Got out with return client Chester and his nephew Reuben. Tarpon were the target though we had tough conditions with the cold front hitting last night and it was blowing 20-25 out of the north this morning, though winds subsided mid day and got fairly nice in the afternoon. Water temperatures however did dip and got down to 73 degrees in some areas we fished. We ended up catching a nice tarpon early at the bridge, we had another bite on a live bait too as well as some ‘cheap shots’. We also caught a nice mutton snapper on the bottom. After we landed the fish though it was more or less over with, we had a couple other cheap shots fishing under the bridge, but then the tide quit. We went and caught some more mullet and then fished a different area. We didn’t see much though did see one bust that looked like a tarpon crashing on something. We sat for a bit and eventually hooked into another tarpon! We landed him and then ended up fishing the rest of the day trying a few other areas, but not much luck. Was glad to get a couple fish though on a day that could’ve been tough for a lot of people I imagine with the weather change. Tomorrow I have the same crew, I think we are doing some meat fishing though may give the tarpon a try for an hour or two. 2 for 3
4/7/16 Tarpon Fishing Full Day Florida Keys
Got out with Buck and Carl today and we had some nasty conditions. It was blowing 20-25 out of the north with a cold front that hit last night, and it’s suppose to get even colder tonight down into the 50s! Awful late in the year for that but oh well. Anyways we knew fishing would be tough but we gave it a good go. Our first bait in the water at the bridge Carl hooked a nice 65 lb tarpon! It was a mission getting the boat spun around into the wind and towards the bridge, while the tarpon was going crazy and the line was rubbing against the bridge pilings! We got through and after the tarpon and then had to go around and cut off a couple of peoples lines that were fishing from the bridge because they didn’t get their lines out of the way so that was interesting. Anyways we landed the fish and the boys were thrilled! After that things slowed down we tried a couple other spots, and then decided to do some rod bending. The mangrove snapper bite was pretty good we caught some nice size ones around the islands. In the afternoon we tried tarpon again with the falling tide the conditions got much nicer as the tide and wind were together. We didn’t see much for tarpon at either bridge so we ran towards home to try a channel there. We caught a bonnethead shark, a big jack crevelle, and then finally a nice 35 lb tarpon for Buck! A great way to end the day it was nice to catch a couple on a tough day. 2 for 2
4/5/17 Islamorada full day tarpon fishing in April
Got out with Aaron and his dad again today. Tarpon were still on the list and we ended up dedicating the day to that. With the way the fishing has been sometimes that’s what you must do. We tried early with the same routine as yesterday, today however the fish just didn’t want to bite… We had them rolling and busting around us but never had a sniff. After a little over an hour we gave up and got some live mullet from the local bait guys. We ran down to the bridges to give it a whirl. We found a few fish in the back channel of one of the bridges, and had a cheap shot soon after getting the baits out. Never had a solid bite though and then the tide quit there. We looked around and fished a couple more areas waiting for the tide to start but didn’t see much. Finally the tide got falling and we ended up finding some fish nearer to the bridge. We set up and after a little time started to have some action on our live baits. We had several more cheap shots and finally started getting some solid bites! Unfortunately the tarpon were tough to keep on the hook, we missed quite a few. The baits we had were size large so that didn’t make things any easier… Finally after we had just about given up hope and decided to stick with it, we hooked one and got him to stay on. Keith landed a nice fish of about 80 lbs and was thrilled! I think we must’ve had 8 or so solid bites and maybe 10 other cheap shots, when you get that much action you hope to at least get one to the boat which we did so we were happy. After that we tried some an area close to the marina again for the last hour or so but didn’t have any luck, just caught a nurse shark. Anyways it was nice to get to see such good tarpon action on our live baits, would of been nice to have caught a few more but that’s why they call it fishing. As long as we are getting bites I’m happy and it’s always nice to catch one, make you appreciate them that much more when it’s tough! 1 for 8
