Tarpon season has been in full swing here in Islamorada, Florida for the past month or so. A portion of March was flat calm and very good fishing for tarpon and the other part was very windy with some cold frontal-type weather that made that a little tougher. Though April has been good fishing all around for the silver king. Earlier in the month I was fishing the backcountry often and that has still been decent on and off, however as of late we’ve had some major issues with the red ‘lions mange’ weed that pollutes the channels and gulf area we fish. Unfortunately some days it’s so bad you can’t even fish. Luckily the last couple weeks the fishing closer to home has been very good and the mullet have been much more consistent in the mornings, so I’ve been sticking to that routine. The last week the fishing has been quite phenomenal. We’ve caught tarpon every trip the last two or so weeks. The last two days we landed 7 mostly on live mullet. Both the incoming and falling tides have shown good fishing. The sargasm weed near the bridges has had to be contended with, though you can usually find areas where it isn’t so bad and you can fish. Other than tarpon there have been some mongo snappers around the bridges if your looking for dinner. Also a mix of sharks and barracudas in the bays along with the occasional grouper. I have not been doing much else though there has been some snook in the everglades, along with some trout and snapper in the bays. Tripletail and permit could be an option in the gulf if we get some calmer weather though it’s been blowing fairly steadily the last 2 weeks. Anyways the tarpon action is red hot locally and should continue so through May and perhaps into the summer as well. Summer time usually around mid june I start fishing the everglades much more again for tarpon and the last couple years that has been very good. If your looking to get out on the water let me know, summer is a great time and I still have availability!
Backcountry Fishing Reports
3/3/15 March Islamorada Fishing Report
Well March is here and so are the big tarpon in Islamorada. We had a late winter so it held off some of the normal ‘early arrivals’ that we catch in February. Though the last week or more it’s been very warm and tarpon are starting to show up in droves. The last 5 days we’ve caught at least one tarpon every day. The last two days however they really have started biting well. We had a total of 9 bites and landed 5 fish in the last 2 days. Yesterday they were eating the live mullet well, we weren’t able to stick any though were able to catch one on dead bait in the afternoon. A big slob of 150 lbs, biggest fish this year so far! Today we went 4 for 4 in the everglades, fish of 60 to 90 lbs. It should get better and better, and since it is just not starting I think our fishing later in the season should be better. The last few years fish have shown up way early and often by end of May/June we would have some ‘dry spells’ where there were not many fish or they wouldn’t bite, likely due to too many showing up too early. Anyways tarpon is what I am focusing on from now on through the Summer. Of course we sometimes break it up and fish for other things. I am booked up fairly solid through May, however we are going to be having another very good hard working young captain run a 2nd skiff for us. If your looking to get out for some good tarpon fishing the next few months, he will be available for evening trips during ‘prime time.’ Drop me a line and let’s catch you that silver king of a lifetime!
2/18/15 February Backcountry Fishing Report for Islamorada Florida
February is already half way over and we have been experiencing a late winter that’s for sure. Cold fronts have continued to hit us once or twice a week, and last weekend it was the coldest it had been here I think in years. Oddly enough another front is coming in tonight which is even suppose to be colder – lows in the 40s according to the forecast! But thankfully it hasn’t slowed down the inshore fishing actually last weekend things picked up a little if anything in the backcountry. We had a great day catching seven snook, 4 black drums, 4 big trout, and handful of other specimens on Saturday in low 60 degree water which wasn’t too shabby. I’ve had two days in the last week catching our limit of hogfish out on the patch reefs which has been incredible. The hogfish fishing this winter in Islamorada has been the best I’ve ever seen and according to many old time guides the best it may of ever been. Just about every day you catch a handful out there though many days have yielded quite a few, limits, and even a few days of high double digit numbers. Mixed in on every trip out there has been poriges, mutton snapper, small groupers, and a few other odds and ends such as cero mackerel or barracuda. The gulf fishing has stayed consistent as well with the spanish mackerel and big blacktip sharks. I have not been further out in the gulf much as there hasn’t been much action with cobia or tripletail. A couple days we’ve found some tripletail but not really worth the run to only see a few. We did catch some big goliaths one day a couple weeks ago out on a wreck plus a big shark. Anyways I’m out of town for a week now and it looks to be a good week to miss – high winds through the weekend and cold, cold weather. Tarpon fishing has been pretty much non-existent with this late cold we’ve had, and looks to stay that way for probably another week or so. I doubt I’ll miss anything with them thankfully and things may not got started with them until March. This isn’t a bad thing though as it may push the migration back a month or so which actually can help out our fishery in late May and June which is when people are really expecting to catch tarpon. So we will see. Anyways drop me a line if your looking to fish, the next 3 months are fairly booked up with anglers looking to hook up with the silver king, though I do have a handful of days and evenings open.
1/21/15 January Fishing Report Islamorada Backcountry
Greetings friends and I hope your winter is as fabulous as ours has been here in the Florida Keys in January. Our winter islamorada fishing charters have not disappointed and the bite has been overall just good. We’ve been mixing things up a lot lately with a variety of types of fishing as is the norm in the winter time. The most consistent trip for action has been in the gulf. The spanish mackerel have been biting voraciously on both the incoming and outgoing tides. With my larger center console boat I can get out there just about any day. We’ve been hanging the chum bag and fast jigging with shrimp. The mackerel are in the 3-5 lb range mostly and we’ve been getting double digit catches just about every trip. Some days they are waiting there when you set up and anchor, others you may have to sit and chum for 30 minutes, but they’ve always been finding us. Out there too are very large blacktip sharks and they have been a good alternative to tarpon if you want to pull on something big that jumps and puts on a show! Yesterday we found some tripletail further out in the gulf as well which is a fun option for those wanting to ‘sight fish’ especially on a calm nice day. Fishing the everglades in january has not been quite as red hot with action, though for anglers looking for more of a challenge and opportunity to catch more of a trophy type fish it is a good bet. We’ve been getting redfish, snook, blackdrum, and sheepshead most days. Some days it is good and you will catch a few fish in every spot you hit, other days you may strike out and hopefully find at least one spot holding some good fish. Of course days when the ‘honey holes’ are not producing we often put the trolling motor in and just work creeks, channels, and shorelines to cover more ground and put you on the fish. The bite can turn on in an instant though, especially with an impending cold front. We got a huge 20 lb black drum yesterday as well as a nice big redfish, plus several other drum, snook, trout, and tripletail. Andy and his sons who have fished with me for years and have been blessed with good days just about every time had to work for them a few days ago, but did manage a good trip with 8 nice redfish, a snook, a sheepshead, and finished up with about 15 spanish mackerel and a couple bluefish. Out front the other great option especially for half days has been the florida keys patch reef fishing. Porgy, hogfish, snapper, and grouper have been consistent out there and it’s often all the rod bending action you could ask for. We got into a good bite of barracuda the other day too, which was lots of fun with big live pilchards for bait. This is great for people wanting a few fish for dinner too as I promise you will not find better eating fish anywhere. If your looking to get out on the water give me a call I have a few days open in January left, and February is starting to fill up fast as that marks the traditional start of our busy season. Tarpon fishing should be starting to get better as we get into February that is when I start focusing on that more as it is consistently warmer.
1/5/15 January Islamorada Fishing Report
Well the big story of January 2015 here in Islamorada, Florida is the warm weather! It feels like late spring time with highs in the 80s. The fish are a little confused but that is not a problem. We’ve started doing some of our normal ‘spring time’ fishing trips a little early. Tarpon have been around in good number and we’ve been getting shots at that almost every trip the past week. I’ve had several over 100 lbs which have given my anglers some very good battles. Of course this won’t likely last and when we get some more cold weather, things in the everglades such as redfish, snook, black drum, etc.. should pick back up. In December that was still fairly good, though with it being warmer the snook and reds are much more spread out in the creeks where we often fish in the winter, so you must have patience to cast and work areas thoroughly. Mixed in with tarpon have been a variety of sharks as well, including big black tips which put on a helluva show when they jump and take off! We also got a nice hammerhead shark one day. Otherwise we’ve been fishing the gulf a lot and the spanish mackerel bite has been very good, probably the most consistent thing around right now as far as making sure to get the rod bent! Mixed in with them are plenty of big ladyfish, mangrove snapper, and the occasional trout and pompano. We’ve had a few cobias the last week as well. On the nicer days when the water is pretty you can find them on many of the gulf wrecks. Looks like in a few days we will be getting another good cold front, so I may venture back to the usual winter time haunts of cape sable and flamingo. Drop me a line if your interested in fishing this January. Depending on the weather just about anything may be possible!
