits of trout and reds this past week. The stronger incoming tides on the Full moon held a great bite and we brought in limits including our one-per-person of trout over 20" long to boot.

Sunday, I took John Ackert and his son Andrew out on a trip we had cancelled and re-scheduled four times in order to finally get them out there. They had a Great trip with 15 trout all caught on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. John is 83 years old and out fished both Andrew and me! The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful day on the water. We fished live pinfish under Back Bays and Andrew counted out 7 species of fish we caught Bonnet Shark , Atlantic Sharpnose, Ladyfish, Spanish, Gafftop Sailcat, Jack Crevalle, and Speckled Trout.

We saw Tarpon this week and some were monsters near 200 lbs. one less than 10 feet from the boat as big as any I have seen in 28 years of guiding at Keaton; but it wanted a trout not a pinfish? Oh well we tried.

Saturday, I took Christopher and Susan Burger of Live Oak, Florida out for their first-ever trip out on the Gulf and they had a blast catching their limit of trout and reds. We fished with live pinfish under Back Bays again ...of course! The trout off 3.5 -4.5 feet of water as were the reds.

Some folks think it is too hot to catch fish.....hardly.

For the last four trips we have hardly seen a boat. Man do I love scallop season!

Speaking of which... Fly Your Dive Flags! It's the LAW!

Keaton Report June 23- 24 3017

1775 Matt Williams of Dallas, Ga with a nice redfish.

Harry Dorseynice trout

1785 Harry Dorsey of Albany, Ga. with a fine trout

larry Sculley of Albany

1788 Larry Sculley of Albany with a redfish caught 6/14/17
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report 6/23.24/17
 

Trout and reds continue to please when there is a breeze. Water temps are down a few degrees after this latest round of rains which will help the bite on both species.

We had 12 trout and 3 reds last week for Harry Dorsey, Larry Sculley and Melvin (their buddy to have a last name later) of Albany, Ga.

We caught all our fish on live pinfish rigged up 34" under Back Bay Thunders from 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water. Our best bite was the first hour of the incoming and the very last hour of the same, as the water was slowing to the stand.

Thursday, I had Danny, Jake and Jude Jaramillo of Valdosta and we landed 11 trout and two reds, again on live pinfish under Back Bays and several of our better trout, including two over 20" came in on the stand of the tide and the first hour of the flop.

Better tides this weekend with higher ranges should improve the bite for trout and reds. Morning lows will at least make the anglers happy an should produce a little topwater bite for an hour or so if you can find a clear spot to toss a treble hook.
 

Scallopers will be out in force I imagine, so watch out for divers in the water. FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS It's the Law!

Keaton Report June 13 -14 2017

Keaton Report June 16-17 2017
 

Trout were tough on the slick early mornings Friday and Saturday; then on Saturday, when the w-i-n-d got up a bit we managed 10 trout with three over 20" including a 26" trout weighing 4.28 ( according to the FWCC who weighed it at the dock while doing a survey) and a 25" trout which weighed 4.14 lbs. We also landed 5 keeper reds keeping 3 of course, to 24" I had Steven Cook and Matt Williams of Dallas, Ga. on the boat Saturday and we used live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders to land our fish from 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
 

Don't really have much else as the weather took two more days I was to fish away from me.

Scalloping will be the rage any how, so ya'll be careful out there and Remember to FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS! It's the Law

Keaton Report June 3 -4 2017

Photo Cutline :

Jim Hardegree with a "Slob"

1727 Jim Hardegree of McDonough, Ga. with a 4.6 lb slob 23.5" 5/26/17
 

Keaton Report June 3-4 2017
 

Flats fishing will take a back seat to Snapper Fishing as the HOLY HOLDERS OF THE HORSE HOCKEY (Feds) saw fit to grant us low life sorry good for nuthin' recreational anglers a lousy three days to catch Red Snapper...ohthanksabunchfornuthin' Oh and if you are ever wondering why you can order red snapper from the menu of all the chain seafood rests. then you now understand who gets to catch red snapper anytime they want to. They just can't have us out there messing it up for the commercial harvest.

Trout fishing has been "off the chain" as we have caught some of the heaviest stringers of the year this past week right into the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, We had 29 trout with three over 20" . Friday was the day though as I took Jim and Doug Hardegree of McDonough ,Ga. out with their buddy Neiman Kopher of St. Simons Ga. and we caught four trout over 21" two which were over 24". We had to throw back two more over 21" long and still brought back 17 trout and three reds to 25"

We caught all our fish on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 5.5 ft. of water. We pinned up with my WANG on a small bar to catch the reds and threw back three more short reds.

The early morning incoming tides should make for some good fishing this weekend and while the floating grass is everywhere, you might slip up on a fish or two with a plug late in the afternoons on the falling tide. We continue to catch reds on Intruder II Hex Copper and Cajun Copper spoons when the grass will let us fish them.

1689 Slade Williams of Dallus, Ga. with a great 23.5" trout taken 5/13/17
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report May 19 - 20 2017
 

Water temperatures have moved back up to 81+ degrees as of mid-week and trout have responded nicely as evidenced by our 15 trout Tuesday with 3 over 20" for Laura and Aaron Gavronsky of St. Augustine, Fl. We caught fish on almost every cast for over 3 hours with plenty of shorts and catfish mixed in with the trout. Laura caught a keeper redfish and had one around 24" follow her hooked trout to the boat several casts earlier in the drift. We caught this nice box of trout from waters 3.5 - 4.5 feet deep on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. We started at 12:00 noon and our bite was on as soon as we stopped the first time. The Southwest w-i-n-d combined with the incoming tide was the key to our success.

This report from Dave Bosch of Tifton, Ga. who fished all week from Sunday May 7 to Saturday May 13 with his pal Bil Gburek of North Carolina, Peng Chee of Tifton,Ga. joined them for two days and another friend (sorry I don't have his name) fished with them Friday. They had their limits each day and caught at least one red each day; then three reds when Peng was down and released 7 on one of those days. The reds have been out away from the rocks and bars and hitting on the first hour of the falling tide.

"We had some very good fishing most days once the wind started to pick up. We caught some very nice trout and some solid reds to go with it. Not the 28" trout we'd all like to catch, but some solid 20"+ fish. We caught the majority of our trout in 4.5 - 5' and had our best bites on the beginning of the fall, but that may have been because that's when the wind got up and the water had warmed. We had some exceptional trout fishing on Saturday during the blow. While we tried a wide variety of artificials that will typically pick up fish in May, nothing beat the real thing. ( live pinfish under Cajuns)

Report May17,18 2017

Keaton report May 12,13,

Chris Chason

1661 Chris Chason of Destin, Fl. 21" trout

1666 Joey Chason of Perry, Florida 29" red
 

Joey Chason

Keaton Report May 12-13 2017
 

Trout have rebounded nicely despite the Gale force w-i-n-d-s Friday and the drastic 19 degree drop in the water temperature to 61 degrees Saturday morning; down from 80 degrees last Wednesday. We had nice boxes of trout Monday and Tuesday.

The Heavily stained tannic "red" water extends all the way south of Jabo but most of this water is fishable. The better bite seems to be coming from the outside edge of this stain which has been pinned against the bank for the last week due to the afternoon Southwest breeze.

The reds don't seem to mind the darker water close to the hill as evidenced by the 25" red we had on an Intruder II Copper Hex spoon only to lose it boat side. This redfish ate the spoon 50 yds from the grass line. Less than and hour later Joey Chason, from Perry caught and released a 29" red about a 1./4 mile from the hill on a live pinfish rigged under a Back Bay Thunder. Joey , his brother Chris, over from Destin, and his Dad, Gary also of Perry, Fl. brought in 17 trout with three over 20" and a nice Spanish.

Tuesday, I had John and Clint Burkhalter of Macon , Ga. out and we landed 13 trout with 3 over 20" long and a nice flounder despite over 4 hours with no breeze and the tide our only drift maker. We fished live pinfish under Back Bays in 4.5 - 5.5 ft for these fish.

2017

Cutline:

1618 B.K.Ison of Valdosta with a nice 25"  5lb. trout

Keaton report May 5-6 2017

Trout are doing well despite the silty water from Monday's Blow. Fished Rick and Dawn Prietz of Marianna, Fl. on the short tide ( only had 1.2 ft. of range) Tuesday and had 9 nice trout with three over 20" . The sailcats were a plague but after all with only 2 inches of water movement an hour and silt in the water.... well that's "Catfish Heaven" oh did I mention it was too calm most of the afternoon. We also managed two nice reds 24" & 25 " long. We caught all our fish on live pinfish rigged under a Back Bay Thunder with the reds coming from less than 3 ft. of water while the trout wanted at least 4 feet over them to bite.

Hey, Don't forget This Saturday is the 26th annual Perry Optimist Club Saltwater Fishng Tournament with three weigh-in sites: Sea Hag, Steinhatchee; across from the ramp , Keaton Beach and Econfina River Resort , you guessed it. Prizes Galore! over $15,000 worth including Largest Trout $3,000 Largest Redfish $1,000 Largest Cobia $500. Entry Fee $50.00 per person For complete info call 850-843-0578 or go to www.optimistclubperryfl.com

port May 5,6 2017

keaton report April 28-29/2017

Photo cutline:

Tin blanton

1603 Tim Blanton of Madison, Florida with a fine trout

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 28/29 2017

Trout were doing well last week, as Saturday, Herschel, Wes and Tucker Daniels of Valdosta,Ga. (Grandpa, Dad and son /grandson) took home 14 trout and two reds, then Sunday I had my best trip of the year with 15 trout weighing 31.2 pounds for B.K. Ison of Horizon R.V. fame in Valdosta, Ga. and his wife Cathy. We had our 3 over 20" while B.K took top honors with a 25" trout weighing 5 pounds! A marvelous day of fishing!

Monday, in a shortened 3-hour trip Bill and Ruth Camp ( former property owners at Keaton Beach) of North Georgia had 8 trout and two reds with two trout over 20". We fished in 4.5 feet in 15- 20 knots as the front passed.

report from David Bosch of Tifton:

"Fished Saturday with the Chee family. Had a good time until it was time to load up. {it was so crowded due to the number of folks who went fishing Saturday it took over an hour to get the boat on the trailer} We wound up with a limit of trout, most caught in the afternoon on the falling tide when the wind was at its peak. We had our best success in 5' to 5.5'. Calvin did well on jigs, the rest of us fished pinfish under Cajuns."

Tuesday, I took Bert Deener of Waycross,Ga. out and we struggled to catch five trout, a flounder and a Black Sea Bass we caught three trout on plugs; Two on a Top Pup and one on a Renegade. The other two ate pinfish under Back Bays as did the flounder and the BSB.

Keaton Report April 21,22/2017

Photo Cutlines:

hannah Hornsby

Hannah Hornsby of Thomasville, Ga. with a nice redfish 4/15/17

Keaton Report

I was thinking of dropping the word "fishing" in front of report since they are all fishing reports?

Anyway the trout are improving depending on where you are and when you are there. Sounds confusingly simple I know, but on a tip from Bo Lester of Adel, Ga. of Possum Navy fame , who caught his limit the last three days staying at Keaton Beach; I decided to take Capt. Dave Malone down to where Bo had said he got his five trout in under two hours this a.m.( Wednesday 4/19/17) Sure glad we did as David put three trout to 19" in the boat in under :30 then when the tide laid flat he helped me catch pinfish, which I was doing the whole time he was catching trout. Dave was using his own 5/0, 1/8 oz. jighead with a discontinued Edge Bait in a color he doctored up to look like nothing you or I have ever seen; much less have the trout seen it and they just thought it was Great! After an hour or so of catching pinfish Capt. Dave picked up his rod again and on four casts had four keepers . Well, I couldn't stand that; so I stood up and on my second cast caught one 22" long. That put the fire out and ten minutes later we came in with 7 trout.

Monday, I had Michael and his Dad Mike Downing of Madison, Fl. out and we brought in 12 keeper trout. a huge 5 pound Spanish for Michael, three Black Sea Bass and a redfish all caught on live pinfish rigged up 34" under a Back Bay Thunder. We fished 5.5 - 6.5 feet of water to land this nice box of fish.

We had four fish on one drift and three on three more drifts...something that has been rare this year so far, so I would say the trout are on the upswing with much less work providing more results.

Redfish continue to be elusive with less caught than in many an April that I recall. Rumors have more reds south this year than north of Keaton...? Maybe less pressure on the reds down there?

Ladyfish and Bluefish have swarmed up on the deeper flats this week; while I caught my first Pilchard and my first Bluerunner while catching bait. Two sure signs of Spring.

Keaton report April 14-15 2017

ken baldree of ADEL, GEORGIA WITH HIS FIRST-EVER REDFISH

Keaton Beach Fishing report April 14 -15 2017

Trout have recovered considerably since the howling w-i-n-d and cold of last weekend. The water temperature is back up to 72 degrees after plunging to 62-63 degrees Saturday morning last. Folks are catching trout in 6 - 8 ft of water due to a couple of changes in the system. First, the rain we had ( 3-9 inches depending on where you were in the county) has flushed a lot of fish out away from the hill. Even reds are out on the outside bars away from the creek mouths. Secondly, I think maybe the trout thought we were having winter again and moved out to not only get away from the too fresh water, but to escape the cold.

I any event they are catching more in over 6 ft. than shallower. Bouncing grubs like Brad and Judy Denman of Thomasville, Ga. did Wednesday, yielded a limit of nice trout to 21" and Brad fought a 60+ pound cobia for 15 minutes only to have his trout leader break. Speaking of cobia we had our first keeper of the year, Sunday for Ken Parsons of Valdosta, Ga. on ten pound test Trik Fish line. It was Ken's first ever cobia.

My One More Cast charters have caught nice fish including 10 Trout, three Reds and five black Sea Bass, Wednesday, for Chuck May of Lake Park and his son-in-law Ken Baldree of Adel, Ga. We caught our trout on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.

Don't forget the 8TH ANNUAL Special Olympics Tourney this weekend at Keaton Beach. $30 per angler. Prizes include red-trout slam $1,000; Biggest red and Biggest trout $500 first place; second biggest $250 each. most spot on a red $150; largest shiner $50 (KIDS UNDER 12 fish free) Weigh-in at Keaton Beach Ramp 5:00 p.m. Saturday, April 15 Contact Sgt. Lin Gray for more information at 850-584-5121

Keaton Report April 7-8 2017

KBF report 4.7-8/17

Careful what you wish for.....been wanting some color in the water for over a month and it appears it will all come in a fell swoop, what with 3 - 9 inches of rain, depending on where in the county you were combined with this week's b-l-o-w of Northwesters ( forecast to kick 30 knots in the teeth tonite Wednesday) should produce all the "color" we might shouldn't have asked for.

Well, on the proviso that all that happens.... it should be easy to predict what to do this weekend....One, find the color of water that you think the trout can actually find your bait in. In other words rig your favorite Assassin soft plastic or Gulp on a light, say 1/16oz. jighead, then tie that 2 - 3 feet under an Original Cajun Thunder. ( you will most likely need the noise, and need to hold it still for the trout to find it) O.K. now ease it in the water next to the boat and if you can't see your bait ...move the boat! Then drift from the "right" color to "too much" color and expect your bite to be in between. YOU will be moving pretty fast ( NOAA says) 'til Sunday anyway.

We had been catching plenty of trout and reds on live pinfish rigged 32" under our Back Bay Thunders until this blow hit and will keep trying it the rest of the week. Don't be surprised if artificials or cut bait outshine live pinfish in w-i-n-d-s over 20 knots. That is my experience, as many times there just isn't enough light for the pinfish to "flash" his bling. when it is blowing 20+ Knots! Assassins 5"shads in Alewife, White or Limetreuse will be my color choices as I doubt the rest of them will be seen in 20 knots. The belly side of a pinfish strip ( "shiner tails" the locals call them) will be HOT if there are ballyhoo present. Don't spend much time in any one place as if it's on it will be ON move till you hit it. BIG trout love this kind of weather as do I.

Our One More Cast trout had been in 3 - 3.5 feet for the last two weeks while the reds were caught in less than 2.5 ft. and ate live pinfish right on.

Jonathon Sisson was down this week with his wife and they have caught a limit of trout, three trips in a row, when I last heard from him. Jonathon caught his trout on a MirrOdine and a hard jerkbait.

This report is from David Bosch of Tifton, "Fished with Peng and Calvin (Chee) from Tifton and Max Frazier from Minnesota on the 2nd. Finished with a limit of trout, a couple of sea bass and a Spanish. We caught our fish on a combination of jigs/plastics and pin fish under Cajuns. We had our best success in 5.5 - 4.5' on the rising tide in the afternoon. Until the wind came up it was pretty tough. Managed a couple in the 20" range, but most were just legal. Calvin loves to use a white curly tail grub that is actually made for bass. But he always catches fish on it. He's a fishing machine. I tried an assortment of colors but the only one I had success on was the 'large paddle tail' Elite shiner that I believe I got from you." sorry, Don't know what color that was folks; but when I do they will be shifted to another one.

keaton report march 24-25 2017

Keaton Beach Report

According to Seth Parker, whom I saw in the canal at Keaton, the trout bite was back with nice fish over 20" taking plugs in shallow water. Seth also reported catching a nice 17" flounder on a Cordell Redfin. Water temps in the open Gulf were back up to 70-71 degrees as of Tuesday, so this weekend should hold some fantastic fishing with a little breeze added to the mix.

Expect to land trout in 3 - 5 ft. depths on live pinfish and live shrimp rigged up under Back Bay Thunders. I would also throw hard jerkbaits in 1 - 3 feet of water for fewer strikes but larger trout according to several reports. Reds have been either ridiculous with large schools of hundreds of reds spotted down south or spotty and scattered up North. Go figure. This weekend should tell the tale with the water temps up and good tides the

Steinhatchee's 16th annual Community Tournament should have record attendance and plenty of fish caught with the current weather trends.

$ 30.00 entry fee and you have $700, $400 and $250 for top three places in Trout and Redfish. call Sea Hag for more information at 352.498.3008

keaton report March 17-18 2017

Keaton Beach Report 3.17.17

Just when you thought it was safe to go back out on the water and "One Last COLD Front" dropped the Gulf water temps back closer to 50 than 70 degrees where they were five days ago. Dang, our trout at Keaton Beach were just starting to respond to the warmer water temps and take plugs on the surface or hard jerkbaits just under the surface like the three I caught Friday in under an hour (missed three or they missed me) then had one around five pounds hit 20 feet from the boat and I snatched it away from him on reaction. It was blowing 18 knots; then suddenly laid back to around 10 knots and my plug bite was over. I was fishing in 3.0 > 3.5 feet of water.

Spoke to quite a few folks who had a great day, Friday last, with limits of trout for several boats who fished the entire day. I don't expect this weekend to be any fun whatsoever. As of today, Wednesday water temps are around 53 with two more nights of "cold" coming for us. Hard freeze Thursday will likely take all the taste out of their mouths, for trout on the flats, for a few days.

If you have to go I'd guess you could try for a redfish back in the creeks some where. I would have to think live, dead or synthetic bait would be best. IN other words....glorified cat fishing.....may take a few redfish this weekend.

Speaking of reds, I had some boys from Homerville and Pearson, Ga. out with me last Thursday and although the trout just didn't want much to do with us, Phillip Cook caught a 50" , right, fifty inch redfish on a live pinfish under a Back Bay Thunder. Took over 14 minutes to land it as he just didn't want to come near the boat. Swam off, after pictures, still angry

One good thing about this latest weather is maybe the rain we had in front of the front will help add a little stain in the water near larger creek mouths. Also this W-I-N-D event may have stirred up some some debris in the water. Now, if it will just warm back up in time to take advantage of some added "color" in the water,.

March 10-11 2017 report

Keaton Beach Fishing Report March 10,11 2017

Trout are trying to come back into their own after taking an 11 degree hit (drop) in water temperature in four days.

Biggest problem is the lack of w-i-n-d . Billy Pillow and I fished for five hours in slick conditions to land only 4 keeper trout 2 ( Billy ) on a hard jerkbait, and I had one on a live shrimp under a Back Bay and one on an Assassin five inch shad in the Limetreuse Ghost pattern. These fish were close in around the rocks and bars less than 300 yds. from the grass line and came in on the incoming tide. When the tide flipped I pulled out into 5 - 6 feet and caught a dozen shorts on mostly 5" Limetreuse Ghost bounced on a 1/8 oz. jighead, with a few on the Electric Shad Elite Shiner. No keepers mixed in with that crowd I'm afraid.

Wednesday, I took Bob and Ginny Vose of North Carolina out and we managed 8 keeper trout to 21 inches ( Ginny) on live pinfish and live shrimp under a Back Bay Thunder. Bob took the larger of two reds, we kept, on a lipped hard jerkbait. All of these fish were in less than 3 feet of water. There was no breeze for the entire incoming tide; and Man is the water clear or what? I can't remember it ever being this clear in March all the way to Big Spring Creek. Tough with no breeze, a mile-high sky and super clear water.

Hoping for a breeze and some rain this weekend to stir things up....Tides are improving with the full moon on Sunday. Water temps were back up to 69 degrees, Wednesday late, after hitting 60 degrees early Tuesday morning and down from a 72 degree hi last week.

Keaton Report March 3, 4 2017

Keaton Beach Fishing report March 3, 4 2017

Billy Pillow, David Malone and I went Friday in the 20 Knot North w-i-n-d-s and Dave and I watched Billy catch all the trout ( on live shrimp under a Back Bay) while the tide was coming in. He was 3 for 3 on the first three casts! Dave caught a nice keeper on Assassin's New Salty Snack ,again on the "brown bomber" pattern ( pumpkinseed green tail) I believe they call it. I threw 25 -30 plugs, soft plugs and plastic while Billy continued to catch fish until he had 8 and a 4 pound Spanish { yep in February in 66 degree water?} and Dave, one trout.

Well the tide shifted and finally started out and I caught three trout, all short, on a Catch 2000 then decided to catch some pinfish and Billy swapped three for three trout with two keepers , then Capt.. Dave caught a nice keeper on a pinfish. Well I put three baits out and caught three trout; a keeper and two shorts and we had our limit so we came in. The incoming fish were in 3.0 > 3.5 ft. while the outgoing bite was deeper with 4.0 - 4.5 ft serving up the trout.

Had a great time at Bass Pro Shops over the weekend. A Great Big "Thanks" and a shout-out to all my friends who came out to see me and to all my new friends who also came by.

Keaton Report February 24, 25 2017

Keaton Beach Fishing report February 24, 25, 2017

Trout Fishing has been on again, off again; depending on which day you went and what time you fished.

Capt. Dave Malone, Billy Pillow and I went last Friday and caught nothing for three hours, then in an hour and 15 minutes landed five keepers to 21" on a variety of soft plugs. Billy had two keepers on the Paul Brown Devil in a couple of colors, then Capt. Dave caught two on Assassin's New Salty Snacks in the "Brown Bomber" color and I had top honors this trip with a 21" trout caught on the Soft-Dine in the 09 pattern.

We threw all sorts of hard plugs, Bite-A-Baits, Renegades, Cordell Redfins, Catch 2000's, Catch Juniors, and MirrOdines in 2 - 3 feet of water earlier in the day only to find our bite later, on top of the Hi tide, in 4.0' > 3.5' of water. Couldn't say why they were waiting until then to bite; but that was when it was going on.

It took a 4.5 pound trout from David Crews of Perry, Fl. to win the largest Trout in Fiddler Crab Tournament Saturday in Steinhatchee. A little mouse said the top fish came from up Keaton Beach way, up close on the grass line. Sorry, I don't have the full results?

Heard that it was tough for several guides for several days running out of Steinhatchee and if you looked at the tides last week it's no wonder.

This weekend holds a better range with over a four foot swing in the lo to hi tides so there should be a much better "bite" with the better flow of water surrounding the New Moon of this weekend.

Hey, if you can't go fishing, at least swing by the Bass Pro Shops in Tallahassee and attend my FREE Seminar "Fishing the Flats with Artificials" at 1:30 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday the 25th and 26th of February. Learn How To properly Rig your Jig , Pop your Thunder, Jerk your Jerkbait, and Walk the Dog with your Stick bait, among a hundred other tips and tricks I'll be teaching this weekend at the Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic Sale. I be manning a table for Saltwater Assassin all day, so come by and see me and Let's talk Fishing!

keaton beach report February 17, 18 2017

Keaton Beach Fishing Report February 17-18 2017

Hey, not much going on but the w-i-n-d ...I did talk to Capt. Dave Malone who fished a couple hours, Tuesday, and landed three nice trout to 18" on Assassin's NEW Salty Snack in the Pink Ghost pattern. Dave said he found a little stain and was in 3 - 3.5 feet of water.

I just don't have any other reports except to say the tides are dismal this weekend at Keaton with less than a foot of range and that on a falling tide..Yikes

Mark Your calendars, and better yet; come to see me, Next weekend in Tallahassee, at Bass Pro Shops, 1:30 pm. each day Saturday and Sunday, February 25th and 26th; during their Spring Classic Sale. I'll be giving a free seminar on Trout and Redfish on Artificials. I will field questions from the audience as well as solve most of the mysteries as to why most folks can't or don't do so well when fishing plugs, and plastic for trout and reds. I'll discuss jigs, spoons, jig spinners, stickbaits, hard jerkbaits, soft jerkbaits, suspending hard and soft plugs and How-To's on subjects you can't imagine. See you there!

Keaton Beach Fishing Report February 11-12 2017

Keaton Beach Fishing report February 8, 2017

Well, I haven't been, watching the w-i-n-d blow here lately; bottom-painted the boat this week, among other winter chores; but reports have run from fair to poor depending on who you talk to. A couple of anglers went to Warrior and came back fishless, two others went to Aucilla and got them in the creeks.

The reports from Keaton have been slow in the w-i-n-d of late; with a few fish being caught mostly shorts from near the creek mouths while a few nice reds have come off the bars up toward Yates. Gulp has taken a few reds while Softdines, Paul Brown Devils and MirrOdines have taken trout over the last two weeks.

If the w-i-n-d lays down I would think some sheepshead might be on the Steinhatchee Reef in February; but I haven't had a report on that yet.
 

Hey, I will be doing a "Flats Fishing with Artificials" seminar at 1:30 p.m. both days Saturday and Sunday of the Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic Sale coming up on February 25 & 26 2017 at the Bass Pro Shops in Tallahassee: 4059 Lagniappe Way. Plenty of Deals with Sales on items throughout the store. Call 850.402 8569 for more info,

Keaton report November 18-19 2016

Lee crowe with a nice red taken 11/13/16

Chuck Hurst with a fine trout taken 11/13/16

Keaton beach fishing report Nov. 18 -19 2016
We have managed to catch fish for the past 5 days ( today is wed 11/16/16) despite the lack of breeze early in the a.m. the last three days. The water is very clear and clear all the way past Big Spring creek so there is little change in color to provide cover for the trout when it is slick. This had made for slow mornings.
We had 14 reds ( kept 4) and threw back the balance including two over 24" long Sunday for Chuck Hurst, Jeff Henderson and Billy Johnson of Bogart, Ga. We also had 10 trout, three flounder a Spanish and a couple of BSB. We used live pinfish and live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders to land our fish. Most of the bite for trout was in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water. The falling tide made the most trout and we had no breeze whatsoever on the incoming tide.
Took Wayne and Donna Walker of Dunnellon, Fl. out Wednesday( today) and we managed 10 trout and two reds with a 25" trout for Wayne. Our trout were in 3.5 - 4.5 ft. of water on the incoming tide. The reds ate in 2.5 ft. on top of the tide change. Pinfish under Back Bays continue to be the ticket.