On The Hook
Hauling
Im heading to Cedar Rapids Iowa Thurs (tomorrow) or Friday and will return to Bushnell on Sun or Monday. Truck is empty if you have something you want towed or hauled either legs of my trip. Lots of Villagers from that area, if I can help.
Matt Yamilkoski 319 270 5850
Im heading to Cedar Rapids Iowa Thurs (tomorrow) or Friday and will return to Bushnell on Sun or Monday. Truck is empty if you have something you want towed or hauled either legs of my trip. Lots of Villagers from that area, if I can help.
Matt Yamilkoski 319 270 5850
I had a great group from The Villages fish with me on Thursday. We had lots of fun and wow did they catch fish! We had to sort thru dozens of pigfish, hardhead catfish, short trout, spanish mackeral, puffers, and 3 sharks to find big trout, but they were there! Sea bass at the 2nd stop, more trout, cats and a batfish at stop 3. Our final spot, totally blocked from the wind, produced stingrays, sailcats, several snappers and a giant 33 1/4" redfish. I love days when the fish are biting. Thank you for fishing with me, it was a pleasure.
Big wind, low visibility, a delayed tide and fish that stayed deep was the story of Saturday night. We found a few in the clear spots of a canal, fought across 2' rollers to get to a sheltered area of the gulf, then went into a river at the bottom of the tide! Most guys dont spend enough hours or are willing to travel that much to find fish, but this crew was on a mission! We caught 11 species and missed our chance at the 12th (Tilapia). Icing on the cake was a 30 minute ride in a Florida downpour back to the ramp! I had 3" of water in the boat when we reached the dock at 5am.
We saw 5 different manatees or groups, sharks, dolphins, snook, reds and Im sure we saw a tarpon briefly in the lights: this trip had everything possible! Justin at Florida Bowfishing Adventures was booked and passed the trip my way, Thank you Justin, we had a blast! Night adventures bring what you want to see, and Im willing to put in the hours to try to find it!
Sorry the final pile was next to my fillet table at home, but it was raining too hard to clean fish at the ramp and get a better pic.
We saw 5 different manatees or groups, sharks, dolphins, snook, reds and Im sure we saw a tarpon briefly in the lights: this trip had everything possible! Justin at Florida Bowfishing Adventures was booked and passed the trip my way, Thank you Justin, we had a blast! Night adventures bring what you want to see, and Im willing to put in the hours to try to find it!
Sorry the final pile was next to my fillet table at home, but it was raining too hard to clean fish at the ramp and get a better pic.
Obviously my posts are advertising, but Ive suggested I'm always looking to make new friends and learn new places. A nice guy reached out, said he had a place to show me...
Saturday night I was blessed with getting to spend a few hours on a scouting trip with Dan. As the night would progress, I learned as much about him as I did the 3 lakes we looked at! Amazing man, American Vet, father and very good first time gig fisherman! A pile of Tilapia and a couple of big longnosed gar made it home with him!! Thank you for your service and showing me some new water!
If you want a day or night charter on water I regularly fish, please view my website. If you have a spot you want to try fishing at night, or high volume fishing, please pm me and I can bring my boat to you! Free fishing in my boat in areas (Florida waters) you dont mind sharing with me.
Saturday night I was blessed with getting to spend a few hours on a scouting trip with Dan. As the night would progress, I learned as much about him as I did the 3 lakes we looked at! Amazing man, American Vet, father and very good first time gig fisherman! A pile of Tilapia and a couple of big longnosed gar made it home with him!! Thank you for your service and showing me some new water!
If you want a day or night charter on water I regularly fish, please view my website. If you have a spot you want to try fishing at night, or high volume fishing, please pm me and I can bring my boat to you! Free fishing in my boat in areas (Florida waters) you dont mind sharing with me.
I was out Easter night until after 3am and Monday night until daylight. I am seeing the shallows come alive!
The sheepshead have been coming back in. The larger fish are showing back up, no monsters yet but fish upto 19" or so. Clusters of fish usually. It amazes me how shallow they go and how often they move up into the mangroves. Knowing where they are and catching them on the edges is key. The first defined structure edge is the key spot to search. A few will pick a random rock to tuck againt.
Snook are still going crazy up shallow. I actually saw overslot snook blast into groups of finger mullet, in the lights of the boat! Snook were plentiful but the largest fish were always positioned where water is funneling. Gaps between bars and points.
Reds where I see guys posting about were spread out, but when I hit a few areas only reachable on big high tide, they were stacked. Look for areas guys seldom fish especially areas cut off to boat traffic during lower parts of the tide. The fish ended up staying in those pools as I moved out with the tide to avoid being stranded myself!
Black Drum, cookie cutter 12 to 16lb fish were stacked. Dozens of fish piled into the initial drop of the tide. Clusters of fish were at every gap or change in the water speed. Find fast moving water in a large area of barely moving, and thats the spot. The kayak guys should love the fishing as they are in areas that boats cant access at mid tide or lower. Lots of slot size around but off to the side of the larger fish, not mixed amongst the bigger ones.
Stingrays are in huge groups, one group had over 50 in it. Rays up to 36" were common. Shallow flats with clean sandy bottom was the key.
Mullet, big eaters, were much less frequent but finger mullet were in huge schools. Getting bait can be tough at times, they stack up at corners of the sand bars at the turn of the tide. The rocky areas that get exposed later in the tide destroy nets so early in the change is important.
I am always looking for friends who want to fish all night. If you are visiting the Crystal River area and have charters booked with other companies or even with me, and you want something to do afterwards, or if you dont have a boat but want to go exploring in your area, reach out. I can travel to your area. Free trips where you help me harvest fish to sell and/or you have your saltwater license and we can rod/reel fish spots for fun before gigging them, please reach out via PM here or thru my website.
The sheepshead have been coming back in. The larger fish are showing back up, no monsters yet but fish upto 19" or so. Clusters of fish usually. It amazes me how shallow they go and how often they move up into the mangroves. Knowing where they are and catching them on the edges is key. The first defined structure edge is the key spot to search. A few will pick a random rock to tuck againt.
Snook are still going crazy up shallow. I actually saw overslot snook blast into groups of finger mullet, in the lights of the boat! Snook were plentiful but the largest fish were always positioned where water is funneling. Gaps between bars and points.
Reds where I see guys posting about were spread out, but when I hit a few areas only reachable on big high tide, they were stacked. Look for areas guys seldom fish especially areas cut off to boat traffic during lower parts of the tide. The fish ended up staying in those pools as I moved out with the tide to avoid being stranded myself!
Black Drum, cookie cutter 12 to 16lb fish were stacked. Dozens of fish piled into the initial drop of the tide. Clusters of fish were at every gap or change in the water speed. Find fast moving water in a large area of barely moving, and thats the spot. The kayak guys should love the fishing as they are in areas that boats cant access at mid tide or lower. Lots of slot size around but off to the side of the larger fish, not mixed amongst the bigger ones.
Stingrays are in huge groups, one group had over 50 in it. Rays up to 36" were common. Shallow flats with clean sandy bottom was the key.
Mullet, big eaters, were much less frequent but finger mullet were in huge schools. Getting bait can be tough at times, they stack up at corners of the sand bars at the turn of the tide. The rocky areas that get exposed later in the tide destroy nets so early in the change is important.
I am always looking for friends who want to fish all night. If you are visiting the Crystal River area and have charters booked with other companies or even with me, and you want something to do afterwards, or if you dont have a boat but want to go exploring in your area, reach out. I can travel to your area. Free trips where you help me harvest fish to sell and/or you have your saltwater license and we can rod/reel fish spots for fun before gigging them, please reach out via PM here or thru my website.
Yami Outdoors Record! Size Ratio Award!! Wyatt, the youngest and smallest fisherman to ever grace the Yami boat, gigged a monster gar! The first fisherman to bowfish or gig a fish bigger than he is, with Yami Outdoors!! The wrestling match was epic, the first attempt didnt even penetrate the scales, but with multipe gigs, a touch of help from his father Joel, and some luck, we will be eating Gar Backstraps! Truely a fantastic trip with this father/son team last night.
