Tarpon Part Two

Tonight at sunset we caught a ten pound jack and released a nice tarpon. It was a great end to a fun day.

More Snook

Jodi, Patty, and I headed back to Cape Sable today. We caught a bunch of nice snook, redfish, black drum, speckled trout, jacks, sheepshead, and several other species. It was a ton of fun. One the way home we released a tarpon at sunset. Pictures to follow.

Tarpon

Yesterday we stopped at sunset to catch a tarpon. We went one for three, jumping two off and releasing one boat side. All in 30 minutes. The picture is of Patty bowing to the king.

Snook!

We headed back to Flamingo again yesterday. The snook had traded places with the redfish. We released around 15 snook, plus a bunch of reds, speckled trout, jacks, black drum, lady fish, and others. It was a great day. We finished off the day by jumping three big tarpon and releasing one boat side. It was a great day.

Backcountry Slam

Patty and I headed back towards Flamingo today. We had a great day catching redfish, speckled trout, snook, jacks, barracuda, black drum, and snappers. The biggest redfish was over eight pounds. The biggest jack was close to ten pounds. We stopped for tarpon on the way in and hooked a tarpon only to break him off after five minutes or so.

Arrival in Florida

We arrived in Islamorada today after driving straight through. Just a bit tired but we fished anyway. I hooked fish on my first three casts. We caught a bunch of jacks and jumped a tarpon. Need to get some rest.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone enjoys their holidays. Thank you for a fun season!

Joe Hughes

Tog

Dusty and I went tog fishing on Sunday to mix things up. We had a great day catching tog to five pounds and nearly limiting out. It was a fun change of pace and we had a blast.

It Ain't Over...

I snuck out this morning for a rare solo trip. I headed out and jigged up a striper. I had a few other bites but that one was the only one I was able to shake hands with. The water is cold and it's almost over. It was a beautiful day. I'm off to Florida next week. So there are a few still around.

Stripers in the Fog

Fished today with Kevin, Kevin, and Craig. We headed out this morning in zero visibility. We made our way to our spot and started jigging. After a move or two we located some fish. We ended up catching eight stripers and we dropped a few more. The wind came up and we called it a day by noon.

Gift Certificates

Happy holidays to all! I wanted to let everyone know that I have gift certificates for charters available. These gift certificates can be for full or partial trips and can be in any amount you wish. Gift certificates are also available at any time of year for purchase. Just email me or give me a call. 609-827-3442 or captainjoehughes@gmail.com

Joe Hughes

Sunday Stripers

Dusty and I headed out this past Sunday for a quick trip in the ocean. We caught two keeper stripers and headed home early.

Joe Hughes

Gale Force

Fished today with Nick and crew in the ocean. Despite a lousy forecast, we decided to give it a shot. The winds gusted to 30 knots at times but the fish were still there. We brought two fish to the boat and missed two others. You gotta go to know. Sometimes taking the chance pays off. It wasn't epic, but it was better than sitting at home!

Finally, Good Weather

Fished today with Kevin, Chris, and Zack. We headed out into the ocean and we caught eleven stripers to 15 pounds and one 12 pound bluefish. Most of the stripers were caught on the troll and we did jig up one at the end of the day. The fish are here, we just need the weather to get out there and catch them.

Wind Blows

Patty and I snuck out for a quick trip last Monday and we caught this striper on the troll. Since then the weather has been awful. Hopefully this weekend the wind eases up for us. This has certainly been a November to forget when it comes to the weather!

Finally Good Weather!

Fished today with Mike, Mike and Ken. We headed out in the ocean looking for stripers. We tried jigging early but that was not fruitful. We switched over to trolling and settled in to grind it out. We ended up with five nice stripers from 34-38 inches. We also missed a couple that came unbuttoned. It was a beautiful day on the water.

Returning to Normal???

Well, it is a mess down here, but we made a bunch of progress cleaning up today. Believe it or not, I put my boat back in the water today. The regulator goes in tomorrow. It will be interesting to see the impact on fishing as we move forward. My thoughts and prayers are with those that are still coping with the aftermath of the storm.

Joe Hughes

Hurricane Sandy

What a mess. All the boats are okay as far as I know. My house is fine I think. I left the island and I won't know 100% until they let me back on. Whenever that will be. Here is a picture of the street in front of the tackle shop at one point during the storm.

Back Bay Report

Fished last night with Rich and Fred in the bay. Sunset stripers were on the menu. We had fish right away and caught several on plastics. When that petered out we moved and found a few more bass on poppers. We ended up the night releasing around ten bass in a little under three hours. Also, I had stripers on my own that ate the fly two nights ago as well.

Sunset Stripers

Fished with Dave and Trish in the bay tonight. We released four stripers to 26 inches. We started out throwing plastics and caught fish right away. When sunset approached we switched over to poppers and caught a few more. We also missed a few fish as well.

Montauk Day Two

Fished with Darryl and Matt again on Sunday in Montauk. The wind was howling close to 30 knots. We went anyway. We found blitzing fish close to the inlet at had a fish on more often than not throughout the morning. The wind was coming off the land just enough to allow us to fish. We released over 50 blues from 3-6 pounds in the morning before it ended and the weather chased us back to the dock. Note the birds in the picture. The boat picture of us was taken by my buddy from his boat.