11/01/2019

Homosassa - The Best of Florida Fishing Inshore



Florida is replete with legendary inshore fishing destinations. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, Florida is loaded with coastal rivers, creeks, canals, inlets, reefs, waterways, bays, keys and flats. A few places sit a notch or two above the rest, for a reason. These are places with fisheries that have historically produced outstanding fishing. They are also places that have grown and matured over decades. While much of Florida's waterways south of Orlando choke on runoff from commercial development and chemical spraying to fight invasive plants, places just to the north continue to thrive, untouched by polluted water. On the Gulf coast, sits Homosassa. This is Old Florida, to this day. You can feel it. Fishermen have been traveling here for over a 100 years in search of angling nirvana. Despite the significance of the contribution that Homosassa has made to the history of Florida fishing, it still remains a hidden gem, of sorts.

While Homosassa has morphed over the past century, it has held its ground as an inshore fishing hotbed. Species like grouper, mangrove snapper, sheepshead, flounder, sea bass and triple tail abound. You have a legit shot at giant tarpon when they push through. The lynch pin to the whole fishery is the golden triangle of red drum, snook and sea trout. Having the big three inshore species at your avail throughout the year sets Homosassa well apart.

The unique quality the helps shape the coastal waters is the first magnitude freshwater spring that feeds the Homosassa River. The warm clean waters feed nutrients into the Gulf and provides shelter for cold tolerant gamefish year round. The warmth of the river has aloud the snook fishery to grow into one of the most robust and diverse in the state. There is so much life in the backcountry and on the keys that litter the coastal seascape. You could get lost fishing for days and never stop catching. A little local knowledge never hurts.

When you take a look at the history of people that have played a roll in the development of Homosassa fishing, there is a name that continues to jumps out. Toney. The Toney family has been in Homosassa for generations. They know the land and the water. The fishing knowledge that has been passed down generation after generation is rich and is very much alive today. These fishermen know every stretch, pass, canal, river, creek and key. Never have I meet a better caliber of people. Honest, humble, strong, hard working and well respected in the community. The Toney's are consummate watermen and conservationists. Getting to spend time on the water and learn how they fish is an absolute treat.

When it comes to the group of guides that define the Florida inshore fishing experience, you would be remiss to not include the Toney name. Capt. William Toney is without a doubt one of the very best. He is both river rat and osprey. He knows the waters. His instincts are razor sharp. You could take him anywhere, put a fishing rod in his hand and he is going to catch fish. Highly skilled and dialed all the way in on what is happening in the Homosassa fishery everyday of the year, William is well versed in the laws, biology, water conditions and what's driving the bite. If it is at play in the fishery, he knows about it and can articulate the finer points.

It is a distinct honor to call Capt. William Toney my friend. We have been fishing together, talking and sharing our life experiences for several years. There are very few people I enjoy fishing with as much as William. I consider myself lucky to be able to go and experience first hand the ease with which he shares what he is doing on the water and why. He has so much to share. He and I have fished for redfish, sea trout, snook, snapper, black drum, triple tail, mackerel, sea bass, grouper, grunts, sheepshead, bluegill, bass and continue to push to outer limitations of what the fishery can produce.

With an advanced degree in the outdoors and generations of Homosassa fishing know how encoded into his DNA, the inshore Florida fishing knowledge he possesses is second to no other fisherman. Captain William Toney is a great friend and a valuable part of what I like to do. Share fishing knowledge. If we can help others grow as fishermen, we have fulfilled out duty as champions of this great endeavor we call fishing. It is only through the acquisition of knowledge that we grow. Having the opportunity to learn from the very best is the ultimate reward for our investment in the sport. If you are able, take the opportunity and fish with William. You will be hooked for life. If you cannot get out with him, watch his many videos. His collection of instructional videos share his methods for catching all the big inshore fishing species found along the northern Gulf coast. Fish with the best, get the best knowledge and catch more fish.

Fish with William: http://www.homosassainshorefishing.com

-Seth Horne


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10/27/2019

Fishing the Fall Transition for Trophy Fish

seth horne catfishing flahead scott manning in the spread fishing video


For you fishermen that love freshwater fishing, this is a great time of year. When the weather starts to change and you begin to feel fall in the air, you have a good chance to land huge fish. Why is this. As the air temperature drops, the water starts cooling, also. This sets off a change in the feeding habits of fish. This is especially true for big fish.

With stable water conditions, big predatory fish settle in to a regular feeding pattern. They feed as needed and exert as little energy as possible to snag a meal. With cooling water temps, trophy fish put the feed bag on. This is entirely primordial and biological. The bait fish will move to shallower waters in search of sun warmed waters. This movement of bait fish may signal to the bigger fish that they better get what they can in a short period of time before there is no food left. With the feed bag on, a great opportunity exists to hook up with a beast.

When you think about freshwater apex predators, you have to consider musky, catfish and trout. Big brown trout, flathead catfish and musky will slam anything in their domain, as they gorge themselves. All of these fish hold down spots as voracious feeders and species that are not always easy to catch, when fishing for trophy fish.

I recently spent a day on the water with Capt. Scott Manning in Tennessee fishing for and discussing how to fish for flathead catfish during this transition. We were not discussing generalities, our conversation centered on trophy fish. The fall transition is one of the best times to catch a giant catfish. If you want to know more about what we discussed and see how Scott approaches this type of fishing, watch our newest fishing video on In The Spread.

https://inthespread.com/targeting-trophy-flathead-catfish-the-fall-transition

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8/27/2019

Fall is in the Air

With the end of summer, we are back to action. It always seems the summer draws our attention away from this blog and to spending more time ripping and running around and in the wild teaching and sharing our knowledge with children. So, the beginning of fall is in the air. Literally, the air temperature seems to have dropped 20 degrees. I am sure this is temporary and it will be back to 90 soon.

For the fall, we will be heading to the other side of the planet in a few short weeks, as we will be exploring the northwest coast of Australia. This will be a truly amazing journey. When the opportunity arose for this trip, I began asking around to see if anyone had intel on our destination. Well, it seems nobody in our fishing network knew much of anything about the area we are traveling to. So, stay tuned and we will be adding some interesting updates.


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7/16/2019

Learn From The Best | A Full Throttle Media Mantra

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No matter your interest or your endeavor, if you want to learn more about it, the best course of action is to find someone who is highly proficient in that field and learn as much as you can from them. It may not always be possible to have a personal relationship with the person you want to learn from, but there are a variety of sources that offer online learning through a video format that offer first person opportunities to learn. At Full Throttle Media we strive to produce instructional content that features some of the very best practitioners in their profession.

When I say learn from the best, I am not positioning the folks we work as the absolute best, but rather among the very best. Nobody is the single best, even though they may think they are. What I find with  guys I work with that I consider to among the best is their self deprecating attitudes. They, themselves, are on a quest to constantly get better. They also are not shy to give praise to those that came before them. Being humble and open to giving back to help others achieve greatness is a common characteristic among the great minds that I have the pleasure to surround myself with.

I encourage you to help others that are looking for a way to improve their station. Be open to approach. It only takes a few minutes out of your busy schedule to have a huge impact on someone else's life. I have been blessed to be able to work with some amazing people that uplift me and challenge my thinking. It is by engaging in intellectual friction that we are able to grow our minds.

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5/01/2019

Big Muskie Fishing | How to Catch Muskie | Cory Allen



People do not usually think about the south when muskie fishing is the topic. It all happens up north in Canada or Minnesota or one of the other fantastic fishing states up there. The shock! The horror of finding out some of the biggest muskie swim down yonder leaves many an angler mystified. No. Please. It is not possible that there are perhaps bigger fish roaming the waters of Tennessee than anywhere else in the country.

What a lot of people do not realize is that the early part of the twentieth century saw the Federal Government damming up rivers to create electricity to feed the landscape. A rather unique byproduct came along with those dams. Reservoirs and impoundments happened. Huh? Yes. Land that was once fertile forests and fields was suddenly underwater. Think about what the landscape looked like before the dams. Undulating hills rolling across the land, tall tree stands, creeks and streams, plateaus and more. Well, this is now all gone. All you see is water. Ah hah! But, it is not  gone. It has created a habitat that supports loads of fish and big fish.

Talk about a dynamic situation. All these characteristics are now below the surface and there is current. The water levels rise and fall based upon release schedules. This current in turn pushes bait and nutrients. Reservoirs and impoundments have created some of the best fishing in the country. Let's take Tennessee. They have trophy bass, crappie, panfish, catfish, trout, muskie and other strange fish. If you are a trophy hunter, this is where you will need to go, at some point.

When you do decide to visit Tennessee and fish for the freshwater apex predator, there is one guy to consider. A controversial figure. Feared by many. His skill and vast knowledge intimidate many other folks. For not, I say. Cory Allen is one of the nicest guys you will fish with. Self deprecating in a serious way, at times, Cory is one of the smartest fishermen that I have ever meet and certainly had the privilege to fish with. A day on the water with the "Tennessee Valley Muskie Authority" is like a phd course in muskie fishing.

Even though Cory is from Illinois, he has spent the better part of his adult life in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. These are the hills that hold giant fish. This is also where you find the Tennessee Valley Authority or TVA busy at work controlling the flow of the Tennessee River. This is also where some of the absolute best reservoir and impoundment fishing can be found, in the United States. That's right. I said it. This state just has ridiculous fishing, across the board.

When it comes to big muskie, Cory Allen has a keen understanding what the fish are doing anytime of the year and where they hold. These aren't the "normal spots", but rather, at times, obscure areas where you would not think to fish. The rich fabric of the underwater topography serves many obstacles and some really awesome structure. There are wide ranging channel flats, deep channels, bays, creek mouths, rivers, creeks, shallow backwater, ledges, bowls, discharge ponds, lakes, hidden timber, stump fields, fishing grounds that are ever unfolding. Cory knows this system with scary detail. He doesn't just fish a lot. He is constantly analyzing what is changing, what is remaining the same and how that will impact what the muskies do.

Cory puts more 50 inch, "fiddies" fish in his boat each year than any other guide in Tennessee. You want huge fish, this is who you fish with. Like him or not, you cannot knock the results that stack up year after year. Aside from all the big ass fish Cory Allen catches, there are loads more healthy medium class fish.

Probably one of the best aspects of Cory's prowess is his command of lure manipulation. Cory knows all the good, I mean really good, lure craftsman making musky lures. He tests lures to no end. No matter the situation, Cory has the lure that will trigger fish. If you want to know how to get more out of your presentations, this is the guy to learn from. You can watch his collection of muskie fishing instructional videos on In The Spread here https://inthespread.com/freshwater/muskie

Don't get me wrong. It is not like he catches big muskie or any muskie everyday. It is not that easy. But, I can say this. Every time I have fished with him, I have caught fish. That is pretty good. Knock, knock.

- Seth Horne

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4/15/2019

Winter Sea Trout Fishing Video - In The Spread




Fishing Knowledge = Success 


Spotted sea trout or speckled trout are a species that you can target year round in Florida. One of the more challenging times of year will be in the winter when cold Gulf of Mexico waters can push the fish off the keys and limestone rocks out to deeper water. The key is to fish areas that are exposed to the sun on outgoing or low tides. These areas absorb warmth from the sun. When the tides turns and pushes water in covering these areas, speckled trout will school up to take advantage of the warmth and feed on food being pushed with the incoming water. Understanding this goes a long way to narrowing down where to start fishing.

You may purchase any of our full length videos on DVD from the In The Spread store on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/s?me=A32B7NAN75VEV7&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER

In The Spread films and videos are produced by Seth Horne in association with Full Throttle Media.

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3/13/2019

Winter Snook Fishing , Live Bait or Lures

winter fishing snook lures in the spread william toney video

winter fishing snook bait in the spread william toney

Winter is a tough time to target snook. These inshore predators are not cold tolerant, at all. Sluggish is a good descriptive that comes to mind. In this scenario where the water and the air are cold, where are these fish going to stack up. Because that is what they do. It is like a snook condo. Anyway, find areas, like sea walls, dark bottom or up canals and rivers, that hold a tad more heat and you will find fish.

When you have it narrowed down to where the fish are, the issue of which snook lures and which snook baits are best pops up. How are you going to target them? Lures and artificials both work quite effectively. You just have to try various options out.

These fishing video from In The Spread featuring Capt. William Toney give you a heavy dose of what works and why for the Gulf coast of Florida. The first video is about using live bait to target snook and which baits work well for the warm brackish water of the Homosassa River. The second video in the snook lures presentation. Both of these videos go into detail on where fish move to and why and what to look for when you are heading out on a cold winter day. Capt. Toney shares his thoughts on a range of lures and baits that he uses on a regular basis. He will talk size, color, action and rigging for each. See how he places his casts to trigger maximum bites.

Watch the videos here: https://inthespread.com/saltwater/snook 


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2/27/2019

How to Rig Live Trout for Muskie Fishing

winter muskie baits rainbow trout in the spread

In Tennessee you are legally allowed to live bait with rainbow trout. The horror, the horror! I know. I am sure mountain trout nerds will be triggered into spasmatic convulsions. Oh well. This is one of the best live baits you can use for muskie in the winter.

Trout are super hardy cold water fish. Rigged properly, they will swim all day or until devoured by a giant muskie. This video from In The Spread, featuring Cory Allen shows you how to fish for muskie using live trout in a lock. What? Yes, that is what I said.

In the winter, muskie will push up stream as far as they can go. Usually, at least in the southern reservoir environment, a dam is as far as they can go. A lock adjacent to the spillway provides an easy still water ecosystem loaded with bait for this apex predator. What better way to target than with the quintessential cold water species, rainbow trout. Now, the guys at In The Spread did not go out and catch the trout and then rig them up. They were purchased from a local bait shop. These are farm raised bows and they come in several sizes. Something in the 12 to 18 inch range is ideal.

See how to rig live trout using the Joe Murphy #stff live bait rig. In The Spread will also show you how to set your live baits at various depths to provide more coverage throughout the water column. You do this because muskie will suspend and different depths and just hangout. They will not necessarily go after a bait above or below their chosen position in the water column. So, place some baits deep and some in the mid depths. This allows your target species, musky, to exert little effort to score a nice meal. Learn how to rig live bait, where to position it and why and how to slow drift around the lock with this educational fishing video.

Watch the video here: https://inthespread.com/freshwater/winter-musky-baits-live-bait-rigs-cory-allen--000114


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