Keaton Beach Fishing report May 6 -7 , 2016

Photo Cutline:
0913 Carmen Yawn and Roger Marlow of Lee, Fl. with a true "double" on reds caught on Star Aerial reels and Star Rods.

Keaton Beach Fishing Report May 6-7
This week has seen several "firsts" of the year. First "80 degree" water at day break, First pilchards ( I caught four, Tuesday, on my bait rod) First trout caught on a live pilchard ( a nice 23 inch fish I caught while scouting Tuesday).
Man did we kill it today( Wednesday, May 4th) with 16 trout, four over 20"; with one 24" 4.3 pound sow, four reds, and threw back 8 keeper reds. I had Jimmy Douglas, Wade Spivey and Eric Thomas of Homerville, Ga. out and while we struggled to catch 6 tor on the incoming tide; once the tide broke the north w-i-n-d was then going with the tide instead of neutralizing the tidal current and Bang Bang Bang it was "on". Top 7 trout weighed 20.6 pounds!
We fished with live pinfish, and pink mouth grunts to catch our trout. Jimmy fed one 8" pigfish to a nice 19" trout.
This weekend the tides are perfect with a New Moon on Friday. Fishing will be Great! Can't wait!
Hey, Mark your calendars to fish this years Red Trout Shootout!
The Kevin's Fine Outdoor Gear & Apparel RedTrout Shootout presented by Fresh Country 103.1 The Wolf will take place on May 21, 2016. Entry fee is $75 per angler (up to 4 anglers per boat) if you sign up by May 14. Entry forms can be picked up and dropped off at Kevin's on Capital Circle or you can call Brian Hurley at (850) 528-0553 and he will get you registered over the phone. The Captain's Meeting will be at Gordo's Northside in Tallahassee on Thursday May 19 from 7:30-8:00PM.

As always CASH REWARDS will be paid out to the top 10 teams weighing in the heaviest combined weight of (1) redfish and (1) spotted seatrout.
1st - $2000 - 10th $100
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 29-30, 2016

Photo Cutlines:

0891 Shelby Wilkes with a great red taken on a Thunder-Spin
0912 Carmen Yawn of Lee, Florida with the largest red.
0915 Roger Marlow with a fine flounder caught Tuesday 4/26/16

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 29-30
Wow! Trout, Reds, Flounder, Cobia what more could you ask for? We have been catching Great fish and Limits of Trout and Reds for most of my One More Cast charters this week. Live Pinfish under Back Bay Thunders have taken most of the trout while Assassin five inch shads in Stinky Pink, and Croaker Shad have also taken nice trout.
We caught a bunch of reds on live pinfish; but the best three of the week were taken on Precision Tackle's Thunder-Spin jig spinners with a Cantaloupe Sea Shad tail.
Jud Alexander bested the best red of the week with a 29" brute caught and released which ate the Thunder-Spin Saturday last, while his fishing partners Mark Hawthorne ( who caught a red with 18 spots) and Craig Killen caught multiple reds on Thunder-Spins and live bait under the Back Bay. Mark also had a 2.9 pound flounder which ate a live pinfish under the Back Bay in 4 feet of water.
Sunday, Scott Stinson with his son Sam and Shelby Wilkes had their limit of 15 trot and three reds including a 23" fish Shelby landed on the Thunder-Spin.
Monday, we landed the first keeper cobia of the year, on my boat, when Dale Culpepper beat down a 38" Cobia on ten pound test Trik Fish Game Green line using a Star Aerial 4000 reel on a Star SG817FT76 rod. Took about ten minutes to land after a great run and fight. The ling came out of 6.5 feet of water. Later that same day Dean Harris landed our best trout of the week a 24" trout weighing in at 4.3 pounds while his buddy Doug Hamilton caught the largest red of the day a 23.5" fish both caught on a live pinfish.
Roger Marlow and Carmen Yawn came down from Lee, Florida Tuesday, and had a great day catching a limit of trout and their limit of reds as well as throwing back a few keeper reds. Carmen took top honors on reds with a 24" beast and Roger had a 19+" flounder weighing just over 3 pounds! We fished 4.5 -.5 feet for the trout and 3.5' for the reds late in the tide.
Don't forget the NEW redfish rule, as of May first, only one red per person per day.

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 22-23 2016

angella and Paul Ponder with a true "double" 4/10/16

Keaton Beach Fishing report April 22- 23 2016
I had Ellen Williams from Vermont, on board Monday, and she hooked a 28-30" houndfish and as she had it boatside and I was kidding her about not netting anything that ugly...just as I did go to dip the crazy, frenetic fish out of the water a 45-48" cobia around 35+ pounds came up to the surface trying to eat the dang Houndfish! Well, I starting screaming to Joe, Ellen's husband, "Get your bait over here "hurry . Hurry. HURRY!" Well wouldn't you know it this cobia musta just got off the express from Destin or Texas or where ever; but it obviously didn't remember what a pinfish was 'cause I threw it live ones, dead ones, ones with hooks and ones without and it just stayed under the boat looking for the dang houndfish which I had boated and thrown in the cooler just to keep it from trashing the boat. Finally it just left just as frustrated as we were.... I suppose.
Well, that was the first cobia of the season for me and we caught our first ladyfish this week so Spring has certainly arrived. We had 11 trout for Joe and Ellen with a red and two flounder. we caught them all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 6.5 feet of water. Water temps came back to 73 Monday and 74 Tuesday after dropping back to 66-67 Saturday & Sunday morning.
The Northeaster which beat us up over the weekend cleared all the red and dark water off the hill and the flats are, well really, too clear all the way to Spring creek. You rarely see it this clear this time of year. This made the incoming tide with no breeze tough, Tuesday and after only 4 trout in 6 hours of incoming tide the flop ( start of the falling tide) yielded 11 trout for my crew in under an hour-and-a-half. We caught all of our trout on live pinfish except a couple I caught on Assassin's Sea shads in Stinky Pink and Glow/green tail.
The reds we were catching last week have vamoosed and aren't to be found in this clear water. I guess they went creeking?
I expect some outstanding fishing this weekend if we can get some w-i-n-d like last Saturday, when we had a limit in under two hours fishing time with three over 20" with one 24" Sow. Did I mention it was blowing 18 - 23 knots Saturday.
see you on the water!

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 15 -16 2016

neil cochran of callahan, florida with a nice speck 4/8/16

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 15,16, 2016
We had some great fishing days, some good fishing days and some fine days on the water depending on the direction of the w-i-n-d.
Water temperatures moved around, from 64 degrees early to 70 late when it cooled off, then jumped back to 67-68 degrees in the a.m. to 74-75 in the late afternoons.
The best "trout bite" has been the last hour of the incoming tide, at least this past week. Look for that trend to shift this weekend , as the early mornings will hold the incoming tide so the "bite" may be early...say the first hour-and-a-half of the tide.
We had 12 trout and three reds Monday for Pete Giddens and Kay Willingham of Ocilla, Ga. then I took Andy and Jed Jackson with their friend Chris Menhennett all of Live Oak, Florida out Tuesday, and they caught their limit of 15 trout and 6 reds to 23 inches. We fished live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders each day, while I caught three nice keeper trout on Kopper's Live Target soft shrimp ( glass shrimp pattern) under the Cajun Thunder while fishing in 4 - 5 feet of water Monday.
The trout have preferred the w-i-n-d from the South; but we have had more days with a "West" prescription and on those days look to fish 5 - 6 feet early in the tide and move up in 4 '- 5' later on.
Reds have been here today, gone tomorrow, moving around running from the too-fresh water in the creeks and shifting with the w-i-n-d directions. All ours have come in on live pinfish under Back Bays this week.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 8 -9 2016

Steve wasaki of Valdosta, Ga. with a 4 pound Spanish 4/6/16

Keaton Beach Fishing report April 8 - 9 2016
Trout fishing has been a different adventure every day since Sunday with cold and 20 knot winds... to slick the next day and no drift; then back to a North w-i-n-d which crabbed the boat sideways ( again no drift) back to 20 knots from the East ( today)
We have caught nice trout each day but haven't seen a red since Sunday. The North winds blew all the water out Sunday and I guess the reds scattered 'cause all I had located vamooshed.
We caught 13 trout and a nice red Sunday and 13 trout and a 3 pound flounder Monday then struggled for several trout Tuesday. We had 10 nice trout and three Spanish to 4 pounds Wednesday. We have fished with live pinfish under Back Bays in everywhere from 3.5 feet to 6.5 feet of water. The water temps are running from 66 - 68 in the mornings to 70 - 74 degrees in the afternoons. We have also caught some nice trout on Assassin's five inch shads in Croaker Shad and Ripper and on Sea Shads in P.T. 2000 and Limetreuse Ghost this week.
Jimmy Douglas of Homerville, Ga. was down with two pals and they caught a limit of fifteen trout and had a bunch of keeper throwbacks on Wednesday. Jimmy was fishing with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report April Fool's Day

Heather Tucker with her first-ever redfish

Keaton Beach Fishing report April Fool's Day
Trout have responded well to the warming trend after that last blast of cold and water temps were up to 70-72 degrees the first of this week: so I am sure things will be great for this weekend ( at least after the rain goes through) and the following week ( with a great weather forecast) combined with the new moon coming up on the 7th. Everything just looks spectacular.
We caught a limit of trout for Heather Tucker and Brett Rodgers of up Valdosta, Ga. way Monday. Heather also caught a nice red as well. We fished 4 - 5 feet of water with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders for our trout and I caught several nice trout on Assassin's 5" shads in Clear/Gold, Croaker Shad and Ripper with a 48" leader under an Original Cajun Thunder. The water temperature was up to 71 degrees when we quit late in the afternoon. We caught one Spanish and three Catfish including one SailCat (ugh) but at least they signal the warming up of the flats and the fact that Spring has sprung.
Reds have moved out of the creeks and out onto the bars after all that rain. I had three different reports on Gold Spoons taking redfish over the last week or so. I have caught a few reds on the new Magnum ( Gold) Sleigh too; so now is the time to throw Intruder Spoons in Gold and Copper.
Cal Beanblossom and Mark Casteel of Sylvester, Ga. were down last week and caught their limits of Specks and a few sand trout on Assassin's Sea shads. They got their trout on live shrimp under Cajun Thunders from 4 - 5 feet of water.
 

KeatonBeach Fishing Report March 25-26 2016

Jack Bird of Ole Miss with a great redfsih taken 3/18/16

Keaton Beach fishing report March 25 - 26 2016

Trout fishing was wonderful last week before this current front . I re-scheduled two trips this week rather than fight the w-i-n-d in that howl.
Water temps dropped to 58 degrees as of Monday, down from 74 Friday and Saturday.
We had 17 trout Friday last with 6 keeper reds for Jack , Frank and Bo Bird of Valdosta, way. We threw back 5 more keeper reds mixed in with the trout. We started out in 4 - 5 feet of water on the first of the incoming tide then moved into 3 - 3.5 feet of water to catch our reds and the balance of trout. We fished with live shrimp and pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.
I talked to several folks who had their limits, before this front, both on Saturday and Sunday. I would expect it to start back slowly and so should you; then as the water comes back to the mid 60's we should be right back on track.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report March 18-19 2016

Ted Grumbein of Pennsylvania and Richard Taylor of Perry, Florida with a great board of fish taken 3/14/16

Keaton Beach Fishing Report March 18 -19 2016
The trout have really taken off as of this week with Gulf water temps jumping up from 59 degrees Sunday the 6th; to 74 degrees as of Monday, March 14th.
We had limits on board One More Cast for the last three trips. Billy Pillow and I had ten trout in under 4 hours last Friday catching them all on live shrimp and pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. Saturday I had Joe Sheffield and his son, JoeWilliam, both from Tifton, Ga. out and they caught their limit as well on live shrimp. We also had two trout on Assassin's Stinky Pink 5" shad under a Cajun Thunder Saturday. We fished 4 - 6.5 feet of water both days.
Monday, I had Richard Taylor of Perry, Florida out with Ted Grumbein of Pennsylvania out and we limited out with 15 trout and one red. We had three trout over 20" including a 24" 4.23 pound trout Richard caught. We caught two keepers on Assassin's Elite Shiner ( Albino) under a Cajun Thunder. We fished 3 - 6 feet of water with live pinfish and live shrimp to land the balance of this fine mess of fish.
Kay Willingham and Pete Giddens of Ocilla, Ga. had their limit of trout with two over 20" and a 26" redfish, Monday as well, using live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders from 3 - 5 feet of water.
Sam Shaw and his crew were down from Homerville, Ga. over the weekend and fished a shortened tip due to engine trouble and still landed 13 trout using live shrimp under Back Bays and Cajuns.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report December 18-19 2015

      Bob Swiger ( with the red) and his Pal Tom windram , both of Charlotte Harbor, Fl. ([note the 27Xl BKGCH MirrOdine]

Keaton Beach fishing report December 18 -19 , 2015
Trout fishing continued to be unbelievable as the "muds" continued to be present. Blues seemed to be the impetus for this "stirring up" of the dirt/mud in the water. All my life a "mud" was created by basically two species; Sand trout or Redfish rooting shrimp up off ( or out of the) the bottom. There have been no reds in any of these muds, no shrimp spit up ( no bait spit up of any kind) and only one day did I encounter sand trout and then only two for two hours fishing time?
But in all these muds there were blues present so I am attributing their vigor and aggression as the source of the muds.
On to the fishing. We had limits of trout four days in a row last week including a limit for Bobby Gordon and Thomas Hulett of Macon, Ga. to 19". We fished live shrimp under Back Bays in 3 - 3.5 feet of water to catch these fish.
Friday, I had Tom Windram and his pal, Bob Swiger, of Charlotte Harbor, Florida and we caught a pile of fish including a limit of 15 trout and 3 keeper reds. Tom and I fished artificials all day mostly Assassin's Elite Shiners in Ripper and Mamma's 14 kt Gold flavor, as well as the # 27 XL MirrOdine in the BKGCH pattern which not only landed a slew of trout but caught 2 of the keeper reds as well as over a dozen short reds. Thomas kept the fish happy with live shrimp under the Back Bays and said he hadn't caught that many fish in one day since he could remember when.
Haven't been in the water since this last front, but I expect the hi tides (late afternoon, this weekend) to hold the bite.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report December 11-12, 2015

       Wayne walker of Dunnellon, Fl. with a nice 19" trout caught Tuesday, December 8th

Trout fishing has been Great if you found the dirty water... if not... you didn't have much fun.
We had over 80+ trout Wednesday for Phil Ferris and Terry Wallace of Tallahassee, Fl. with 15 keepers to 18" and we kept three blues to 4.5 pounds. They fished live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 4 feet of water. The breeze would literally create keepers from the same water and when it slicked off all you could catch was shorts.
Tuesday, I had Donna and Wayne Walker of Dunnellon, Fl. out and we landed well over 100 trout kept 15 to 19" and kept a dozen blues for my cats. We probably threw back 30+ blues as well. Donna fished with live shrimp under Back Bays while Wayne and I fished with Assassin 5" Shads in Croaker Shad and Sea Shads in Mamma's 14kt. and Vineyard Eel eels bounced on Assassin 5005 1/16oz. jigheads in Chartreuse. For over an hour it was literally a fish every cast. We fished 4 - 5 feet of water.
Don't know where the reds were or went as we aren't running into them and we didn't have enough water with the Northeast w-i-n-d-s and the negative tides earlier this week. This weekend the tides are higher and some reds should be caught near the larger creeks. I would guess on Gulp and live shrimp.
Keaton Beach marina is closed; so make other launching and fueling plans if you are coming to Keaton.
Update: we also had limits Thursday and Friday details next report

Keaton Beach Fishing Report December 4 - 5 2015

Porter harden of ft. walton beach, Florida with the largest fish of the day! a 21" redfish!

 
Keaton Beach Fishing Report December 4 -5
Well, water temps went back up to over 70 degrees remarkable for the first of December but here we are. It was 81 degrees today!
I took Joyce out Sunday and we left the dock at 1:45 p.m. and at 3:45 we were headed back in with 10 trout and 15 blues. We fished Assassin plastic exclusively. we caught fish on Electric chicken 3.5" Die Dappers, on Cantalope Sea shads, Alewife, on Violet Moon and Croaker Shad 5 inch shads, on Wagasaki Elite Shiners, on Space Guppy Eels, and on Candy Corn split tail shads. We literally caught or missed a fish every cast. The blues were so thick, in the mud we were fishing, that you rarely got two casts with the same plastic. I was using an Assassin 1/8 oz. Elite Shiner jig head on all the styles of plastic. The Space Guppy Eels and the 5" Croaker Shad caught the better trout. The water was 5 - 6 feet deep and the fish were thick as could be in the "mud."
Last week, Wednesday I had Allen Dacus and his grandsons, Lawson Kent of Warner Robins, Ga. and Gavin Sumner of Valdosta, Ga. and we caught a limit of 15 trout from 3.5 - 4 feet of water on live pinfish under Back Bays despite the 15 knot w-i-n-d-s. I can't believe how lucky I am to have two fine young men, again, on my boat. These two cousins had a ball, never had a cross word to say to each other, weren't competitive and generally made it a great day on the water.
Saturday, I had Jared and Porter Harden of Ft. Walton Beach out and we caught 15 trout, then went in to an oyster bar to try for a red and Porter caught a really nice 21" redfish then on the next cast he caught a 3.5 pound Pompano! I realize Pompano aren't rare: but they are for us here in Keaton Beach. This is the 3rd one I have had anyone catch on my One More Cast charters in 25 years! Porter was a good angler and proved it by catching the most fish, the largest fish and a Pompano! He too was a delight to have on the boat.
I got this report from the cleaning station: Taylor and Donna Strickland with Roger Gardner all of Albany, Ga.  "Sunday we had a limit of 15 trout to 20" 7 Spanish Mackerel, with 4 Black Sea Bass and Saturday had 14 trout to 21" with 5 Black Sea Bass." This crew bounced Gulp and fished live pinfish under Cajun Thunders in 4 - 5 feet of water.
Most folks caught fish over the Holiday weekend with tons of shorts caught by those who would not move out of them. Everything is catching fish. Plastics, synthetics, plugs, live bait and cut bait. Now is the time to go as it can't get much better than it is right now.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report November 27-28 2015

Nolen and Clay Jackson with Will Jackson(uncle) Blake Odom and Grandpa "JJ' jackson from Opp, Alabama November 21

Trout fishing couldn't have been any better than last weekend.
Friday, I had Lee Sisson with his Dad, Willard and we caught a limit of trout with one keeper red all from 2.5 - 3.5 feet of water using a 32" leader under our Back Bays on the incoming tide, then moved out to 4 - 5 feet of water and switched to a 48" leader on the falling tide.
The Sissons fished Saturday and Sunday in their boat .
Here are the reports J.W. left me: "11-21 Willard, Lee and J.W. Sisson had 20 trout , 2 reds ad 6 Black sea Bass 10 Trout on Jerkbaits and 10 on live shrimp under Cajun Thunders from 2.9 to 3.5 feet. 11-22 Sunday, Willard, Lee, J.W. Sisson and Russ Thomas had 20 trout, one red 2 blues and 3 black Sea Bass. with 15 on live pinfish under Cajuns and 5 trout on the MirrOdine XL from 2.5 -3.5 feet of water." ( this crew is from Gainesville, Ga.)
Saturday, Ari and Michael Santos of Valdosta, Ga. had their limit of trout with four fine reds two over 26" fishing "south".
Mike and Ron Stanley of Athens, Ga. with Wayne Patterson of Colbert, Ga and Cander Pace, also of Athens, had their limit of trout Saturday with one red; then had a limit again on Sunday. They fished mostly with Gulp and live shrimp under Cajuns.
I had Johnny Jackson of Opp, Alabama down with his (twin 7 year-old) Grandsons Will and Clay and they caught their limit of trout both Saturday and Sunday. We had a blast! We fished live pinfish and shrimp under Back Bay Thunders in 3 - 4.5 feet of water. These two are great anglers and fine young men it was a pleasure to have them on board. Will caught the largest fish off the weekend: an 8lb. Bonita which ate a live shrimp under a Back Bay! It was a fine battle !
The water temps were 69 - 72 degrees Sunday. Then this front came through and dropped the temp to 56 in the canal early Monday morning, then we finished Monday afternoon in 62 degrees, as warm as it got. I had Russ Elkins of Adel, Ga with Jimmy Capps of Tallahassee, Fl. ( both originally of Thomasville, Ga. ) out and we waited 'til around 10:00 a.m. for it to warm up then caught 11 trout on live pinfish under Back Bays in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water. Russ had a 24" 4 lb. trout for the first of the day!
The water temps crashed to 55 degree out on the Gulf, Tuesday according to David Parker down from Columbus and fishing with Johnny Griggs of Phenix City, Alabama. This pair had their limit Tuesday, fishing with Paul Brown Devils; but took 7+ hours to do it and said, "Man it was slow and tough". David said they went 2.5 hours without a hit around the hi tide. The Sisson boat caught one trout Tuesday, with four fishing for over six hours!
Expect the warming trend to help towards the weekend if the w-i-n-d lets us fish? We'll see.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report November 20-21 2015

      John Ferguson, ( an angler to be named later ) and David Farnsworth of Americus, Ga. 11/12/15

Keaton Beach Fishing Report November 20 -21 2015
Well, last week we had a great trip Thursday for John Ferguson and David Farnsworth with a pal ( sorry I forgot his name) all from Americus, Ga. who brought in 17 trout, four black sea bass and nice redfish all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders We fished 2.5 -4.5 ft for our fish. I was dead calm all duirng the incoming tide and was a tough fish. If you couldn't cast 80+ feet you just didn't get a bite. Lucky we were fishing with Trik Fish 10 lb. test Game Green line so we could make the long casts necessary.
Billy Pillow and Wes Blue, both of Perry, FL. had their limit of trout as well on Thursday fishing mostly with live pinfish under Back Bays in 3 - 4 feet of water.
Matt Lorentz also of Perry, Fl. had his limit of trout, Thursday, using live pinfish under Magnum Thunders from 4 - 6 feet of water. Mat likes the Magnum and claims it draws BIGGER Trout to his bait. Well the Magnum Thunder brought in a BIGGER Spanish anyway, as I saw the huge 5+lb mackerel Matt had Thursday.
The w-i-n-d took the trips from me since and while this warm weather is maintaining I would expect great fishing this weekend with water temps in the mid-seventies.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report November 6-7 2015

Coy Crider of Ray City , Ga. with his first-ever redfish!

Well my Birthday is tomorrow November 3rd and used to we had had one frost by now...It's supposed to be 83 degrees tomorrow ....so not too likely we will make it.....the frost that is... The trout were biting and so were the reds this past week and most folks caught some trout and several caught their limit.
I had Danny and his Dad, Coy Crider both of Ray City, Ga. out Thursday and we took home 8 trout and 6 reds. The Criders both caught their first-ever redfish and had a blast learning to hold and cast a spinning rod. Live pinfish under Back Bays were the ticket.
Saturday, I had Danny Aramillo of Valdosta, Ga. with his wife, Traci and son, Jake. We brought back 14 trout and 8 reds to 24" and threw back 4 keeper reds to boot. Traci landed a 23" trout for our top fish. We fished with live pinfish and live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders to land these fish. Our first drift was in less than 2.5 feet of water ( started around 12:30 p.m) lasted over an hour with the SSE w-i-n-d and we had 5 reds and 6 trout in the box when I went to turn around. The balance of our box of fish came from 4 - 4.5 feet of water.
I saw Jack Turner of Ft. Valley, Ga. with his cousin Daryl Mckinney of Anniston, Alabama who had their limit, Saturday, fishing with Assassin 5" shads and 4" Sea Shads rigged up under Cajun Thunders and Equalizers
From David Bosch of Tifton, Ga. "Fished from Tuesday 10/27 to Saturday 10/31 with David Stewart and Chris Norman also from Tifton, GA. Fishing was excellent with limits of trout and reds on most days, and a couple of Spanish. The sea trout were mostly slot fish, with a few 21"- 22" fish and a nice 26" fish thrown in. Reds were in the 19" - 24" range. We picked up most of our fish in 2' - 5' of water with our best success in 3'. We were mostly fishing shrimp and live pinfish, but the 26" trout hit a Gold/clear Catch 2000."

 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report October 30 31 2015

Keaton Beach Fishing report October 30,31 2015
Trout fishing was Great last week as we had 15 trout for Billy Pillow, Wes Blue and me on Thursday. Then I had Jim Bruchey with his son, Kendall both of Moultrie, Ga. out Friday and they had a blast catching 15 trout and 5 reds on live pinfish and shrimp rigged up under Back Bay Thunders. Saturday, I had Bill King and Parrish King of Andalusia, Alabama with John Anderson of Destin, Florida and we brought in 18 trout to 23" , five reds to 26" a Spanish and an Black Sea Bass. We fished 3 - 4.5 feet of water to land our fish. The reds ate shrimp and pins while the trout were caught on live pinfish. We had half our trout on the rise then half on the first two hours of the fall.
Sunday, I took Will King ( Bill's other son) with Blake Lomenick both from Auburn Alabama, and Jared Harden of Ft. Walton, Fla. out and we caught 13 trout and 6 reds all on the incoming tide on live pinfish rigged under Back Bay Thunders.
Wednesday, I had John Ferguson and David Farnsworth of Americus, Ga. on board and we brought in 11 trout and 6 reds fishing with live pinfish and live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders from 3.5 - 4 feet of water...after we ran from the rain and then got a little wet coming back through it.
The unusually high hi tides made it interesting last weekend; but this weekend ought to be easier to figure out with less range of tide to scatter the trout. The afternoon rising tide should hold the best bite but we shall see after the smoke clears.
 

Parish King,  Bill King and John Anderson

Keaton Beach Fishing Report October 23-24

       Kay Willingham of Ocilla, Ga. with a beautiful Red with 16 spots!

Trout were cooperative for most folks before the w-i-n-d started howling so hard you just don't want to go out there.
I had Pete Giddens and Kay Willingham of Ocilla, Ga. out Thursday last, for nine trout, five reds and two Spanish Mackerel while fishing with live pinfish and shrimp under Back Bay Thunders in 2.5 - 3.5 feet of water. Most of the fish ate pins while I think shrimp accounted for four of the fish.
Friday, I took Chuck and his son Chuck (jr.) Layman of Roswell, Ga and we landed 10 trout and 3 reds again with live pins rigged up 32" under Back Bay Thunders. We caught most of our fish in 3 - 4 feet of water.
Saturday, I had Dennis Kight, with Mike Gress and George Brady of Lake City, Florida and we landed 8 trout, two reds, two Spanish and three Black Sea Bass with live pinfish under Back Bays from 3.5 - 4 ft of water.
This report is from Mike Johnson of Macon, Ga.
"Pat, Didn't get with you last week. Had Ricky & Matthew Simmons down from Lizella and my brother Jeff on Saturday. We had our limit of 20 trout Saturday and a limit of 15 Sunday. All on pinfish. This weekend I had Steve Gurley, Ed Hutcheson and Danny Carstarphen down from Macon. Had our limit of 20 trout both days. The slight overcast Sunday morning enabled us to have our limit before 11 am. All these trout were caught on pinfish in 3-5 ft.
Till next time "
Tournament Alert! This WEEKEND!
The Kevin’s Fine Outdoor Gear & Apparel Seatrout Shootout presented by Gordo's will take place Saturday, October 24, 2015. Cash rewards will be paid out to the top 10 teams weighing in the heaviest combined weight of (5) Slot Seatrout (15" - 20") starting at $1,000.oo for first to $100.oo. for 10th place. Teams will also have the option to register for an additional $1000 in bonus money. $250 will be given for each of the following categories. Big Trout, Big Red, Red w/ Most Spots and Luck Of The Draw. With an entry fee of $50.00 per angler (bonus categories are optional) and a Guaranteed cash purse of $5000, you and your crew will want to get registered today! Pre-Registration deadline is Saturday, October 17. This unique inshore fishing tournament allows teams to launch their boat at any boat ramp, fish their favorite holes and then weigh in their catch in at Jerry's Bait & Tackle located at 664 Woodville Highway, Crawfordville, FL.
The tournament Kick Off Party/Captain's Meeting will be held Friday, October 23 at Gordo's Northside and feature live music by the Donovan Chapman Band.
For more information, visit our website at www.seatroutshootout.com or call (850) 528-0553
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report October 16-17 2015

      Kasey Mee of Sebring, Fl. with her first -ever redfish!

Sunday, October 10
Keaton Beach Fishing report October 17-18 2015
Trout were happier this weekend especially when the w-i-n-d was blowing and I had three, Jeff Henderson of Oxford , Ga. with Tim and Dennis Mee of Sebring, Florida on board Saturday and we caught 12 trout and 3 reds on Live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 2.5 -3.5 feet of water. The tide was weird Saturday morning when with little to no breeze we had 2.5 feet of extra water up on the flats. I have no memory of experiencing that before. On the same tide time the next morning there was just over 2 ft less water in on the flats with 8-10 knot North breeze? Very strange?
Sunday, we had Jeff and Tim with his wife Kasey, instead of his Dad and she put it on them catching her first ever and another red then catching her limit of trout and a mackerel. We brought in 12 trout and 3 reds again Sunday.
Lee Crowe was down from Greensboro County Ga. with Chuck Hurst and two others on board and they caught 12 trout and 8 reds Saturday and then had 18 trout and 8 reds Sunday. Lee was fishing with live shrimp under Cajun Thunders with some Gulp and live pinfish thrown in for fun. Lee fished 2.5 -4.5 feet of water.
Sam Shaw his wife and son were down from Homerville , Ga. Monday and had six reds an seven trout on live pins and shrimp under Cajuns and Back Bays from3.4 ft. of water.
Most folks caught some fish over the weekend but man there was a lot of folks out there Saturday. Kind of reminds me of the funniest thing I heard this scallop season.This guy was standing there next to me at the fish/scallop cleaning station on the main canal at Sea Hag at Keaton Beach when I heard him say to his cell phone with it on the "speaker mode" "DUDE, Just take a picture of the shore so I can find where you are and text it to me" Well, his friend out there scalloping said, "Man, You just don't understand, you can't see the blinking shore there are so many boats here that's all you can see...DUDE!
Well, it wasn't quite that bad but every rock or bar you or I have marked or named had a boat on it Saturday.
Tournament Alert!
The Kevin’s Fine Outdoor Gear & Apparel Seatrout Shootout presented by Gordo's will take place Saturday, October 24, 2015. Cash rewards will be paid out to the top 10 teams weighing in the heaviest combined weight of (5) Slot Seatrout (15" - 20") starting at $1,000.oo for first to $100.oo. for 10th place. Teams will also have the option to register for an additional $1000 in bonus money. $250 will be given for each of the following categories. Big Trout, Big Red, Red w/ Most Spots and Luck Of The Draw. With an entry fee of $50.00 per angler (bonus categories are optional) and a Guaranteed cash purse of $5000, you and your crew will want to get registered today! Pre-Registration deadline is Saturday, October 17. This unique inshore fishing tournament allows teams to launch their boat at any boat ramp, fish their favorite holes and then weigh in their catch in at Jerry's Bait & Tackle located at 664 Woodville Highway, Crawfordville, FL.
The tournament Kick Off Party/Captain's Meeting will be held Friday, October 23 at Gordo's Northside and feature live music by the Donovan Chapman Band.
For more information, visit our website at www.seatroutshootout.com or call (850) 528-0553
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report October 10 -11 2015

                                                         Johnny Veasey of Tifton, Ga with one of several reds caught October 7

Keaton Beach Fishing report October 10-11 2015
Trout Fishing has really picked up as water temps dropped down to 71 degrees in the early mornings Tuesday and Wednesday and although they had crept back up to 80 by the afternoons the fish seemed to like it cooling off.
I spoke to several boats Tuesday, who had their limits, or near their limits, of trout while fishing under the overcast skies and most boats had 4 - 5 reds to boot. Baits varied from live shrimp, Gulp, Assassin plastic and live pinfish. Terry Todd of Southern Outdoors magazine fame was one of these boats and they had their limit of trout for three with five reds Tuesday. Terry said they used live shrimp under Cajuns and caught 40+ short trout on the way to his limit.
This report from Sam Shaw of Homerville, Ga. Had a good Saturday morning with 14 trout and three reds Had my boy, Brady and our friend Callie Ragan. Bite was on from 9:00-11:00. Shrimp was the bait.
I had Johnny Veasie and Johnny Simmons of Tifton, Ga out Wednesday with a bluebird sky and very little breeze and yet we had our 15 trout and 6 reds. We caught the trout on live pinfish under Back Bays Thunders and had three reds on live pins under Back Bays, two reds on a Thunder-Spin and one red on a Cajun Sleigh in the new 1/2 oz. size. We caught most of the trout in 3.5 - 4 ft. of water while the reds were in 2.5 - 3.0 ft.
I expect outstanding fishing this weekend if the current cooler weather trend will hold. Rig up Back Bays and Cajuns with 24 - 30" leaders and either live shrimp or pinfish or use a 1/16 oz. jighead and an Assassin Panhandle Moon Sea shad for reds or a Violet Moon 5" shad for trout. The incoming tides will be the best time to go.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report October 2-3 2015

          Mason Smith of Newnan , Ga with his first -ever redfish

Keaton Beach Fishing Report October 2,3 2015
Trout were more unsure of the Super (Mega) Moon we experienced last week as over-high Hi tides kept the water still/stagnant for longer stands over the weekend. The extra water didn't create a "Mega" bite...at least not for the trout. But we had an East w-i-n-d blowing over the incoming tide for four days which didn't help. Trout are beginning to strike plugs but with water temps creeping back up to 82 degrees, they just aren't smashing them yet. If we can hold in the seventies...Look Out!...then the topwater plugging should take off.
I took Mitchell and Mason Smith of Newnan, Ga. out Thursday and we brought back 6 trout and 6 reds. Mason caught his first-ever red ! Then Friday we had 9 trout, two reds a blacktip ( Mason) and a 13" Black Sea Bass. We caught our fish in 2.5 - 3.5 feet of water Thursday, then switched and moved out to 5.5' - 6' Friday for the trout after it slicked off. Mitchell caught six varieties of fish on a Super Spook Junior. ( Trout, Red, Jack, Ladyfish, Sailcat and shark) We caught the rest of our catch on live pinfish under Back Bays.
Sunday, I had Pete Giddens and Kay Dillingham of Ocilla, Ga. and we managed five reds and six trout from 2.5 - 3.5 feet of water. These fish ate live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. Our bite was slow with the too-calm pre-front conditions.
Fish topwater early for the first hour then switch to lipped jerkbaits for the next hour before you pull out your live bait. Our best bite should be on the afternoon incoming tides this weekend, again with live bait under Cajuns and Back Bays.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report- September 12-13

Got back in town from Orlando BRS show late Thursday p.m. just in time to catch bait the next morning for a trip I co-captained for Dave Malone. I had Ben, his wife Christie and their youngest son Ethan Stahl while Dave took Grandpa, Grandma and the oldest grandson. ( sorry I didn't have their names) These good folks were from Columbus, Ga. One of my "hometowns".

Well, We headed for some humps up north and Dave swung in on the north side so I took it up on the southwest side and we proceeded to Teach & learn how to fish with live pinfish. Our first trout , Ethan, was a nice 23.5 inch sow which came out of 5.5 feet of water and ate a 3" pinfish. After photos and high fives they got back at it and Ben said, " I'm Down!" After the mandatory 8 count he grunted and set up on a nice trout and I moved back beside him with the net. The next pattern of events was exciting, surprising and dissapointing all at the same time. I saw the water "hump up" then a massive swirl and just as I was about to yell "Reel faster Ben." suspecting a shark was trying to eat his trout( which turned out to be 18" long) we both saw it together.... a huge mouth, yellow with two fanglike teeth over 8" across smacked the pinfish off the leader in front of the hooked up trout.....and was gone............. Needless to say we both couldn't believe how big a trout we had just seen and of course we can't prove it; but we both figured well over 8 pounds from just the mouth and part of the head which was all we got to see.

They all fished one more bait that drift and I couldn't stand it and said ,"Let's go back through that drift again all the while hoping we would get another chance at "That Trout" Well, you can guess the rest of the story, as we caught another keeper but didn't get a chance and that huge trout. I will be looking for that fish during the Taylor County Fall Trout Tournament next weekend.

We had a tough rest of the day bringing in 6 trout and one keeper redfish. Ethan had a good day as he landed an 18 -20 pound Blacktip shark on ten pound test Trik Fish game green line. Then less than an hour later he hooked and fought down a 6 ft. Bull shark and we whooped it down 'til he could get a good look at it and then I asked Ethan, "Do you want to do this for another hour or so or go ahead and let it go now?" He laughed and so I showed him how to thumb the spool a bit and he broke him off. Ethan took top honors all 'round: the largest trout, he caught the only keeper red, and he landed the largest fish( the blacktip)

We caught all our fish on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders with 4" leaders and stayed in 4 - 5 feet most of the day. The tides will be much better this weekend and the incoming should be your best bet for trout.

HEY, Next Saturday is the 5th annual Taylor County Fall Trout Tournament !
When: Saturday, September 19 from safelight to 3:30 p.m* $30.00 entry fee person
Where: Weigh-ins at Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee
What: Captain's Meeting Friday Sept 18** at Big Bend Properties in Keaton Beach
How much: Trout $1000 for 1st Place (heaviest legal 5 trout stringer)
$500 for 2nd Place
$300 for 3rd Place
What else?: Big Trout $300
Big Redfish $300
Lucky Dog*** $100
* Fish an extra hour ( til 4:30 p.m.) for a $20 fee/boat paid at registration before the tourney begins
** receive .3 lb. bonus for attending Captain's meeting
*** random team ticket picked at weigh-in
For more info contact Capt Ashley Mock 850.843.0566
or Taylor County Chamber of Commerce 850.584.5366