Two Days of Gulfstream Magic

Wednesday November 23 was perfect, The persistent winds had died down during the night and were light from the South.

Cliff, Cathy Fox and I headed out to the reef's edge  with a couple dozen live Ballyhoo for bait. It had been tough going on the bait. They never came close enough to toss the castnet so we had to catch each one with a hairhook. And then it was an hour and a half before we had enough. But withing minutes of deploying our baits in 130 feet of water we were into a school of Dolphin fish. The water color was a brilliant blue as the Gulfstream was pushed right up on the edge of the reef. We kept a couple Mahi for dinner and released a dozen more during the day.

Cathy Fox with one of a dozen Dolphin fish caught

Cliff used a Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750
to muscle this Red Grouper out of a bomb crater

Mahi Mahi

About noon Cliff came tight on the only Sailfish of the day, It was the first for Cliff on his boat Foxy Lady. It was a perfect fish of 15lbs. This time of year we have a run of juvenile Sails migrating through our area. Back in the old days these smaller sails were sought for a mount, these days of course all Sailfish are released.

Cliff catches a Sailfish aboard
Foxy Lady on a calm Atlantic day

15lb Sailfish just released

On the next day the wind had come around to the North with a passing cool front during the night. We decided to use First Growth, She is a 28 foot cabin cruiser with twin outboards and a huge cockpit for fishing and very seaworthy.

We caught our ballyhoo much easier this morning and put the baits out by 8:30. Not much going on. No Dolphin around with the wind change. Around 10:30 I spotted a few Man O War birds a mile away and we cranked in the baits and sped over.

Just as we got there I saw a Sailfish had singled out a ballyhoo and was chasing it down. Then a bird swooped down and stole the baitfish from the Sail. We only had to reel in a flatline and cast it over towards the hungry fish and Cathy hooked up a 40lb Sail. This fish jumped about twenty times. Lots of fun before the release.

Sailfish about to be released

Back to trolling live ballyhoo. After half an hour I was still in the same area when we spotted a school of ballyhoo getting showered. We idled into 35ft of water and cast a bait towards the action and Cliff hooked up a Sail. Another Sail ate the other line we had left out and Cathy hooked up and now we had a double header on.

Sailing

We were using light tackle. Permit Trek rod paired with Diablo 550 spinning reels. Fun stuff. Cliff had to actually move to the other side of the cockpit as his Sailfish literally jumped over the corner of the boat. What a show! The Diablo 550 holds a heap of mono or braid. As much a 350 meters of diameter 0.35 which is more than enough line.. With the double header it took about 30 minutes to release both fish.  Congrads Cliff and Cathy on a double!

Cliff Fox had to sidestep on the next jump
as the Sailfish passed close to the transom

With it being Thanksgiving Day we had decided to quit fishing at 1pm and head home.  It was now 12:30 and we put the baits back out and within 10 minutes a big Sailfish raised up and ate the flatline bait very close to the boat. How exciting to see the fish chase the bait and catch it. Cathy hooked this Sail and it tailwalked non-stop for 200 meters. What a show. But then the work began for Cathy as the sail had gotten wrapped up around the tail during the show. After an hour and 15 minutes of up and downs and steady pressure Cathy had her release and we were headed home.

Cathy Fox used the Permit Trek rod paired with a
Diablo 550 spinning reel to release 3 Sailfish

Skip carefully unhooks a Sail

A great morning with 4 Sailfish releases all on the Permit Trek, Diablo 550 combos. And we were not late for dinner! To me Thanksgiving day could not have been any better.

2 day tally

I was out again Saturday on another boat with a 14 year old angler. He and his father and I are fishing the Islamorada Sailfish Tournament next weekend with me running their boat as Captain.. His father has won the tournament 4 times in the past fishing with me aboard my charterboat How 'Bout It. Those were some fun times. I sold the boat back in 2000 for a change of pace.

Anyway this past Saturday was really rough. 20 to 25 mph out of the east and the young boy never got seasick. We hung tough and at 3pm hooked a triple header of Sails. Two got away but young Casey released his. Good to see patience like that and a good sailer to boot.

Taking a few days to get the boats in order and get ready for the tournament. Wish young Casey luck.

Captain Skip Nielsen

What an interesting weekend of fishing!

Steve Wozniak and Cristiano Bernarde joined me aboard Foxy Lady for a 2 day charter.

Cris is visiting from Brazil and loves to fish. Steve is another matter altogether. I have not met many fisherman that share the enthusiasm of trying to catch everything that swims as much as myself. Fishing with Steve Wozniak was a great experience for me. This man has just finished a world wide quest to catch and document 1000 species of fish caught on hook and line. INCREDIBLE..... You can read more of his hilarious adventures on his blog at www.1000fish.wordpress.com. Anyway Steve told me he just wanted to show his good buddy Cris a good fishing time.

We spent the first day on the reef patches. Action was really good with 3 species of Grouper, Yellowtail Snapper, Mutton Snappers, Hog fish, assorted Porgies, Jacks and so on, all caught on light tackle. On the reef Cris caught a Mutton Snapper about 7lbs using a Fox Trek Bonefish rod paired with a Diablo 350 reel. That particular fish ended up at Lazy Days Restaurant.

Steve and Cris show a Gag and a Red Grouper taken on
Fox Bonefish Trek rods on the Patch Reefs

Steve Wozniak with a Gag Grouper

Steve Wozniak loves catching different species
such as this Yellowtail Snapper

Later in the day Steve had mentioned a species of fish he had not caught before. I knew about this particular fish because my Grandfather had started me out at 3 years old fishing for them. It was what we call a Sailer's Choice or Sea Bream. We went to the mouth of a local canal to try. After about 50 pinfish, snapper, jack and ladyfish and even a nice Snook, Steve caught what he was after. That Sailer's choice gave Steve 1109 different species up til now. He was so excited and that made his day and trip. Steve knows just about every Latin /Scientific name ..amazing.

Steve pose with a Spotted Seatrout and a nice one at that!

Steve Wozniak caught this 6 lb Spanish Mackerel

Steve Wozniak photographs # 1009
locally known as a Sailer's Choice

While fishing with single 12lb mono
Steve landed this nice Snook

On day 2 we hit the backcountry and had lots of action with Trout, Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, Blacktip Sharks, Ladyfish and even oddities such as White Tipped Sharksuckers and Lizardfish. Steve is sumitting an all tackle world record application  for a Sharksucker. He is working on a lifetime achievement award and hopes to catch over 100 world records.

Cris wanted to catch a shark and ended
up with a half dozen Blacktips

Note the Remora's aka Sharksuckers. Steve submitted an
all tackle IGFA record for a much larger one he caught this day

Good luck Steve and thanks for fishing with me.

By the way Steve carries his own travelling tackle store but was still very impressed by the Fox Travel rod Trek series.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Windy Day

Dr. Frank Eismont and sons Austin(8) and Adam(16) fished with me this past Saturday. Talk about a wind oh my. It was a steady 20 and gusting to 30 mph out of the East. Fortunately there is always a lee side to fish in the Keys. We ran the edges of the flats and banks to give us a dry ride on our way out into Everglades National Park. We were in search of some fillets for dinner and action for the lads.

During the outing we fished around five different bomb craters. I have been told by the oldtimers that in the late 40's the pilots out of Homestead airforce base did a bit of target practicing in this area. I have a least 40 spots on my GPS. Each spot is surrounded by grass beds and the craters themselves have a depression with broken rocks and cracks. This provides an oasis to the fish. We planned our stops to coincide with the tide moving in the same direction as the wind.

Using Fox Horizon Braid line was key. It is so responsive that even in the extreme wind we could feel the bites...well pretty good anyway.

The boys and dad used Bonefish Trek rods paired with Fox Diablo 350 spinning reels. Spanish Mackerel, Cero Mackerel, Gag, Black and Red Grouper, Seatrout, Ladyfish, Mangrove Snapper, Mutton and Yellowtail Snapper and even a Shark or two were caught for a fun filled outing.

Dr.Frank Eismont and son Adam with a pair of Gag Grouper
caught on Fox Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo 350 reels.

Austin put the Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550
to work on a Gag Grouper

Adam Eismont caught a big Spanish Mackerel

young Austin has the fishing touch shown with a Ladyfish

Austin released a 40lb Blacknose Shark
using his Permit Trek, Diablo 550 combo.

8 year old Austin has his hands full with his Red Grouper

Adam tried his best a couple times to wrestle a big grouper out of a hole but the grouper won the battle this time. Plenty of tasty fillets were taken home by the family. So even on the windiest days we can find plenty of action.

Captain Skip Nielsen

A Fun 3 days of fishing culminates with a West Coast Florida Grand Slam!

We mixed it up these past 3 days. Cliff and Cathy Fox are in town fishing on their boat Foxy Lady. The Spanish Mackerel bite has been on so  the first day we headed to the western reaches of Florida Bay. Many Mackerel were caught along with Seatrout and jumping Ladyfish.

Cathy caught lots of Spanish Mackerel on her
Bonefish Trek rod and Diablo 350 reel

Cliff had loads of fun using the Fox Rage Ultralight rod and
Diablo 350 spinning reel on the hot Spanish Mackerel action

Cathy also managed a really toothy Blacknose Shark. Cliff used the new Cellmax Flyreel paired with a Bonefish Trek 8 weight flyrod to take the Mackerel and Ladyfish as well.

Cathy Fox used the EOS 30
conventional reel and a Tarpon Trek
rod to catch a Blacknose Shark

After a few hours of fast action the seas had gone flat. I decided on a bit of Gulf Wreck exploring and we ran out another 9 miles into the Gulf of  Mexico. Cathy's first cast put her on a splendid Cobia. But we could not get another bait out without a Blacktip Shark taking it. Cliff put the flyrod back to work and released 3 Blacktip Sharks.

Cathy Fox with a big Cobia caught on a
Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550 reel

Cliff used the new Cellmax flyreel paired with a
9 weight Fox Trek Fly rod to catch 3 Blacktip Shark on the fly

Cliff says to me "lets try some big baits". So I deployed whole mackerel baits on the EOS 30 reels paired with the Tarpon Trek conventional rods. It wasn't long before Cathy and Cliff were hooked up to a double header of Big Ones...

Large Lemon Shark that Cliff caught on a Nylon trace

We threw the anchor buoy and gave chase. Cliff managed to get his 200lb Lemon Shark boatside first after a grueling battle. Then we went after Cathys'. This monster turned out to be a Bull Shark in the 300lb class. What a catch. At one time over 350 meters of Horizon Fox Braid 50lb test was stretched out. Lots of cranking and a tiring catch.

On day 2 we caught live mullet and gave the bridges a try for Tarpon. No luck at all. But near the bridge we did release 2 nice Snook. To further salvage the day we eased our way out to some patch reefs. The seas were somewhat swelly so made a tactical strike and caught over 15 assorted Grouper. We kept one nice Red Grouper for dinner.

Cathy gets a helping hand from Cliff on her nice Snook

Cliff Fox puts maximum pressure on a Red Grouper
using the Bonefish Trek spinning rod

Cathy puts the Permit Trek rod and
Diablo 550 to work on Red Groupers

using Bonefish Trek spinning rods and
Diablo 350 reels some nice Mangrove Snapper
were landed for dinner

Day 3 we still wanted to try for a late season Tarpon. Seas were slick calm and the temp was in the high 80's. In fact it was a hi temp record in Miami this day. Well Cathy caught a huge Snook. Cliff caught a big Gag Grouper. Some shark action but no Tarpon to be had. I guess we can officially close Tarpon season til Springtime.

Cathy caught and released this Huge Snook

We moved over to the flats near Sandy Key. A very low tide as we idled up a flats drain. Cathy and Cliff each caught a half dozen Redfish on light tackle. Lots of Ladyfish as well.

Cliff with a nice Redfish on a
Bonefish Trek rod and Diablo 350 reel

Cliff with a spotless Redfish caught on the
Rage Ultralight rod and Diablo 350 spinning reel

Cathy holds one of a dozen Redfish
caught on the backcountry flats

So now Cathy needed a Tarpon to complete a backcountry grand slam. I remembered a canal where I had seen a few while castnetting bait. We ran back to give it a try.

Using a Fox Bonefish Trek rod paired with a Diablo 350 spooled with 10lb Horizon braid and a live pilchard for bait we patiently waited. After half an hour a Tarpon took Cathy's bait and she expertly hooked and landed it.

Cathy had lots of jumps catching this Tarpon

Cathy Fox completed a  Backcountry Grand Slam
 with her release of this Tarpon at the very end of the day

Congratulations Cathy Fox on your Grand Slam

Captain Skip Nielsen

Mixed Bag

Gary Stock, Gary Smith and Pastor Lowell Knauff joined me for a day on the water last Thursday. All they wanted was some good fishing. Well that we had. With a live well  full of frisky Pilchards we ran back into Everglades National Park. It was quite windy but because we were fishing in the lee of numerous banks and flats we were pretty protected from the chop.

We were in fish all day. The first half of the day we spent in the Transiton Zone. Deep grass beds fed by currents from the Gulf of Mexico were teeming with Spanish Mackerel, Ladyfish and Seatrout.

Gary Stock gets in on the action with a Seatrout

Gary with a fine Spanish Mackerel caught on the
Fox Rage Ultralight - Diablo 350 combo

Pastor Knauff wotj a Spanish Mackerel caught using the
Fox Rage ultralight rod and Diablo 350 spinning reel

Gary Stock holds one of many
Spanish Mackerel caught

Ladyfish were flying in and out of the boat

Everyone had fun using Fox Bonefish Trek rods paired with Diablo 350 spinning reels filled with Fox Horizon Braid 10lb. After a busy 3 hour session we moved over to the Sandy Key area to see if we could scare up a Redfish or two. Gary Smith was our main man for the afternoon. He scored a Snook and 3 Redfish while the good Paster and Gary Stock each caught a Redfish. Almost forgot that Gary Stock did manage a Seagull!

Pastor Lowell Knauff and Gary Stock along with angler
Gary Smith all used Fox Trek rods to catch Redfish

Gary Smith used the Fox Rage Ultralight with the
Diablo 350 reel to land this nice Snook

Gary Stockman used a Bonefish Trek rod and
Diablo 350 on this nice Redfish

Fish of the day!

 These guys had a fun day and will be back in March to hopefully get some Tarpon.

Captain Skip Nielsen