|
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.
|

Jerett |

Mitchell |
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.
|

Lia&shark |

Lia |
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.
|

Walter&spanish mac |

Walter driving |
|

Lawson&ladyfish |

Lawson&shrimp |
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.
|