# Homassasa fishing



## Vertigo

Launching around Homosassa can get complicated with crowds, lines and parking. It's scallop season and it's crazy. If you insist on Homosassa launching, MacRaes is a popular spot. Personally, I'd drive a little farther and launch at the Fort Island Trail Park, or even at Fort Island Beach. For the safest trip to deep water go even farther north to the Cross Florida Barge Canal ramp. From there, it's a straight, deep water shot all the way to the Gulf. Launching at MacRaes or Fort Island Trail will require some careful navigation as there are rocks in the rivers. Follow someone who looks like they know where they're going and ideally drafts more than you. If you want redfish, the creeks are the best bet. Trout can be caught in creeks or on grass flats further out. For grouper you'll need to go further offshore. Gold spoons and skitterwalk work good for redfish. DOA shrimp under a popper is the rig for trout. Fish can be caught on fly, but it will be mostly blind casting and a lot of work. Unless you enjoy the workout, I'd stick to spinning gear.

In general: go slow, stay in channels, watch for rocks. The area is full of things to hit and ways to run aground.


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## ngarcia11892

Thanks for the info!


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## devrep

"Any chance of stumbling on one of those rocks that hold grouper? "

stumbling on rocks is a distinct possibility.


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## m32825

devrep said:


> stumbling on rocks is a distinct possibility.


Isn't how they name them, first guy to lose a lower unit gets his name on it? Always figured that was the story on Gomez Rocks...


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## devrep

I cleaned out 3 props on my silverking in the area in my 1st 2 years here. my other skiff with tunnel and motor at nosebleed height has been good so far. of course I know my area pretty well now but have been venturing further into new territory lately.


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## ngarcia11892

Good to know, that definitely scares me about that area. How reliable is FMT with that?


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## T Bone

I wouldn't fully rely on FMT. The problem with the Homosassa area isn't necessarily just the rocks and bars. The ground is solid limestone too so if you hit bottom, your lower unit and/or hull will suffer damage.

I have FMT and it has some fairly sketchy tracks over there that i wouldn't run unless it was a summer high tide.


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## DBStoots

T Bone said:


> I wouldn't fully rely on FMT. The problem with the Homosassa area isn't necessarily just the rocks and bars. The ground is solid limestone too so if you hit bottom, your lower unit and/or hull will suffer damage.
> 
> I have FMT and it has some fairly sketchy tracks over there that i wouldn't run unless it was a summer high tide.


Are those tracks marked in black--don't run on negative low tides?


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## Thtguyrobb

Vertigo said:


> Launching Fish can be caught on fly, but it will be mostly blind casting and a lot of work. Unless you enjoy the workout, I'd stick to spinning gear.
> 
> In general: go slow, stay in channels, watch for rocks. The area is full of things to hit and ways to run aground.


definitely go slow and stay in the channel, lots of places up there the channel twists and turns and there is like a couple pvc poles to mark it.

you can definitely sight fish on fly, the caveat being you need an outgoing tide. Incoming tide makes the water murkier and the fish spread out. However they are tampa bay spooky in the low clear water


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## Vertigo

Thtguyrobb said:


> you can definitely sight fish on fly, the caveat being you need an outgoing tide. Incoming tide makes the water murkier and the fish spread out. However they are tampa bay spooky in the low clear water


Trouble with fishing the outgoing is that the bite is usually on for the last couple of hours of incoming and dies as the tide starts out. I've never seen any degradation in water clarity associated with incoming tide. Depending on the location and the amount of local rainfall, water can be clear or cloudy and tannin stained. We've had a ton of rainfall lately and more is forecast, so clarity will probably be poor.


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## T Bone

DBStoots said:


> Are those tracks marked in black--don't run on negative low tides?


Negative


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## DBStoots

T Bone said:


> Negative


What is "sketchy" about the tracks then?


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## Kowalski

nothing


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## m32825

From the FAQ...


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## Kowalski

Thanks for posting that M32825, should be helpful for someone. I do understand the difference. I have FMT and read everything I could find from them on how to use it. FMT super helpful in removing the learning curve of area's you didn't grow up fishing . I was responding ( the same as @ DBStoots ) about the RED tracks being sketchy, they are not. Now, the Black tracks, you must be very careful with water depth. for me personally and my boat. I may use them on the TM or the plate all the way up and trimmed on idle to get to some great fishing spots . but i'm not ballsy enough to run them on plane lol. I will stop derailing the thread now....


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## crboggs

The only time I run my Spear tunnel up there in the winter is following a buddy who grew up fishing that area...and he's running a Spear tunnel also.

The only time I would run up there solo would be higher spring / summer tides...and even then I'd be jacked up all the way and puckered up all day.


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## Yeticrusher01

ngarcia11892 said:


> Hey guys, so I have a few days off work in a couple weeks and I wanna try fishing Homassasa for the first time. Never been up there and just want some general fishing because it looks way different than what I normally fish in Tampa Bay.
> Where would you launch?
> What do you guys look for?
> would you stay up in the creeks or out to the bay?
> Any chance of stumbling on one of those rocks that hold grouper?
> Any lures you'd recommend/ does fly work well there?
> 
> I don't need specific locations more like generalities of what to look for.


Not sure if you found the knowledge you were looking for yet. I just stumbled upon your posting a bit late. The channel can be quite hard on the weekends with all the nuts out. Be careful of the heavy tide movement. Make sure your battery's are charged


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