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Fishing Report for Homosassa, Florida
Capt. Mike Locklear
March 18, 2004
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
Adventures With Mike Locklear and Henry Morris-Part 4 of 5. Day 3 of 4 at Lake Comedero in Old Mexico
Part 4- Mexico Bass Fishing-Day 3
The third morning Henry had woke up as excited as I had ever seen him. He sort of glowed. What I mean is he was vibrant and more than ready. He told me he did not want to be the last one on the bus again. I thought to myself ok but it is black dark out there and it would be real hard to beat the bus to the stop since it is much closer to where Gary Rowe and his cronies were staying. They would be on the bus first no matter what, Henry just did not want them to have to wait on us at all. For some small reason, this was important.
Little did I know, that this day would be Henry's big fish day and it happened early. Henry was using a spinner bait. Our guide today was Pablo, he was the most experienced on the lake because he seemed to know all the shallow spots in the middle of the Lake. Henry had me take the bow again and he stayed in the middle of the boat. Pablo had us work an area very thorough. He used his hands mostly to talk and was very good at it.
As we left the landing, the sun was making the clouds as red as they could be. For about 5 minutes it was a beautiful sight to take in. Anything white, looked pink. It made me think back to the numerous mornings I spent at daybreak on the famed Homosassa tarpon flats. While I was day dreaming Henry hooked a nice bass about 7 pounds. I felt like I needed another cup of coffee, my mind was not working good yet. Henry and I drank so many diet cokes on this trip, we don't even want to see another one when we get back home. When Henry hooked his fish I was still fiddling around with my rods and rigging the worms. I was taking some nice shots of the scenery as well.
Pablo figured there was another big fish in the same spot and indicated with hand language that spinner baits were no good after the sun got up over the mountain cliffs. He said Iguana or lizard in English was the choice bait. Henry was really into his fishing rod and flipped the Zoom lizard over to a spot that Pablo knew that old Mui Grande was laying. Henry's St. Croix spinning rod bent over double and drag on the Shimano stradic reel was humming a bit. Pablo had a huge landing net, bigger than all the guides nets. Guide Pablo stood ready as Henry tussled with the biggest bass he had ever battled. Finally it was to the net and some cheering and congratulations were exchanged.
We borrowed a scale from Gary Rowe. We weighed it and thought the scale was off some. 9.2 pounds. You should have seen the mouth on this fish. You could fit the largest grapefruit into it with ease. Problem was, it was a spawned out fish. Even though I had a camera, Pablo insisted we find another boat with a digital camera, so the folks that check out Ron Speed's web site at http://www.ronspeed.com , would see Henry's fish.
This turned out to be an adventure as I tried to keep the bass calm on the deck of the boat by wetting a rag to keep the fish moist. This turned out to be casualty for ring finger's nail. The bass's tail forced out one corner of the quick part of my nail. My finger hurt. Finally at the other side of the lake we found Gary Rowe and he thought our bass, I mean, Henry's bass should weigh over 11 pounds. We stuck with 9.2 and did not have a tape measure to size it up mathematically. It was plain to see that Henry really had a 10 pound+ bass, she was just spawned out. No belly, plain and simple.
According to Henry the trip was made a success from this morning. We had fun talking about Henry's big fish on the island of the guides camp and the shore dinner was superb once again. Since no one had got sick thus far with any kind of Montezuma Revenge, I decided to try the ice tea with the ice from the cooler. Heck the rest of the guys were doing it and just to keep you from a mystery, we all stayed healthy the entire trip, less my fingernail accident.
As you can see from the reports below these are the highlights of just three guide boats. Nine guide boats with 17 anglers caught and released around 475 largemouth bass. We had a good time catching 39 bass and even though are average caught dropped, the size of the fish were bigger. Henry's fish was the biggest of the day. You can bet that Gary Rowe's cronies will be set to beat Henry's big fish tomorrow.
Report Date: 2/19/04
JOHNNY HILTIBIDAD-WAYNE RUTHERFORD--TX 82 BASS TO 9LBSON WATERMELON ZOOM LIZARDS IN 8FT OF WATER....GUIDE JUAN JACOBO
RAY BYED & RON WELLS--AR 70 BASS TO 8.2LBS ON BLACK FLUKES & WATERMELON LIZARDS IN 10FT OF WATER....GUIDE NATO
HENRY NORRIS & MIKE LOCKLEAR--FL 39 BASS TO 9.2 LBS ON PAIL GRAY LIZARDS & WHITE SPINNERS IN 8FT OF WATER....GUIDE PABLO
Weather: SUNNY & WARM COOL IN THE AM WITH A HIGH OF 82
Water: CLEAR AND FALLING
General Comments: GREAT DAY ON COMEDERO 2 OTHER BOATS REPORTED 79 AND 94 FISH AND MATT MEYER & JEFF BULLINGER HAD A NICE 7.8LBER
Spanish Mackerel Are Back Today was great in 12 feet of water 240 degrees off Homosassa Marker 4.
Spanish mackerel action has been excellent the past few days southwest of Marker 4 of the Homosassa River in 12 to 14 feet of water.
Tipping 1/4-ounce Cotee jigs with a bit of fresh shrimp will attract strike after strike. A 12-18 inch wire leader is needed to prevent a cut off from the razor sharp teeth. A chum block helps to keep the fish within casting range.
Capt. Ray Wallace and I guided Frank Craft and Phil Humann of the Homosassa Fishing Club to perhaps 80 Spanish mackerel with the majority of fish measuring over 24 inches and 5 pounds. All the fish were released except one.
Dr. Barry Kaplan of Ocala brought his two sons Nickie, 9, and Daniel, 5, who both had a great day catching mackerel, keeping a one-man limit of 15 fish. Kaplan discovered that the mackerel are pretty good eating if you blacken them. We cut out the rib and backbones including the bloodline and skinned the fish leaving just the white flesh thus removing most of the strong taste the fish is noted to have.
Capt. John Bazo of Nature Coast Fly Shop of Crystal River has been busy every day taking his clients to the mackerel grounds. Bazo reported large catches and excellent action using the techniques above as well as on the fly rod. Green and white clouser minnows worked fast making for a lot of fun.
The middle of last week was not good for fishing as a cold snap sent guides to the warm water discharge canal of Progress Energy north of the Crystal River. Because the water is always around 72 degrees, fish love to gather there when the bay temperature drops below 65 degrees.
Now gulf temperatures are back up around 70 degrees by the afternoon resulting in a wide variety of fishing action.
Spotted sea trout are active especially for top trout guide, Capt. Charlie Harris of Homosassa. Limits of five per person have been a normal occurrence of Harris's customers. A recent trip provided six anglers with their limits in two half day trips. A Cajun Thunder cork tied up with a 2-foot section of 20-pound clear leader with a live shrimp as bait is the generic rig Harris uses.
One of my friends this past week forgot to fuel up before heading out. Another one left his tackle box behind. If you are a guide it's a definite sign to make up a checklist and to top off the gas tank after each and every trip. This could apply to all fishermen over the age of 40.
Being prepared and having all the necessary equipment is the key to having a great day on the water. If you are a member of Seatow, Capt. Croft will make a free fuel drop and might even loan you a tackle box.
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