Hello from Anna Maria! I hope everyone had a nice holiday and is looking forward to a New Year. I hope 2010 is a great one for everyone and their families. I would like to thank my patron fishermen for keeping me busy this past 2009 despite the slower economy. I look forward to an exciting 2010 filled with lots of hard fighting tarpon and calm clear sunny days on the flats watching you all battle snook and Redfish. I love my job and appreciate it more now that I am older and have been doing it close to 15 years. The good days sure outnumber the bad and the fact that I get to fish with people day after day that I have spent years fishing and building friendships with is what makes my job so fulfilling. Even the fishermen and women I only see once a year from across the country I look forward to seeing and hear what has change since our last trip. After 15 years I have gotten to see little guys grow up to have their own families, I guess a few more years and I will be taking their kids fishing too. As a fishing guide I'm lucky because when you spend 8 hours straight in a boat with someone, you really get to know them. I get to meet a lot of interesting people, I hear a lot of good stories, I get a lot of good advice from people that specialize in all kind of stuff. It really is great and it's the people I get to fish with that makes it that way, let's face it, at this point in my career I've caught everything that swims around here in all sizes. It really makes me feel like I accomplished something when I see how excited one gets when they hook their first tarpon, or showing up at the dock with a fresh bait-well loaded to the top just knowing as soon as we get to the first spot my fishermen are going to love battling the big redfish that awaits them. I have to admit that some of those cold 5:30 mornings throwing a cast net can be rough, but it's all uphill after that and well worth it.
I am planning my late winter, spring and summer charter schedule. I just want to give everyone the heads up and let you know it's time to get your dates together. February and March are awesome for snook and redfish in the shallow water. April is probably the best month offshore, although the inshore is equally as good. May through July is mostly tarpon for my boat, although we do great on the flats at that time too. I have days open this winter and the redfishing has been great even though it has gotten almost too cold to fish the last couple of days. I'm sure it will warm again shortly and we will be out there catching them again.
Thanks again everyone and have a great year.
Capt. Matt Ercoli
www.captainmatt.com
800-521-2872