Permit and Tarpon

Fished today with Ken and Kathy. Great day! Our first cast of the morning resulted in a big permit. We chased that fish around for a while before I could grab it. What a great fight. Next up we hooked a tarpon and chased him around and got a great photo opportunity. We also caught some big jacks and some huge mangrove snappers. We moved on to the flats where we released three bonnet head sharks. Banner day.

Snook and Tarpon

Patty and I headed to Flamingo on Tuesday. On the way we stopped on a flat and found some baby tarpon. I had three bites on the fly and hooked one. After several jumps, the tarpon gave me the fun and jumped off. We then went to Cape Sable. The water was very warm which is not great for that location. I did catch a snook and a bunch of specks and jacks.

Islamorada

Fished with Jim and Wyatt on Monday. We stayed close to home and caught a bunch of snappers, jacks, and blue runners around the bridges. We the hit the flats for sharks but couldn't connect.

Florida Variety

Patty and I fished yesterday in Islamorada. We fished the bridges and caught a bunch of big snappers and jacks. We hit the flats and did some sight fishing for sharks. We released a few bonnet head sharks and missed a lemon of two.

Time for Florida

There are still stripers around and the tog are biting but things are starting to get cold. The bass may still bite but now is the time to plan ahead for Florida. I fish out of Islamorada, Florida Keys from Christmas through Easter (December through April). My specialty is winter weekend fishing getaways. I will help plan and arrange your fishing weekend in Islamorada. A standard weekend involves flying down on Friday night. We fish a mega day Saturday (sunrise to sunset) and a full day Sunday (7-3). Three day weekends are two mega days and a full day. I can help with flights, car, and lodging. This is a great mini vacation you can fit around work. If mega days aren't your thing, we simply fish around your schedule. We catch fish regardless of the weather and it is always a blast. Most days involve several different types of fish and good numbers of them. It will definitely be a trip you will remember. Please call if you're interested and I will give you prices and more information. Afternoons are best to reach me at 609-827-3442. 

For more information, review my blog posts from last winter for more pictures and reports from last year's trips. These weekends also make a great gift. Gift certificates are available for the holidays.

Joe Hughes

Stripers on Top

Headed out yesterday with Mike and Patty. There were plenty of fish on the troll but we wanted to catch them on jigs and on the fly. We found bass and blues on the surface finning and chasing bait on top. The fish were very skittish and we would only get one or two before the school would disappear. We caught them on the fly and on the jig. The fishing was not easy but the challenge made it even more interesting.

Flat Calm Stripers

Fished with Kevin, Zack, Chris, and Ben in the ocean. Completely different day. Flat calm and beautiful. We had over a dozen stripers to about twelve pounds on jigs. The fish were on the surface and under birds. We had sight fishing conditions at times. We were not fly fishing but they would have eaten flies well.

Rough Water Stripers

Fished with Peter and friends yesterday. The forecast was marginal but we took the chance and we were rewarded. We had three stripers to 16 pounds on the troll. It was cold and rough but we pulled it out. We also released a flounder as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fished today with Rich and Joe in the ocean. We found the bass and blues under birds on the surface. It was fast and furious at times with several double and triple headers at times. The blues were up to ten pounds and the bass topped out at fifteen pounds. All on jigs. Things are good.

Big Bass

Fished with John, John, and Ed today in the ocean looking for stripers. We were faced with a marginal forecast today but decided to give it a shot. We were glad we did. Things started out very slow and very rough. We searched and searched with no results. Things were looking grim. But we kept at it. Then we found them. Once we did, it was one after another. We caught most of our fish on the troll today but we did have one on a jig. We caught a bunch and our three biggest were over twenty pounds.

Stripers on Top

Fished with Jim and his son Timmy yesterday in the ocean. We had to look around a bit but we found the stripers blitzing on top. Small soft plastics were the ticket and we tore em up. Great visual bites.

Big Bass

Fished today with the Mikes. As usual their karma made the fish chew. We headed out in the ocean and found the big stripers. We had blitzing fish on the surface in excess of thirty pounds. We caught a bunch on jigs. Our biggest bass was over 35 pounds. We had a 30 pounder and a bunch of 20 pounders as well as some fish in the teens. After the surface action subsided we switched over to trolling and caught several more. All stripers today. No blues. Excellent action.