Oh, he hit it.
>>What's that?
>>That's a Kemp's Ridley
>>A Kemp's Ridley?
>>Yup, they usually live right on our spots we want to fish. They are usually the tell
tale
>>Cool beans, looks like we are in the right spot then, the Humminbird sure was lit up.
Still is. Cool Beans. Well Welcome to this episode of Addictive Fishing, we are fishing
right off of Homosassa, we are about twenty two miles out?
>>Twenty, twenty two
>>Fishing in twenty-one foot of water I guess if it drops a foot every mile we are about
twenty one miles out.
[laughing] We are fishing with Captain Chris Wilkins And uh, our main target today is grouper.
Gonna be dropping DOA Swimming Mullet right now over this spot here. What do we got down
here is it rocks, a crack?
>>Yeah it's a nice rock pile.
>>Cool beans, he's got some spots inshore we are gonna show you later. Hopefully some
real big grouper and you got them in what like eight foot of water?
>>Eight, six.
>>Well y'all stay tuned we are gonna see what we can do here with some swimming mullet In
twenty foot of water, and I guess that's deep here huh?
>>Yeah, actually
[Laughing] >>How do you normally fish these fish? When you bring clients out
>>What I normally do is start out with artificial and, usually you'll catch a few on it the
bite will slow down you always bring a live bait, dead bait, you know. Just gotta bring
all the tricks in the bag, you know?
>>Something is down there chewing on this one. There he is! Come on out baby!
>>Gettin' ya, yeah.
>>Ugh Ahh, shallow water with grouper man they dont, the first fifteen feet on the Atlantic
man they come up easy.
[laughing] Ugh, the DOA Swimming Mullet. I'll tell ya, I've caught grouper or not grouper
I've caught fish everywhere I've thrown this bait
>>Look at this.
>>A red huh?
>>It's red grouper. >>Check that out you say you don't get too many reds on this spot do
you?
>>No not this shallow
>>Awesome deal, how's my Swimming Mullet?
>>He's in good shape bud.
>>Let me see that Red, that is such a beautiful fish.
>>Let me see if I can grab this guy, I want to show him off. So how big do the Reds have
to be?
>>They have to be twenty inches in the gulf
>>Twenty inches.
>>He might.
>>But they're out of season right now
>>Oh out of season This one is a lucky one it doesn't get to be a sandwich
[Laughing] >>What a pretty fish, gah look at his mouth
>>Isn't it beautiful?
>>That is a pretty fish. Absolutely beautiful mouth, look at all the red in there. Absolutely
beautiful fish, ohh. That's one way to release them huh? >>He was still alive.
[Laughing]
[Laughing] >>Well I kind of like this spot Chris.
>>Yeah buddy.
>>Worked real good. We are with Captain Chris Wilkins, right off of Homosassa. What are
we twenty plus miles out in twenty feet of water.
>>Twenty feet.
>>A foot a mile as you come out. Y'all stay tuned we are gonna be right back with some
more Addictive Fishing right here off of beautiful Homosassa catching grouper.
♪ (Play it)
Addictive Fishing is brought to you by, Dick's Sporting Goods. Every season starts
at Dicks. Skeeter Boats. Eat, sleep, fish. Minn Kota. Anywhere, Anytime. Humminbird.
Simply, clearly better. And by, Trokar The world's sharpest fish hook.
That screen is lit up on that Humminbird. And you say those are grouper
Yes sir.
>>Cool, this is the first time I've used the ONIX there from Humminbird, now I know what
they look like.
>>Well welcome back folks, we are still sitting off of Homosassa here. We still got Captain
Chris on the boat with us and we are still jigging these DOA Swimming Mullet and hoping
to show you one of these great big gags. Kind of easy fishing. All we are doing basically
is kind of just dropping them down. We figured out that the hole is right back here. You
said that the bite usually slows down after you throw a couple artificial so, we might
be going to live bait here pretty soon. And we're gonna see what happens. Drop them on.
>>Let's do it. Twenty foot huh, that ain't much drop.
[Laughing] >>Nope.
>>Uh oh there you go.
>>uh oh!
>>That looks like a good one!
>>A little better. For sure.
>>Let me get this guy in. Watch you do a little work.
[Laughing] >>Oh yeah. That's a nice color.
>>Is that the right color?
>>Oh yeah.
>>Not a bad fish.
>>Oh yeah! I think it's samiches at Seagrass tonight huh?
[Laughing] >>Starting to look that way.
>>Well there you go. Shallow water grouper on a DOA Swimming Mullet. That's my favorite
color. You know everywhere I've ever fished and thrown that lure I've caught fish on it.
>>Look you knocked the eye right off.
>>That is the ticket with that. Awesome fish. Oh, he's still got plenty of life in him after
you whooped him.
>>Oh yeah. >>But you think he's one good for Seagrass tonight?
>>Yes sir, he's right there.
>>Awesome grouper. Twenty one foot of water. On the big sticks. We're using the big offshore
stuff on these. You would not believe how hard these grouper pull. Unbelievable, y'all
ever get a chance definitely come see Chris. I'm ready for one how about you?
>>I'd like to see that.
>>When you leave fish to find fish you usually don't find fish, so when this bite runs out
here we are gonna go in and do his specialty which is some of that real shallow water grouper
stuff so. We've already changed baits, we stopped in this morning and saw, what's her
name? Baitfish Bonnie?
>>Ms Bonnie.
>>Ms Bonnie at the bait barn up there. Right on the way out, we got pin fish and uh, what
did you get there? Threadies?
>>Dead thread fins.
>>Dead threadies, so... We are going to whack a couple of fish. We'll see what happens.
>>Oh, son!
>>He tore that thing. He'll come back and eat it. There he is, there he is dude. Kingfish
dude look at the size of that Kingfish.
>>Kingfish, oh lordy.
>>Nice, dude. You might want to back off on that drag a little.
>>That's circle hooked. A kingfish. What's a kingfish doing eating a pinfish?
>>That's awesome! >>That is a monster too.
>>Nice surprise
>>That looked like about a forty pound kingfish when he flashed. Well, the grouper man just
turned into the kingfish man
[Laughing] One thing about a circle hook is that on a kinfish once you got him like that
as long as they you know, do left hand turns or right hand turns whatever side of the mouth
they're hooked on. You can pretty much catch them as long as they don't bite the leader.
It's eighty pound, so we'll see what happens here. He's right there oh yeah that's a good
king bro.
>>Nice fish dude. And he's not ready yet
>>Uh oh, I'm gonna go up front.
>>Yup, keep moving, keep moving.
>>Oh!
>>Oh, right at the end.
[laughing] >>Like I said, he was doing left hand turns and even though it's eighty pound
leader he turned back around and bit that line it's cut clean as scissors if y'all ever
seen kingfish teeth. That one if you had put your finger in his mouth, he would have clipped
it. Oh well, lets get re-rigged.
>>So you like the way that spot lock works huh?
>>Oh man that's great!
>>Unbelievable, I've done it, you know off the Atlantic in like two hundred and ten feet
of water, three hundred feet of water. And uh, you don't need seven hundred feet of anchor
line to anchor your boat up.
>>It changes everything.
>>Oh oh, that was a thump thump.
>>That's a good fish right there.
>>Uh oh, oh get him son! Uh oh.
>>Here we go!
>>I just gave you a Roland Martin 'son' so you better land this fish.
>>Oh, SON!
[Laughing] >>Oh yeah, I think that one is gonna have a hook in him. Uh oh, you got me?
No something got me.
[Laughing] We got color! Holy moly! That's a pretty good fish there brother.
>>Not bad.
>>Yes sir.
>>Circle hook in the corner of the mouth.
>>Yup, show you that what I didn't do was reel down like he did to get him right there
in the corner of the mouth, y'all check that out. That is the way a circle hook is supposed
to work, every time. You say the limit on grouper is what?
>>You get two gags per person, two reds per person when they are in season.
>>That is cool and that is a Lazer Sharp circle hook right there doing the job brother. Look
at that fish Absolutely beautiful. That's the way to do it there Captain Chris. We are
gonna put this one in the box. Y'all stay tuned, we are gonna be right back with some
more Addictive Fishing. And it don't get much prettier than that right brother. That is
awesome. Come get ya come samiches off of Homosassa.
Oh oh, He's nervous.
Mine got whacked and then he let go.
>>So Chris, with your charter business you do the same thing you come out and throw a
few artificials and then, you go to the threadies?
>>Go to thread fins or live bait
>>Simple little knocker rig. This is the same type of rig I use offshore for flounder where
I go. Same stuff.
>>Really? Some of the big gags they prefer you put a four or five foot leader out there.
You know, behind a sinker and a swivel. They don't like to see that sinker so much.
>>Do you use Seaguar?
>>Yes, oh yeah.
>>They are the best. And if y'all
>>Oh!
>>If y'all happened to notice, I don't have that sound in my guides anymore of a real
kind of a rough braid. We switched over to Smackdown, it's made by Seaguar. Highly recommend
it, they are the number one fluorocarbon leader material out there in the world so, why not
try their line out. It is amazing. My casts are... Well you just saw it. Heck they are
forty or fifty percent further than they were. And it's thin. So twenty years you've been
doing it huh?
>>Yes sir.
>>And that's how long it took you to get the name 'Grouper Man' around here. That's what
everybody was calling ya. "Oh you're going with the grouper dude, you're gonna be killing
'em." and so far so good
>>I guess that's not a bad nick name. >>That's definitely not a bad nickname. How in the
world do you find these spots? Are they on charts or you...
>>No sir, I think it was probably experience in the Keys growing up spotting these rock
piles. I can see them, I don't know you just got a feeling for them. You know, it's a different
color brown in the water than a grass spot.
>>So get ya a good Humminbird like that ONIX right there and turn the bottom machine on
and start idling a lot of times guys troll those big lip plugs around here. Mirrolure
makes a great one that- Oh oh... ...that you can troll with
>>There he is, he's trying dude. That's a big fish he's in the rock.
>>Hopefully that leader, I retied it so... Ugh! Still not a good, not a keeper.
>>Not a keeper? They're steady though. and that's good.
>>The power, I was thinking I was gonna throw my eight footers out here today catching these
fish, but uh no.
[Laughing] I'm using the they call this one the boat rod. I call it the pitching rod.
Look at that, all the way up to the knot. That is frayed up. There's a couple of nicks
in that I'm gonna have to do a full re-tie on that That's the sixty five Smackdown. There's
a couple of frays in that so you know that was in the rock too. Good abrasion resistance.
First year we've been using it. Awesome stuff. I'm gonna get re-rigged. Show you how we got
these livies rigged. You want to put them Ow! You know why they're called pin fish if
those things get you right there. But uh, we're not through the spine so he can uh swim
down there really freely. Once you get them down in the water. You'll feel them just going
(makes noise). And when they really start going like a cricket on fire, get ready because
you're fixing to uh get your line stretched. Oh he's already nervous. How long you been
doing this?
>>Twenty years.
>>You've been guiding twenty years?
>>Yes sir.
>>You're originally what you said you're a conch right?
>>Key West Conch, yes sir.
>>A Key West Conch >>Fifth generation.
>>Really, so what brought you back up this way?
>>Oh moved up here, just at the end of high school. My parents left when all the conchs
decided to get out of town cause it was getting too expensive.
>>It's rare you can find- they bus all the works in now from Miami don't they?
>>A lot of them.
>>..big greyhounds you see them going down that- Uh oh! ...going down that stretch every
morning.
>>It's amazing when I go down there now and you go in the t-shirt shops and placed that
are local businesses and they tell me that they have never met anyone from Key West before.
in Key West.
[Laughing] >>That's pretty sad actually.
>>I got a buddy of mine that I went to high school with that lives down there. He moved
down there and got the keys disease real bad. The keys disease is just you get down there
and you fall in love with the place and you never leave.
>>You can't leave. >>Uh here we go.
>>There he is. Oh oh yeah! >>He's in the rock come on out.
>>Come on.
>>He's out. (struggling) Ugh, that's what I like about this short rod you can put it
on your hip real quick. Yes sir that's a nice one brother
>>Nice!
>>Rock and roll baby.
>>One more time.
>>Look at that circle hook right in the corner.
>>If you take these circle hooks the way they are, and you just roll it around, it will
pop right out.
>>And I reeled I didn't set the hook. Yes sir! Amazing how these fish fight. If y'all
ever get a chance to come do this, y'all gotta come feel how hard these gag- blah, I cant
even talk. How hard these gag groupers pull in this shallow water. What's cool about it
you don't bring them up like what I'm use to in the Atlantic we're fishing a hundred
and twenty foot for them a lot of times. You bring them up one atmosphere (makes noise)
they blow up like you know they get those Marty Feldman eyes poking out of their head
and stuff you see that grouper right there you don't even need a venting tool if you're
releasing him. And that one is going in for a samich.
[Laughing] >>Yeah he is
>>Y'all stay tuned we are gonna be right back with some more Addictive Fishing. Captain
Chris Wilkins right here off of Homosassa. Beautiful water, stay tuned we're gonna be
right back!
(Play it) Addictive Fishing is brought to you by Star Brite. The world wide leader
in marine automotive and rv care products. Wright and McGill. Never compromise. Engel.
The original high performance cooler company. DOA lures. The unfair advantage. And by, Seaguar.
Trust Seaguar when everything is on the line.
Oh, that was a hit! Alright Chris new spot, what do we do on this one? what do we
do on this one?
This place here is just a little spring and it's got a little ledge off to the side
of it. What you want to do is throw your plug across it and get it at swimming depth before
it gets there and just swim the plug right across the top and it usually sparks a reaction.
>>Let's try this spot. Cranking, cranking, cranking. Uh oh! Uh oh. Good one? >>Better,
you gonna boat this for me Mr. Blair?
[Laughing] >>Long as you bring him on the starboard side.
>>I'm gonna work on that. That one is fighting a little bit better than the others.
>>Oh yeah.
>>It's a sail cat.
[Laughing] Hey there is some keeper grouper down there look at that sucker gah dog. Yes
sir thats a nice one. Oh that's a pretty one. He's a couple sandwiches huh?
>>Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that.
>>Yes sir. He'll go right in there with them others. Nice fish right there. Well what do
you say we turn her back in to the home stretch there and see if can get somebody to cook
one of these up for us up back there? >>I bet you we can. [Laughing]
Rig it right by Wright and McGill
Captain Chris Wilkins, Homosassa. First time I've ever fished with him. One awesome
guy to fish with. Definitely knows I think where every little rock and bump is and if
you've ever been to Homosassa It is miles and miles of crystal clear flats. And normally
when you're out there fishing Captain Chris likes to throw artificial over the spot we
were using everything that DOA makes out there
>>Big DOA Shrimp brother, does it every time.
>>And we hit one of these spots, I was throwing a big DOA shrimpz and I had this fish hit
me. And we were using the big seven foot and seven six boat rods on these fish and when
that fish hit me and I set the hook.
>>There he is there he is right there!
>>I literally dislocated my shoulder on that fish and I was in pain the rest of the show
and plus for about three months. Before it finally went back in. But uh, one great way
to fish for grouper out there, you don't have to go you know super far out and super deep,
like I said unfortunately it was a little bit dirty that day so we brought out the Lazer
Sharp circle hooks and we put the boots to them. Literally every drop we were catching
fish when we put it down, whether it be a grouper this big a grouper this big or one
of the big grouper that we couldn't even stop. Highly recommend you going with Chris if you
ever get a chance to. One awesome place to fish in Homosassa. Remember one thing though,
every fishing season starts right here at Dick's.
Rig it Right by Wright and McGill.
>>Well folks, we tried a couple of spots on the way in it's his specialty the water was
what just a little bit too dirty? you think?
>>A little dirty.
>>Hey he did get a nice one out though. Y'all saw that hook set man that made me want to
stay there until dark. But, ran out of time we caught plenty of fish. I want to say thanks
to Gator MacRae this is his place right here it's called MacRae's of Homosassa. If y'all
ever get a chance to come here I'd highly recommend it one of the most beautiful spots
in Florida to come and fish and hang out and have a good time. They also do what, Scallop
season here?
>>Scallops. >>It's an absolute zoo you do charters on that too?
>>Oh yeah.
>>Tell everybody your website.
>>Cool change fishing charters dot com. Same for my facebook.
>>So facebook or look up his website. Cool Change fishing charters dot com. Definitely
give Captain Chris Wilkins a shot, cause this guy will put you on the fish no doubt. Don't
forget about the website Addictive Fishing dot com. That about wraps it up, don't forget
pound or hashtag show your mogan. Send it to our Instagram site. We'll see you next
week.
Check out more footage from this show by logging on to Addictive Fishing dot com
for out takes and bloopers.
>>Ahh, that was a hit.
>>There he is, there he is right there.
>>He's just a little wee baby.
>>Oh!
>>Oh right at the end.