go big or go home

I ran a charter this morning with a few awesome friends of Cory the son of Alberto who I had fished with the day before. We had intended to head right back out and catch Mutton snapper as we had so easily the day before. The ocean had different plans however. The fish had moved on and the the bite we previously had was dead. We immediately switched gears and settled the boat on a section of deep reef that always has big Yellowtail snapper and Back grouper.

We fished really hard and after some blood sweat and tears we got exactly what we came for. We had huge snappers just behind the boat all 3 lb or more. We fished hard bottom for grouper and lost a few nice Black groupers in the bottom. with just minutes left before heading home we hit the jackpot. Jett Perry a friend of Corey’s hooked a monster and maxed out himself and the fishing tackle to best and near 35 lb Black grouper. We all cheered and hugged as we had been working for this fish for almost the last 4 hours. After taking tons of pictures we stuffed the fish in the ice and headed home to Key West Florida.

/by

Mini lobster season

I somehow didn’t have a trip for opening day of lobster mini season so I loaded up some friends and we headed out to grab our limit. I headed out away from the madness that is mini season. If you have been here for it you know what i mean. We set the boat on my favorite rock and that was all she wrote. We had our 4 person limit and headed back in after really no time at all.

After hitting the dock a passer buy asked if I would go back out and take them for a lobster charter. I of cores said yes. I asked them to meet me at the boat in a few hours as I had friends and gear to take home. So as fast as possible we went home ate and I headed right back out there. We tried a few of my favorite spots but my divers were very novice and could not manage the 13 feet depth. I picked up and headed near shore and we got quit a few lobsters before heading home.

 

 

/by

Father and son afternoon run

Had a blast this afternoon fishing with a great family of 4 from Georgia. We started of day on a little patch of reef in about 50 feet. The action was non stop so the kids had a blast but nothing much was going in the cooler. We soon moved to a wreck in 150 feet where we had much bigger fish. We caught countless Barracudas as we waited for our big bight to come off the bottom. We caught a few small sharks and a hand full of nice Yellowtails in the mean time. With a few minutes left in the trip we got out big one. We landed a beautiful mutton snapper close to 15 lbs. After a quick photo shoot we tossed him in the box and enjoyed a beautiful Key West sunset as we headed back to the dock.

/by

Monster muttons and Mangroves

Today I got to take one of my favorite repeat clients Alberto along with his son Cory and daughter Mina. We always crush it then they get the chance to come see me. We started our trip on a section of reef that has been red hot for Mangrove snappers. We caught close to our limit and even added a few nice Yellowtail snapper in the box as well before heading to deeper water. We re anchored this time much deeper and had our sights set on some big Mutton snappers. We didn’t have to wait very long before the snappers were going off again. We landed 5 nice Mutton snapper along with a few big sharks before we headed home. We had one hell of a catch and lots of filleting and bagging ahead of us. 🙂

/by

Family and friends snapper trip

We had 5 angles today who just wanted action and a good time. We headed out about 6 miles before anchoring the boat on my favorite patch of reef for snappers in 55 feet. We were catching fish one after the other. We caught nice Yellowtail snapper along with plenty of Mangrove snappers as a bonus. With 90 minutes of action under our belts and close to 100 fish caught we headed for deeper water to spend our last portion of the trip looking for something a bit bigger. We had to do little waiting after setting the boat in 120 feet on the edge of the reef we were again on a hot bite. We caught 3 small sharks and 3 nice muttons in under 45 minutes before we packed it in and headed home to Key West with a full cooler before noon.

/by

Tiles and Jacks

Today a father and his two sons chartered me for 6 hours. The boys said they wanted some fish for dinner and something big to put up a fight. The is one of my all time favorite requests. We started our day on the reef catching some snappers and a few big live baits to add to the livewell. Once we had some big beautiful bait we headed for a wreck in 280 feet of water. This wreck almost always in loaded with monster fish than even the toughest angles struggle with. We landed 5 Amber jacks in the 30 lb. range and out largest upwards of 60 lbs. With tired arms the boys were ready for a break so we headed out looking for some Mahi. There were little to no signs of Mahi so we soon gave that up and brought out the electric reel to do some deep dropping. We had great success on the bottom catching a limit of Blueline tilefish along with a few other cool critter from the deep.

 

/by

Mahi and a deep drop bonus

Today we headed out again on a 6 hour Mahi fishing charter. We headed about 13 miles out before we found a nice weed line to follow. We were catching Mahi Mahi as fast as we pit the baits in the water. The only downside was all of our fish we on the smaller side and we searched and searched for the monster bull Mahi but came out short. With about an hour of fishing time left I suggested we try a little deep dropping to break thing up. The deep dropping exceed all expectations we landed a few big Blue line tilefish and on our last drop we landed a big Snowy grouper. That was the cherry on top to an amazing day on the water. Just look how calm it was out there!!

/by

Monster Yellowtails

Today we fished a 6 hour charter looking for some nice fish for dinner. We started our day fishing some deep reef looking for Mutton snappers. The bottom bite was slow so we switched our focus to Yellowtail snappers. It was the right move as we were not disappointed. The fish were smart and the sharks were lurking below but we bested more than a dozen 3lb or larger Yellowtail snappers. After the box was loaded we headed to a beautiful reef  called Western Dry Rocks to do a little snorkeling. After my charters refreshing dip we did some deep dropping in 500 feet for some tilefish and grouper. It was a near perfect day on the water as he headed back to beautiful Key West Florida.

/by

Summer in Key West is fishing Heaven

The weather has been truly spectacular as of late here in Key West Florida. The waves have been less than 2 feet for the last week and 0 feet some days. The water has been clear blue and full of life as these last 3 trips will show. I have been starting the day on the reef in about 50 feet catching snappers and sharks then moving out to the deep wrecks. The action on both has been nothing short of perfect. We are catching ( Yellowtail, Mangrove, Amber jack, Almaco jack, Lemon sharks, Blacktip sharks and many more)

On my offshore days I have been Mahi Mahi fishing and doing great. When we had had out fill of catching Mahi we have been doing some deep dropping with electric reels in 500 to 800 feet of water. When deep dropping we are catching ( Snowy grouper, Blue and Golden tilefish along with lots of Blackbelly rosefish )

/0 Comments/by

Key West deep wrecks

With the water starting to get warmer its time to start working the deeper wreck. Bigger fish in my opinion leave the shallow reef and wrecks and go deep as summer sets in. That is why I have spent my last few trips hitting the deep wrecks hard. This is just a taste of what we have been getting this week. Fish species include ( Red snappers, Bonita, Mutton, Amber jack, Barracuda, Sharks and more)

/0 Comments/by