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Recent
Catch Reports 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've only met 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 has been appreciated more than you'll ever know. Many anglers think that light-tackle fishing in the Florida Keys is all about targeting bonefish, permit, and tarpon. But until the water temperature gets right for the "Big Three," we spend a lot of time fishing for what's out there. This is a wonderful problem to have with so many other species available.
PHOTO: Rogan Allen of Nashville, TN spent several days fishing with me back in January. One of the highlights was this 40 pound king mackerel that gobbled down a live pinfish meant for cobia. He landed this toothy fish in spite of only having a 60 pound mono leader and a short shank hook (normally a recipe for an instant cutoff). I suggested Rogan purchase a Lotto ticket as soon as he hit the dock, just in case lady luck was still with him.
We did a fair amount of gulf wreck fishing during the winter months. We'd pick the nicer days for this type of fishing, as you do not want to be 20 miles out in the Gulf in a flat-bottom backcountry skiff when the wind is blowing. Generally, the action was pretty good with grouper (gags and goliaths), cobia, and sometimes pompano. We caught loads of bluefish too, though these were more of a pest than a prize, eating up live baits that were meant for bigger (and tastier) game.
PHOTOS: On the left is a one of many goliath groupers that Rogan Allen caught and released (goliaths are a protected species). On the right, we voted, the cobia lost, and was invited home for dinner (they are awesome on the grill).
PHOTO: Here's a fine mangrove snapper taken by Susan DonLevy also from Nashville, TN. We chummed up a nice mess of these tasty snappers out on the edge of one of the many grass banks in Florida Bay.
PHOTO:Who has more fun out on the water than Mick Koven of Miami Florida? Mick and his son Matt (along with Ed and Jason Schmidt) had one of those winter all day trips that one doesn't soon forget. Everything was biting that day. We started by pounding the Spanish mackerel on light tackle out in Florida Bay, and caught a nice cobia in the process. Coming inshore to fish for snapper, we not only hammered the mangrove snapper, but also got into the hottest bite of pompano I've seen in years. We finished the trip by catching a couple of sharks for the boy.
PHOTO: Local Islamorada resident, Joe Baltes, shows off a nice snook, while his wife Lois tries to hook a bigger one. Creek fishing up in Everglades National Park is one of our most popular winter-time trips, especially right after a series of cold fronts (note my bundled up anglers).
PHOTO BELOW: Ben Welsh from Marco Island, FL displays a nice matching set of 6 pound mangrove snapper caught on a shallow-water ledge out in the bay.
PHOTOS BELOW: Sean Carrier's morning didn't start out as well as it finished. High winds made us postpone our trip until early afternoon, but what an afternoon it was. Sean scored two permit and four bonefish on a couple of nearby flats. The following day, we concentrated on light tackle tarpon fishing (same tackle as we used for the bonefish and permit), and had great time in spite of breaking off or jumping off considerably more than we actually landed. Although this was Sean's first time fishing with me, he's now pretty much a "lock" for becoming a "Fishin' Buddy Regular."
PHOTO: While Dick Formisani of Marblehead, MA. fought this 80 pound tarpon back in March, Fishin' Buddy regular, Bill Marean took this awesome photo of a very large hammerhead shark attempting to eat Dick's fish. The story has a happy ending though; after this jump, the tarpon ran straight for the boat. Next thing I knew the leader was in hand, so I popped off the tarpon for a release. We then ran a few high speed doughnuts around the hammerhead while the tarpon swam off. We stayed in the area for another 10 minutes to make sure the shark didn't relocate his missing meal. Mission accomplished! Much more to come...just need a few days off to upload our most recent photos.
You can check out last years' action and photos by
clicking on the following:
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