We had our big group again of the boys across the pond from the UK. A big may islamorada tarpon fishing extravaganza! They’ve fished us the last four days and the fishing has been on the tough side. To start with we had the remnants of a very late cold front – a drop in temperature and extremely high winds of 20+ mph every day. Today the wind finally laid off a little bit, at least it was 10 mph in the morning though picked up to 15 in the afternoon. Bob and Terry were with me today they both were keen to catch a tarpon and had not done so yet on the trip. Both landed nice fish today one in the 85 lb range and the other close to 100 lb. We had to work very hard for the 2 bites we had. Never had any action on the live baits no cheap shots just nervous baits from time to time. The fish seem to definitely be put off this week it has been the toughest week tarpon fishing I’ve had all year, and usually this is when things start to stabilize and get consistent. Oh well every year is different and at least we are catching some. I think things will get better next week, this weekend will likely have a lot of crazys out with the holidays and I imagine the boat traffic will be insane. I’m taking Saturday off, my first full day off in over 2 months – I think I deserve it! Maybe i’ll go fishing!
May 2014
5/20/14 Tarpon Fishing May In Islamorada
Yesterday we went into the backcountry and had a great day fishing for many fish, small and big. Didn’t see much for tarpon back there but we were after other species anyways. Today we got back to the tarpon thing around town in Islamorada. This morning we caught 1 nice fish of 85 lbs and lost another one. Had a few other sharks and sting rays, though not much other tarpon action the rest of the day. Fishing has been a little tough with the high winds still. I also fished this evening for a 4 hour trip. We had a few cheap shots early right off the bat but never connected. Tried another spot with no luck, and finally got into a good channel around 6:30 or so. We hooked and caught a nice 100 lb fish, and then had another one that dumped a spool on us while we were chasing him. That doesn’t happen often, but once in a while they get you! Likely another big fish! So we were also 1 for 2 in the evening. Couple of nice big tarpons for the day!
5/17/14 + 5/18/14 Windy days tarpon fishing in islamorada
The last couple days have been tough yesterday we had 30 mph winds and today it was nicer in the morning 10-15 but was 20-25 by the end of the day. We had another late cold front hit us and it is really late in the year for that. Usually by mid april they are done with. Anyways tarpon fishing has been tough the last couple of days. Bait was very tough the last few days but today finally there was a few good schools around in the morning. Yesterday we had a couple cheap shots in the morning but couldn’t connect, then we did some rod bending mid day, and tried again for tarpon the last hour. But no success. Today we tarpon fished all day. We had lots more bait though fishing was tough, north wind in the morning, then swung to hard east later in the day. We saw fish every where we went, and had ‘cheap shots’ in every spot, but the fish just did not really get the mullets. We had 8 or so blow up or boil on the baits, and one grabbed a bait and spit it right away. The fish were just not really happy. I saw a couple fish caught today though most people I talked to struggled. The water temps in the everglades dipped back to 72-73, though I think I may run back there tomorrow to do some other fishing.
