Recent Catch Reports
January through June 2006

I must say that I've never been as glad to start fresh on a new year as I am this one. With four hurricanes in four consecutive months in 2005, we really took it on the chin down here in the Keys. Our final storm (Wilma) came in late October and was the worst of all. For a while, everyone lived on the waterfront, as Florida Bay raced across our properties and joined up with the Atlantic Ocean. We had waist-deep water on our first floor, and the water at the street covered all but about the top 6 inches of our mailbox.

PHOTO: The waters of Florida Bay are shown here crossing US 1 at the Quay Restaurant in Marathon. This well-known restaurant and shopping village was completely destroyed.

      (Photo submitted by Rod Bertelsen.)

Grassy Key Marina (where I have docked for 18 years) was completely destroyed. Although the boat came through unscathed (no small miracle), Fishin' Buddy Charters was out of commission for nearly a month while the boat sat high in the  racks inside the boat barn with no means of getting it out (both forklifts had been flooded and were inoperable). 

For about two weeks my only means of contacting the outside world was to climb up a ladder and attempt to make a call on the cell phone from the peak of the roof.

I am grateful for the calls, letters, and emails of support that came in the weeks to follow. And a big thank you to Hawk's Cay Marina on Duck Key (mile marker 61) for allowing me to pick up my clients at their docks, once I finally was up and running again.

Are You Ready for some Fishin'?

PHOTO: John Shane (Louisville, KY) shows off a decent snook caught on jig and shrimp up in the Park.

Our early winter fishing up in Everglades National Park was very good for the most part. Because Flamingo was hammered by Katrina in August and then again by Wilma, it remained closed throughout the fall and much of the winter. This meant fewer boaters on the water, and less pressure on the fish. Snook, redfish, seatrout, black drum, and sheepshead were our main targets.

PHOTO: Music manager Alan Stewart (Springfield, VA) got this big black drum on light spin and a jumbo live shrimp up in Everglades National Park.

PHOTO ABOVE: When he's not guiding hunting trips in South Africa, Jim Hackiewicz (North Bend, Washington) is fishing for sharks in South Florida. Here, he battles it out with a lemon shark.

PHOTO: Jim got this nice spanish mackerel while we were shark fishing.

PHOTO BELOW: Although we released nearly a dozen sharks that day, this 3 foot blacktip's destination was the grill.

As per usual, our bay fishing was pretty solid through the winter and into the early spring. Spanish mackerel, bluefish, sea trout, mangrove snapper, and blacktip sharks kept anglers busy. However, our bay grouper catches were off by quite a bit. A number of things may have contributed to this, but most of the local captains that fish and dive Florida Bay regularly agree that the abundance of goliath grouper (spotted jewfish) has had a detrimental effect on the bay grouper population. The aggressive goliaths don't just drive the red and gag groupers from a wreck or ledge... they eat them! We're hoping a slot limit opens up in the near future on the goliaths (maybe one per boat per day of a predetermined size slot) in order to thin 'em out a little and get those red and gag grouper back in the bay.

PHOTO: A happy angler makes Capt. Buddy's job a lot easier. Here a Spanish mackerel brings out a smile in Mary Benagh from Nashville, TN .

One fish that did make a good showing this winter was the tasty, hard fighting pompano. Odd thing was, rather than catching them on the southwest mainland beaches or out in the mixed sand and grass bottoms of the bay, we were catching them on several Florida Bay wrecks (guess the storms must have thrown them for a loop as well). Yellow jigs tipped with shrimp seemed to be our best pompano producer this winter.

PHOTO: Mick Koven of Miami got this nice mutton snapper at the Seven Mile Bridge. He was using light tackle and fishing a "plug" of ballyhoo on the bottom. It was one of those, "one last cast...wow, great way to end the day" catches!

Over the years, we've spent a fair amount of time fishing the bridges of the Florida Keys for species other than tarpon. While I've enjoyed our angling adventures at the Channel 5 Bridge, the Long Key Bridge, and the Tom's Harbor Bridges, there's just something special about making that trip down to the historic Seven Mile Bridge.

Man, talk about variety; you would not want to bet on what type of fish was coming over the 'gunnel next. We've come away from a "Seven Mile trip" with as many as 20 different kinds of fish. On top of the fishing, it's a scenic trip as well; the Pigeon Key area is especially beautiful.

PHOTO: By golly, that's Steve George of Kirkwood, MO hiding behind a bonefish caught on the flats bordering the Seven Mile Bridge. This bone was part of a late-winter catch that included a mess of mackerel, some nice-sized, shallow-water sharks, barracuda, and a few big bar jacks.

PHOTO: Matt Moynihan of Westborough, MA is happy about his first permit. The fish ate a jig and shrimp combo and was caught on the edge of a backcountry flat on 10 pound spinning gear.

Starting in February, we enjoyed some of the best permit fishing I've seen in a long time. Several local flats held massive schools of fish. One particular day I noticed that the permit on a certain spot seemed even more nervous than usual. Everything would be normal as I slowly poled the boat toward the school and then, wham, a big splash, and fish would scatter everywhere. Yet, the boat was still a good 30 to 40 yards away from the fish, so I knew it wasn't spooking these paranoid permit.

We finally got a couple of fish to eat the crabs we were tossing, and while hurredly poling after our hooked permit, I happened to look down. To my amazement, a goliath grouper well in excess of 200 pounds was following right behind the boat. This thing had been shooting up from the bottom trying to snatch himself a permit snack; no wonder these fish were so nervous. Although I initially worried about him grabbing one of our hooked fish, "goliath" faded back into the channel once we got back into the shallows.

Spring 2006

PHOTO: This is what the spring season is all about...a hooked tarpon in the air!

PHOTO: Springtime regular Max Reno of Euclid TX with one of several nice tarpon he caught and released back in May.

It was great to finally have a spring season where the wind didn't blow for weeks on end. This made fishing for bonefish, permit, and tarpon a lot easier, especially for our fly fishermen.

Another plus this year was that even after mullet got scarce in early June, the tarpon still hung around and ate pinfish, crabs, and pilchards into the summer.

PHOTO: Max Reno with a nice bonefish that ate a jig and shrimp combo.

PHOTOS: Part of thirteen year old Will Friedberg's Excellent Adventure included his first permit and what was a pretty decent bonefish before a lemon shark "cropped" the photo. He also caught a nice tarpon and pounded the jacks, snappers, and bluefish on an inshore wreck over a period of three half day trips.

PHOTOS: Tony Lenihan (Glasgow, Scotland) may have been targeting tarpon on light tackle, but he wasn't disappointed with the fight from this healthy-sized barracuda. The 2nd photo shows Tony cooling it with a permit that ate a crab on light spinning gear.

You can check out last years' action and photos by clicking on the following:  
2005 Fishing Reports