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What Are You Fishing For?
Articles on tactics, rigging breakdowns, and seasonal strategies written by the captains, guides and instructors who teach our courses. New articles published weekly.
While many anglers pack away their rods for the season, dedicated redfish anglers know that winter is just beginning to get interesting. During the colder months, inshore fishing becomes more strategic—almost like a game of chess. Success often depends on understanding water temperatures, finding warmer refuge areas, and slowing down your presentation. When these factors come together, winter can produce some of the best redfish action of the entire year. After spending many years observing redfish behavior throughout winter along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic regions, one thing becomes clear: temperature controls everything. When you learn how redfish react to colder water and where they gather during the winter season, you’ll discover that fish tend to group up in predictable areas, often making them easier to locate than at any other time of the year.
Running a charter fishing business legally requires obtaining a USCG Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) with the appropriate endorsements. Whether you plan to guide trips inshore or head offshore, it’s important to understand the key requirements—such as the 360 days of sea time, the licensing exams, and the overall costs involved. Knowing these steps in advance will help you create a clear and realistic timeline for starting your charter fishing business.
Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) act like powerful attractors in the open ocean, encouraging natural behaviors that gather species such as marlin, tuna, mahi-mahi, and wahoo around fixed GPS locations. Many government programs in places like Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean regions maintain these devices and publicly share their coordinates, allowing anglers to approach offshore fishing with strategy rather than guesswork.
Homosassa’s spring-fed waters create outstanding opportunities for inshore fishing, offering everything from massive bull redfish to tarpon that can exceed 200 pounds. By understanding seasonal movements and using effective techniques like sight fishing and live bait, anglers can consistently find success. The area is also known for its rare shallow-water grouper fishery—something not found anywhere else along Florida’s Gulf Coast. The region’s famous tarpon fishery is also explored, including how it has declined over time and the conservation efforts aimed at protecting it.
Artificial intelligence can now forecast productive fishing areas with up to 92% accuracy, even eight days ahead of time. Commercial systems such as GreenFish have already demonstrated that this technology works in real-world fisheries. Governments are also investing heavily—South Korea has committed $106 million, and NOAA has implemented systems capable of identifying hooked fish before people can visually detect them. What once seemed experimental is now becoming practical for recreational offshore anglers as well, improving catch success, reducing fuel use, and giving fishermen a clear strategic edge.
Successful red snapper fishing requires matching your bait to depth, target size, and conditions. Pinfish and pogies dominate for trophy fish, bonito strips excel in deep water, and vertical jigs avoid bait stealers. Learn proven techniques from Gulf and Atlantic charter captains for consistent catches on oil rigs, artificial reefs, and deep ledges.
Many anglers struggle to catch muskies in the spring because they overlook how closely fish location is tied to water temperature. During this time of year, muskies gather in specific staging areas before spawning and move to recovery zones afterward. However, they tend to react only to a limited range of lure presentations. The key difference between consistent success and repeated frustration lies in recognizing temperature changes, spotting subtle structural features, and adjusting your approach depending on whether the fish are pre-spawn, recovering, or transitioning. Spring muskie fishing isn’t about endlessly casting—it’s about positioning yourself to intercept fish when they are most concentrated and easiest to catch during the entire season.
Running a charter fishing business legally requires obtaining a USCG Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) with the appropriate endorsements. Whether you plan to guide trips inshore or head offshore, it’s important to understand the key requirements—such as the 360 days of sea time, the licensing exams, and the overall costs involved. Knowing these steps in advance will help you create a clear and realistic timeline for starting your charter fishing business.
Knowing how muskies feed in the fall helps explain why this season often produces the largest fish of the year. As water temperatures begin to drop, muskellunge change where they position themselves and how they hunt, adjusting their behavior to conserve energy and follow migrating prey. These shifts create predictable seasonal patterns, rewarding anglers who recognize the changes and adapt their tactics accordingly.
Select the perfect fishing rod by understanding how action and power work together. This comprehensive guide helps you match rod characteristics to specific techniques and fish species, whether you're targeting bass in freshwater or marlin offshore. Learn how materials, components, and design impact performance for every angling scenario.
Today’s fishing forecasts use satellite imagery and environmental data to identify the best fishing conditions. By learning how to read factors like sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentrations, and weather patterns, anglers can pinpoint productive fishing zones more quickly. These tools allow recreational fishermen to apply advanced strategies that were once available only to commercial fleets, greatly improving their chances of success on the water.
Cory Allen has returned to southern Illinois, bringing his trophy fish expertise to Kincaid Lake and Shelbyville Pyramid State Park. With multiple 50-inch catches to his name, Allen offers anglers unprecedented access to Illinois' premier muskellunge waters through his new specialized guide service.