Recent Catch Reports
Spring and Summer 2004

In early April, John Boszko of Milltown, NJ caught the largest tarpon ever caught on the Fishin' Buddy . This fish fought for an hour and a half on 30 pound conventional gear, and was in the 160 to 180 pound class. It took me nearly 15 minutes from the time I grabbed the 8 foot leader to get this brute up to the surface.

John also caught another more civilized fish (70 pounds), and his son Brian caught and released a 400 pound bull shark (which also fought for over an hour). Add to that another three tarpon that we hooked but ultimately lost, these two guys from Jersey spent most of our 4 hour half day trip fighting fish.

PHOTO: That's a 15 foot fly rod (spey rod) that's connecting John Graham of London, England to a nice tarpon. Though the battle began up on the flats after the tarpon gobbled up a palolo pattern, the fish dragged us out of the shallows and into Long Key Channel. The fish was released after an hour- long battle.

PHOTO: Charles Hoffman (Long Island, NY) displays a nice bonefish he caught on a chartreuse jig tipped with a shrimp.

PHOTO: This 35 to 40 pound barracuda ate a live blue runner, and then took us on quite a slalom run back and forth through the pilings of the bridge in the background. Judy Brown of Bowie, MD landed this beauty on 20 pound spinning tackle.

PHOTO: Once we rolled into July, most of our fishing switched from game fishing (tarpon, bonefish, permit) to action fishing with family groups. Snapper, grouper, seatrout, sharks, and barracuda kept rods bent and kids happy. Here, 10 year old Georgi Beckman of Morrison, CO poses with a nice mangrove snapper that is destined for the dinner table.

Night fishing for tarpon and snook around the bridges has been fair this summer. Usually, we would finish up a late afternoon half day trip or an all day split trip with at least an hour of night fishing...it proved to be a great way to end the day, both in terms of action and comfortable fishing conditions.

PHOTO: Though Ray Tyson of Indianapolis, IN caught this chunky spotted jewfish, he had to man the camera to get the shot. However, his grandsons, Michael (left) and Matthew, were more than happy to jump into the photo. 

A happy accident, the fish was caught on 20 pound spinning gear and hit a live pinfish under a cork (a rig that was meant for tarpon).

PHOTO: Jennifer Moe (Carmel, IN) caught this tarpon up in Everglades National Park in late July.

Seems we spent the latter half of the summer dodging hurricanes (Charlie, Frances, and Ivan). Most of the Florida peninsula suffered worse physical damage than did the Keys. Though we experienced tropical storm force winds each time a storm rolled through, our injuries down here were mainly of the  economic sort. Seeing what Florida and Caribbean residents have endured during the past month, I'm not about to complain about lost business.

PHOTO:  Between storms, Tony Lenehan of Glasgow, Scotland enjoyed several days of good weather and good fishing. Permit (including one on fly), bonefish, tarpon, snook, and barracuda were among the catch. Perhaps the most unusual fishing took place while plugging for barracuda. Tony caught half a dozen 2 to 3 pound mangrove snappers which rose up from the bottom to smack a 7 inch surface plug meant for 'cudas. 

More reports and photos coming soon!

Check out this past winter's action (including some awesome shark photos) by clicking on the following:  
2004 Winter Fishing Reports