keaton report June 8,9

phillip meredeth of dothan alabama

What a difference a week makes ...wow the water was red coffee-colored big time darkest I have seen since the 30” of rain back in 2000 I believe . Well we managed some fish around the darkest color but not in it.  The lines move daily but Monday it was dark from Warrior humps all the way to ....well maybe St . Marks?? I gave up on finding out how far? Anyway you could get out past it in 6’ –7’ or stop before you got that far north. If when or with the w-i-n-d moving out of the west prescription look for the darker water to begin to settle and make for some fantastic fishing. Did I mention I saw 88 degree water Monday ...Whew! that’s warm for the first week in June.

Let’s expect the reds to run from the fresh water in the creeks and set up on the outside bars or just move out on the flats in this 88 degree water. Yikes

Had 8 nice trout last Saturday including a beautiful 25.5” trout for Phillip Meredeth of Dothan, Alabama. Yes, he caught it on a live pinfish under a Back Bay Thunder in 5.5 ft. of water just before the squall got there. I had two nice trout on Assassin plastic one on Croaker Shad 5” and one 19” trout on Stinky Pink 5” bouncing.

keaton report June 1 -2

Trout were still biting our baits out  in 6 feet of water last I looked ; which would have been Friday before the BLOW. I took Jim and Mike Hardegree  from North Ga. out and we had no breeze for the entire incoming tide and managed only a sand trout and a BSB on Assassin Butt Naked Sea Shads bounced . When we finally got a little w-i-n-d we caught seven trout with two over 20”  on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 6.5 ft. of water.  But the most incredible bite of the day was the first pinfish Jim threw out which drew an 8 ft. plus tiger shark which ate his pinfish then headed straight for the boat with his mouth open, like he was starring in a Peter  Benchley novel, and then I saw the fish under him , a 7ft long dark shape and I said as I saw it “Look at the one...that’s a cobia !! !!! sure ‘nuff all 70 – 80 pounds of him dwarfed somewhat by the girth of the tiger but almost as long . It was the largest cobia I have seen on the flats in 29 years of guiding. and as soon as we tried to get a bait to him they were gone but not before swimming right by the boat as if to say na na na na Naayyy  you can’t catch me. WHEW! WHAT A MONSTER!

No reports since except to say we were real lucky in Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee as there was no surge with ole Alberto and no damage ( as far as I have heard) from high water at least. I would expect the fish are fine and happy to have a little murky water in spots thanks to the rains.

I’ll be out there catching them on Friday as you read this.

Keaton report Memorial Day weekend

Photo Cutlines:

kindy griner

2363: Lindy  Griner  of Alapaha, Ga. with her first-ever redfish taken May 19, 2018

Bill pillow may 18 2018

2344: Billy Pillow with a nice 23” trout caught Friday May 18th.

you know who with a fine 23" trout

Keaton Report Memorial Day Weekend

Billy Pillow and I fished Friday for a scouting-and-catching-bait trip and had 8 fine trout with two 23” fish, one each. Most of our fish came on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders while I caught my 23” trout on a Super Spook in the “Blue Stripe Special” (Silver Mullet) pattern. This sow came from 5.2 feet of water over 2 miles offshore. She blasted the Spook!

We had a Fantastic trip Saturday for Aaron and Lindy Griner of Alapaha, Ga. It was Lindy’s first-ever trip to the Gulf flats fishing and she had a Blast! We brought in 13 trout with three over 20 “ long as well as four Black Sea Bass  and two reds including Lindy’s first redfish! We found the trout in 5.5 – 6.5 feet of water. Our reds were off the hill by about 200 - 300 yards acting like the water was too fresh in close. All our fish came in on live pinfish under Back Bays.

The water temps were up to 82-83 degrees before the monsoons came, so I guess the water temps will be down somewhat by this weekend. I would also guess the fish up close to the hill, in general, will move further off the grass line to avoid the too-fresh water , what with all the rains we have been( are) experiencing. 

keaton report May 11-12 2018

mandy Medders first-ever redfish 24"

Ladon toole of thomasville , Ga with 23.5" trout 

Keaton Report May 11-12 2018

WOW what a Great weekend of trout fishing with limits of trout for most fishing on Saturday and Did you see the winning trout for the Perry Optimist’s Club  Tournament? Mark Glow fishing with Junior Dice had a 7.15 pound 30 “trout which eclipsed the second place weight( 5.65 lbs. , a fine trout caught by Mark Falzone)  by 1.5 pounds!  Just a perfect weather day Saturday, something the Optimist Clubs tourney has missed out on for 3 years running... and gosh the trout were happy.

I took Jared Singletary, Mandy Medders and Ladon Toole of Thomasville, Ga.  out and we caught our 20 trout in under 3 hours with four over 20” long. Mandy caught her first-ever redfish and beautiful 24” fish.  We also caught 7 legal Black sea Bass to 14”.   We caught our fish in 4.5 – 5.5 feet of water with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders on the incoming tide. The delightful Southwest afternoon breeze made us 15 trout in 3 drifts.

Speaking of redfish, Ross Brenner of Perry, Fl. caught the largest redfish 8.03 pounds ( huge for Keaton Beach standards) in the Perry Optimist’s tourney Saturday. Don’t know what on or how deep but you can ask Blaine when you see him ...lol as he was right there beside Ross.

This weekends tide is shaping up for another grand fishing time; with the New moon coming up next Tuesday there will be some more big trout caught at Keaton Beach. Topwater took it’s share of prize money for the Optimist’s tourney and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it take more Big trout over the weekend. Find the mullet and find the big ones. 

keaton report MAY 6 - 7 2018

Photo Cutlines:

billy pillow

2251 Billy Pillow with a fine 23.5 “ fish caught April 25th

jud alexander

2254 Jud Alexander of Tennessee with a nice red 4/27/18

2257 Craig Killens of Mississippi , Jud Alexander of Tennessee, and Mark Hawthorne of Georgia grew up together from grade school in Mississippi and fished 4/27 for this fine catch

Keaton Report May 6 – 7 2018

Great trout, Great reds, Great Folks, Great trips it’s all good as the Millenials say ....

We caught our limit of reds three out of four trips in a row last week ( Saturday I didn’t go looking for reds as , well, it was Saturday. ) and had a fine box of trout each day with 14 ,11, 13 and 10 taken. We also had our limit of reds for Rick and Dawn Preitz of Marianna, Fl. with their son, Nate Tuesday of this week as well as 13 trout with three over 20” in length. We have been catching trout ( as long as the w-i-n-d will blow) in 4.5 – 5.5 feet of water on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. The reds have been on the rocks  taking live bait as well while I did catch a couple on Intruder Hex Spoons. I also caught a few trout on Assassin 5” in Croaker Shad and several on Wagasaki Elite Shiner under an Original Cajun Thunder ( when I got a chance to fish)

The Perry Optimist Club Tourney is this weekend, Saturday, May 5th; so come down to Keaton and see if you can win $3000 catching the largest trout . Entry fee $50.  Several other Cash winnings and prizes available for redfish, trout and cobia. For complete info call 850-843-0578 or go to www.optimistclubperryfl.com

Keaton Report April 27 -28 2018

doug Shropshire 

2238 Doug Shropshire of Tallahassee with a fine trout caught on an Assassin New Penny 5”Shad under and Original Cajun Thunder

Keaton report April 27, 28 2018

Well, we are catching the stew out of trout despite the foul w-i-n-d and weather.

Water temps crashed back to 61 Monday of last week down from 74 degrees ; but were back to 71.6  degrees as of Saturday afternoon. The stained water was a blessing with the Northwest blow of early last week .....however the Northeast and East blow kept the water out and wouldn’t let the tide come in as normal restricting both the water flow ( oxygen ) and the drift was greatly reduced. When you don’t cover as much water you don’t put your bait in front of as many trout.

Friday. I took Jonathan Surrency and his Dad John-Henry out and we caught a limit of fifteen trout on live pinfish under Back Bays as well as some fine trout on Assassin 5” and Sea Shads in Pink Moon, Stinky Pink, and Sweet Pea and on the Wagasaki pattern of Elite Shiner under a Cajun Thunder. Jonathan took top honors with a 23.5” sow trout and had a ball on this trip which his wife gave him for his 2017 Christmas present ( a gift certificate to fish with me)

Saturday , with East winds to 20 knots we caught 11 trout and one Bsb for Wesley, Drew and Nicholas Heruska of Valdosta, Ga. their first time out fishing and first time out fishing with spinning gear , and their first time out for trout. We had a Blast including hooking a keeper-sized cobia(could have gone either way 32”, 33” or 34 inches to the fork.... in that dark water ? ? who knows)  only to lose him at the boat when he kinda spit the pinfish back at us as though he never had the hook; just didn’t want to let the bait go until it was deemed necessary at the end game of the battle. That was the first cobia I have seen this year. We caught a slew of shorts early in the tide, then when the w-i-n-d stood up on it’s end the bite toughened a bit; then we had a nice flurry of 5 keepers 17”- 21”on the last spot of the day,  just as the tide was peaking.

This weekend’s tide should be fantastic with a Full Moon on Sunday. Expect a terrific range of tide (plenty of water movement) The Hi-hi (highest tide of the 24 hour period) is in the middle of the day and just every kind of fish loves the full moon in April. I used to live for the moon in April fishing on Lake Eufaula in the 70’s and 80’s !  Anyway tout and reds should be eating it up and with the trout spawn upcoming in May ...well this next month will be some of the best we will see this spring at Keaton.

keaton beach report April 2o -21 2018

Photo Cutline:

james brinson

2230 James Brinson of Macon, GA. with his first –ever trout

Keaton Report 4/20,21/ 2018

Trout fishing has been Outstanding! with limits of 20 trout Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week for the Steven Cook group from Dallus , Ga. and the Mike Norris group from Macon, Ga.  We fished with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders to land these limits. Our fish came from 4.5 – 5.5 ft. of water on the rising tide. Tuesday I took Jimmy Douglas of Homerville, Ga out and we landed our limit of 10 trout with one over 23”for top honors.  I fished with Assassin “Fried Chicken “ Sea Shads while Jimmy fished live pinfish under Back Bays in 4.5 –4.5 ft. of water. Wednesday Doug Shropshire and I fished artificials only, ( Assassin plastics Only) and caught a limit of ten trout on Sweet Pea, Stinky Pink, Croaker Shad, Native Shrimp, Magic Grass, Fried Chicken, and Houdini and caught shorts on a half dozen other colors in “5 and Sea Shads both bouncing on an Assassin 1/8 oz. spring-lock jighead and in combo with an Original Cajun Thunder.

This report from Dave Bosch of Tifton, Ga. ‘ Fished on 4/14 with Peng Chee, Tim VanSumeren, and Conner Van Sumeren. ( also of Tifton) We wound up with a limit of sea trout on a mixture of pin fish and jig/plastic combos.  We had our best bite early in the rising tide in 4-4.5', followed by a mid-day lull, then a pretty good bite on the beginning of the fall.  Water temps were 69-73.   ‘

Keaton Report April 6, 2018

Doug hardegree of Jefferson, Ga with a fine trout

Trout were cooperative this past week as evidenced by my trip Tuesday with Mike and Jim Hardegree of Jefferson and McDonough, Ga. with their buddy Curtis Shoemaker also of Jefferson. We landed 20 keepers using live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 4 – 4.5 feet of water on the rising tide.  We had 3 trout over 20 inches. Our water temps were up to 74 degrees in the late afternoon.

Ray Carlile, of Tampa, Florida, had two grandsons down this week and they had a limit of trout both Monday and Tuesday with a 26” red Tuesday using live pinfish under Cajun Thunders.

Mike Bosch of Tifton, Ga.  with his pals Chris and Carter Norman with Drew Hall fished the 31st and picked up 18 sea trout, a Spanish, and a blue on shrimp, pinfish, and plastics. Had our best success in 4 to 5 ft. on the end of the fall.( falling tide) Water temps were 64 to 67( degrees). Overall a great trip.

A few more reds are beginning to show up with the warmer water temps but are still scattered out from Keaton to Warrior. I have found remains of pinfish in my trout for the last two weeks but no shrimp.

Jonathan Sisson and his wife( sorry I forgot her name) of Gainesville, Ga. limited out on hard jerkbaits both Monday and Tuesday and told me his fish had shrimp in their stomachs. ( Hint) he is fishing clearer water than I am.

Keaton Report March 30 2018

Scott Davis w/trout  Caught on wagasaki Elite shiner

172 & 174  Scott Davis of Macon Ga. with a fine trout caught on a Wakasagi pattern Elite Shiner.

Keaton Report  March 30 –31

Trout fishing couldn’t get much better as evidenced by the reports I received as well as the days we spent on the water on board One More Cast.

This past Friday,  Capt. David Malone and I went out for four hours fishing time and caught and released over a dozen keepers and 3 – 4 dozen shorts. Our smaller fish bit shrimp under Back Bay Thunders; then I picked up a plug and caught three over 20 inches and another 4 over 18 inches. Capt. Dave finally changed over to a plug and landed 3 over 19”. Then he tied on a swimbait and caught our largest of the day a four-plus pound trout. We started in 4- 4.5 ft . of water and ended our day in 2.5 ft. as the tide was falling.

Sunday, I took Scott and Walden Davis of Macon, Ga. out and we brought back a beautiful cooler full of trout including three over 20 inches, one of which was Walden’s best trout-to-date a nice 23 inch sow. Our 15 trout were the heaviest yet for the year. We caught most of our trout on live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders in 3 – 4 feet of water.  Scott landed one 19 “ fish on an Assassin Elite Shiner ( Wagasaki) We caught trout on the rising tide and on the flop.

I ran into Sam Shaw of Homerville , Ga. out on the Gulf Friday Afternoon and he had 4 keepers in the boat  and said he was out of shrimp;  so I flipped him a pack of  Wakasagi Elite Shiners and he texted me later that he caught 4 more keepers on them. He had it rigged up under his Back Bay Thunder. Sam also sent me reports that he caught his limit Sunday on one drift. I suppose he was still using live shrimp and Elite Shiners.

Keaton report March 9 2018

“ photo cutline: Michael Aman of Perry, Florida with his winning 6.33 lb.trout 3/3/18

Michael Aman of Perry  6.33 lbs

Bang I’d say March came in like a lion.....whew has it been blowing or what..... .Just ask the NFGFC ( North Florida Gulf Fishing Club members who fished last Saturday (3/3) about the w-i-n-d which blew all the water back to Mexico. They had a tough day on the water but several teams weighed in limits of five trout including Michael Aman of Perry with his daughter Makayla who won the event with a 13+ pound string of trout. Michael also had BIG trout of the tourney with a 26”

, 6.33 Pound BEAUTY. Michael said they had 6 ( six , count ‘em) bites all day!

here is a report from David Bosch,of Tifton, Ga. “Fished with Peng and Ronnie from TN on Saturday the 3rd.  Got delayed until around 11:30 by the extreme low water, but eventually got on some fish.  We wound up with 13 sea trout and a couple of surprise Spanish.  We caught the majority of our fish in the middle of the rising tide in around 4.5’ - 5'.  Water temps were 65 to 67. Started out with shrimp and white curly tail grubs. Picked up pins fairly easily and then used a mixture of the three.”

Doug Garwood from Dalton Ga. was down in Steinhatchee, most of last week, with his buddy Joe and they caught a bunch of short trout while having 2 – 4 keepers each day with a limit of reds every day they fished. 1.5 – 2.5 ft. was Doug’s best depth as he prefers throwing Renegades all day.

Cooler temps this week will slow the bite in shallower water and probably have less effect on the deeper fish. Try Bite-A-Bait fighters and MirrOLure’s L30 MR s.

Keaton Report September 22-23, 2017

1902 Billy Pillow with a 4.1 pound trout caught 9/20/17

1906 Billy Pillow with a 20" flounder 9/20/17

Keaton Beach Report

Trout are biting like crazy!

Mike King ( Hammanocker) from Thomasville, Ga. had a limit of ten trout with his grandson, Saturday, with a flounder and a bluefish.

David Malone fished with his son-in-law and limited out Monday using live pinfish under Cajun Thunders.

Billy Pillow and I went Wednesday and for the first three baits Billy cast he was bit. We only saw one fish though a nice keeper trout. Four baits later Billy had three keepers in the boat. He had thrown back two shorts. I moved on up the pond to look for some darker water and possibly a redfish or two. Next spot was a zip.

Then the third spot was the charm. First cast, Billy had a nice keeper trout. Three baits later he said " This is a good one!" so I grabbed the net and landed a 4.1 pound trout our largest of the day.

He caught a nice red then lost one around 5-6 pounds right at the boat before I could get a net on it. Then I caught a red ; so we brought in two then released two more keepers after that. Billy also caught a beautiful 20" flounder; so I guess he caught the Big Bend Slam a trout, redfish and flounder all on the same trip!

Our first stop we were in relatively clear water, started in 5 ft. turned and left from 3.5 feet of water. My second stop we didn't catch a keeper after three baits; so I moved further North. It was and hour and a half before the full tide when our best drift ( bite) came to fruition. Most of the reds bit from hi tide til :30 after the tide peaked while the trout bite quit on the hi as they usually do. That drift started a mile off the hill and wound up 50 yds. from the grass. Again the water depth went from 5.5 to 3.5 ft. So the fish have returned to normal and resumed the same positions they were in before Irma blew all the water out of sight. Water temp in the Gulf ran from 83 - 84.5 degrees . We caught all our trout on live pinfish rigged up under Back Bay Thunders, of course.

There is, however, an unusually large amount of dead floating grass which has moved back in after the storm. The opposite

Keaton Report September 15-16, 2017

Keaton Report 9// 15/16 //17

Recommend you give it a day or so to settle down as ALL the water was "gone" just prior to Irma's passing through, as in out of sight or the "Mexican's took the water back, we must missed our payment" etc. etc. Usually this phenomenon only occurs in February with a 25+ knot East wind added to a new moon lo lo tide and the water "disappears" Well, this time Irma's power pushed it out.

Reports of the "surge" forecast are "Nope" as the NWS missed it this time; there was none, NADA zero. The water went out out of sight then never even came back to normal hi tide.

This is GREAT for Keaton Beach property owners and Keaton Beach anglers alike.

Fish should ( have to) be all bunched up together as they move back toward the flats. Once you find the "bite" it should be grand as these fish come back from their "evacuation"

Expect dirty water or at least in areas near the rivers and creeks as the rain outflow back into the Gulf should be turbid while offshore it may be surprisingly clear as an East w-i-n-d pushes all the "color" offshore only to be replaced by cleaner water on the subsequent incoming tide.

Maybe the floating grass is gone now? If so pluggers especially the topwater enthusiasts will be happy and tossing all sorts of stickbaits and jerkbaits at the trout.

When, I get back in the water I will clue you in on the fishing.

Keaton Report Sept 8-9, 2017

1880 Judy Ferguson with a "red " Redfish

Keaton Report 9/8-9/17

Fished Sunday with Sam and Matt Brown with his daughter Cameron all of Jax. Fla. and we caught their limit of 15 trout all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 5.5 - 6.5 feet of water. Water temps have dropped down around 83 -85 which is much better than 90 degrees of a few weeks ago. We are starting to see a little more bait in the 4.5 - 5.5. ft depths on top of the tide but no real runs of pogies or pilchards like we would expect.

Monday, I took Judy Ferguson of Cedar Isle and her son-in-law, Max Harper ,from Warner Robins, Ga. out and we caught 15 trout and two reds with two trout over 20" including a 22" fish for Max his first time out for trout. Judy landed a short cobia after a nice fight and we released it. First ling I have seen in several weeks.

If Irma will stay away from us I would predict great fishing this weekend as the fish are just enjoying this cooler water of late.

Keaton Report Labor Day weekend

Keaton Report Labor Day Weekend 2017

Billy Pillow and I went Wednesday and had 9 trout to 21" ( Billy) and two reds to 26,5 " ( Billy again) matter of fact those were the first two fish we caught. e fished live pinfish under Back Bays in 5.5 -6 feet of water to catch all the fish but the big red which came out of a school of 200-300 redfish I ran up on leaving 4 ft. of water. That is the first school of reds I have seen in some time although others this week have reporting seeing several schools of reds down south as well.

We only fished 4.5 hours of the falling tide and never saw a fish break the surface.

I would expect this weekend to hold good fishing away from the scalloping folks.

Be Careful FLY your Dive Flags ! It's the LAW!

Keaton Report August 25-26, 2017

Keaton Beach Report 8/25-26/17

Went by myself Wednesday and fished just under 3.5 hours 'til the top of the incoming. I caught a trout on my second cast then an hour later caught number two of five trout to 19" all taken on live pinfish rigged up 34" under a Back Bay Thunder. Hung two blacktips didn't boat either, and missed a few no see-ums. Decided to move in to 4 feet of water to look for a Rock Eating Devil ( you can figure that out eh?) and decided to catch a few fresh pins as I had been using some from my holding pen which were a few days worn. Well I caught one held it and caught another then cast out one rod and it went under as soon as I put the rod in the holder. As I cast the second bait he "Willy Mays" it ( caught it on the fly) and a huge swirl enveloped the bait and Thunder right as it hit the water. Well, I had already put that rod in the holder before it hit the water and picked up the first one and set the hook into something "solid" as the Yankees say. Rock Eating Devil I thought. Yep, just as I saw my hooked up fish was an over-slot fish the bait rod ( which consists of a #14 hairhook and a piece of chicken gizzard) dragging along behind me, sounded off and laid to the water. I turned around just in time to see another Rock Eating Devil over 45" long had eaten the pinfish which was munching on my gizzard as we drifted through this "school/mob/bunch" of slobs and was headed to Cancun with it. That first fish was already halfway there and had taken most of the line off the spool so I decided to move that rod to the other side of the boat (towards Cancun) just to help him out. Something misfired in that snap decision transaction between switching holders and holding the other hooked fish off the motor as it dove under the boat ( don't they just love to do that?) POW line broke on number one. I netted the second fish, a 30" red and looked up to see the bait rod pop back upright as the 3rd hooked fish either "Let Go" a phrase my clients like to use ) or simply tore the tiny little hook out of it's mouth. Score: Reds 2 Pat1 Anybody want to guess where that group of fish will be tomorrow?

keaton report August 18-19 2017

Trout fishing was great when you could dodge the Thunderstorms and catch a breeze from the draw of the same.

I had Butch Barwick, Alan Feagin and Buddy Martin all from Columbus, Ga. out Monday and Tuesday and we caught a limit of trout both days with one 21" red on Tuesday for Butch. We fished live pinfish under Back Bays in 88 degree water and fished the incoming tide 1:30 p.m. til 7:30 p.m. on Monday then had to fish the falling tide from 8:00 a.m. til 1:30 p.m. for our limit Tuesday.

We caught most of our trout out 1.5 to 2 miles out as the low tide .8ft. Monday didn't leave much water to fish in close. We fished the 5.5' - 4.5' break for most of our fish. Tuesday a.m. we got about .5 mile out and found the red and a couple of trout before moving back out to the deeper grass. I managed one nice trout

keaton Report August 11-12 2017

Cutline:

1853 Donna Osborn of Monticello, Florida with her first ever speckled trout a 22" beauty !
 

Keaton Beach Report August 11,12 2017

Trout fishing couldn't have been much better Monday, as I took two rookies, (who had never fished in salt water before, much less the Gulf) Tim and Donna Osborn of Monticello, Florida out and they had an outstanding trip!

They caught their limit of trout and reds with two large Black Sea bass as bonuses. We also had two trout over twenty inches including the 22" trout Donna, also her first-ever trout.

The water temps were back up around 88 degrees; which didn't bother the trout as we must have caught another ten short trout, several blues and a Jack Crevalle mixed in to boot. We caught all our fish on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders from 4 - 5 feet of water on the incoming tide. Oh, and it was a full mOon Monday ...a day many folks don't like to fish; me? I love it!

The incoming tides are moving into the afternoons this weekend; so choose a late mid-day start for better trout fishing.

Keaton Report August 4 ,5 2017

doug hardegree25" Sow!

1849 Doug Hardegree of Atlanta, Ga. with a Great 25" trout caught July 27
 

Keaton Beach Report 8/4,5/17
 

Trout fishing was Grand! my last trip out, Wednesday with Jim, Mike and Doug Hardegree as we caught 17 trout and a 14" Black Sea Bass for Mike who caught it on an Assassin 5" Fried Chicken pattern along with two other trout close to 19" each on the same color. Mike also caught two trout on Candy Corn Sea Shads, one 20" long. Mike was bouncing these two baits with a 1/8 oz. chartreuse Assassin jighead. But our Big Trout of the trip for the Hardegree boys was Doug's 25" 5.1 pound trout caught on a live pinfish rigged up 34" under a Back Bay Thunder. We were over a mile and a half off the hill when he got his sow trout in 4.5 feet of water. It was around 3:00 p.m. at the hottest time of the day in water which was 89 degrees....so much for this "early and late" program you read so much about. Matter of fact the last three trout over 24" caught in the last three weeks on One More Cast charters were caught in the middle of the day. Tide overrides time, light and temperature.

'til next time......

Keaton Report July 28 -29

1843 Bob McManus of Lake City, Fl. with his best ever, a 25" trout taken July 24
 

Keaton Beach Report July 28 , 29 2017

Trout have been biting as long as there is a breeze; well, except Monday when they just wouldn't recover from the front rain etc. over the weekend.

Last Friday, Billy Pillow and I fished less than two hours landing four trout and two reds with two trout over 21" long and a 25" red for the best there. We fished right on top of the tide and for :30 afterwards with live pinfish under Back Bays in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water

Monday, We struggled to catch 3 trout and a red while bringing in a 25" trout for Bob McManus of Lake City, Florida; his best trout -to -date while fishing with his nephew John Runion of Jacksonville. We fished with live pinfish under Back Bays and had two dozen "pick-it-up-take-the-float-under-and-drop-it " bites from trout. Very frustrating day to say the least.

Wednesday, I had the Hardegree Boys, Jim, Mike and Doug of Atlanta way out and after the slick let go we managed 14 trout , a 12" Black Sea Bass and a nice 22" redfish. We caught the trout out in 5' of water while the red came from 4' all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.

Keaton Report July 21

andrew ackert first-ever speck

1836 Recent FSU Doctorate graduate, Andrew Ackert of Tallahassee with is first ever speckled trout

Keaton Beach Report July 21 - 22

Trout continue to take live pinfish under Cajun Thunders and Back Bay Thunders from 4.5 - 7 ft. of water. Catch a breeze to catch a trout; otherwise it is tough for most folks without the added current and oxygen associated with the same. Fish in the incoming tide and an hour of the fall for best results at Keaton. All the rain of late will cool the water off slightly near the hill, but will also move fish away from the grass line.

Floating grass has made it very difficult to try and throw any artificials much less plugs with two or three treble hooks on it. If you must toss artificials use Intruder Hex II weedless spoons in Gold, Copper and Cajun Copper for trout and reds in shallower water near the creek mouths.

Scallopers should look south, below Dallus Creek, and remember to Fly Your Dive Flags! It's the LAW!