Action Fishing Charters operates out of southwest Florida’s Tampa Bay area. We run charters out of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, New Port Richey, Mosquito Lagoon, Hudson, Boca Grande, Jacksonville, Kissimmee and the Everglades.
We pride ourselves on providing all anglers one of the best inshore and offshore fishing adventures they will come to remember. We will catch giant Tarpon, Redfish, Trout, Permit, Cobia, Snook, Grouper, Snapper and King Mackerel. The West Coast of Florida is renown for having the best fishing variety in the world. Not only are our guides considered to be the best, our sponsors are testament to our reputation. Our sponsors include industry leaders and our level of expertise is unsurpassed. We are proud to mention that " Team Action Fishing" is on the tournament trail once again. Competing in the Walmart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division for the 4th year. Capt. Frank R. Jackson is joined back by Sammy Mula, a PGA golf Pro that does more tail chasing in the Lagoon than golfing. I bet over that grass, Tiger would be in trouble.
Our record for the FLW Redfish series has improved each and every year. In 2005 we started out strong and learned the strengths necesary to compete at this level. We finished 78 out of 150 teams. Fishing in 4 completely new areas with no previous knowledge was challenging, but we fished hard and were pleased with our efforts.In 2006 we finised 37th out of 150 teams and made the Championship! on day 1 we were in the hunt with over 12lbs. only 12 teams had 12 pounds and we were one of them. Weather played a nasty role in not making day 3, but we all have to contend with that. A strong finish for the 2nd year out of the gate. We fished hard and continued to gain knowledge of our different venues.In 2007 we finished 17th out of 178 teams. A top 25 finish guarnteed us a Championship position and established " Team Action Fishing " as a contender for the win at each event. Top 25 finishes usually come down to this: Skill got you to the highest probability of Luck that the right 6 fish were caught.2008 Walmart FLW Redfish season opener Punta Gorda, Florida. We finished 23rd out of 111 teams with only 2+lbs. away from making the top 5. In this game its about ounces & pounds! Top 25 finishes or better is our goal this year and we accomplished at least this one. We continue to make freinds and enjoy the challenges we face. Besides, pre-fishing is a great excuse to just go fish!FLW Redfish Series is in Sarasota, Florida.
We finished in 30th place with over 100lbs of redfish caught in 2 days. We were fishing a flat that was holding over 150 redfish that were all the right ones. We were fishing the area with 2 other teams which are good freinds and executed a beautiful squeeze of the flat. They were gone and never showed up. The tide was 1ft or more lower than it had been and it was on to plan B! We had another area holding some fat fish but only small groups instead of schools. Sammy landed one in there the day before right at 27 inches and it was close to 8lbs. We missed 3 fish and decided it was plan C! We culled through alot of shorts to squeeze 2 fish for day one and went into day 2 protecting a top 25 point standing.
Day two started out with 7 schools passing by us with no interest in what we were throwing. We decided to repeat the 1st days plan knowing that at each spot their were fish and we just had to catch them. We ended up catching a 27.5, 28, 28, 28.5 , 27, 26, and a 29. Go where there are fish and just fish and fish until you have to stop. We accomplished our goal of another top 25 finish and are currently sitting in 13th position in points. We are looking forward to our next venue in Panama City where we have never fished before. Going in blind sometimes is the best thing. We will fish hard and give these guys a run for it. Click on the FLW link to the right and follow our progress.
Panama City, Florida is our next stop. We will be joined by Capt. Charles Espenlaub as our alternate. Charles and I have been fishing together for years and we work extremely well together. We share a passion for fishing, the outdoors and the thrill of the hunt. When not fishing, Charles drives for Mazda's factory Championship SPEED World Challenge Touring car team. We have wanted to fish together for years in these tournaments but our schedules never matched up. It is by good fortune that he was available and we are looking forward to a solid finish.
Capt. Frank R. Jackson FLW Redfish Series Panama City, Florida. Top 5!
What a thrill ride that was! We were in the hunt the whole time. Charles and I found a couple different spots near the start and decided that our best bet was to stay close and fish hard. We credit the new shallow water anchor "WangAnchor.com" for assiting us in being as quiet as possible when targeting our fish. It is a manual type power pole device that anchors the boat in place without the noise of pumps and mechanical parts. Tom, the founder of Wang Anchor was extremely supportive of our endevour and we thank him for the support. Charles and I on day 1 silently slipped into our first spot and within the first few hours located and landed 3 fish and we were done. Slipping out of our spot un-noticed was as important to us as catching these fish. The spot we found was an obvious location and we did not want to be caught leaving this area. When we weighed in on day1 it was behind our good freinds Ken & Jeff Mullett, who at the time took first place with 14.6lbs. Moments after they took 1st we bumped them to second with 14.7lbs. Almost weighing in the identical fish, probably a couple of crabs making the difference. If two teams throwing the "Mullett Spoon" can place this high, then we know the prototype spoon has a great future. Day 2 started out a bit different, we knew that we needed to throw everyone of our trail. We decided to make a hard right this time leaving the start and throw off anyone keeping an eye on our plan. After 15 minutes and everyone else being out of the way, we started on our journey. Arriving at our spot shortly there after we approched it the same way as day1. By 10:45am we had 3 fish weighed and kept the best 2. We figured that 27lbs would be enough to make the top 5 but it would be close. The balance in tournament fishing especially if you want to repeat is not to pressure them too much. I wanted to make 1 final drift to increase our weight but Charles kept us level headed and we again slipped out of there. We weighed in our fish and maintained 2nd place with 3-4lbs seperating us for the lead. We were on the right fish, we were in the hunt and everything was set for a run at the top. A top 5 finish in FLW is extremely difficult to have and we were pumped that we were right at the top. Day 3 we headed out in the smallest boat in the feild and the slowest. We used 14.6 gallons of gas in the Yamaha 4 stroke all week and fished harder than we had in days. In a window of 45 minutes we caught a 27.5, 29, 25, 24, 22, 21, 21 and a few others. I pulled the hooks on 4 fish that felt like the ones but that's fishing. We gave it our best and had a chance at the gold. Finishing 4th out of the best fishherman in the southeast is a thrill. It measures our skill and our dedication to being the best. Skill gives you the highest probability of luck that the right 6 fish will eat. Top5 may as well be 1st place when it's all said and done. We currently sit in 4th in point standings and we have a solid chance at making team of the year. Fishing with your best freind is just a bonus!
Fernandina Beach in September is our next event and I have all the confidence that we will do well.
- Capt. Frank R. Jackson
FLW Redfish Series Fernandina Beach, Fl. Sept. 4-6th 2008.
Pre-fishing begins......
