Tarpon fished all day yesterday. The weather was gorgeous though the bite was very slow as has been the case for the week. We had a couple cheap shots early on at some of the bridges, but no bite just a big boil and flash on the bait. I fished just about every area we normally fish ‘around town’ in islamorada and even down at long key bridge for a bit. Fish were seen everywhere we went, a lot in some areas and a few in others, but they just are not very happy or feeding. We did finally jump a tarpon on a dead mullet in one of the channels near the marina, but he didn’t stay on the hook. Long day but we gave it our all and my customers as always appreciate the hard work but there is only so much you can do. I even went out late that night for a couple hours for fun with some buddies. We caught the evening falling tide but not a breath of wind and the sargasm weed was absolutely horrendous just about everywhere we fished. TONS of it all throughout the bays and channels from this weeks high winds, and with no wind now to push you along it was very difficult to set up to drift and get the baits away from the boat without getting them covered in grass. We finally found one channel where it was at least somewhat fishable, though we did not have a bite after making a couple drifts. Saturday I’m taking off my first day in 2 months, a good one to take I think with the holiday weekend craziness!
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5/21/14 May Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
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!
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!
