Mercury Edge

No fish No pay

My No fish No pay guarantee.

For years now I have carried a no fish no pay guarantee. There are several reasons why I do this. Some time back, while fishing in Ketchikan Alaska for Salmon, which is considered a really good area to salmon fish, I hired a guide, and we fished the four hour slotted time, and nobody in our group caught a fish, while every other boat to come back into port had their limits of salmon. You see salmon fishing in Ketchikan is a big industry. Being a Tampa Florida charter boat fishing captain for years, made me reflect from a clients point of view.

Next I have come to understand there are two types of fishing guides, those that are part time fishing guides, and those that are full time fishing guides. I clearly had a part time fishing guide as my captain in Alaska that day for sure, as he arrived in Alaska just a day or two before our trip. Heck, I didn’t know, we just pulled his name out of the yellow pages. That’s what people did then. Fishing Captains, can say anything they want. Now, having been in the business since 1999, we in Tampa bay have the same situation at hand. You see, part time fishing guides, which are a dime a dozen, have other full time jobs, they fish for a hobby, a boat payment so to speak. Their bread and butter is not on the line. Sometimes they even charge ‘lower rates’ in order to fool or trick the unsuspecting client into thinking they are indeed getting a better deal. This is why I am writing this today for you.

Full time fishing guides carry the same rates pretty much across the board. If you think you are getting a deal, most likely, in reality you are not.

So I decided to cut to the chase, and try to separate myself from the part timers by providing a legitimate no fish no pay guarantee, in order to separate myself from them I take my charter seriously. You are my ‘bread and butter’. You are not a ‘hobby’ to me. And last but not least, if fishing is slow in one area, I will move to another spot in order to fill that guarantee, because at the end of the day,

IF THERE IS NOT A FISH CAUGHT ON MY BOAT, YOU DO NOT PAY A DIME.

And to be sure, since fishing Tampa bay for years and years, my clients have never not caught a fish on a charter with me.

Captain Mark Newton

FULL TIME FISHING GUIDE

Tampa Snook Fishing with Patches, Terry, and Rusty

One benefit of having a tower boat skiff is that when the water clears it allows me to see where the fish are on the flat and in the holes. Monday was no exception as I had a couple of minutes to scan over certain spots to see if they were holding fish. Low and behold, one spot had a big pile of snook and a few redfish.

After picking up my clients we went into that spot first. It did not disappoint, as Rusty hung two snook of 10-15 pounds and lost one at the boat as I had scaled down my leader to 25lb and the big snook wore through the leader with his sandpaper- like jaw. I should have known better, From now on, its 30lb. leader or bust.

My clients really had their sights on redfish, but this day was all about snook, really big snook. Sometimes it just works that way, and if they were a little upset with me, it was a good disappointment because it’s simply not every day one hooks and catches a twenty pound snook. This day they hooked 4 in my estimation were 18-20 pound fish. I hope they don’t get snook fever because that will mean many, many sleepless hours, in pursuit of those big fish again.

I do not know why, but I think the snook closure of a couple of years after that dreadful winter sometime back, has allowed the few remaining survivors to grow to large size. Not the huge 25 pound hogs, but the nice 20 pound pigs. What I see these days are more of the big breeders than even the little scooters of 2-4 pounds, which should mean good breading seasons and future proliferation of the species.

In reflection all Terry really wanted was a nice 5 pound redfish, but all she kept hooking were those dang 20 pound line siders. I wish we all could have such bad luck! It’s a good thing husband Patches was around to help out, as he turned out to be quite the angler in my view, a real quick learner. Yep, some days you may not get what you wanted, but you may get a surprise of a lifetime indeed.

Tight lines,

Captain Mark

Funflatsfishing.com

Snook fishing Tampa

February 28, 2012

I caught my first snook in 1974 in Tampa bay with a dear friend, Dewayne Pillard that is no longer with us, bless his soul.

I will never forget that moment. We were fishing at the old phosphate dock off port Tampa with live needle fish, and that 11 pounder picked up the bait, off the bottom and away she went. Ten minutes later I had my first snook, and nobody could have ruined my day after that! It was a magical moment indeed.

Unfortunately, neither Dewayne or I had the sense between us to know you have to fillet, and SKIN these fish; otherwise the cooked fish filet will taste just like a bar of ivory soap. Those filets turned out to be the best ivory soap I had ever had! No kidding.

How times have changed in almost 40 years of snook catching. These days we use the liveliest of scaled sardines, pinfish, threadfins, shrimp, pigfish, cut ladyfish, or menhaden caught daily, with huge cast nets, the best of round live wells, with fresh water pumping in, and spots fished that our mothers don’t even know about. All, just to stay one notch ahead of the competition.

One thing that I constantly remind myself is one always must keep learning the nuances of snook to truly master the art of catching snook. Now, I may not be the baddest snook fisherman on the block, but after 40 years of hard snook fishing, I do know I certainly am not the worstJ

Three years ago we had a real bad freeze in Tampa bay that in my humble opinion killed 75% of the snook population due to the cold water. Indeed, even this State has shut down snook harvesting on the west coast of Florida still. Point being, snook are all catch and release game fish until further notice. Which, by the way would suit me fine if they completely closed this most excellent fishery for harvest 5 more years, as it takes 3-5 years for a snook to reach breeding size.

Snook are simply too much fun catching and releasing in my view. Perpetuate the species and everyone will be able to enjoy catching a giant fish that can obtain speeds to 40 knots in 2 seconds, and that’s what would happen as fish would have the chance to grow to 25lbs. Which once was common is seldom seen anymore.

Tight lines

Captain Mark

Funflatsfishing.com

Feb fishing report

Feb. 8, 2012

A February day to remember.

Every now and then we all have one of those off the wall days where things just fall into place and a plan comes together perfectly. Yesterday was one of those days. I have heard reports of ‘greenbacks’ moving in from the mouth of the bay so I decided to load up the cast net and head south until I found them. Knowing this year, spring appears to have arrived early. Running down the bay, I spotted the bait, and in 2 throws of that big net the live well was loaded. Now I had visions of big snook, redfish, and trout dancing in my head as I knew being one of the first to ‘bait up’, this trip we stood a great chance of completing an inshore grand slam.

Let me say this; the fish did not disappoint as the bite was off the hook. Huge trout to 25 inches, 30 inch redfish, and 4 snook bigger than 30 inches were caught in the next 2 hours. It was so much fun, I am still giddy. It is what I dream of. Everyone had tired arms in 2 hours from reeling in all the fish. Every bait was a hit. I kid you not. And the best part of this trip, it was Erik’s 42nd birthday and he got the biggest snook of them all, a real rogue. The second best part of this trip was; I wasn’t dreaming, it really happened!