The mullets finally showed back up in numbers this morning. Several places were loaded with lots of bait. We were able to catch plenty before daybreak and headed out around 7:15 to tarpon fish the bridges. We had the last of the incoming tide and we hooked a fish on a live mullet right after missing another bite first thing. A big 150 lb fish he gave a good run but did not fight all that hard. He ended up being foul hooked in the side of the mouth which may of been part of it. Anyways nice fish to start. The tide started to fall eventually but we had a very weak tide. The tarpon were there but not too happy we had a couple fish come up and bust the mullets probably 15 times but did not eat it. We finally hooked another on a dead bait and caught him. This fish took us through the bridge a few times and we got him to the boat before breaking him off, nice 100 lb fish. Then that was about it for tarpon action we moved around and found some fish rolling and busting, but they were not very interested in feeding. We went back up close to home and tried dead baiting the last hour, we caught a nice blacktip shark and then decided to call it a day as the weak tide was going to continue and eventually slack out so didn’t think it was worthwhile to stay the last couple hours. Anyways couple tarpon and a couple sharks, fun morning! I must say too it is fantastic having my trolling motor working again it has already helped me get a few bites that otherwise we may not have had. 2 for 3
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4/11/15 + 4/12/15 Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report
Tarpon fishing has been good the last couple of days. Bait has still been tough there has not really been any significant schools of mullet around. I had two morning and two evening trips the last couple days. Unfortunately after yesterday morning I realized I had a leak in my boat, some problem when they were installing some new equipment. Anyways I extended my night trip last night with the guys who also had me this morning and we just cancelled this morning so I could get the boat fixed. Anyways we fished mostly crabs yesterday and we caught 1 nice tarpon in the morning around the bridges along with a few sharks and a big red grouper. One other possible tarpon bite not sure what it was though. Last night we fished from 4 to 10 and we went 3 for 3 on tarpon. All decent size fish of 80-90 lbs. They were all hard fighters though we spent about 45 minutes on each fish. I was glad the action was good and the guys were OK doing that and canning this morning. Tonight I got the boat back in working order and fished the usual 4 to 8 night trip. We went 1 for 3 on tarpon. Had some action on mullet early on the last of the incoming tide, and had one eat a crab drifting near sunset on the falling water. Anyways good overall fishing using traditional techniques. 1 for 1, 3 for 3, 1 for 3.
4/10/15 April Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report
Had a half day today. We didn’t have luck with bait this morning. Also this afternoon I caught a bull shark in my net which tore a nice hole in it. Bait is still very tough hopefully once we get away from the full moon it will get easier! Anyways we ran into the backcountry where I was yesterday since it was so good then. We had the last of the incoming tide. Sharks bit us up we caught several black tips and a nurse shark. No tarpon and we fished for an hour until tide slacked. I ran over to the other channel nearby and we waited for the tide to turn, quick turnaround. Anyways we sat for about 30 minutes and things were looking grim plus we didn’t have too much longer to fish since it was only a half day. Eventually we got our bite though a nice 85 lb tarpon! Very funny bite too he did not run very hard he shook his head and almost thought it was another nurse shark. Anyways we landed him and then we had a few minutes left so I said we could give it a little longer. It paid off we had another bite pretty soon after and landed another 75 lb tarpon. It’s funny how it can go from balls to the wall one day fishing to hoping you’ll just get one bite the next – but that’s fishing! We were very happy to get two tarpon, and like I told the customers I’ll take catching 2 just about any day! Anyways two morning and evening half days the next two days so i’ll be back with some more reports soon. 2 for 2
