Well had Alex and Chrissy out today. Alex wanted a tarpon, and Chrissy enjoyed catching sharks. So we set out to do just that. Bait was difficult, found some mullet but with the end of the tide and boats running through everywhere they were on red alert. We caught a half dozen and another guide gave me a few extras that I have done the same thing for in the past. Lots of boats out today for casting for cats tournament too… 75 boats this year the most ever! Anyways we did not have any tarpon action in the morning, fished around flamingo a few channels, never saw any rollers or free jumpers. We did catch some nice big blacktips though and a big lemon, as well as a couple of black nose sharks. We looked further off the cape later, and did not see any fish off the beaches, but inside the canal we set up and saw plenty of rolling fish. Luckily the tide was just starting out so it wasn’t ripping hard. We caught a ray right off the bat, then soon after a big 100+ lb tarpon grabs the bait and we are off to the races. After a 30 minute battle we land him, unfortunately he did not stay boat side for long and popped off as we were trying to get pictures. But a great battle none the less and I’m sure Alex got some good go pro footage.
October 2014
10/13/14 October Florida Keys Backcountry Tarpon Fishing Report
Well the fishing had been a little tough the last week. I had not been doing much tarpon fishing as I’ve been trying some other things. It’s been a lot of work though there have been some snappers, ladyfish, trout, handful of snook, and sharks around. I had a tarpon bite yesterday afternoon at the end of our day so I figured I’d give it more of a shot today. We had the right tide to hammer the mullets early in the morning. We did and then ran and looked for some free jumping fish. Saw a handful in an area that was loaded with bait and birds bombing. So we set up and fished. Some big blacktip sharks at first, though after the 3rd one we started getting tarpon bites. Missed the first two they spit the baits as they went airborne. But the next 2 we caught, a nice 25 lb fish and a 60 lb fish. It was good to see and reminds me why tarpon fishing is probably my favorite thing to do on a charter down here. We finished the day catching loads of snapper, a few trout, ladyfish, jacks, and had a couple shots at snook though one jumped off and the other buried us in the sticks. But as long as the weather stays fairly warm the next couple weeks can still have some great tarpon fishing. And once we get some more northeast chill breezes, the bait migration should push down our shores and that can be some of the best tarpon fishing we see all year. Let me know if your interested in getting out, things are getting busy for me again fishing most of the rest of the month but I have a few openings here and there.
10/8/14 October Tarpon Fishing in Islamorada Update
I haven’t posted in a while so just wanted to touch base with all my readers! Just got back from my honeymoon we had a great time cruising the Mediterranean. Though not back to the grind. September as usual was a slow month for business though there was still some good fishing to be had. I was only here a couple weeks between the end of my wedding and my honeymoon, so only got out on the water a couple days and a couple more got rained out. But I heard end of september/early october there was some great tarpon fishing with some of the beginning of the fall bait run occurring. This time of year loads of mullet, pilchards, minnows, and other baits can get pushed down with the right conditions – usually some of the first ‘cool fronts’ of the year. These northeast/north winds blow bait down the coastline and before the temperature really starts to drop, the tarpon and other fish follow and can really go crazy. We are often fishing the mainland everglades area and it can be an unbelievable sight! Imagine thousands of tarpon from 10 to 200 lbs free jumping and busting baits which are all around you. Yes this can happen and it does regularly this time of year. Anyways I was out yesterday and unfortunately the wind swung around southeast and this condition was not occurring, we only saw a handful of tarpon and did not have any action out of them but did catch some nice snook. Anyways tarpon are still definitely a possibility and on the right day it can be as good as it ever does. So if your looking to tarpon fish, coming up are the last few weeks that you stand a decent shot. Once we get into November it is usually getting chillier and the fish are not as active and many leave all together. Though later fall/winter is a great time of year for redfish, drum, snook, trout, mackerel, and more which I am doing until it warms up again for the 2015 tarpon season! About half my October is booked up business is picking up so shoot me an email or call and let’s talk about fishing!
