A user friendly tutorial for self-briefing and forecasting marine weather conditions including radar, satellite imagery and local marine observations.

With the approaching holiday season, angler’s can now expect to experience the effects of dreary, early winter cold fronts. These unstable late season weather patterns are generally transitional fronts which luckily, often lose their strong southeastward surge as they make their way towards South Florida and adjacent coastal waters. When these fronts do make their way south and past Lake Okeechobee, they will usually stall over the Straits of Florida before backtracking across the State as a more suitable warm front.

It’s all about structure and current.  The unmistakable sound of a hefty snook slurping down shrimp under overhanging mangroves is music to most anglers’ ears. Snook are unquestionably masters of ambush. Along with their magnificent hunting skills, these fantastic fish provide blistering runs, spectacular tail walking jumps, and have the magical ability to mysteriously vanish from an angler’s line, all making them a favored inshore game fish.

A guide to stickbait success!
The sheer variety of artificial stickbaits now on the market provide anglers heading inshore and off with endless choices in proven fish catching lures. Plugs, as they are more commonly known, are now available in every conceivable size, shape and pattern to suit just about any species, and any fishing condition. Having some basic knowledge of each type or style of plug along with knowing how to properly fish each, will undoubtedly result in greater success! 

Your skiff’s poling platform can be your ally or your enemy, take a look at how this seasoned veteran makes the most of his battle station. 

Long before I decided to take up inshore fishing as a profession, I was first and foremost a hunter and one of the things that immediately caught my attention when I began guiding was the similarities between shallow water sight fishing and bird hunting. I quickly realized that poling a skiff along the edges of a shallow water grass flat and hunting the fringes of new growth forest have much in common.

Looking to connect with more snapper?
Hop on a drift-boat and bounce the bottom for consistent success!

Whether you employ effective techniques or not, late season snapper fishing can be a world of fun or quite frustrating. Unfortunately, a percentage of local and most visiting anglers simply don’t know how to properly target snapper during the fall. And the results are even worse when inexperienced anglers find themselves elbow to elbow on a crowded drift boat with 30 other anglers.
 

Mr. Bait Fish, we’d like to introduce you to Mr. Jack Crevalle.  Every now and then, every angler needs a full on jack attack! The water next to the seawall was perfectly still in the golden hour prior to sunset. I cast with precision and landed my plug only inches from the concrete wall. I rhythmically twitched my wrist as I rapidly worked the lure across the serene surface back towards me. To my pleasant surprise I was nearly floored by the resounding explosion of a large fish thunderously inhaling my black lure. Holding on for dear life, my drag screamed as the fish raced for the nearest piling.

In the recent Summer 2004 issue, we introduced Project Far Beyond and described how it all began. We talked about how an initial idea had evolved into something much greater, an ongoing adventure of sorts…… To fully recognize where we’re going with all this, please make it a point to read the first chapter in this exploratory project. After careful consideration, we’ve decided the most informative way for us to describe each trip is to relive the experiences with you, one island at a time!

More than a pristine wilderness, Florida Bay is a fisherman’s haven unlike any other. A thorough understanding of the area will keep you hooked up!

The Ten Thousand Islands are a rare and beautiful place. They’re one of Florida’s few remaining unspoiled habitats - a truly beautiful, rugged, subtropical paradise experienced by relatively few adventurous souls each year. Many fishermen who appreciate the unique qualities of this wilderness, argue it’s the best sight fishing secret left on earth!

A view never before seen. Ever dream of sliding over the gunnel into 1400‘ of water on a pitch black night and filming a hooked swordfish? Most of us would think that’s an absolutely crazy idea! Tony Ludovico, underwater digital videographer extraordinaire, is a person that actually partakes in such insanity on a regular basis. It's what he does for a living.