Early Bird Charters

Early Bird runs private inshore charters out of Homosassa, meeting anglers at 5038 S Fuchsia Point and working what the operation calls the area’s diverse waterways, including the Homosassa River and the pristine grass flats beyond it. The boat is a 19-foot Carolina Skiff built in 1998 behind a single 90-horsepower Tohatsu, with a maximum cruise of 31 mph and rigged with GPS, VHF radio, a livewell and snorkelling equipment; it carries four guests. Trips are sold by the clock: four hours at $450, five hours at $328 and eight hours from $600 to $750, with the four-hour inshore charter listed as the most booked. Departure is 7am and a fifteen per cent deposit holds the date. Two guests are covered in the base price with room for four at $50 each. Rods, reels and tackle are provided, live bait and lures are supplied, drinks are free aboard, and the charter licence covers each angler’s saltwater licence. The named quarry is gag grouper, red grouper, redfish, sea trout and snook, with black drum also taken; an eight-hour seasonal inshore grouper trip and a five-hour private scalloping trip run alongside the inshore charters.