The fishing has been tough! There is no pretty way to say it! The
good news is that it is turning around in a hurry! I have been getting great
reports of some dolphin starting to show up. I spoke with Capt. Brian Cone
of the CONTAGIOUS and his mate Justin. Brian has just returned from his
knee surgery with a bang! His first trip out he wrangled a big slammer bull
dolphin while fishing on the edge. This guy can find the fish! He went out the
next day and scored big too Capt. Scott Birk and mate Jason on the
ISLAMORADA LADY 2 found a few nice gaffers and a Wahoo out in the
deep on a color change this week also. Even though the wind has been blowing
I decided to give it a try and found some schoolies around the 250 foot line
too! When you get a chance come on down to ROBBIES marina at mm 77.5
and check out the excellent captains and guides that have assembled there.
The CAPT MICHEAL has been sailing three times a day and catching snapper,
grouper and king mackerel. They catch a lot of fish! The cAvr m WHEAL is
a first class operation I would recommend to everyone.
I spoke with Capt. J.R. Rudzin on the CAPT JR and got a great story
about 2 20+ pound black grouper, a handful of nice mutton snapper between
4-10 pounds, and 2 huge mangrove snapper. The mangroves were so big that
an fwc officer remarked that it was the largest he had ever seen! Great job J.R.!
I’m sure those guys will be back for more soon. Capt. J.R. Rudzin sails
from HOLIDAY ISLE marina. He is a hard charging-hard working fisherman
who brings 100% to the table day in and day out! (Not to mention a rack full
offish!) Check him out down at the dock. He will be ready to go The windy
conditions have clouded the water and the yellowtail bite has been good. Capt.
Mike on the MAN-O-MAN reported nice tails on the patches. He has been
sand balling for best results. The same patches have been holding ballyhoo
and even a few nice king mackerel. Time is the key. The problem is you have
to spend a lot of it chumming them up.
There are still big kings out in the gulf as well as cobia and Spanish
mackerel. Don’t forget about the big sharks too! The blacktips and lemons
have been strong. A big blacktip is an amazing fish. They average around 70
pounds and jump and run like crazy! They are great to eat too! There are
plenty of other fish out there to bend the rod on also. There are bluefish,
snapper, runners, jacks, permit, pompano, huge goliath grouper, red and black
grouper the list goes on and on. Capt Juan Garcia of BEATS LAND
CHARTERS and Capt. Rick Cannon have been catching tarpon at the bridges.
The guys have been talking about several encounters a trip with one or two
landed fish. The fish have been running from 50-80 pounds on the average
but, Capt. Juan told me about a huge 175 pound monster he worked over
this morning. There are many great captains and guides all over Islamorada
who can take you out on the water either in the Atlantic or Gulf. Go down to
one of the many marinas and get out on the water and fish! You won’t catch a
fish at home on the couch! Don’t miss out!

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