Capt. Larry DOESN'T go to Scotland!

Many of you might have received an email yesterday morning saying Capt. Larry was in Scotland, in trouble, & needed money. Now, we hope that most everyone has enough sense to realize this is a scam, because frankly, Scotland doesn't hold much interest for Capt. Larry; unless maybe he was there to fish for the Loch Ness Monster... and if he tried, be rest assured he would catch that beast!

What Capt. Larry and his fishing parties HAVE been catching some awesome groupers- blacks, gags, & reds. Along with those tasty treats of fish, his trips have been bringing home a plethora of cobias, kingfish, porgies, amberjacks, barracudas, Mahi-Mahi [dolphin type fish, but NOT flipper], and a variety of large sharks! Red snapper may be going out of season July 23rd, but we've been catching a heck of a lot of them, and good news is that the mangrove snappers that cant help themselves from biting ARE in season all summer long!


The best action starts at about 125 ft out, using live baits- pinfish especially. The larger red grouper are moving in to this depth, and should continually improve their feasting on our hooks as the summer progresses. On my half day trips, they usually run closer in (around 50 ft), we are catching smoker kingfish,gag grouper of keep-able size, and sharks; seems no matter how far out we are, we still get a sizable amount of different kinds of sharks. Nearer to shore, tarpon are thick around all the passes, like Egmont key and the Skyway bridge. While on the outgoing tide in the inter coastal waterway (and the passes), try to scoop up as many pass crabs for bait as you can, because they will be your little fishing buddies as they are fantastic for hooking a big tarpon.

Back to offshore, we had a trip recently where while catching humongous amberjacks on a large ledge, when suddenly about a 50 lb cobia swam up to the boat! The first mate was quick on the draw and put a live grunt by one of the cobia, he immediately grabbed it, spit it out and circled around, still deciding what to do. He couldn't resist the grunt very long, and one bite became two, and the cobia didn't realize he was hooked until it was too late! He didn't give much of a fight until the gaff hit him. Capt. Larry had already briefed everyone to stand clear when a green cobia comes aboard. That unexpected passenger caused everyone to scramble as this wild & crazy fish hit the deck, thrashing violently. We all scrammbled when this wild and crazy fish hit the deck thrashing violently. The party said they knew it was a serious situation when the captain and first mate start running for cover! That was almost as much fun as wrestling large sharks for a photo before their release, and certainly gets the blood pumping!

Like I often say, now is the time to come out and get ya' some of this hot action, as that could've been you with the epic cobia wrestling story of a lifetime!

Thanks,
Capt Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
Cell 941-720-6475
Email captlarrymcguire@gmail.com
Operating out of the Cortez Fishing Center Bradenton, FL.

Best Bachelor Party Ever!

Even when we aren't on a bachelor party, it gets absolutely wild and crazy with some parties, with the result being the trip of a lifetime! Going deep will net you monster grouper, so take the extra time, spend the extra gas because June is the month for the true black grouper, also called June fish. It does seem the best month to catch one of those bad boys.

Speaking of parties, May 20th, we went out for assistant fire Chief Ezell, of the Bradenton Fire Dept's, belated bachelor party. Below is a picture of him on the right, holding a monster true black grouper, that Bobby Dodge on the left caught. That same trip we also caught 6 huge gag grouper, 7 big bright red grouper, as well as catch and release red snapper, porgies and lots of sharks. The group was using live pinfish, in about 200 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. The other picture below is of Bobby Dodge, Keith Roderick, Anthony Leverett, Ron Kinlaw and Randy McCaskill all of whom are from Bradenton.

Some recent closer inshore fishing accomplishments have been around 50 ft. There, the kingfish are in schools, guaranteed to keep your rods screaming! I always like to keep a flat line out and a chum bag over the side; that ensures that the fish come to me. That way I cover the entire water column and catch everything that swims. Remember to keep and eye peeled for cobia or a school of mahi-mahi, because they could swim right up to the boat this summer.

Tarpon are very thick during the summer around the Skyway bridge, and a lot of boats have been hooking up with them. It's a secret, so don't tell anyone how many gag grouper, Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper and sharks inside the Tampa bay shipping channel.

Thanks,
Capt Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
Cell: 941-720-6475
Email captlarrymcguire@gmail.com
Operating out of the Cortez Fishing Center Bradenton, FL

Sharkfest!

On our trips offshore of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key have been quite fruitful lately! Between catching bountiful black grouper [carborita], gag and red grouper, as well as our catch and release red snapper, we have our hands full! But that's a good thing, when you're catching beasts of fish without even trying to get them; there seems to be no shortage of these tasty treats! We couldn't wait for June 1st to get here & the red snapper season to open.

In the meantime, we had been catching awesome amberjacks, meaty mangrove and yellowtail snappers, large porgies, killer kingfish, monster barracuda and a variety of other sharks. On some spots, after we're catching a serious bunch of fish for awhile, the sharks smell blood, get riled up & join in the action. That's what I call a sharkfest! Kids definitely get excited when catching sharks.

The pictures below are of Capt. Larry with a massive red grouper, following with a firetruck red groupers caught on May 21st by Jack O'Hara and Luis Newcomer, both of Bradenton. That's only part of their catch that included (but wasn't limited to) grouper, miscellaneous snapper, porgies and different kinds of sharks. The last picture is of Jack O'Hara again and Anthony Leverett, both with with red grouper. Notice how the grouper on the left has a bite mark... That shows the sharks were interested in what we were doing, and took a piece out on the grouper's trip back p to the boat! We were offshore of Anna Maria Island in about 125 ft using live pinfish on this charter.

On another note I haven't seen any signs of tar balls or anything else that comes with oil spills off of our coast or beaches. We need to keep praying it does not reach our coast and hope this is cleaned up as soon as possible!

Life is good the weather is perfect and the fishing is great.Now is the time to come out and getcha' some.

Thanks,
Capt. Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
Cell: 941-720-6475
Email: captlarrymcguire@gmail.com
Operating out of the Cortez Fishing Center, Bradenton, FL

May Recap of The Fantastic Fishing!

I am pleased to announced the kingfish and cobia are here! As I'm sure everyone's noticed, the warmer the water gets, the bigger fish are getting hungry & ready to bite on your line. These past couple months, we made the most of many people's spring breaks, bringing in more fish than in past April or Mays. Our area really needed the hotter temperatures, after that brutal winter. My boat ran almost three weeks non-stop & we caught a plethora of gag and red grouper. In the mix also was (but not limited to): amberjack, kingfish, cobia, blacktip and other large sharks... notable but not nearly as exciting were a variety of snappers, triggerfish, and porgies.

The slideshow below stars Scott Taylor from Tampa, with his Smoker Kingfish around 40 lbs. Scott was using a flatlined sardine, in about 150 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island, on 5-6-2010. The second picture is of Margie Ferrantegennaro, also from Tampa, with one of her mighty gag grouper. She caught it using a live pinfish in about 60 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island, while fishing out with her family. The happy family also caught more grouper, kingfish. Margie even caught a Hogfish [Hogsnapper] on hook and line. The final picture has Robert Guidry of Tampa, with his first amberjack EVER, caught using a live pinfish in 150 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island on 5-06-10.

This heavy biting is happening at most depths, with the kingfish hitting mostly around 40 to 50 ft depths offshore of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. Cobia are on almost any kind of underwater edifice, natural reefs or an artificial structures like a wreck. Lately, Gag grouper are hanging out on the ledges that have the least amount of pressure, and the monster red grouper are hungry out deeper (in around 170 ft) and are moving in closer as the water heats up. We've been seeing a lot of cobia these past couple of months, and have even had them swimming around the boat! Of course there are days that the fish just don't act interested in biting, but then the next day they are so easy to catch a caveman could do it.

Kingfish are definitely back & begging for some attention! We caught large ones almost every day we went out fishing this past month. However, I predict that the real big Mac(krel) attack will be happen any day now, but it will definitely be sometimes this June. That's when the mackrel will school around the boat in a feeding frenzy, hitting everything but the kitchen sink! Some of my clients get tired of catching so many, that we move on to spots that are known for other species- that's another positive aspect of fishing with me: I have a spot for every type of fish!

As usual, fishing is great, the weather is beautiful, and life is good. Now is the time to enjoy paradise and come out and get ya' some!

Thanks,
Capt. Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
Cell: 941-720-6475
Email: captlarrymcguire@gmail.com
Operating out of the Cortez Fishing Center
12700 Cortez Rd. west
Bradenton, FL 34215

Ending May With A Blast Of Goliath Grouper!

The temperatures are rising, and so is the amount of fish we've been catching during recent trips. My parties have been getting in a large number of gag and red grouper, smoker kingfish, amberjacks, mangrove and yellowtail snappers, big barracudas, blacktip and other large sharks. Along with those impressive specimens, we've been playing the catch and release game with goliath groupers. The best grouper action I've seen lately is out past 150 ft for large reds or inside Tampa bay for some tasty, huge gag grouper and Spanish mackrel. I'd like to note that kingfish and shark frenzies can happen at any depth, the key is to have plenty of bait. Monster amberjacks (also called reef donkeys by some folks), are on most of the wrecks, springs and deep ledges. They are sure to make your arms sore and body ache, and having you feeling those monster amberjacks throughout the next day!

In the slideshow below, Captain Larry is releasing an aprox 350 lb Goliath Grouper Flint Bescker from Buffalo New York caught using an amberjack for bait. We were offshore of Anna Maria Island, in about 90ft using a 9/0 senator reel, extra heavy duty rod and 200 lb test. Flint and his friends broke of a few larger Goliath groupers and finally caught a smaller one and then I safely released it to fight another day. Ron Kinlaw is next with one of the many gag groupers he caught, on a typical beautiful sunny day! And the last picture is me again with a nice Blacktip Shark we caught and released safely, using a live pinfish on a flatline fishing in 90 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island.

Tarpon have also been showing up here in Sarasota bay. And on another note, the experts and scientists' forecast that it's not likely for that nasty oil spill to hit our coast, and the west coast of Florida- even the keys, will be fine. We should all be praying it'll stay that way. I've been fishing these waters for decades now, and especially for now, there's no reason not to go fishing or visit our beautiful gulf beaches; they aren't rated some of the nicest in the world for no reason!

The fish are biting,the weather is beautiful and life is good so come on out and get ya some!


Thanks,
Capt Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
Cell: 941-720-6475
Email captlarrymcguire@gmail.com
Operating out of the Cortez Fishing Center Bradenton, FL

Heat Yourself Up, With Some Sheephead Action

The best action these days has been with a multitude of amberjacks and a variety of snappers – all that you can handle! Also mixed in when we fish offshore, are banded rudderfish, porgies, mangrove snapper, triggerfish, big sheephead, different kinds of sharks. They aren't in season, we've been getting a lot of catch and release gag and red grouper, even though we weren't trying to catch them. We were actually even fishing in areas where there usually aren't that many, which means when season does come around again, we will be catching an immense amount! It's almost like these grouper know they have immunity deal, where we can't get them, but come April 1^st, it's game on again!

In my opinion, the hottest action is still out past 100 ft offshore, using live baits, because they seem to bring in the greatest catches. The tip of the week is that there are a bunch of huge sheep head out there, close or even IN artificial reefs, offshore of Anna Maria Island. These bad boys will be out there for another 2 weeks spawning, and that makes them quite hungry! This winter has been a tough one, with only one or two a week days calm enough to even head offshore. What that means, is that you should be ready for that window of opportunity, because you will be rewarded with a great catch. Offshore fish are still biting ,even in this cold weather. Like I always say: now is the time to head out deep, because the action is guaranteed to heat you up!

Thanks,
Capt Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
Cell: 941-720-6475
E-mail: captlarrymcguire@gmail.com
Operating out of the Cortez Fshing Center, Bradenton, Fl.

Serious Anglers, with a Serious Catch!

The offshore action has been hotter than ever lately, giving us as much amberjack, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, porgies and sharks as we can handle! But as Martha Stewart says: "It's a good thing!" Recently on a trip, we had a 9 ft hammerhead shark (as visible in the slide show at the top of the blog), that followed up our amberjacks to the boat. That was definitely a pleasant surprise! With my fishing trips, you never know for sure what will happen, but it'll definitely be good times, that is guaranteed!

On February 1st, grouper went out of season , but it will reopen on April 1st. All is certainly not lost; we can still catch other fantastic fish, all day long! Lately it has been up to the limit catches of snappers and awesome amberjacks, plus many other tasty species that our available. There is also a good chance for blackfin tuna in deeper water this month. The best action is starting at 125 ft, where we fish wrecks and large ledges, using large live baits and butterfly jigs as bait. While you are closer in (and especially on the artificial reefs), look for monster-sized sheephead on the 1 and 3 mile reefs. Also there, you'll find mangrove snappers, porgies and all the key west grunts you want.
The picture above (from left to right) is of Larry Garvin, Geoff Worthing, Dennis Wickie,Don Kirkwood, Bill Rolston, and George McMillan from Ironwood, Bradenton. They have an impressive catch of greater amberjack. These serious anglers weren't playing around and also caught gag grouper, snappers, porgies, and lesser amberjacks. That same trip they caught and released more amberjacks, leaving some for you to catch on your next trip! We were fishing offshore of Anna Maria Island, in about 155 ft, using both live and artificial baits. The next post could have YOU in it, proudly holding fish. Give me a call, and we can make a memorable fishing trip happen!

Thanks,
Capt. Larry McGuire
SHOW ME THE FISH CHARTERS
operating out of the Cortez Fishing Center
Cell: (941) 713 - 4606
Email: Captlarrymcguire@gmail.com