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Fishing Report for Homosassa, Florida
Capt. Mike Locklear
February 20, 2007
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
For most guides, bait shop owners and fisherpeople the northwest coast of Florida comes to life on March 1.
Spotted sea trout opens after being closed for 28 days. Trout action will be excellent all of March. For inshore fishing your best bet is to go after the trout.
In my tackle box I like to be prepared with a variety of hooks, sinkers and floats or corks. Also my box is packed with soft plastics and hard-bodied lures. Jigs heads from 1/16 ounce to1/4 ounce is what I like.
Name brand is important to me especially being a guide as the tackle industry has always been a two-way street. Many years ago when I was getting my start as a guide Cotee Jig manufacturer Steve Marusak came to Homosassa with one of Tampa’s finest guides, Capt. Dave Markett.
We met at Riverside Villas in the little hospitality house for breakfast. Dave at the time was writing for Florida Sportsman Magazine (FS). Outdoor writers are a very important part of getting a new guide’s name and services to the fishing public.
Marusak was building up his Port Richey; Florida based Cotee Bait Industries by networking with select guides and outdoor writers of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association. He already had a major outboard motor company willing to give each one of his quote “Cotee Master Guides” a new motor each year.
Of course nothing is free without strings but the program had its advantages and Marusak knew very well how to network fishing products and the people associated within the industry. He was a genius in marketing and in mechanical engineering. One of his inventions was the hot lead jig-molding machine.
Dave and I had already been out together and was going to go catch sheepshead for the feature article in FS. The month was Feb. or Mar. and the year was ‘87 and it was just the two of us going out in an old 24-foot homemade Elmer Bowman wooden skiff. I bought it for $600 from an old native Homosassa guide that I dearly cherished named Nathan Strickland.
Before we got to the rock I wanted to fish using my hand-held Loran C, I noticed the water was starting to get really muddy. I knew about these muds and it is a phenomenon of schools of bluefish will root out the bay shrimp and just make the water churn with off-white cloudy sand.
Every cast we got a bite or cut-off. Including masses of 1-2 pound bluefish were Spanish mackerel up to 7 pounds, keeper spotted sea trout and the ever nuisance ladyfish that by the way is fun sport and great bait.
So Capt. Dave wrote us up and FS bought it and the late Biff Lampton titled the article “Here’s Mud in your Eye”. FS put in a two-page picture of my boat with a picturesque old Florida background. Then I was running a tiller handle 55 H.P. Mariner pull start.
That old boat had a lot of character and many a fish graced its coolers.
In the spring of ’90 Marusak boarded my new 23-foot Tremblay that I made into a do-all fishing boat at least I thought it would do everything. We went out 10 miles off shore in search of mackerel. The winds came up and we got hammered with salt spray. That is when I learned the Tremblay was no match for sloppy seas unless you like onboard snorkeling. It’s best use was the flats, bay and creeks.
March’s Best Bet is to keep your eyes open for the muds when the gulf water temperature reaches 70 degrees. I would look from west of Homosassa Marker 2 up to 5 miles out. The old Bombing Range west of the bird rack up to 5 miles off shore is a good place to look also. Best time to look is when the sun is high and the sky is blue. Planes work great and save a lot of riding in the boat!
Steve Marusak Age 59 Cut a Big Path
Sadly, not much has been written about Marusak’s untimely death at age 59 back on June 30th, perhaps because he preferred to be private. He was a man who groomed many guides and with the assistance of Herb Allen, many outdoor writers received a vast amount of amenities and story ideas.
Each year Marusak would pick a port in Florida to fish a fun tournament using only Cotee products. The best outdoor writers coupled with some of the best guides in Florida made a great combination for getting his product to the readers. We fished Suwannee, Cedar Key, 10,000 Islands, Port Richey to name just a few.
I remember each speech he gave to the outdoor writers.
My favorite line he said grinning, “guys if some of my baits don’t work; then don’t write about them.” He was an eccentric and was a really cool guy. As a whole his products landed millions of fish using the live eye action jig in a twenty-year span.
Marusak’s passion was grouper fishing in shallow water. Not enough can be said about this great pioneer of the fishing bait industry. Cotee Industries became Cotee Outdoor Products in December of 2005. Steve was still running the show until God came and took him. Steve, save some big ones for us for when we come up to see you.
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