Crystal River Fishing Reports

Scallop season is starting in exactly a week up here in crystal river. I still have some dates left to fill up for this season. Also offering full day trips for half day of scalloping and fishing for discounted prices. Message me for details!

Are you searching for that Perfect Holiday Gift? How about a day of Fishing & Relaxing on the water? For the Month of December only, we are offering Discounted Trips on 4-hour, 3/4 day and Full Day Charters. $50 off 4-hour trips and $100 off 3/4 and full day trips! We have the Perfect Day prepared for you!!! Call Today as your Local Captain Konnor & Get Reel Outdoors schedule is filling up fast- So Don’t Wait!! Call or Message and give the gift that will last of Lifetime with Incredible Memories & a full bucket of the Best Fish our Gulf & Local waters have to offer!! Go fishing with an Experienced Local Charter Captain who consistently catches the Big Ones!! Contact Captain Konnor by calling or texting 727-348-1001 or sending a private message! NOTE: Trips do not have to take place in the month of December just scheduled/paid for. #bullbayrods #floridafishingproducts #powerpole #simrad #naturecoast

Had the honor of taking Cheri and her husband Kevin out for Kevin’s birthday. From the first spot to the last spot we found the fish at every spot. We lost count of redfish early in the morning. The bite has been 🔥 book your trip now while dates still available, shoot me a message or call 727-348-1001 #bullbayrods #floridafishingproducts #getreeloutdoors

April has been a super fishy month. Loads of mid to upper slot and over slot redfish have been touching the deck. As the weather continues to warm up the fishing will get better as fish begin to transition more to summer time patterns. As we are approaching prime Tampa Bay Tarpon season I still have some perfect crab flush dates still available that will fill up fast. If you want to land the Tarpon of a lifetime, now is the time to book. I still have a select few days in May that are still open to book, contact me at 727-348-1001 https://www.getreeloutdoors.com #fishflorida #floridafishingproducts #bullbayrods #TotalBoatControl #powerpole #smithoptics #mercurymarine

If you’re heading out on the water this week, Crystal River is delivering excellent inshore fishing conditions with warming water temperatures, light winds, and steady tides—perfect for targeting a variety of inshore favorites. Redfish have been active around oyster bars and mangrove edges, especially during the incoming tide. Live shrimp, cut mullet, and soft plastics rigged weedless have been producing solid bites. Anglers are reporting slot-sized reds with a few upper-slot and over-slot fish mixed in. Snook are moving out of the creeks and staging near points and current breaks. Early mornings and late afternoons have been best, especially with live pinfish or topwater lures. Look for them near rocky shorelines and docks with good water flow. Spotted sea trout are hitting well on grass flats in 2 to 4 feet of water. Drifting with live shrimp under popping corks or slow-rolling soft plastics has been the go-to strategy. Most fish have been in the 16–20" range, with a few gators pushing over 22”. Sheepshead are tapering off as we move further into spring, but some are still hanging around structure and dock pilings. Fiddler crabs and shrimp on small jig heads are still drawing bites. Water clarity has been excellent following light rain early in the week. The best action is coming during strong tidal changes, particularly the mid-morning incoming tide. Whether you’re a local or visiting the Nature Coast, this is a great time to hit the water. For the best experience, consider booking a local guide who knows the tides, the fish, and how to make the most of your day on Crystal River.

Anyone who knows me knows before every charter i have a mental game plan of what i want to do throughout the day. I knew going into this trip it was going to be a day of grinding it out due to our conditions. Day of the full moon, cold front coming through the night before dropping temperatures 25 degrees, strong northwest wind with gusts 25mph+, we had practically every odd against us. The morning of the charter i got to the ramp an hour before the scheduled pickup time like i always do to make sure everything is setup and ready to go. When initially getting to the ramp i automatically noticed how LOWWWW the water was compared to the previous two days that i had scouted just two days prior when tide charts were predicting similar low tides but this was easily a -1.0 tide if not lower. I spent that entire hour at the ramp trying to come up with a new game plan. We started the morning off hitting some deeper holes and pockets trying to find some trout. After about 2-3 hours of fishing deeper pockets and holes we had around a dozen trout with some lady fish and some small mangrove snapper mixed in, which is super slow in my personal opinion. During those 2-3 hours of fishing for trout i was just praying some more water would come in because anyone who knows me, knows pot hole trout fishing is my biggest pet peeve and i try to avoid doing it at all. I knew once the tide came in we would be able to push in the back country a little bit and find some schools of reds but it just seemed like there wasn’t enough water yet. Norbert and Jon told me that they were really hoping to find some redfish on this specific day and i decided that i was going to give it my best effort to get us into the back country where i knew some redfish were going to be laid up with some big schools of mullet trying to soak up some sun. Ended up full sending the boat across a flat that had grass sticking out of the water and timed it perfectly coming off plane to glide into the last deeper hole barely the length of my boat before there was no more coming off plane anywhere. Tried to trolling motor us out of the hole and there was no moving anywhere and at that moment i decided it was time to hop in the 59 degree water temp (this was early February) and drag this 23ft bay boat where i wanted to go because there was no going back across the flat i just somehow made it across. Ended up dragging the boat for about 150 yards through thigh deep mud until we came across our first big school of mullet. I was pushing the boat as quietly as i possibly could and got about 40 yards away from the first big school of mullet and dropped the power poles down. When we first pulled up we were seeing some redfish tailing on the outside of the big school of mullet. It didn’t take long to get our first hookup on a healthy 25” redfish. After that it was fish after fish on every bait that floated past the school of mullet for a good 30 mins until it just completely turned off. We ended up catching 10 or so redfish off the first school of mullet then decided to move on. We ended the day with 20 or so redfish in the last two hours of fishing, and Norbert and Jon both had the opportunity sight fish their very first redfish