Keaton report November 18-19 2016

Lee crowe with a nice red taken 11/13/16

Chuck Hurst with a fine trout taken 11/13/16

Keaton beach fishing report Nov. 18 -19 2016
We have managed to catch fish for the past 5 days ( today is wed 11/16/16) despite the lack of breeze early in the a.m. the last three days. The water is very clear and clear all the way past Big Spring creek so there is little change in color to provide cover for the trout when it is slick. This had made for slow mornings.
We had 14 reds ( kept 4) and threw back the balance including two over 24" long Sunday for Chuck Hurst, Jeff Henderson and Billy Johnson of Bogart, Ga. We also had 10 trout, three flounder a Spanish and a couple of BSB. We used live pinfish and live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders to land our fish. Most of the bite for trout was in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water. The falling tide made the most trout and we had no breeze whatsoever on the incoming tide.
Took Wayne and Donna Walker of Dunnellon, Fl. out Wednesday( today) and we managed 10 trout and two reds with a 25" trout for Wayne. Our trout were in 3.5 - 4.5 ft. of water on the incoming tide. The reds ate in 2.5 ft. on top of the tide change. Pinfish under Back Bays continue to be the ticket.
 

Keaton report November 11-12 2016

jeff treadway of macon, ga.

Keaton Beach Fishing Report November 11 -12 , 2016
Trout fishing has been Great at Keaton this past two weeks as water temps have held in the mid 70's the trout have begun to shift into shallower water; but not really moving to the hill yet. Three to four ft. seems to be the magic for most everyone you talk to. On lo tide you can pick up a a few fish shallower; but not so much around the hi tides. Live pinfish has been the ticket for my One More Cast charters, but others are finding good trout on artificials. Billy Pillow and Terrell Smith of Perry, Fl. had their limit using hard jerkbaits and live shrimp a couple of days over the last week. Bruce Ratliff and a pal had a limit of trout fishing with Cordell Redfins and Gulp Saturday.
I had Bobby Underwood of Americus, Ga. out with his son Bobby Jr. and Cary ( sorry I forgot his last name) on board this past Tuesday and we managed a limit of trout and three reds fishing with live pinfish rigged up under Back Bay Thunders. We did our best in 4 - 5 ft of water.
Friday, I had Jeff Treadway with his son Ben and his brother, Wes from Macon, Ga. out and we bested 16 keepers with one red. Again we fished with live pinfish under Back Bays in 3 - 4.5 feet of water.
If water temps continue to hold in the mid to low 70's I would expect hard and soft jerkbaits to land fish. Fish Bite-A-Bait fighters in the Clown and Silver Mullet pattern for larger trout in the shallows. Dave Malone had several nice trout to 4 pounds on Assassin's 5" in the Chartreuse Ghost pattern Tuesday, last. I like the 5" Assassin Shad in Stinky Pink, Panhandle Moon, Houdini, and Croaker Shad this time of year. Rig it up un-weighted on a 5/0 offset worm hook like the Daichii 42 Z. Fish areas where you see ballyhoo being pushed and look for birds as well.
 

Keaton report October 28 -29 2016

Buster Donald of Macon, Ga.

photo cutline:
1392 Buster Donald with a nice 22" trout taken October 25
Keaton Beach Fishing report October 25-26 2016
Well, it doesn't get much better'n Tuesday of this week, when I took John Burkhalter, with his son Clint and friend Buster Donald, all of Macon, Ga. out and we brought back limits of trout with 4 fish over 21" long, released a 26" sow and kept 19 keepers. We also had a nice red which just showed up in the trout drift in 4 feet of water. We were fishing with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 4.5 - 5.5 feet of water on the incoming tide and took 3.5 hours for the first ten trout. The next ten trout all bit in less than an hour on one drift which started over an hour after the stand of tide and just happened to coincide with a nice 5- 8 knot breeze something which was absent most of the morning.
Monday, I saw Gus Powell of Griffin Ga. and he was in the boat with Craig Bozeman. His brother, Perry Bozeman was also down from Griffin with a buddy and both boats were catching their usual limits of trout for the three days they were here Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of this week. These guys always fish plugs only and then they are all lipped jerkbaits. Gus said color didn't seem to matter and they were doing their best on the falling tide in 2.5 - 3 feet of water.
The Gulf was down to 67 degrees Tuesday morning and warmed up to only 71 ... perfect for plugging ....so all you folks who wanted to go plugging better call me now 'cause November is almost booked up.
 

Keaton beach report october 20-21 2016

Binh Nyugyen of Tallahassee witha nice red

Keaton Beach Fishing report 10-20-21--2016
The trout are just loving the cooler water with water temps running mid-seventies most of the week. Just about anywhere you stop and cast you catch a 14+ " trout. The trick to catching larger (keeper) trout this past few weeks is throwing a larger pinfish ( at least for my charters on board One More Cast)
We had 15 keeper trout for Robert Cross and Neal Kicklighter of Tifton, Ga. on Tuesday; then threw back 8 more keepers looking for a red. We found our fish in 4.5 - 5.5 feet of water after spending my time in 2.5' and 3.5' over the last few weeks. The change was all about having no w-i-n-d Tuesday; so I made the adjustment.
Sunday, I took Binh Nguyen of Tallahassee with his buddy Troy ( sorry I don't have is last name) and they brought in a limit of trout and two reds to 23" all on live pinfish rigged up under a Back Bay Thunder. We caught one of the reds on a lipped jerkbait, so it is getting to be that time of year...just a couple more weeks ought to be on fire! {Doug}
 

keatom beach report october 7-8 2016

Keaton Beach Fishing Report October 7 - 8 2016
I had Ernie Stevenson and Ray Burroughs of Tallahassee, Florida out Friday last, and we had 15 trout and a nice 24" red while fishing with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
The water has cleared/cleaned up nicely over the past few weeks and we had a bite most of the day, Friday, except right at the stand of tide for 35 - 40 minutes.
The reds, I have caught on my charters, seem to still be holding off the hill 3/4 of a mile or more. I have seen a bunch of ballyhoo inside this line; yet not a lot of activity feeding on them.
Mullet have begun to run the grass line again, near the beach, but no reds are in there with them; at least not where I have fished.
I expect there is still too much fresh water close and your best bet is to stay out in depths from 3 - 5 feet until things get back to normal.
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Once again plenty of folks have texted or emailed me to ask after the progress at Keaton Beach so again I will address it here in my report.
Keaton Beach ramp and canal is repaired, cleared and open for business!
Only this time I would like to give a shout out to the Taylor County county commissioners and to first, commend them for their rapid response to Hurricane Hermine by placing as a priority cleaning up and restoring the damage to the recreational facilities at both Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee and the prompt and proper clean-up of the communities at Dekle, Ezell, and Keaton Beach as well as Cedar, Dark and Bird Island.
I especially commend them for their choice of a local contractor and even more so, the fact that local contractor hired local folks including, but not limited to, commercial crabbers, shrimpers and fishermen ( which also included me, as I have a commercial class Fl. license to charter trips) This way they were able to help clean up their community and waters where they not only live; but make a living. They did a wonderful job and although I had a limited time working only part of the time with them, was proud to have worked side-by-side with them. Their familiarity of the local waters and canals help speed up the process and kept everyone safe throughout the clean-up procedure both with the shore and boat crews.
I ran a construction company for 13 years in Ga., and I can tell you these folks worked hard, put in 6(six) - 12 hour days for a straight month, had tremendous pride in their work and cleaned these communities up as though it was their own property. I appreciate the fact that this payroll stayed in the county and these folks (me included) were able to recoup some of our losses due to H. Hermine with this contract work.
Again my hat's off to the Taylor County county commissioners for the choices they made regarding this clean-up and to the Fine Job done by all!
Thanks!
 

Keaton Report September 30 2016

Keaton Beach Report Sept 30 - Oct. 1 2016

Trout fishing was Grand both Tuesday and Wednesday as we caught a limit of 15 trout to 22.5 inches long for Kay Willingham of Ocilla, Ga. and Anna King of Steinhatchee, Florida on Tuesday. Anna took top honors with the largest trout and we caught all our fish on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders from 2.9 - 4.5 feet of water.
Wednesday, I had Terry Cooksey ( of Banjo's Bar-B-Q fame) with David Ziegler both of Tallahassee, Fl. and before the rain ran us off the Gulf we brought in nine trout to 21" and a 22" red. in a little over 4 hours fishing time.Terry managed a couple of nice trout on Assassin's "Butt Naked" 5 inch shad rigged under a Cajun Thunder while most of our keepers, and the red David caught, came in on live pins under Back Bay Thunders. We fished 2.5 - 3.5 feet of water for these fish under an overcast sky ahead of the rain.
That's it!
update October 2nd,
Oh for all the folks calling or emailing asking if they can put in at the county ramp
Everything is back up and running at the Keaton Beach ramp and canal
I have fished six or seven days since and have seen no debris on the Gulf.
I still recommend you keep and eye out 'cause after all it was a Hurricane.
Meanwhile the water has been clearing up a little each week and is the perfect color from Dekle up towards Warrior. I have not been South but some folks have caught a few fish that way.

 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report September 23 2016

jean Seago of Valdosta, Ga with a grand redfish

Sandra Seago with a beautiful redfish caught 9/16/16

Keaton Beach Report 9/23,24/16

We had great trout fishing for Gene and Sandra Seago of Valdosta, Ga. last week with 10 trout and a red on Friday; then 11 trout and two reds to 22 inches on Saturday. We fished with live pinfish and pigfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water. The reds were 1 - 1.5 miles from the grass line avoiding the too-fresh water near the hill, I would imagine.
I spoke to several boats this week who caught a lot of shorts and a few keepers but they were mostly fishing a falling tide, this week, and had very little breeze to work with.
Water temps are running 84-86 degrees and things are getting back to normal; but expect to fish stained water when you come.
I love the stained water......makes for better fishing.
Keaton Beach ramp and canal is open, cleared of debris and ready for all who wish to fish.
You should keep an eye out though after a Hurricane for miscellaneous debris you might encounter in the open gulf .
If you see a board or something larger please put a marker on it get a lat lon and call Taylor County or the FFWC.
 

Keaton Beach Report september 12 2016

Keaton Beach Fishing Report September 13, 2016

It is a sad experience for me to drive down the canal at Keaton Beach and see the Marina bulldozed to the ground. Many happy memories go with KBM as I have worked from there while five different owners ran the marina. My special thanks to Travis, Faye and Sandy Beach who took a flailing business and turned it into a community asset which everyone who visited or fished from were delighted to have experienced. I have missed that sense of "community" at Keaton Beach for a few years now and yet am proud to have been just a little part of that place.
By the way my business is Great, the fishing is even better and everything is supposed to be up and running at the County Ramp after this week or perhaps a little sooner; maybe by the weekend if the weather would just cooperate a little.
I took Terry Revels of Tifton, Ga. out with me scouting, Monday and in 3 hours, while I caught bait, he landed four trout to 23.5 inches and we never went any further than Jabo. Terry was fishing with live pinfish under a Back Bay in 4 - 4.5 feet of water on the last of the falling tide. Billy Pillow and I fished an hour or so before the rain storm hit Tuesday and Billy had a nice keeper trout and a 20" red.
I have had a couple of reports from areas on the Taylor County coast where folks were also catching trout since the storm, so as soon as the ramp is operational fishing should be Great. I saw water temps of 85-87 degrees Monday.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report 8- 5,6 -2016

etta gaston of Kansas CityMissouri with her first-ever redfsih

1236 Etta Gaston of Kansas City, Missouri with her first-ever redfish July 25 3026

Keaton Beach Fishing report 8/ 5-6 /16
Trout continue to please those who look for them as evidenced by a One More Cast trip, Friday, for Dawn Taylor of the Chamber of Commerce, here in Perry, with Donna Creamer of Gilchrist County when they landed 8 trout and a redfish. We fished live bait under Back Bays in 5.5 - 6 feet of water to land our fish in about three hours.
Terry and Tyler Revels of Tifton, Ga. fished Sunday in 4.5 - 5.5 feet of water with live pinfish under Original Cajun Thunders to land their limit of trout with five trout over 20" ! They kept two 24 inch long trout! That's awful good trout fishing for the HEAT of summer.
We had limits of trout for the week previous for three trips in a row. All our trout were caught on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.
Scallopers continue to have a blast and are getting all they want.
Remember to FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS It's the Law!
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report July 22 - 23

laura Gavronski of St. augustine Fl. 22" trout

Keaton Beach Fishing Report July 22-23 2016
Well, we have caught our limit of trout for the last four trips including 15 trout for Stan Bryant and Jim Waters of Warner Robins, Saturday and 15 trout for Laura and Aaron Gavronski of St. Augustine, Fl. who fished with me Monday. We have been catching trout up to 23" long in 5 - 7 feet of water using live pinfish and pigfish under Back Bay Thunders.
We had our limit of fifteen again today with three fish over 20" for Keith Humphrey and his son-in-law Patrick both of Lanier County, Georgia.Our bite was best for the last two hours of the rising tide. I caught one nice keeper on an Assassin Elite Shiner ("Ripper" pattern) under an Original Cajun Thunder while demonstrating the proper technique of fishing with a jig and grub under a Cajun for Patrick.
That's it except to say to the scallopers FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS! It's the Law!
 

Keaton Beach Report July 15 -16 2016

steve and michael greenblatt of macon with stan bryant of warner robins, ga. 7/7/16

Keaton Beach Fishing Report July 15,16 2016
Trout have continued to bite well for my One More Cast charters and we have encountered redfish out, way off the hill, in 6 - 7 feet of water along with the trout. Gulf water temps have hovered around 90 degrees, so live bait has been the ticket exclusively.
We had 20 trout for Steve and Michael Greenblatt of Macon, Ga. with Stan Bryant of Warner Robins last Thursday. We left the dock at 10:30 and were done at 2:30 p.m. Michael also landed a nice redfish. We fished with live pinfish ( used over 150) rigged up 34 inches under Back Bay Thunders.
Saturday, I had Stan Bryant with his son, Tyler and his brother, Lucas McGraw all of Warner Robins, Ga. and we brought in 19 trout again from 6 - 7 feet of water with live pinfish under Back Bays.
Scallopers continue to swarm over Keaton, especially on the weekends and so far all have been pleased with their haul.
Remember to FLY your DIVE FLAGS It's the LAW !

Keaton Beach Fishing report July 8 -9

Bailey king of thomasville,ga. with his first-ever redfish

photo cutline:
1159 Bailey King of Thomasville, Ga. with a 32" redfish, his first-ever!

Well, for anyone who wasn't in the water at Keaton Beach this past July Fourth weekend .... we didn't miss you ... there were enough ..... thanks for not coming down.......
Scallops are simply plentiful and easy from all reports I had.
Remember to FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS It's the LAW!
We went fishing Sunday. Jared Singletary with Daphney and Bailey King, all from Thomasville, Ga. landed 12 trout from 5 - 6 feet of water on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. We also had an overslot-sized catch & release 32" Red for Bailey, his first-ever redfish.
Tuesday, I had Stephanie and Logan Giles of Phenix City, Alabama out and we brought back their limits of trout and redfish with one Sand trout to boot.The Sand trout ate a pinfish? We had two trout over 20" Logan landed a 26.5" red on his first-ever trip from Keaton Beach. We fished with live pinfish rigged up 34" under Back Bay Thunders to catch our fish.
This weekend the incoming tides in the afternoons should hold the bite; so sleep in or go scalloping in the mornings, then fish the afternoons for best results on trout and reds.
 

Keaton Beach Report Fourth of July 2016

Fran Blanton, sister Rose Whitfield and Joey godfrey with a fine day's catch 6/26/16

Joey Godfrey of Tallahassee with a fine 23" trout 6/26/16

Photo Cutlines:
1152 Joey Godfrey of Tallahassee with a fine trout taken from 90.7 degree water June 26
1157 Fran Blanton, Rose Whitfield and Joey Godfrey with a Grand day's catch! 6/26/16

Keaton Beach Fishing report July Fourth Weekend 2016

Beware the Easter Bunnies ~!!~ these are the folks who only go to church once a year ..on Easter....so seldom they don't know when to stand and when to sit and when to bow in prayer and when to pick up the hymnal. Anyway, on the water, these type folks ( who only go out in their boat once a year) can be dangerous not only to themselves but to others around them so be particularly careful out there this July Fourth weekend. Slow Down and you'll still get your limit of scallops.
Me? I 'll be miles away from the maddening crowds( of scallopers) catching trout and redfish like the 15 trout Rose Whitfield of Perry, Fl. and her sister Fran Blanton of Tallahassee, with Joey Godfrey along caught Sunday with me. We fished from 1:00 p.m. 'til 6:30 p.m to land our trout and a red. We were using live pinfish rigged up 34" under Back Bay Thunders to land our trout, half from 5.5 - 6 feet; then on top of the hi tide we moved up into 2.5 - 3 ft. and caught the balance of trout and the one red. The water temperature was 90.7 degrees even under the overcast sky late Sunday....but most folks would tell you it was "too hot to catch them trout" We had 3 over 20" long. They had a Blast! This trip was a tribute to Bill Blanton of Tallahassee, Fl. who fished with me many years; May He rest in Peace!

Remember scallopers..FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS It's the LAW!
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report June 24 -25 2016

colby smith with a 26.5 " 5.1 pound trout 6/20/2016

monte erwin, colby smith and caleb hunt of calhoun, ga. with a fine day's catch 6/20/2016

Photo cutlines:
1145 Monte Erwin. Caleb Hunt and Colby Smith of Calhoun, Ga. 6/20/16
1140 Colby Smith of Calhoun, Ga with a 26.5" 5.1 pound trout caught June 20

Keaton Beach Fishing report June 24-25 2016

We continue to work on the trout with limits on almost every trip; like the 18 trout for Monte Erwin, Caleb Hunt and Colby Smith of Calhoun, Ga. Monday with three over four pounds, and the 15 trout for Stan Bryant and Jeff Moore of Warner Robins, Ga. with one red and a keeper cobia for Jeff. Jeff caught the 39" cobia( his first-ever) on ten pound test Trik Fish Game Green line.
Tuesday, I had Laura and Aaron Gavronsky of St. Augustine, Florida and we landed 14 trout and a redfish. We have caught all our trout this week on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. Most of the trout have come in from 4.5 - 5.5 feet with a couple of reds from 3.5 - 4 feet late in the tide.
The water had cooled down ten degrees to 78 degrees after the rain and the east winds this past weekend, however the Gulf was back up to 85 degrees as of Tuesday afternoon.

Scallop Report? All I have talked to said the scallops are below Grassy Isle and around the Grassy Isle Bird Rack. None have been reported north of the Keaton channel markers or towards Dekle...any wonder with the combing that area took last year?
 

Keaton Beach fishing report June 17-18 2016

Bernie hall of thomasville, ga.  with a 26" Trout 6/14/16

laura gavronsky of st. augustine, Fl. with here winning 3.95 pound trout ( Nautigirls trout division winner 2016)

Photo Cutlines:

1112 Laura Gavronsky with a the winning 3.95 lb trout In Saturday's Nauti-Girls Tourney
1115 Bernie Hall of Thomasville, Ga. with his 26" trout caught 6/13 /16

Keaton Beach Fishing report June 17,18 2016

Trout fishing could hardly be better with limits each of my last four charters. We have caught four trout over 4 pounds in three trips with a winning 3.95 lb trout in the Nauti-Girls Tourney for Laura Gavronsky Saturday. She beat out 190 entrees for first place in the Trout division. Way to Go Laura!
Saturday, I had Lynne Daboll of Tampa, Stephanie Weldon of Odessa and Laura Gavronsky of St Augustine, fishing in the Nauti-Girls Tourney and we caught their limit of trout besides Laura's winning fish. We fished in 4.5 - 5.5 feet of water ( on a falling tide all day) to land our fish. Pinfish under Back Bays.
Friday, I had Jim and Kendall Bruchey of Moultrie, Ga. out and we caught a limit of 15 trout and two reds. Jim landed a 25" trout weighing 5 pounds from 5.5 feet of water. We caught all our trout on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.
Tuesday, I had Bernie and Landon Hall of Thomasville, Ga. with Harper McClendon and we caught 20 trout with four over 20" and one redfish. Bernie had top honors with a 26" trout weighing 4.9 pounds. We also landed a 4.3 lb. trout. All the trout were caught on live pinfish rigged up 34" under Back Bay Thunders. We only caught three short trout all day.
Reds have scattered since the T/S came through but I blame the hot water (88+ degrees) in the shallows today...Trout have been voracious if you were on the right spot despite the hot water.
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report June 10 2016

Rahel foster of Columbus, Ga. with a great trout taken 6.4.16

matt chastain, Tommy Riddle and garrett sellers with a great day's catch!

1081 Matt Chastain, Tommy Riddle and Garrett Sellers with a great day's catch June 3rd
1085 Rachel Foster of Columbus, Ga with a great trout caught despite the heat & slick water

Keaton Beach Fishing report June 10-11 2016

Well, we have been slamming the trout and reds lately and I have been gettin' back home too late to get a report out to my editors; but this week with ole Uncle (T.S.) Hollis around I cancelled a couple of days of charters and so I have time to write this one up.
We have really had some good days and although we there were some slow times during the trips where the slick water, no drift and no bite was tough...man did the good times make it all worthwhile. Take last Friday, when I had Matt Chastain, Tommy Riddle of Birmingham Alabama, and Garrett Sellers of Elijay , Ga. out and we had 3 trout for four hours then, in an hour and 45 minutes, we put 17 in the boat when the w-i-n-d finally decided to puff just enough to give us a decent drift.
But, let me tell you about Thursday, last when after only landing 4 trout in three hours, I decided to go look for reds and the first bait Jeff Haberle plopped out there resulted in one of the most vicious fights I have ever seen, including a run so fast I thought his "red" was a jack. Well, it wasn't either one, turns out, when the fish erupted at the boat, it was a huge TROUT... 30" inches of Trout. What a magnificent fish! However despite our attempts to revive her after a few quick photos she wouldn't come around and swim off. The glorious ole girl weighed 6.8 pounds! We finished up with 9 trout and three reds that day but of course that was Jeff's largest trout ever; despite he has fished Louisiana waters for years. That is the first fish touching 30" for One More Cast in over 15 years. She was in 3.5 feet of water which was 87.8 degrees and bit at 12:00 noon....June 2nd.
We have caught all our fish, including the 13 trout and three reds for Randy & La Dene Foster of Moultrie, Ga. and their daughter Rachel, of Columbus, Ga. who joined them for a Great day on the water Saturday, on live pinfish rigged up 34" under a Back Bay Thunder. Most of our trout the past two weeks have come from 5.5 - 6.5 feet of water while the reds are in about 3.5 - 4 ft. Catfish have plagued us at times when the water had no movement; but then when the water started to move again the trout bite would be on.
This little ole T.S. storm should really improve the fishing both with the rain dropping the gulf water temps and the stirring up some of the too clear water in many places which hold good fish; but they just aren't willing to move about in the clear calm water of late.

Hey, Don't Forget the 7th Annual Nauti-Girls Tourney is this weekend! Saturday, June 11th first light 'til 5:30 p.m.
Weigh-In at Steinhatchee Community Center Captain's Meeting at "Who Dat" Lounge in Jena Friday 6-8:30 p.m.
over $4000 in Cash and Prizes Awarding Cash for First place through 3rd place on Largest Trout and Redfish
Also for largest, First and Second place Grouper
Prizes for Largest Ladyfish and Largest Flounder
Most spots on a redfish is also a category
For more info contact Liana Chapman at 352-498-8065
 

keaton beach fishing report May 13- 14 2016

"Double" for steven cook and matt Williams

It doesn't get much better than this folks. We had 16 tout on three consecutive trips this week; including a limit of reds each trip as a bonus. All this despite a 14 degree drop in the Gulf water temperature! I had Jimmy Douglas with Eric Thomas and Wade Spivey all of Homerville, Ga. out Wednesday and we caught some beautiful fish including a 24" trout for Jimmy and reds to 24" as well. The early morning bite was off but the last two hours of the incoming tide was incredible. We fished with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders to land most of our fish this week. We also caught fish on Precision Tackle's Thunder-Spin spinnerbaits.
I fished Steven Cook his son, Steve and son-in-law Matt Williams all of Dallus, Ga. and we limited out each day ( as I said earlier) but we also had our one fish over 20" each day as well. We had a 26.5" red Saturday which weighed 7 pounds! Our largest trout Saturday, was 24+" weighing 4.1 pounds. Steven Sr. caught both of the largest fish. Again, Live pinfish under Back Bays were the ticket. 4 - 4.5 was the best depth.
here's a report from Dave Bosch of Tifton, Ga. who had his buddy Bil Gburek of North Carolina down for the week.
"Made my annual Keaton Beach fishing trip with Bil Gburek (NC) from 5/01 to 5/05. We were joined early in the week for a couple days by Bobbie Jones and Chris Norman (Tifton, GA). Fishing was pretty good but not as good as what we've come to expect for early May. We couldn't get on a morning bite during the rising tide, but got some pretty good bites on the fall. Bil picked up a nice 27" redfish as did Bobbie. Chris also picked up a couple of nice reds, a 22 and a 24. I was able to land a 25" trout, and also a 24, a 23, and a 22. Water temps started out ranging from 78 to 84, then later in the week dropped all the way down to 67 when the wind switched from the north and temperatures dropped. We fished anywhere from 6.5 to 2.5. Weather wise it was a good trip with us able to fish every day.
also from Dave:
"Thursday the 5th we did have a pretty good day for trout. Miserable morning (I would guess due to the temperature drop), so we kicked into redfish mode pretty early. Hit some exposed oyster bars on the rising tide looking for a good redfish bite like we had Wednesday. But we found trout instead, a good bonus. They were hitting the spinner baits pretty well. We then fished the grass line but it was pretty aggravating with the wind. No production there, but we elected to move off the grass around 1/2 mile and just drift across some bars. That produced some really solid trout. We wound up that day with a 24, a 23, a 22 and several 19s. Had to eventually give it up do to the wind."

Keaton Beach Fishing report May 6 -7 , 2016

Photo Cutline:
0913 Carmen Yawn and Roger Marlow of Lee, Fl. with a true "double" on reds caught on Star Aerial reels and Star Rods.

Keaton Beach Fishing Report May 6-7
This week has seen several "firsts" of the year. First "80 degree" water at day break, First pilchards ( I caught four, Tuesday, on my bait rod) First trout caught on a live pilchard ( a nice 23 inch fish I caught while scouting Tuesday).
Man did we kill it today( Wednesday, May 4th) with 16 trout, four over 20"; with one 24" 4.3 pound sow, four reds, and threw back 8 keeper reds. I had Jimmy Douglas, Wade Spivey and Eric Thomas of Homerville, Ga. out and while we struggled to catch 6 tor on the incoming tide; once the tide broke the north w-i-n-d was then going with the tide instead of neutralizing the tidal current and Bang Bang Bang it was "on". Top 7 trout weighed 20.6 pounds!
We fished with live pinfish, and pink mouth grunts to catch our trout. Jimmy fed one 8" pigfish to a nice 19" trout.
This weekend the tides are perfect with a New Moon on Friday. Fishing will be Great! Can't wait!
Hey, Mark your calendars to fish this years Red Trout Shootout!
The Kevin's Fine Outdoor Gear & Apparel RedTrout Shootout presented by Fresh Country 103.1 The Wolf will take place on May 21, 2016. Entry fee is $75 per angler (up to 4 anglers per boat) if you sign up by May 14. Entry forms can be picked up and dropped off at Kevin's on Capital Circle or you can call Brian Hurley at (850) 528-0553 and he will get you registered over the phone. The Captain's Meeting will be at Gordo's Northside in Tallahassee on Thursday May 19 from 7:30-8:00PM.

As always CASH REWARDS will be paid out to the top 10 teams weighing in the heaviest combined weight of (1) redfish and (1) spotted seatrout.
1st - $2000 - 10th $100
 

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 29-30, 2016

Photo Cutlines:

0891 Shelby Wilkes with a great red taken on a Thunder-Spin
0912 Carmen Yawn of Lee, Florida with the largest red.
0915 Roger Marlow with a fine flounder caught Tuesday 4/26/16

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 29-30
Wow! Trout, Reds, Flounder, Cobia what more could you ask for? We have been catching Great fish and Limits of Trout and Reds for most of my One More Cast charters this week. Live Pinfish under Back Bay Thunders have taken most of the trout while Assassin five inch shads in Stinky Pink, and Croaker Shad have also taken nice trout.
We caught a bunch of reds on live pinfish; but the best three of the week were taken on Precision Tackle's Thunder-Spin jig spinners with a Cantaloupe Sea Shad tail.
Jud Alexander bested the best red of the week with a 29" brute caught and released which ate the Thunder-Spin Saturday last, while his fishing partners Mark Hawthorne ( who caught a red with 18 spots) and Craig Killen caught multiple reds on Thunder-Spins and live bait under the Back Bay. Mark also had a 2.9 pound flounder which ate a live pinfish under the Back Bay in 4 feet of water.
Sunday, Scott Stinson with his son Sam and Shelby Wilkes had their limit of 15 trot and three reds including a 23" fish Shelby landed on the Thunder-Spin.
Monday, we landed the first keeper cobia of the year, on my boat, when Dale Culpepper beat down a 38" Cobia on ten pound test Trik Fish Game Green line using a Star Aerial 4000 reel on a Star SG817FT76 rod. Took about ten minutes to land after a great run and fight. The ling came out of 6.5 feet of water. Later that same day Dean Harris landed our best trout of the week a 24" trout weighing in at 4.3 pounds while his buddy Doug Hamilton caught the largest red of the day a 23.5" fish both caught on a live pinfish.
Roger Marlow and Carmen Yawn came down from Lee, Florida Tuesday, and had a great day catching a limit of trout and their limit of reds as well as throwing back a few keeper reds. Carmen took top honors on reds with a 24" beast and Roger had a 19+" flounder weighing just over 3 pounds! We fished 4.5 -.5 feet for the trout and 3.5' for the reds late in the tide.
Don't forget the NEW redfish rule, as of May first, only one red per person per day.

Keaton Beach Fishing Report April 22-23 2016

angella and Paul Ponder with a true "double" 4/10/16

Keaton Beach Fishing report April 22- 23 2016
I had Ellen Williams from Vermont, on board Monday, and she hooked a 28-30" houndfish and as she had it boatside and I was kidding her about not netting anything that ugly...just as I did go to dip the crazy, frenetic fish out of the water a 45-48" cobia around 35+ pounds came up to the surface trying to eat the dang Houndfish! Well, I starting screaming to Joe, Ellen's husband, "Get your bait over here "hurry . Hurry. HURRY!" Well wouldn't you know it this cobia musta just got off the express from Destin or Texas or where ever; but it obviously didn't remember what a pinfish was 'cause I threw it live ones, dead ones, ones with hooks and ones without and it just stayed under the boat looking for the dang houndfish which I had boated and thrown in the cooler just to keep it from trashing the boat. Finally it just left just as frustrated as we were.... I suppose.
Well, that was the first cobia of the season for me and we caught our first ladyfish this week so Spring has certainly arrived. We had 11 trout for Joe and Ellen with a red and two flounder. we caught them all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 6.5 feet of water. Water temps came back to 73 Monday and 74 Tuesday after dropping back to 66-67 Saturday & Sunday morning.
The Northeaster which beat us up over the weekend cleared all the red and dark water off the hill and the flats are, well really, too clear all the way to Spring creek. You rarely see it this clear this time of year. This made the incoming tide with no breeze tough, Tuesday and after only 4 trout in 6 hours of incoming tide the flop ( start of the falling tide) yielded 11 trout for my crew in under an hour-and-a-half. We caught all of our trout on live pinfish except a couple I caught on Assassin's Sea shads in Stinky Pink and Glow/green tail.
The reds we were catching last week have vamoosed and aren't to be found in this clear water. I guess they went creeking?
I expect some outstanding fishing this weekend if we can get some w-i-n-d like last Saturday, when we had a limit in under two hours fishing time with three over 20" with one 24" Sow. Did I mention it was blowing 18 - 23 knots Saturday.
see you on the water!