Got out for a half day this morning with Jim and his son and daughter. We had a good time it started out with a light breeze out of the northeast but after a couple hours started to swing more south and picked up to about 20 mph. We fished the patches this morning and had pretty good action, a lot of bar jacks and mutton snappers, along with a few porgies and yellowtails. We fished a couple spots and more or less the same thing on both spots, then the winds chased us out of there. We had caught some pilchards first thing so we tried a couple local spots for snook, but with the high wind and swelling waves, it didn’t look too good. We tried for a bit but no luck. After that we finished up in the bay since the kids didn’t want to get beat up and wet on the ocean side, and caught a few jack crevelles before calling it a morning! Going for fun with my dad tomorrow hopefully we will have a good report, I heard the backcountry really lit up today funny how things can change in a day! Happy New Year everyone stay safe out there and hopefully you’ll get to come fishing with me in 2017!
Backcountry Fishing Reports
12/30/16 Backcountry Fishing Full Day in Islamorada
Well we got nailed with a cold front last night so conditions changed significantly for us today. It was blowing 25 out of the north/northeast for most of the day and the temperature dropped down into the high 60s last night, and didn’t warm up much today and is suppose to get even cooler tonight. Some times this can be great for fishing if you get lucky and hit it right, though it definitely isn’t always the case. Today was pretty tough out there the water temps dropped into the high 60s with the air, and unfortunately with all the wind blowing hard west last night and then north this morning, and tide screaming out, it was hard to find any clean water anywhere. Usually if you can find some of those protected areas where the current is right and the water clarity looks decent, you can have some good fishing even when it gets cold/windy, but everywhere today looked like the proverbial ‘mud hole.’ We didn’t catch much the first 4 stops aside from some catfish. I talked to one other guide on the water and he wasn’t having much luck either. Eventually we caught a handful of fish – a redfish, a black drum, a trout, a mangrove snapper, and lost a snook – but it was a very slow pick and seemingly no big groups of fish. The tide was so low in a couple areas I was a little worried about getting in some spots but we were able to make it luckily. Anyways we tried to go just get some action from anything for the last hour, and even that was tough to do, but we were able to catch some nice size ladyfish and a few jacks to finish the day. Tomorrow I have a half day and will likely stick close to home on the patch reefs, but sunday or monday if the winds lay down or at least stick out of the north for a couple days, it may be good fishing back there again we will have to wait and see!
12/29/16 December Florida Keys Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico
Got out with Vince and his son Lucas today and we had a blast! Winds were light northeasterly, died out mid day, and then kicked up slightly out of the west as we have a cold front coming in tonight. Fishing was very good we had plenty of action in the AM with big jack crevelles, spanish mackerel, pompano, and mangrove snappers. We also caught half a dozen look down (moon fish) which were very cool to catch. Eventually some cobias popped up and they actually were following the mackerel around that we had hooked. Luckily my anglers were paying attention and were able to catch a couple by simply throwing our shrimp out near the mackerel that the cobia were following. We caught a double header cobia and then landed a single one later. One was a nice keeper fish of 18 lbs or so. After that we tried to goto the cape to catch some drum or snook, but the bugs were horrendous with it being calm and hot so we didn’t stay long. We chunked up some mackerels and caught big stuff after that – black tips, nice bull shark, and a mud marlin (sawfish). We also caught a nice triple tail while we were chasing one of the sharks down, saw a few more but didn’t get them to respond. All in all a fabulous day here fishing in the gulf of mexico. I got booked tomorrow, may not be as nice with the front coming in but who knows… a little cool down could really turn on the winter time fishing as we have hardly had any cold weather yet this winter!
12/28/16 December Fishing in the Florida Keys Full Day
Got out with John and his family down from Michigan today. We had gorgeous weather with a light breeze out of the east that did kick up a little by the time we went home, but not too bad. We caught a handful of good mackerels and some big pompano out on a gulf wreck in the morning with the last of the falling tide, some very good rod benders! Also we had plenty of action with jacks and smaller mangrove snappers. We had a few shots at some cobias, but it was tough to get through the little stuff to get it in front of them. One cobia did chase a shrimp for a good little ways, but unfortunately something stole it away from him! After that we fished for some big stuff and had good action with some variety! We caught a big blacktip shark, a nice bull shark, a nurse shark, a sting ray, and then finished up with about a 70 lb goliath grouper. We had a few other bites we lost but funny to catch different species every time. After that we tried a few spots for some redfish but the water was pretty muddy and nasty with the wind kicking up, so we didn’t have much luck and headed on home. But all in all a fantastic day fishing in the everglades and gulf in december!
12/27/16 Christmas Week 2016 Fishing
Just got back in town last night and the snow birds are here! At least the post-christmas ones that are on vacation. We got out for a half day this morning and caught some mackerels in the gulf. The fishing wasn’t as good as it was before I left, there was a lot of ‘green algae’ water out around the mackerel grounds, however after making the 50 minute run you are kind of committed. Luckily we were able to pick away and probably ended up catching about a dozen nice size mackerels, as well as some blue runners and mangrove snappers. All in all still a fine morning half day trip in the florida keys. The winds were not too bad, maybe a 10-15 mph easterly breeze. Tomorrow looks to be decent I’m out for full days the next couple days, but I still have Friday and Saturday available if anyone is looking to go! Friday we look to be getting a decent cold front (finally) and it will drop into the low 60s perhaps, but it’s not gonna stick around long as it is getting back into the 80s a couple days later.
