older fishing reports

Fishing Report 10/29

The last few Middle grounds trip gave us decent action overall but its been pretty slow on the gag grouper. The Red grouper and mangrove snapper have been biting real well.

The gag grouper have been showing up in shallow water close to all of the stone crab traps. The best fishing we had on our last 12 hour grouper trip was in 32 feet. The deeper we worked the less we caught. It’s a shame that gag is closing in a couple of days because the gag fishing is about to break wide open.

TWO Day Middle Grounds -September 14 – 16, 2012

Fishing Report for 9/14-16/12

After Tropical storm Isaac and having to cancel our last scheduled Swordfish trip of the year, Captain Rich was excited to get back on the water.  Instead of our normal barbeque and fish story session at the dock, Capt. Rich decided we needed to leave early, so we cooked dinner while under way.

With East winds and following seas, we arrived at the middle grounds quickly and comfortably.  The Mangrove Snapper were all between 2 and 4 pounds, mixed in the Mangrove bite was Red Grouper, Amberjack and Porgies. The Mangrove Snapper bite was steady until about 8am Saturday morning.  The bite Saturday morning gave us a Gag Grouper around 30#’s and a few others between 8-10 lbs. Along with same nice Red Grouper and a few Porgies. Having a good amount of fish already on board, Capt. Rich decided, we needed to fish deeper water and search for bigger fish, so we fished our way to the Elbow. Doug Nail caught a nice Mutton about 12 lbs, and Chuck Bastak pulled up a good 22 lb Cobia.  The Elbow also produced Scamp Grouper, Red Grouper and some VERY large Vermillion Snappers, Porgies & Amberjack, there were a few Yellowtail Snappers, that came over the rail too, The fishermen all had a great time.

This got Capt. Rich to thinking………..The fishing was really good, and we have good weather coming up this weekend, so why don’t I make it another special  Elbow trip”  And so it is, the trip scheduled for 9/21-9/23 is now officially an Elbow trip, but, there are only 10 spots left.

Call to make your reservations before it’s sold out.

TWO Day Middle Grounds – August 10 – 12, 2012

click here for pics
Captain Rich had the helm of the Gulfstar for this weekend’s 2 day Middle Grounds trip.  It’s been quite a while since he’s run a trip offshore so we presumed he would be a little rusty.  After driving in circles for a few hours he was able to find the Florida middle Grounds.  Captain Rich reported the fishing as excellent – best he’s ever seen…. but in reality the fishing was quite slow until Saturday afternoon.  We were fishing in 170 ft. of water catching Gag, Red Grouper and some large Amberjack.  The thunderstorms kept passing by quickly causing the anchor course to constantly change. The sea conditions and anchoring conditions forced us to go back to 110 ft. of water.  On Saturday evening the thunderstorms cleared up and the anchor course straightened out.  Saturday night’s fishing was excellent with a catch of mostly Mangrove Snapper along with Gag and Red Grouper.  On Sunday morning we made a couple stops for some more Grouper and Large Amberjack.  The weather was picture perfect from Saturday night all the way to the dock.  The large fish were Gag Grouper – about 10 lbs. Red Grouper – about 13 lbs. Amberjack- around 25 lbs. and according to Captain Rich, the Mangrove Snapper weighed about 800 lbs.  It turned out to be an excellent trip and a lot of fun!  Check out the photo that Captain Rich gave us to post on the website of his big snapper!

 two day deep water August 3 – 5, 2012

click here for pics

As most of our regular customers know, I have been land locked with mostly boring administrative duties.  Captain Jerry has had all the fun this summer taking the Gulfstar and our customers out to the best fishing we have seen since we purchased the Gulfstar 8 years ago.  So now we’re in the heat of the summer, there’s a deep water trip and there’s no way I’m staying on land this weekend.  At departure time I bellied up to the helm, told the boys to throw off the lines and now for sure I was going to be on the boat!  The weather forecast was absolutely perfect, the seas were flat calm and the onboard navigation system said 120 miles to the first stop.   It was going to take most of the night to get to the first stop.  Passengers were downstairs readying their tackle with big hooks, big leaders making big rigs!  At the first spot, our targeted species was Queen Snapper aka ball bat Snapper and Snowy Grouper.

We fished for ball bat snapper most of the day on Saturday with what I would call moderate success.  We were reading a lot of them on the machine, but they were proving themselves difficult to catch. By the end of the day, we have 26 of them in the box along with assorted Grouper, a Blackfin Tuna caught by Ricky the drill sergeant, Jumbo Porgies, Grey Tile fish and a large Longtail Bass.  In our original plan, we were hoping to spend two days in this area working on the grouper and queen snapper but the catching was just not good enough so Captain Jerry and I decided to scout around while we tossed ideas at each other to make tomorrow a great comeback day.  So we then decided to go Mutton Snapper fishing on Saturday night and Giant Gag Grouper fishing on Sunday.  At around midnight, we arrived to the first Mutton spot.  Within fifteen minutes we had the first couple mutton in the boat, along with some Mangrove and Yellowtail Snapper.  Just like the Queen Snapper fishing, it wasn’t a bail job, but it was a steady pick.  We picked away at the Muttons until dawn.  Now it was time to go grouper fishing.  Unfortunately the area that we wanted to fish was an hour and a half further from home so I made the announcement that we were going to be home late – No one seemed to mind at all.  When we got there we got a little nervous because we read a lot of Red Snapper on the screen and of course, Red Snapper is closed right now and we did not want to have a bunch of dead fish floating away because we were in fairly deep water.  As soon as the baits were lowered, the Red Snapper started nibbling.   The good thing was, the baits were a little too large for most of them to get a hook in their mouth.  Once the baits made it underneath the snapper, it was – holy crap hang on.  The Gag Grouper here were large and mean!  Chuck Jackson, from Ft. Lauderdale had the honors of the largest Gag of the trip, weighing in at a little over 45 lbs.  We also had about 10 more between 25 and 30 lbs. and a bunch up to 25 lbs. Wow, what a stop!  What are we gonna do next?  We jogged about a mile and I ran over a pile of snapper about 75 ft. high.  Of course, being a fisherman, I can’t help but look at the pile of fish on the fish finder while saying to myself – boy, that would be a hell of a stop if we can keep these.  I circled the boat over them and noticed a pile of grouper off to the side of the Red Snapper and said to myself – we need to get on the grouper without getting on the Red Snapper.  We anchored up and somehow we got on the grouper pile and it was slow for the first ten minutes – not a bite.  Then the flood gates opened and the Jumbo Red Grouper were biting!  We wacked a bunch of them- broke off a bunch too.  Chuck Jackson took the Grouper pool with his 45 lbr. And Andy took the Snapper and Amberjack pool with a 14 lb. Queen Snapper and a 40 lb. Amberjack.  Although it wasn’t the deep water catching trip we had anticipated, we still went home with lots of large trophy fish and big smiles with pictures to back it up.

Captain Rich

 44 hr. Elbow Snapper & Grouper Trip July 27-29, 2012

click here for the video

click here for pics

The Gulfstar ventured out to the Elbow area this past weekend and the result was good fishing once again. While some anglers did not have quantity, the “quality” of the fish certainly wasn’t lacking. Gag grouper to 28 lbs., Red grouper to 13 lbs., Scamp grouper to 9 lbs. and Mangrove snapper to 11 lbs. is what quality is all about. At around 3:00am Saturday morning, Capt. Jerry settled in on a nice piece of bottom and gave the “dropem” order to 18 eager anglers. Before long mixed size Mangrove snapper, Red grouper and Porgies started hitting the deck followed by a flurry of teen size King Mackerel. While the bite was not red hot, it kept things interesting and everyone was content at picking away with what was biting on each drop until sunrise. After breakfast the boat worked some ledges and “bumps” in around 180ft of water and every drop yielded keeper size grouper and snapper. Unfortunately, some of the snapper were of the American Red kind that had to be vented and released due to the closed season. As the boat worked further offshore to depths over 200ft. things got real interesting with the largest grouper of the trip being caught in the deeper water. Joe Moore, of Lakeland, Fl did battle and landed a 28lb. Gag which eventually won him the Gag grouper pool money. Tim Harrington decided to do some “Yankee Style” diamond jigging all day and was rewarded with 4 Gags to 12 lbs, 2 Red grouper, 2 King Mackerel and a few large Mangrove snapper. Right before dusk, the Gag, Red and Scamp Grouper became hungry and a good steady pick on one drop lasted for almost two hours. After dark, it was back to the Mango grounds and boy there were some “hefty” Mangos ready to bite. Many of the Mangos landed were in the 4-8 lb. range and Chris Dye ofSt. Petersburg, Fl landed up with a fish that was close to 11 lbs. to take the Mango pool money. Also during the night several Mutton Snapper to 10 lbs. and Yellowtail Snapper to 6 lbs. hit the deck. Johnny Zinavage ofPinellas Park, Fl caught his limit of large Mangos along with a half dozen keeper Grouper. Don Ricigliano of Englewood, Fl and Howard Judd enjoyed their first 44 hr Gulfstar trip and combined for 10 grouper, 17 large Mangos and a bunch of Porgies…not to mention that Don took the Red Grouper pool with a 13 lber…way to go gentlemen! Mark Demmons hammered out 10 nice big Mangos, 3 Gags, 2 Scamps, 3 King Mackerel and a nice size Yellowtail snapper. His buddy, Butch Rigaux also caught a bunch of Mangos, 2 Mutton snapper, 2 Yellowtails and a couple of grouper. Bruce Meiris “quietly” hauled in 15 large Mangos while Doug Nail managed 4 Red Grouper, 2 Gags, 1 Scamp and around 10 Mangos. All in all, the trip was a success and thanks to all for fishing with us…we hope to see you again soon.

Gulfstar Fishing Report—44 hr. Middle Grounds  July 20-22, 2012

click here for the video

Fishing continued to be very good on this past weekend’s 44 hr. trip to the Middle Grounds. With great weather and good fishing conditions our group of 18 anglers managed to put together good catches of Grouper and Snapper once again. Someone just has to get the word out to the American Red Snapper that the 2012 season is now closed and PLEASE stop biting. Several times on this trip we had to move the boat to get away from the American Reds that were too hungry!  Anyway, when we started fishing at around 3:00am Saturday morning the Mangrove Snapper were biting kind of weird and made catching them pretty tricky. We were also “bothered” by the American Reds that were eating the Mango baits as angler Alan Goldun would attest.  A few King Mackerel also kept things interesting until sunrise when it was time to head off to the Grouper grounds. Just about every drop had Red, Gag & Scamp grouper eager to take our dead and live baits. The Red Grouper ranged up to 15 lbs, the Gags to 28 lbs. and Scamp to 7 lbs. Mixed in with the Grouper were Porgies and some nice size Vermillion Snapper. After sunset it was back to the Mango grounds and they bit much better than Saturday morning and some anglers were able to get their limit. John Debok from Spring Hill, Fl managed his limit of Mangos and took the pool with a 7 lb fish.  Howard Mayer from New Port Richey, Fl also cleaned up on the Mangos and took the Red Grouper pool with a 15 lber. Jeff Reddick from Philadelphia, Pa caught his limit of 8 Grouper, added 13 Mangos and a bunch of Porgies to his catch. Dick Bonebrake from Orlando, Fl making his first Middle Grounds trip landed 6 Grouper and cranked in 10 nice Mangos.  Sherri Harris joined Cheryl, Gordie and Dwayne Conklin for a “banner” trip as the four anglers caught just about everything it site! Gordie took the Gag Grouper pool with a “molly whopper” 28 lb. fish and was real surprised when he landed an 18 lb. Blackfin Tuna.  Sherri & Cheryl from Key Largo filled their cooler with nice size Mangos and landed 8 grouper between them…nice job ladies! Thanks to all for fishing with us and hope to see you again soon.

12 Hr extended day July 18,2012

Gulfstar Fishing Report—44hr. Middle Grounds July 6-8, 2012.

Click here for pics

Click here for the video

Sorry for the late report on last weekend’s 44hr. trip, but things at the Viking Landing Dock have been a little “crazy”. Beautiful weather, great fishing and the boat & crew have been working overtime. Heck, it seems that the engines just begin to cool off and it’s time to get back offshore for another trip. The 7/6-7/8 weekend trip was another “killer” trip. Things started off with a nice steady pick of mixed size Mangrove Snapper and an occasional Red Grouper or two that kept every angler pretty busy. After breakfast, Capt. Jerry worked offshore a tad and he was very pleased with the results. On most of the drops, fishing was “excellent” with many Red, Gag and Scamp Grouper. The fish were hitting dead & live bait and if you knew how to diamond jig…they hit them too! The average weight of the keeper size Red Grouper were probably 6-8 lbs with several over the 10 lb. mark. There were plenty of “teen size” Gags with the pool fish being over 25lbs caught by Ibraham Dahal. Boy, there were some real nice Scamp Grouper caught also…many fish were in the 5-8 lb range! Several anglers like the Grasso Family, Mark Nelson, Don Harrell and Diego Cendeno either had their Grouper limit or very close. For those who used a “chicken rig” they were rewarded with some large B-liners and Porgies to top off their coolers. Wondering about the American Red Snapper? Yes, they were hungry too…every angler went home with his/her limit of these tasty critters. On Saturday night, the boat worked back to the Mango grounds and everyone that could stay awake after “whacking” the fish all day long caught their limit of Mango’s. And if that wasn’t enough…some hungry King Mackerel started tearing things up while everyone was Mango fishing and those who fished for them landed King’s to 20 lbs. All in all, it was quite a trip…..thanks to all for fishing with us!

Gulfstar Fishing Report–44hr. “Angry Fish Trip” July 2-July 4, 2012

When this trip was scheduled and announced to our customers several months ago, it took only a few hours to sellout. Labeled as the “Angry Fish” trip, the intention was to fish the 30 fathom break for some “tackle busting” Grouper and Snapper. Capt. Rich put out a “warning label” for this trip….bring your heavy stuff or else! With perfect weather in the forecast, the stage was set for this offshore excursion and by 3:45pm we were on our way. Capt. Jerry’s plan was to fish the Elbow area primarily for Mangrove Snapper at night to start, than work his way offshore during the daylight hours. The first drop was around 11:30pm with flat moonlight seas and it took all of 3 minutes for the first Mango to hit the deck. Before long it was a “mango beat down” that lasted until we pulled anchor at about 6:30am. Several anglers had already caught or were very close to their Mango limit in only one drop…WOW! Once daylight arrived it was off to the deep…”angry fish” territory. With fair warning and everyone armed with their heavy gear it was time to do battle and it was “game on”. With rods bent all around the boat some impressive fish started hitting the decks…very large Gag Grouper…huge Scamp & Red Grouper, and mixed sizes of American Red Snapper. Many of the Red Grouper were over 10 lbs. and there were numerous teen size Gags and a few over the 20 lb. mark. There were also two Snowy Grouper caught on one spot. Every spot in the deep had fish on it and several large fish were “busted off” or lost in tangles as the fishing was hot and heavy at times. After dark it was back to Mango fishing for those who didn’t catch their limit and at daybreak the American Snapper were very hungry and everyone on board caught their limit.

Just check out some of these catches:

Tim Harrington took the Gag Grouper pool with a 34 lber which he caught on a jig. John Hendry took the Red Snapper pool with a fish over 20 lbs, added a 10 lb. Mutton and 8 grouper…and of course his Mango limit. Keith Stone of Sarasota, Fl “crushed” the Mangos, had his ARS limit, 3 large Gags, 1 Scamp and 5 Red Grouper. Joe Hutnick of Ocala, Fl also “crushed” the Mangos had both his limits of Red & Gag Grouper not to mention his limit of American Reds. Chuck Jackson from Palm Beach, Fl made his long trek worth it with his limit of Mangos, American Reds and topped of his cooler with 7 Scamp and 4 other grouper.

Carlos Boetticher of Ft. Myers, Fl wouldn’t be outdone and caught his limit of American Reds & Mangos along with 6 Gag & Red Grouper. And the list goes on…I didn’t have enough ink in my pen to record everyone’s catch. This was quite a trip and thanks to all for sailing with us.

Captain Paul Lapinski

Here is an e-mail we recieved from a passenger on the angry fish trip

30 fathom Angryfish Video click

Gulfstar Fishing Report—44hr. Middle Grounds June 29-July 1, 2012

click here for pics

With Tropical Storm Debby finally out of the area and calmer seas upon the Gulf it was time to get back to fishing. Our group of 18 anglers and a well rested crew were ready to go after enjoying Capt. George’s dockside cook-out prior to boarding. Out of the 18 passengers booked for this trip, 14 made the trip down from New Jersey. They were easily recognized by their purple tee shirts tattooed with “East Coast Crankers” with a motto of “all we do is fish”… and they weren’t kidding. Capt. Jerry was a little concerned about the fishing conditions after the storm and set a course to the Middle Grounds with the expectation of finding some hungry fish…and as usual…he did! Even though the water was a little “milky” the first few drops yielded decent catches of Mangrove Snapper, Porgies and Red Grouper. After sunrise the boat continued to work its way offshore hitting some “bumps” and ledges and some real nice Red Groupers were caught in addition to more Porgies and Vermillion Snappers. As the day progressed all of the talk was about catching American Red Snapper and the anticipation of 12:01am—the opening of the 2012 Gag Grouper Season. Tony DeLuca from Jacksonville, Fl wanted to turn his Rolex ahead about 12 hours as he nailed several large Gags before the official opening that had to be vented and released. As far as the American Snappers went….once offshore in the deeper water it only took a couple of drops and everyone on board had their limit of the tasty snappers. After sunset it was back to the “Grounds” in search of Mangrove Snapper. While the fishing wasn’t an all out “beat down” some anglers like Letch White & Bob McKenzie managed their Mango limits. After midnight and the Gag season officially open, Capt. Jerry saved two spots for sunrise to give everyone a chance to catch a couple of these bottom dwelling beasts. And sure enough…the Gags were pretty hungry and several anglers topped off their coolers with a couple of gags. It was a nice way to end a very enjoyable trip. Thanks to all for fishing with us and a special thank you to the East Coast Crankers for making the trip down to the Sunshine State.

Capt. Paul Lapinski

Gulfstar Fishing Report 32hr. Trip June 9 -10, 2012

Due to a mechanical problem on the Gulfstar, this weekend’s 44hr. Middle Grounds trip originally had to be canceled. But the long lasting effort of Capt. Rich and his brother Joe down in the grueling hot engine room found a solution to the problem early Friday evening. Now that the Gulfstar was fully operational, Melissa and Libby from the Viking Landing office hit the phone lines to contact all the scheduled passengers to advise them that we would be sailing to the Middle Grounds on a 32hr. trip at 8:00am Saturday morning. We ended up with 14 passengers and departed the dock sharply at 8:00am Saturday morning.

Capt. Jerry had a good idea of where to start fishing and make the most out of a shortened trip. His instincts were once again right on the money and on the first drop around 1:00pm Saturday afternoon the American Red Snapper started hitting the decks. Mixed in with the Red Snapper were Red Grouper of various sizes and jumbo Mangrove Snapper.

As the boat continued to work its way offshore, several more drops yielded similar results and by dinner time most anglers had their coolers nicely stacked with Snapper and Grouper.

Little did everyone know that after sunset Capt. Jerry worked to his favorite Mango spots and boy did he find some hungry Mangrove Snapper. During the overnight, fishing became a “mango beat down” as Capt. Jerry likes to describe excellent Mango fishing.

John Zinavage from Pinellas Park “crushed” the Mangos keeping his limit and cashed in on the Mango pool with a 9 lb. fish. In addition, John also had his limit of American Red Snapper to top off his cooler. Anglers Doug Nail, Elsil Chase, Gary Blanch and Mike Bevis toped out with their limit of Mangos along with American Reds, Red Groupers and Porgies.

Carl Tandatnick had a slow start to the trip but took the advice of the experienced Gulfstar crew. He took a quick baiting lesson, changed his rigs, hit the “reset” button, and cashed in with 3 American Red Snapper and a basket full of jumbo Mangos…way to go Carl! That goes to show you that listening to the experience of the crew can be the difference to going home with a full cooler of fish or one with just ice!

The Craven and Bohl families traveled from Red Wing, Minnesota to fish with the Gulfstar this weekend and were not disappointed. Their coolers were topped out with jumbo Mangrove & Red Snapper in addition to 10 keeper size Red Grouper…now that’s well worth the trip!

Finishing up their week long fishing vacation with their third consecutive long range trip on the Gulfstar, Fred & Michael Bisbee from Springdale, Arkansas loaded up on American Reds, Mangos and Red Grouper…these guys may need a second van to get all their fish back to Arkansas.

Thanks to all for another great trip and please come back and join us again.

Gulfstar Fishing Report 44hr. Trip June 5-7
Our famous 44hr trips attract anglers from all parts of the country and this trip was no different.

Capt. George prepared his usual goodies as part of our pre-boarding “meet & greet” program.

Capt. Jerry set a course to the fishing grounds and by 1:15am the baits hit the water. On the first drop, the action was steady with a mix of American Red & Mangrove Snapper, Porgies and Red Grouper.

Jason Diss & Paul Gankiewicz quickly filled a basket of snappers and porgies and that was just the first stop. Prior to sunrise a few drops were made and yielded similar results as our anglers braved some heavy rain and gusty winds. Those conditions continued for most of the day and the anglers toughed it out with good results.

The weather conditions improved after sunset and the fishing got “red hot”. The Mangrove & Red Snappers provided tons of action.

Daniel Ramkisson had his limit of American Reds as well as a nice cooler of Mangoves. Mike Greenberg from Huntsville, Alabama also caught his limit of American Reds, 15 nice Mangos (including the 7lb. pool winner), 4 keeper Red Grouper and 2 Scamp Grouper…nice job Mike..it was well worth the 12hr. drive! Fred & Michael Bisbee from Springdale, Arkansas had hot hands with their limits of American Reds, and a cooler filled with a healthy mix of Mangrove & Vermillion snapper and Porgies. Frank Washington, Calvin Alexander, Rodney Roberts & Cliff Zchoels from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania totaled 10 American Reds and stuffed their coolers with Mangroves & Porgies..

pretty sure the airport TSA are going to want to know where they went fishing! Other anglers having great catches were Tony Derosa & Letch White. The Red Grouper & Red Snapper pools went to “Jackpot Paulie Gankiewicz” with a 15lb. American Red and a 8lb. Red Grouper..way to go Paulie! All in all, fishing was very good and all of our anglers toughed it out battling the rain & wind…great job guys and many thanks from the entire Gulfstar crew.

Gulfstar Fishing Report—May 18, 2012 44hr. Trip

The fishing was so good last weekend, Captian Jerry decided to do it again.As our group of 14 fishermen began showing up at the Viking dock and loading their gear in preparation for our offshore trip, Capt. George cooked up and served complimentary Hamburgers & Hot Dogs as part of our “meet and greet” program. What a nice way to start to a trip! By 6:45pm Capt. Jerry started the engines and the Gulfstar pulled away from the dock and we were on our way to the fishing grounds. We arrived in the Elbow area around 2:30 am and Capt. Jerry settled on a nice piece of bottom. Within minutes a nice steady pick of 3-7lb. Mangrove Snappers developed. Soon after that quite a few rigs were being cut off by toothy King Mackerel. Some anglers re-rigged and put wire on their rigs and caught some nice King’s to 20lbs. After the King’s became too hungry and were eating everything in site we moved onto the next spot. That spot also produced a nice steady pick of Mango’s, Red Groupers of various sizes, and Gag groupers that were released due to the closed season. After day break, we continued to hit spot after spot and caught some Red Groupers to 12lbs along with the finest kind of Scamp Grouper to 7lbs. One drop in particular saw many anglers catch multiple very large Scamps. Also mixed in the catch were Porgies, Bee-liners, Bar Jacks, Yellow Tail Snappers, and Amberjacks. A few Mutton Snappers also hit the deck. One Mutton hit the scales at 21lbs. WOW! On route to one spot Capt. Jerry ran over a very large “fish reading” and once we anchored the American Red Snappers were very hungry. They were all vented and released. Sure looks like it’s going to be a great RedSnapperseasonwhichopens June 1^st! After a delicious Roast Beef dinner at sunset, we moved back to the Mango grounds to set up for the night bite. The Mango’s didn’t disappoint anyone either. While it got a little windy around midnight and the fishing conditions were challenging, the Mango’s continued to provide plenty of action. These were large fish to almost 10lbs. We also had another visit from the pesky King Mackerel which provided loads of fun for those who fished for them. All and all, the fishing was very good and we would like to thank our anglers and friends for joining us. Take a look at some of the pictures from the trip.

• Updated 5/9/2012

  2 Day Giant Jack and Mutton Snapper special

  Captain Jerry impatiently waits for this trip every year, amped up he was pacing the dock on Friday thinking about the big ones out there, waiting to scarf down our tasty baits and become tasty filets! The tide at departure time was crazy low because of the super moon this weekend, The Gulfstar slipped out quietly and made her way to the first stop at 160 ft, and it was GAME ON!!!! Mangos, Grouper, Jacks, Black-fin Tuna, Jumbo Hogfish Cubera Snapper and some Mutton snapper up to 20 lbs, flying over the rail, fisherman screaming GAFF!!! WOW what a first stop!. Ande R got the Cubera snapper and Jim H captured the big mutton and a real nice Black-fin Tuna. The bite on the first stop just kept going until the next morning. The boat fished its way south, bouncing hard bottom getting massive Scamp and Red Grouper all day also releasing lots of jumbo Red Snapper and Gag Grouper. Carlos B wrestled a Giant Amberjack coming in at just over 60 lbs, to the deck along with a few others. The second night spot produced great as well, Flag Yellow tail Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Black-fin Snapper, Speckled Hind Grouper, Bar-jacks and whole lot of other stuff. 83 yr old Sargent Bill Hines had a great trip getting some muttons, scamps, yellowtails and some jacks. Captain Jerry had to re-anchor a couple of times during the night due to the current changing direction and speed. What a special trip this turned out to be this year, the weather was great the fishing was awesome and lifelong memories were made. We did expect a few more jumbo Jacks to come aboard this trip, but most were 20-30 lbs. but over all it was awesome. I was at the dock when the boat got back looking at all the fish. The pictures don’t tell the whole story… I missed a real good one.

   CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS

  The Gulfstar is out on dry-dock right now we are sand blasting the bottom, getting the propellers balanced, changing shaft bearings and repainting the bottom with 2 coats an epoxy barrier then two coats of antifouling paint . The Coast guard came and did the required Dry-dock hull inspection yesterday with us and we found no problems at all. We should be back in the water on Monday if all the painting goes well. We are working with the Coast guard to get the approval to put the canvas over the cockpit, I think we will have it resolved soon.

  Red Snapper season is almost here!!! call Libby and Melissa and book a trip before the season ends!!!

  Captain Rich

  12 Hour Wednesday April 18, 2012

  Sorry for the late report….The 12 hour trip was a rough one… The weather forecast was 10-15 kts winds, seas 2-3 ft… perfect Grouper conditions. The wind offshore was 25 kts for most of the day. Anyway we still managed to catch a bunch of Grouper both Red and Gag, we just did not have as many gags as I would have liked.

   

  Two day  Friday April 13, 2012

   

   Late Report….. The weather forecast was a shaky one at best, so we gave it a shot. The snapper fishing was not to bad while it was blowing. As we thought the seas flattened out on Saturday afternoon and things were looking up. NOT SO FAST said Mother nature…. Here it comes again and it came on strong. After drilling it until late Saturday night we gave in and called the trip. Back at the dock we off loaded Snapper, Grouper and Amberjack and tired fisherman. click here for pics

   

  Half Day Thursday April 12. 2012
  Todays Half Day gave us decent action most of the trip but. the fish were mostly small. We made about 8 moves  picking some larger fish fish on each stop. Most anglers left with a small bag of filets for dinner.. all left with a smile.    🙂

  12 Hour Wednesday April 11, 2012
  We had another great day of Grouper catching today. The very first first drop was red hot with about 30 mins of action. We then made many other drops during the day. most gave us decent action with a few keeper red Grouper  along with many keeper sized Gag grouper that had to be released because of the closed season. Later in the day we made an hour run to a wreck for some Amberjack action. The jacks were swimming around on the surface and a bit picky but we managed to get 10 of them to bite and landed 8.  Jordan Vehr from ohio took 1st place prize with the largest fish Amberjack. Brian from D&S auto in Holiday Fl took 2nd place with an amberjack as well.  Another great 12 hour trip

  2 Day Florida Middle Grounds Friday March 30 – April 1, 2012

   

  Captain’s Jerry and George had the helm on this weekends 2 day trip. Red grouper season opened this weekend so everybody was cranked up to catch some fish. The Mangrove snapper fishing was a little slow but the Grouper, Amberjack , Vermillion snapper and others cooperated pretty well. We were not able to keep any red grouper until Sunday so it was painful to release them along with nice Gag Grouper up to approx 20 lbs on Saturday. On Sunday the Red Grouper were not that lucky, Captain Jerry was on a mission, A Red Grouper box filling mission. The Gulfstar’s anglers fished fast and furious and managed to catch a bunch of nice n plump Red Grouper.

  click here for more photos

   

   

   

   

   

   

  5 Hour Half day Thurs April 5, 2012

   

  Todays half day gave us so-so fishing. The fish would bite then stop.. bite then stop. We made lots of moves to make a day of it.

   

  12 Hour Grouper Wed April 4, 2012
  We had an excellent trip today. The first stop gave us a hand full of Grouper bites some really nice keeper size too. One problem… Gag Grouper not Red Grouper, Gag is closed until july and we are looking for Red.. We made several moves and everywhere we went the Gags were there with the Reds. We fished in places I have never caught Gags at and still caught them mixed in with the Reds. At the end of the day we had plenty of Keeper Red Grouper in the box up to about 12 or 13 lbs.
  Great Day!!!!

  5 Hour Half day Monday April 2, 2012

  Fantastic Todays Half day was fantastic… The fish were biting like they have not eaten in a month, the weather was perfect and the seas were flat calm. The first drop was a 1/2 mile drift that produced fish the whole time. Black sea bass, Porgy’s, Key west Grunts, small grouper and a few Spanish Mackerel.Lots of action and smiles today 🙂

• 2 Day Florida Middle Grounds Friday March 30 – April 1, 2012

  Captain’s Jerry and George had the helm on this weekends 2 day trip. Red grouper season opened this weekend so everybody was cranked up to catch some fish. The  Mangrove snapper fishing was a little slow but the Grouper, Amberjack , Vermillion snapper and others cooperated pretty well. We were not able to keep any red grouper until Sunday so it was painful  to release them along with nice Gag Grouper up to approx 20 lbs on Saturday.  On Sunday the Red Grouper were not that lucky, Captain Jerry was on a mission, A Red Grouper box filling mission. The Gulfstar’s anglers fished fast and furious and managed to catch a bunch of nice n plump Red Grouper.  More to follow later!!!!!

• 5 Hour Half day Monday March 26, 2012

  Once again we had a great day aboard the Gulfstar. No the fishing wasn’t super great and no the weather was not picture perfect. What made today a great day was the amount of smiles and positive family interaction, moms and dads fishing with the kids, retired couples having a fun time joking with each other about their fish catching abilities, everybody had a smile and nice things to say. I am not really sure how to describe it but today’s trip had such a good vibe, a feeling that trumps good fishing and good weather.
  One mom from Chicago showed her husband and kids she can fish too. She caught the largest Black Sea Bass we have seen here in the Gulf of Mexico.

• 5 Hour Half day Thursday March 22, 2012

  Today turned out to be a painfully slow day. The fish would bite for only a few minutes every stop. We moved probably 10 times and almost every time, the fish would bite right away and then stop like somebody turned the EAT switch off! Maybe the fish will be really hungry by our next trip this Saturday.

• 5 Hour Half day Monday March 19, 2012

  The fishing today was even better yesterday, soon we should be back to our normal fast paced fishing. Today we had a decent bite on the first couple of stops, then it slowed up as the tide changed for about an hour. Once the current started to move the fish started chomping! We had to leave them biting. Great Day…

  This just came to our inbox, things like this make a great career an awesome career.

  A visitor to gulfstarfishing.com has sent a message through your form.
  First Name: : Evelyn Comments: : Today is 3/19/2012 the Gulfstars captain Rich and staff. are great my husband and I love you all.

• 5 Hour Half day Sunday March 18, 2012

  Northwest Charter.. Once again we had fantastic weather and the fishing improved some today. We caught Key west Grunts, Porgies, Black Sea bass, Red Grouper, Gag Grouper, Blow Fish, Spanish and King Mackerel. What a nice mix of fish and a super fun bunch of anglers.  Wanna see some pictures of this awesome trip?   Click here 

  Here is an e-mail from our charter customer:

  Captain Rich

  What a great time our employees and friends had fishing with your great crew this past weekend. We ate like kings, in fact I had the best Rubin sandwich I have ever eaten. The fishing started off a little slow but got better and better all day. The crew really made this a fun trip, from showing the kids the puffer fish to the expert rigging help (your tackle expert George really knows how to splice on top shots). A special thanks to captain Rich for letting the kids drive the boat and showing our resident diesel mechanic around the engine room. This is a trip I would highly recommend to any company wanting to have a unique team building experience.

  Lee

   

• 5 Hour Half day Saturday March 17, 2012

  Another day in paradise..  Once again perfect weather and today fishing was a bit better than yesterday. Today we had more children then on recent trips and the kids had a blast catching Key west snapper, Black sea bass, Red Grouper and even a Triggerfish. Here are some pics from our great day! Click here for Pics

• 5 Hour Half day Thursday March 15, 2012

  Wow … What a great weather day we had today. I only wish I could say that about the fishing. Now it was not horrible, but it was much slower than what we normallay have. The fish we did get to bite were on the larger end of normal. Most everybody caught fish to take home for dinner and some got to release a red grouper or two. The weather and fishing this winter has been stellar, only getting one out of two today still ain’t bad….

• 5 Hour Half day Monday March 12, 2012

  After another weekend of cranky weather and having to cancel the weekend trips, we were able to get out on Monday with a boatload of anxious anglers.  The weather was windy Sunday night and early Monday morning but one of the really nice things about leaving at 11 AM to fishing is that the sun is usually shining and you have a good idea of what the weather is going to be like for the day.  The fish did not bite as well as they have in recent weeks, but most anglers caught plenty of fish and had a decent bag of fillets to take home.

• 5 Hour Half day Thursday March 08,2012

  After this past weekends cold front passing by with very high winds I was a little concerned about the water clarity and the fishing conditions for todays trip. Once on scene my worries quickly faded. The fish chewed very well today, we did have a slow spell during the tide change. All anglers had loaded-up stringers with some really large Sea Bass and Key west snapper. The weather was also fantastic, sunny, warm, calm seas AAHHH another day in paradise!!!

  Capt. Rich

• 5 Hour Half Day Feb 20,23,27 & March 1, 2012

  We have had fantastic fishing for the last two weeks, Loads of Key West grunts, Black sea bass, a few Lane snapper, a few Hog Snapper and lots of released Red and Gag Grouper NOW IS THE TIME TO GET-EM

• 5 Hour Half day Saturday February 18, 2012

  The weather forecast was for rain in the morning and wind in the evening.  When we left the dock the sun came out and we didn’t start to see any wind until we started to come home.  It was a flat calm, sunny, beautiful day. The Black Sea Bass and Key West Grunt bite was fantastic but the Grouper bite was slow.  Many people went home with big bags of fillets, sunburns and smiles.  Another great day of fishing on the Gulfstar!

• 5 Hour Half day Thursday February 16, 2012

  Captain Rich reports a lot of action on Thursday’s trip. The Black Sea Bass and Key West Snapper were biting almost instantly on most drops.  The Gag and Red Grouper bite was great – several good sized fish came up over the rails. We filled three boxes with fish and most had lots of fillets to take home.

• 5 Hour Half day Monday Febuary 6, 2012

  Todays Half day was back to normal. We had good fishing and great weather. The Gag and Red grouper bit well with fish up to 12 lbs coming over the rails. The grouper were all released unharmed due to the closed Gropuer season. We also caught Hogfish, Black Seabass, porgies and Key West snapper a.k.a. Grunts. Most passengers filled up there stringers half way and left with many tasty fillets. What a Great day of Fishing! 

• 5 Hour Half day Thursday February 2, 2012

  Captain Rich reports a slow start on our half day fishing trip. For the first three or stops it was a slow pick.  We moved to a little deeper water and the fish started biting a little better.  We had Gag Grouper, Red Grouper, Hog Snapper, Porgy and Key West Grunts.  Although we had good variety, the bite was still sluggish.  We stayed late for one more stop and the fishing improved as we had to start heading home.  The weather was fantastic; sunny, warm and calm.

• Special 12 Hour End of Season Red Grouper Trip 1-31-12

  Tuesday 1.31.2012, 5:30 AM. There are lots of familiar faces on the Gulfstar along with some new faces.  The weather is chilly with a northeast breeze.  Today’s target: Red Grouper. Target depth: 70-100 FT.   We departed at 6 AM and arrive at the first fishing spot just around 9 AM.  Gag Grouper, Gag Grouper, Gag Grouper, aah there’s a Red Grouper, but it’s just short….. as the day went on this scenario kept repeating itself.  On almost every spot we had Gag Groupers up to 16 LBS and a few Red Grouper just under keeper size.  We could not find where the keeper Red Grouper were hiding.  With Gag Grouper season being closed we had good fishing action, but we weren’t putting any fish in the box.  Captain Rich decided to run further offshore and hit a wreck in hopes to find some Amberjack and maybe Red Grouper.  It didn’t take long for the Amberjack to start biting. With rods bending and reels screaming, the crew rushed around the boat assisting fishermen land their big Amberjacks.  We also caught Red Snapper and large Gag Grouper, which we released.  Although we didn’t catch any keeper Red Grouper, we did have lots of action and took some fish home for dinner.  We have to wait two full months before Red Grouper reopens.  Captain Rich is licking his wounds and planning his revenge.  Click here for pics!

• 2 Day Florida Middle Grounds Friday January 20-22, 2012

  Captain Rich reports a killer weekend aboard the Gulfstar. The passengers had a good steady bite of all the regular reef players at the Middle Grounds. First time Gulfstar customer Ronnie Milsap popped a nice Cobia along with 3 nice Red Grouper and a cooler full of assorted Snappers and Red Porgies. The jackpot winners were Jim R with a Red Grouper of 17.5 lbs, Jerry with a Mangrove Snapper hitting 6.5 lbs on the scale and Andy with an Amberjack just a couple ounces under 40lbs. Anthony, Les, John and Paul K caught their Grouper limit and a boat load of Snappers, Porgies and Amberjack.

  Click here to check out the video of this weekends fishing trip!

  This weekend we had awesome weather and great fishing, the was steady and it seems like the January weather is going to mild so get out fishin!

  Check out our pics from this trip Click here    

• 5 Hour Half day Thursday January 5, 2012

  Captain Jerry reports all the passengers aboard the Gulfstar had great fishing action with lots of Key West Snapper and Grouper coming over the rails. Captain Steven Forsberg Jr from our Montauk office had a bussmans holiday and went fishing for the day with his girlfriend, Angelina.  The whole boat had a great time and the weather was cool, clear and calm!