Early April & Apalachee Bay
April 11th, 2012 
Capt. Chuck By Captain Chuck Simpson
Finally, the weather and inshore water temperatures have decided to resemble early April in North Florida; 90 degrees is way too hot for this time of year.
In Apalachee Bay and along the Forgotten Coast, water temperatures are ranging form the mid-to-upper 60’s in the morning and reaching into the low 70’s in the afternoon.
Over the last few weeks I have been fishing in Apalachee Bay east of the St. Marks River, in and around the St. Mark National Wildlife Refuge; a magnificent and special fishery.
Trout and redfish are abundant and the Spanish mackerel are showing up just about everywhere. Bringing quality fish onboard hasn’t been a problem.
Larger trout (20 inches plus) have been coming from water depths of two feet or less on DOA shrimp, un-weighted plastics, topwater plugs, and slow sinking/suspending plugs. Most of our slot-sized fish have been caught using a DOA C.A.L. under a rattling/popping cork in three-to-four feet of water, on a moving tide.
My redfish bait of choice is a gold, pink, or chartreuse Captain Mikes Aqua Dream Living Spoon. They’re weedless (hint to where I look for redfish), easy to work (just reel slow, real slow) and the fish can’t resist them.
We haven’t connected with the first cobia of the year, yet, but did see a nice fish I estimated at 20 pounds cruising the flats about a week ago. It won’t be long.
Over the next couple of months fishing will be absolutely phenomenal in our region. There will be plenty of opportunities to make that lifetime memory, so give me a shout and let’s go fishing.
March 30th, 2012 Capt. Chuck 
Anglers will be able to keep grouper April 1- June 30 in Gulf state waters in a special four county subregion.
For those of you who may be interested, this Saturday morning I will be interviewing Dan Ellinor, who works for the FWC (Florida Wildlife Commission) in The Division of Marine Fisheries. We will be discussing the April 1st opening of the gag grouper season in a four county sub region (Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor and Jefferson Counties in Florida), which will remain open until midnight June 30th. Tune into 97.9 ESPN FM, Monster Sports between 7 a.m. -8 p.m. Eastern Time, to learn about this special season, or listen on the web at http://www.espntallahassee.com/.
March Madness
March 21st, 2012 Capt. Chuck 
By Captain Chuck Simpson
March Madness! I love it and totally get caught up in it. Though the madness I get caught up in doesn’t revolve around hoops, brackets or collegiate basketball. It revolves around water temperatures, migrations, and seasonal transitions. The players I cheer on don’t pound the hardwood, but they do fight to win and, fight they do.
The last couple of weeks have provided inshore saltwater anglers in the Big Bend Region of Florida and along the Forgotten Coast with earlier than normal atmospheric temperatures, thus allowing water temperatures to rise to warmer than normal temperatures for this time of year. The results: all the players are here and the bite is on.
Water temperatures in the bays and in the surf have reached into the low-to-mid 70’s. Trout have moved out onto the flats in full force. Redfish are hungry and chewing. Pompano are in the surf munching mole crabs (sand fleas) and other small crustaceans.
Spanish mackerels are wreaking havoc on small schools of baitfish and anything else that crosses their path. I haven’t personally seen a cobia yet, but it won’t be long before we feel the fight of this marine pit bull. Heck, there have even been a few run-ins with the “Royal One”, you know, the Silver King. It looks like it’s going to be another great year, or on a shorter note, great next few days, especially with the first new moon of spring being tomorrow night.
Guess where I will be? On the water fishing with some extremely happy anglers.
Past, Present and Future
February 24th, 2012 Capt. Chuck
It seems February has been a little fickle this year. Mother nature hasn’t been able to decide which way to turn. We’ve had cold days, warm days, almost hot days, rainy days, and plenty of foggy days along the coast. Welcome to North Florida! Although, this year’s unpredictable winter weather hasn’t been a deterring factor for many of our local anglers, especially with the change in saltwater fishing regulations, which provided for no closed season on spotted seatrout during the month of February. Plenty of impressive catches having been hitting the dock and heading home to enjoy a nice meal with angler’s families and friends.
Plenty of fisherman use the month of February to slow down on their number of fishing trips and prepare for the spring; check tackle, brush up on basic fishing skills, and perform boat maintenance.
On February 11th, Captain Dave Lear and myself, along with Brett Shields (Shields Marina), hosted the second Flats Pro Seminar at Shields Marina located in St. Marks, Florida. We spent six hours in the classroom with 82 student anglers discussing the basics of inshore saltwater angling and the finer points of fishing on the flats of Apalachee Bay. Brett Shields instructed attendees on vessel and boat motor maintenance.
At 9 a.m. the seminar commenced and participants were seated. Everyone received Flats Pro Packets filled with educational materials and various types of fishing tackle. The next six hours were filled with instruction and short question-and-answer sessions. Snacks and refreshments were provided through the course of the event. At the noon break, everyone was treated to a catered lunch, which was cooked and served by locally owned Wildfire Barbeque Grill.
Throughout the seminar prize drawings were held, allowing many participants to take home great products provided by our generous sponsors: Eagle Claw, Aqua Dream Living Spoons, DOA Lures, Florida Fish& Wildlife Conservation Commission, Al Gag’s Custom Lures, Harvest Printing, Mathew’s Fishing Styx, White Marsh Chum, Polar Bear Coolers, Skinny Water Products, Sureketch Lures, Steve Whitlock Apparel and Game Fish Art, Inc., Guy Harvey Magazine, Tightlines Publications.
The products used and given away during the seminar are items Captain Dave and myself personally use, have standing relationships with the company, and recommend. Most are Made in USA.
Present and Future
Is winter over? Did we even have a winter? Is it spring yet? These are all questions, which have been running through my head, and many others I have spoken with. Maybe we should ask the fish. According to the long-range forecasts it certainly looks like we are going to have a very early spring.
It’s late winter and I should be on the water scouting this weekend, but it doesn’t look like the weather is going to permit. This morning, February 24th, I’m looking at a thick bank of Fog, which has totally engulfed St. George Island. The atmospheric temperature is around 64 degrees. This weekend the weather forecast is typical of late winter in North Florida- fractious. A cold front is predicted (imminent) to pass through our area late this afternoon, and with it, a non-favorable barometric change and wind, which looks like will last a few days. I guess I’ll rig tackle.
Current water temperatures are ranging from the mid-50’s to the low-60’s, depending on the day, the bay/flat your on, and the amount of sunlight. It may feel like spring on some days, but we aren’t there yet. I am going to predict it will finally get kickin’ around the third week in March, or at least from a flats fishing standpoint. I’m not saying fish haven’t been biting, they have. I’m just hinting that this will be when things start getting crazy, and the trout and redfish fish should have made the transition from the winter pattern to some resemblance of a spring pattern. And, along the beaches and barrier islands, I’ll bet the Spanish mackerel and pompano will begin to make their debut.
Over the next couple of months, if limited on time, I would plan fishing trips around the full and new moons of each month. These dates will provide the best tides with the most water movement. But hey, lets face it; almost anytime on the water fishing is better than being on the land. Give me a call, or shoot me an email, if you’re interested what weekend dates I have available.
Winter, Family and Friends
January 24th, 2012 Capt. Chuck Winter Fun
January 24th, 2012
by Captain Chuck Simpson
What do we do when we aren’t on the water hunting big fish? We hunt upland game. I say “we,” because I have ten-year-old son who is obsessed with the outdoors, and if I’m not on company business out on the water, or in the woods, he’s with me. He eats and drinks the outdoors. And, I know for a fact he dreams about the chase, catch, or kill. Too many nights I’ve heard words like redfish, trout, buck, gobbler, duck, and skiff uttered as he sleeps.
Outdoor pursuits are a tradition in my household, especially in the winter months and surrounding the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Fish still bite, but we can catch them anytime. Hunting camps, warm fires, friends, strong coffee, and frosty mornings are to be shared with family and good friends. The opportunity to do this only occurs during the winter months, so we relish every opportunity we have to gather up our gear and head to the woods.
Parker, my son, is one of the reasons I’ve slowed down on my posts and taken a sabbatical from guiding full-time. Little boys are only little once and they need their dad. Now I’ve firmly planted the seed with Parker, and deer season is winding down, it’s time to get back to the business of fishing and writing. But not before I leave you with a few photos of special memories we made together and with good friends over the last month-or-so.
Parker's first gobbler
Parker filling a doe tag and doing his part for conservation.
I tricked him with a Primos Rubberneck
Mr. Dan, Parker's other hunting buddy- big smiles!
Parker mugging with Mr. Dave and another nice buck
May on the Forgotten Coast-2011
May 24th, 2011 Capt. Chuck by Captain Chuck Simpson
Well, I have to admit I have been tardy from writing, keeping my website updated, and supplying current fishing reports. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been fishing. It means I have not had enough time to keep up with this end of the deal. I have a job off of the water, which keeps me busy most of the week, so, for now, I am only running charters on the weekends.
Now with that said, we have been wrecking the fish out of St. Marks in eastern Apalachee Bay. Trout and redfish have been extremely plentiful and we’ve had some phenomenal trips. Over this last weekend we decided to spend a little time in some deeper water just along the southern edge of the grass flats, due to the week tides. There are plenty of Spanish mackerel, sea bass, grouper and cobia out in the eight-to-fifteen foot depth range, and they are hungry.
This coming weekend looks like it is going to be a great according to the long range weather forecast. The only drawback: the increased boat traffic out on the water due to the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend.
Early Spring Fishing, February 18, 2011
February 19th, 2011 Capt. Chuck Warm Days In Late February Herald The Coming Of Spring
by Captain Chuck Simpson
When I received the call from a long-time fishing buddy on Thursday evening, it didn’t take long for me to decide Friday was a day that needed to be spent on the water. I’ll spare the details of preparation and travel, they’re pretty much the same for all my personal trips: grab my camera, tackle bag, three rods and hit the road.
It’s the 19th of February and the daily forecasts, as far out as I can see, are calling for spring-like conditions: mild nighttime lows in the 40’s and daytime highs in the mid 70’s. Could it be, is spring really here, or is it just a sick joke? Regardless, I have the fever, as of yesterday so did the fish.
I spent yesterday fishing with my buddy Steve and his youngest child Andrew. Steve and I have fished together for many years and are both founding members of the North Florida Gulf Fishing Club. In the past we have spent countless hours together on the water sharing our fishing knowledge with each other. Lately—over the last couple years—it seems our careers and family responsibilities have managed to diminish the amount of time we spend fishing together. Needless to say, yesterday was a treat, especially since most of my time on the water is spent guiding; this fishing trip with a friend was long overdue.
The day’s water temperatures rose along with the sun and incoming tide. 68.5 degrees was the warmest water we found and that was on dark bottom in less than two feet of water. Guess what? The fish were there waiting just like we thought they’d be: hungry and ready to eat a well-placed offering. We did not find any huge fish, but we found plenty of slot-sized fish. Spotted seatrout is closed until March 1st in Northwest Florida, so the day’s mission was strictly catch and release, with a little information gathering for an upcoming tournament thrown in.
Andrew wrestles with a trout, which has inhaled the soft plastic jerk-bait on the other end of his line.
Over the next few weeks as we head into spring the number of fish moving out onto the flats from their winter haunts up in the creeks and rivers will increase. Apalachee Bay will once again be teaming with hungry redfish and trout. This will provide us with premier shallow water fishing for trophy-sized redfish and trout. Most of my fishing will be done in the clear shallow water east of the St. Marks River’s mouth during the month of March. For most of my Apalachee Bay Trips I will be leaving from Shields Marina located in Saint Marks, Florida, on the Saint Marks River.