Pacemaker Fishing Forum

This year, Bev and I decided to hit the Homosassa area for a couple of days of fishing with Capt. Duane Baker. He is known to me as I had met him at Bill Skiver's Garage Bar back in 2014 when I 1st fished down there with Bill.

Our plan was to fish on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The trip down was uneventful but the getting the rental car was a fiasco. The company that I rented from (went through Priceline) was a sleazy operation to say the least. After waiting to get to the car for almost 40 minutes, we knew we were in trouble. Once arriving at the site, it was like a movie scene. Two desks in the middle of a dusty room. Well....we left and went with Budget. They were great and all we lost was about 2-3 hours.

We were hungry so we started looking around for a place to eat. Knowing that Tarpon Springs (45 minutes south of where we were) is a huge Greek community, we looked for and  found a Greek diner and it did not disappoint.



With our appetites satisfied, we could now concentrate on fishing. But...there was an SCA  for the next morning (Capt. Duane uses a flat bottom boat as most do down there). Sure enough, Capt. Duane contacts me at 6am on Tuesday and tells us to go back to bed. It was blowing 20+ and there were 3' seas on the way to where we were going. We would have taken a beating, which none of us wanted.

So, we went sightseeing...



...and then had an amazing lunch at the Seafood Seller (Cajun influence) and it was incredible!! A nice lady at the Plantation (pic above) made the recommendation.





After lunch, we headed over to Bill's Garage Bar. Entry to Bill's place is a 6-pack of beer and some cigars. We were joined by Lance (Bill's neighbor who I had met last time), Mark Myers (who used to live in NoVA), Capt. Duane and the mailman who stopped by for a few minutes. This Garage Bar deal is a very unique experience.



Lots of stories were shared along with much  laughter.

Before we left, we went over to Lance's Garage Bar (a couple of doors down) where he has just built an HO scale slot car track.



We played around for a bit and it was addicting! They are waiting for a lap counter so that they can all race (4 tracks). Those cars are fast!

Dinner was good...more seafood.



Finally it was fishing day! It was 45dF when we met Capt. Duane at the ramp at 8:30am. What?!?





The pic below shows where the spring comes in. You can see the dimpling in the water. It's a steady 72dF all the time. Lots of fishies (jack, snapper etc) hang out here but the water is super clear.



The ride out was brutal (cold)...





...but once the sun settled up in the sky, things got better and we even shed a layer or two. The wind was @10mph and very manageable but there was no water. Low tide hung around for hours which prevented us from getting to the honey holes. Apparently, this long low tide situation has been going on for a bit. They say it's El Niño's doing.

Needless to say, we struggled through the morning but Bev saved the day by catching a sting ray!







We did see some dolphins but when they are around, fish scatter. We were basically looking at a zero at 11a.

Finally, we moved in to a known fish holding spot.  We literally parked the boat on the bottom since it was so shallow and Bev got hot by catching a juvi red and a ladyfish!

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Yes! Pullage!!

I got some bites but never connected. The bites were teeny and you had to wait for the "take" or you would just come up empty.

Once the water started coming in a bit, we made another move and it was game on!

It was the same scenario. We floated and got "stuck" on the bottom and for 90 minutes, it was virtually non stop catching!





































At one point, my forearm cramped up tight and my had was all disfigured. I had to take some Liquid IV to get back in the game. I guess that 3+ months of fishing inactivity (to the day) gets you our of your game.

I know that Bev got the 1st fish and the biggest fish (21" Black Drum) but I am uncertain who got the most fish honors. He said he did so that's that!

We even had a visitor when we came back...




...and saw a cool home made boat.




This was a great day followed by another nice meal and a great breakfast the next day.



We had an excellent trip and are already planning the next winter excursion (to a warmer location)!