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Florida Keys 2010 Fishing Reports
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Well, here we go again...another year of making memories with great friends, some of whom I've fished for a long time...and some that I'll be meeting for the first time. Out on the water is a great place to build these friendships. Let me take a quick moment to thank all of you who have made my life as a fishing guide possible; your patronage and your generosity have been appreciated more than you'll ever know.
Sally Stephenson of Bloomington, Indiana hooked and landed this beautiful 17 pound mutton snapper on 15 pound spinning gear in 160 feet of water off Duck Key. And what a year it's been. Record cold temperatures this winter sent fish scurrying out of the shallows. Imagine taking clients fishing but with the following limitations: no tarpon fishing, no flats fishing, no backcountry fishing, and no bay fishing. For nearly a month, the only place to consistently catch fish was out on the warmer waters of the reef...so that's where we fished.
Between the patch reefs of Hawk Channel,
the inner and outer edges of the main reefs, and a few deepwater wrecks and
ledges, we managed to put together some really nice catches. Many of our winter fish
(even the big ones)
were caught on nothing more than a jig and shrimp combo fished on light spinning
tackle.
John Cantrell and his fishin' buddy Roy from Lufkin, TX caught
all the mackerel they could handle (including numerous double headers) in the
final hour of a half day charter off Marathon. These four are headed for the grill.
Brothers Jake and Billy Thomas flank their fishin' buddy Andrew Diaz (all are from Vienna VA), and also help him hold up his 36 pound African
pompano caught on 20 pound spinning gear on a deep wreck. This is one of the
hardest fighting fish in the Keys, and not an everyday catch.
Another powerful fish, this 50 pound greater amberjack has afflicted
18 yr old Cody Miller of Marysville, WA with "jack-back attack." Though
in pain after battling this AJ to the surface from nearly 200
feet, Cody insisted his fish be released after the photo.
In the photo below is Cody's dad, Bill, whose nice mutton snapper
provided several meals for all of us.
Rich O'Such shows off a decent cobia caught on light tackle.
Between the winter-long moratorium on keeping grouper, and the cold
weather pushing our bay grouper stock out onto the oceanside reefs and
wrecks, grouper fishing was as good as I've seen it in the last 20
years. Here, Max and Brent Reno display a nice double header of gag grouper.
Finally a Break!
Although we hooked and released our first tarpon of the year back in mid
March (Tom Roelke; WI), fishing for the "big three" (tarpon, bonefish,
permit), really didn't get going until late April.
David and Nancy Hughes of enjoyed an afternoon of sight casting to
large schools of jack crevelle and permit out on the reef late one afternoon.
Pictured is the largest of the jacks they caught. They
finished their day with some tarpon fishing at the bridges. An
aggressive bull shark made off with a large portion of David's first
tarpon.
Max and Brent Reno hold rods baited with live mullet, and eagerly anticipate the sunset tarpon bite at the
Long Key Bridge.
Check
out past years' action and photos:
Backcountry, Flats, and Tarpon Fishing Charters in the Florida Keys Capt. Buddy LaPointe 1 (305) 743-2871
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