Capt. Tom Stephens Sr.

 January 2012

January is here and yet it was 80 degrees today.  How much better could it be?  Fishing however has been on and off.  We have been catching some nice pompano lately and some sharks, ladyfish, trout and redfish.  This time of the year is always slow from the number of trips we have but the fishing can be really good.  The pompano have been a pleasant surprise due to the fact they are illegally netted and sold to the fish markets.  This year the netters have been too busy mullet roe from the female mullet and dumping all the dead males all over the place.  What a waste!!

My son and I have taken the Shallow water boat out a couple of times and have had a fun time.  We have caught lots of big trout, redfish, and one day I caught about 15 flounder.  All were caught on artificials and all released.

One of my long time clients I had in North Florida (Dave Lapoli) came down to fish with me one day with his two sons Jerett and Hunter and one of their friends, Mitchell.  We got on some redfish that were biting really fast.  I don’t know how many we caught but it was one after the other.  It was great fun.

Another trip was with the   family-Adam, Robbie, Laura and the two girls, Ally and Paula.  The two girls really didn’t want to go because it was cold!!   However after about 9 sharks everyone was warmed up.  We got some nice trout and spanish macs but the sharks were the star of the show.  They were all bonnet-head sharks about 2-3 feet long.  I hope I got the names under the right picture!

Another trip with a family was the Donovan family.  The only picture was of course the best looking one-Lia.  We caught sharks, ladyfish, spanish and trout.

Last but not least was a Sunday afternoon with my two favorite clients (grandsons), Lawson and Walter and my wife Jackie.  It was a beautiful January day and the boys had fun catching some spanish, trout and ladyfish. I am so thankful to be able to take them out and have fun.  Walter the 8 year old is a good caster and can handle it all on his own.  Lawson the 4.5 yr old can cast as good as I can but still has to have a little help getting in the hard pulling ones. 

Time is marching on and we are already booking for March through May.  If you are planning a springtime trip in March or April go ahead and let me know so I can put you on the book.  If the warm weather stays the tarpon may be a bit early this year.  My son and I are already booking for tarpon trips so if you are going to be here during that time( May-July) don't wait too long to book your day.  I can’t wait for spring and summer---my favorite time of the year.  Come on down! Capt. Tom Sr.

We have already started to use this new boat and it is incredible!  I can’t believe where this boat will run.  Come on down and lets try it out and catch some big reds!!!!

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