Fox Sport Fishing Catch Report - August 2011

Fishing report for August 1, 2011
Andy Wadham and his son Tom joined me today. They are visiting from the UK and came to Islamorada for a summer vacation, my good friend Ty Pollock recommended that the family fish a couple days with me.

Andy, Tom and Calem aboard Foxy Lady sunrise

On day one Andy and his son came along, we had a slick calm morning and a nice outgoing tide. I thought Tarpon fishing would be good. We caught Pinfish and big Pilchards for bait and headed for Cape Sable. It all looked good but the Tarpon did not show up for the party... Then we tried a spot for Snook. Tom came up with a Redfish, Dad hooked a beauty of a Snook only to have it eaten by a Bull Shark as I got ready to net it.

10 year old Tom Wadham was an impressive angler. Holding a Redfish

We then managed to lose a couple sharks. Not quite the start I expected but that is fishing! So we tried another spot and nary a bite, Now I had to catch some fish. We stopped at a channel and castnetted a load of small pilchards and went to a "honey hole". There we spent 2 hours bending rods on Mangrove Snapper and Ladyfish.

loads of jumping Ladyfish were fun on the Ultralight rods

We decided to try one last spot for Tarpon before going home. It really did not look too good. Big nasty incoming tide , water loaded with floating grass. But next thing you know Andy hooked a really nice Tarpon of about 70lbs. Lots of jumps and a DNA sample before releasing it. Way to go Andy. Made my day, and his. Some days you just have to fish hard and put your time in to be successful.

Tom videos his dad's jumping Tarpon

Andy Wadham caught this high-jumping Tarpon

Day 2 was a different kind of day.
Joining us today was Caleb. Tom is 10 and Caleb is 12 and these are the two fishiest brothers I have had on a boat. Bait was very easy. Loads of small ballyhoo and a livewell full of small pilchards.

We went to the Transition Zone. One of my favorite areas for rod bending action. We were not disappointed. Non stop bites for 2 hours. We had a good outgoing tide and the Seatrout bite was on fire. 20 Seatrout were released along with Mangrove Snapper for dinner and many, many Ladyfish. We kept Ladyfish for bait for later in the day. We used Fox Bonefish Trek travel rods and Fox Rage Ultralight 185 rods paired with Diablo 350 spinning reels for all this fun.

20 Seatrout were caught on this morning

Tom with a Seatrout and if you look closely
his brother has a jumping Ladyfish hooked

Dad was happily casting away with his 6 weight flyrod and caught Trout, Ladyfish and Snapper as well.

Andy Wadham caught 4 species on his 6 weight flyrod

Well I had been watching a few squalls forming but by now they had evaporated. The weather looked good for a foray out into the Gulf of Mexico. I ran another 12 miles to a spot where I have found a small ledge on the bottom in 22 feet of water. Life was showing as soon as we got there. Crevalle Jacks were crashing schools of ballyhoo while Frigatebirds above got in on the feeding frenzy.

out on a gulf wreck the Crevalle Jacks showed up

with the drag backed off on a Bull Shark the boys battle a
triple of Crevalle Jack that were following the Shark

Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo 350 spinning reels
helped the boys land a double of Crevalle Jacks

This was to become a "Trip of a Lifetime" for the family. It was an epic afternoon.

10 year old Tom Wadham with his Goliath Grouper

12 year old Calem caught his Goliath Grouper
with a Fox XT Boatrod and EOS 30 reel

 We used Fox Trek XT Boatrods and EOS Trolling reels loaded with 50lb Fox Horizon Braid line on the big stuff.  7 Goliath Grouper to 200lbs, 2 Bullsharks and more swimming around the boat. 3 Blacktip Shark and a few big Nursesharks. And lots of Crevalle Jack and the last fish of the day was a small Cobia. We released it and it immediately got eaten by a hungry Bullshark.

Andy and Calem used Fox Trek XT Boatrods and EOS reels
to catch a double header of Bull Sharks

A nice shot of Andy's Bullshark using the Fox XT Boatrod and EOS 50 reel

Calem beats up a Blacktip Shark with the EOS reel

Calem beats up a Blacktip Shark with the EOS reel

Tom catches another Goliath on the
Fox Trek XT Boatrod and EOS trolling reel.

Fishing with these 2 young lads was the best for me

The boys give a little perspective to this 200lb Goliath

 Throughout the day the 2 brothers never rested and fought fish after fish, I was amazed. At times Dad did give a helping hand, The boys even double teamed sharks while dad was busy himself.

The boys double team a shark while Dad battles another on the other side

At times a helping hand from dad was appreciated

Well it was my last trip guiding for two months and I had a blast watching these young guys living the dream. I will be in Montana for holiday and of course I will be fishing. Trout fishing with my flyrod. Its hard to leave this kind of fishing but everyone needs some time off.

Captain Skip Nielsen