We had a big group of 6 awesome anglers this morning here in Key West on a business trip. We headed out early at 8 am and had our sights set on bringing home fish for the 6 out with us along with another 6 out on the town. We started our day catching Yellowtail snappers and a few huge Lemon sharks. After we had a cooler full of snappers we then headed to a wreck where we landed a few small sharks and one big Mutton snapper.
Today we headed out on a full day charter at 8 am. Knowing we had all day to catch fish I headed to a wreck about 15 miles west of Key West. We made a few stops for some live baits on the way and arrived at our fishing spot around 9 am. We anchored the boat and the rest is history. We couldn’t keep a bait on the bottom the action was non stop with countless jacks and snapper. We landed a beautiful Almaco Jack that was upwards of 40 lbs. We also landed to lots of Red snappers over 20 lbs. We battled multiple sharks and honestly we where catching fish so fast we had to slow down. Our angles were getting so tired they could hardly hold on to the rod anymore! After maxing ourselves in the deep we picked up and moves in to shallower water in search of some light tackle action. We set up on the reef in 60 feet of water and started catching some Yellowtail snappers and a few Barracudas. After all that the boys were tired, thrilled, and ready for a cold one back at the dock. We put the hammer down and charged home with a cooler full of fish for dinner soon to be filleted.
Today began with a bit of a rocky start. I set the boat up on my go to Yellowtail fishing spot. After about 5 minutes of fishing I knew 100% that given the conditions it was not going to work. I thought to myself no matter I’ll go out to a nearby wreck and fish there. The same thing happened again after about 5 minutes of being set on my second spot I knew for certain again that this was never going to work out. Well here goes time for plan C. I got the boat set on a wreck about 4 miles from my last 2 attempts and we began catching fish. We landed some nice yellowtail snapper and Amber jacks one after the other. After catching enough for dinner and our arms spent from catching Amber jacks we made one final move. We anchored the boat on a deep patch of reef in about 90 feet of water. We had non stop action catching grouper after grouper and even a few big Barracuda and shark as a bonus. After a slow start we finished about as strong as possible.
Today I pulled double duty with a 4 hour trip in the morning and a second in the afternoon. The morning was a truly great trip so heading out on my second trip I had a rock solid game plan. We started our second trip off with some deep wreck fishing bending the rod on some Barracuda and Amber jacks. As the sun was getting lower in the sky we switched gears and started trolling for Blackfin tuna in the late afternoon. We started catching some Bonita so we knew were on the right track. Not long after we saw some tunas breaking the surface in the distance. We headed over that way and got the species we were after. We hooked 4 tuna landing 2 and losing 1 to the sharks and 1 pulling the hook. With the light fading we headed in with a breathtaking backdrop of a stunning Key West sunset.
What a fun morning we had today. I always get to take the nicest people out fishing and honestly it never gets old. John and his wife were so much fun to have on the water. To make a great day even better the fishing was better than good so that just made the day even better. We started our day catching some Yellowtail snappers for dinner but the bite was not up to par. We soon switched gears and headed out to a deep wreck where we had much better luck. We caught 5 huge Barracuda along with a few nice Amber jacks. We added a few other random species to our catch list before heading in around noon to filet our snapper up for a fresh catch lunch.
Today we were fishing a 4 hour trip with a lovely family of 5. The weather was a bit gloomy and windy so we decided to fish some inshore stuff and man was that the right call. We started our day catching some Pinfish and ballyhoo for live bait. After about 20 minutes we had more than enough for the day so we headed off to our first spot. We anchored the boat in about 20 feet of water and got our rods ready. The first bait out had a bight before the second even made it in the water. The action was so fast I could hardly keep up. We were catching Mutton snappers left and right on our live baits. We also caught some nice Mangrove snappers and even a few groupers. To top the whole day off we also landed a huge Nurse shark on 40 lb. test after a long 15 minute fight. Today was a perfect day on the water we had calm seas and all the fishing action we could handle. No matter what the weather is hitting us with here in Key West we can almost always manage to get out and have a great day.
We started our day on a wreck in 150 feet where we landed multiple barracudas over 40 inches. We also landed a beautiful Mutton snappers and Black grouper before leaving our first spot. We then moved to a deeper wreck in 280 feet where we drifted large live baits in search of big Amber jacks. We hooked on our first 2 drifts but lost our first 2 bite sadly. On our next few drifts our luck turned around and we landed some big Amber jacks back to back before heading in.
Today I got to have the pleasure of taking 2 lovely couples out. Tina had called me to set up the trip and let me know that this would be here first time ocean fishing. We headed out with an intention of fishing one of my favorite spots. Sadly as I arrived the conditions were a worse case scenario. Knowing this I headed a few miles to another one of my go to spots. After setting the boat on a patch of reef in about 20 feet we started fishing. The bite was great we started catching fish left and right. We landed lots of Mangrove and Mutton snappers along with a handful of Red groupers. With lots of fish in the cooler and far more released we headed home to cut up our fish for a delicious lunch.
Today was a another great day on the water. We decided to go a little further than normal but I had recently fished this wreck and had great success. After about an hour boat ride we arrived at a wreck in about 250 feet. I anchored the boat near the wreck and the action was as fast as we could handle. We were catching fish so fast we needed breaks between putting lines in. We caught Amber jack, Almaco jack, Red snapper, Mutton snapper and even Vermilion snappers just to name a few. After putting enough fish in the cooler for dinner we let the rest go and had an amazing day of catching fish. We only needed one stop on today’s trip before we headed in even a bit early with tired arms ready to kick back and relax.
Today we did an evening 4 hour trip. It was a little slow at first but as the sun started getting low and the bite started to heat up. We were using live Pinfish fishing in about 25 feet of water on some shallow reef. We caught snapper after snapper and even a few nice Red groupers that we released before watching a beautiful sunset on our way in.
