After a great long weekend of hunting with my family on the Big Bend, we got a nice buck and missed a few. I have to be honest – I missed a nice one that was running full speed but decided to sling some lead and take a chance. Hunting public land you don’t get a lot of opportunities at legal buck deer so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! At the next campfire session at the family camp, no excuses will save my shirttail. 

Being a full-time guide, fishing most every day helps me stay on top of the fish. Whenever I take some time off I get butterflies and some anxiety when it’s my first trip back. These are some techniques that I use to straighten the curve to get back on fish.

One way is to start back where I left them biting. If the conditions haven’t changed much, the fish can still be there. Another way is to keep a log of what was caught where and the water temperature. I’ve been guiding for 21 years so I have a lot of it in my memory but on occasion, I will look at the one I kept for 10 years it really helps.

Good friends that will point you in the right direction always helps. 

Looking at midday high tides this week I’m going to target warm spots on the edge where the Gulf meets the backcountry.

Keys that block a north wind and reflect the southern facing sun are good midday locations to sight cast laid-up redfish and trout. Other spots I’ll fish are edges of deep channels or holes. These spots allow the fish to warm up and feed during the day, but during the chilly night they will ride it out in the deep water that will not fluctuate like shallow water will when the temperatures drop. 

Homosassa Weekly Fishing Report from Captain William Toney

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