Saturday's big storm put the stops on

Friday day Leslie and Ray Rogers fished with me. We spent a fun morning  Tarpon fishing at Channel 5 bridge. Leslie went 2 for 2 on Tarpon while Ray had a couple of "cheap shots". Not only is Les a great angler but she has great luck which is always an important part of the fishing game. We spent the afternoon fishing out in the backcountry catching plenty of Mangrove Snappers for dinners. The Bonefish Trek and Rage Ultralight rods fitted with Diablo 350 spinning reels were used for the light tackle fishing.

Leslie and Ray Rogers travel and fish all over the
world and use Fox Travel rods and reels

On the way home Ray did an excellent job of driving my boat while I threw my cast net on spooky schools of mullet. As soon as we hit the dock I was off on my sunset Tarpon trip with Mark and David Quinn of Delray beach. We had the last of an outgoing tide and fished Channel 5 again. Mark caught a Tarpon over 100lbs and did a great job getting it to the boat so I could scrape a DNA sample for research on Tarpon migrations and growth.

Mark and David Quinn each caught Tarpon on
Friday evening before the big storm

Mark Quinn puts some spirit breaking pressure on a
Tarpon using the 5 piece Fox Tarpon Spincast rod

Mark with his Tarpon release

The current let up so we headed up the keys to Teatable channel. With a nice incoming tide we were surprised with no action. I was patient though and right after the sunset the action began. We had a Tarpon leap clear out of the water with the mullet in its mouth. Mark was so excited he could hardly react and the fish threw the bait out. Next it was brother Dave's turn and he caught his 100lb Tarpon to end a successful outing. A good day of fishing.

Leslie uses the Fox 5  piece Tarpon Spincast rod and
EOS 30 Trolling reel to catch both Tarpon this morning

Leslie shows husband Ray how to catch Tarpon ha ha

Leslie Rogers with a jumping Tarpon

at the boat

 Saturday morning dawned with an incredible lightening storm and 4 inches of rain. All day long the wind blew. Ray and Les had to spend the day indoors and Mark cancelled his afternoon trip and went home.I needed a day off anyway. And we needed the rain.

On Sunday morning Ray and Les had cabin fever so off we went fishing. The wind was South west to straight west then northwest at 30 to 35mph. We ran the edges of flats to try and stay dry and fished the leesides of backcountry islands in the bay. We had a fun day of fishing light tackle. Mainly catching mangrove snappers but we saw snook and caught jacks, bonnet head sharks and ladyfish as well. We did a loop and fished 5 spots and released at least 100 fish only keeping 12 snappers for dinner. So even on a lousy windy day we had lots of fun fishing. I draw the line with lightening though...

Captain Skip Nielsen

A Good Fishing Trip for the Ambulance Crew

On April 16-19 I had the the so-called ambulance crew fishing with me. These fine fellows have been coming to Bud n Marys Marina now for a few years with trip organizer Dave Lewis. I had Del Eliott, Ray Jennings, Martin Campbell and Bob Clements fishing with me.

Del and Ray use the Fox Trek XT Boat rods to catch Sea Monsters

Del was looking to add some new species to his lifelong list. We spent the first day fishing channels out in the backcountry. We were hoping for some big Sharks and possibly a Stingray. Well Del got his wish and more. Not one, but 3 Sawfish took his shark baits and were carefully released after giving Del some serious pulling. Using the Fox Trek 5 piece XT Boat rods fitted the new EOS trolling reels really made the difference. These are some tough rods and very easy on the user. I have taken these rods on my travels to Panama to catch Marlin and Roosterfish trolling with live Tuna as bait. Being that they are 5 piece makes them super easy to travel with. We spooled the EOS reels with 65lb Horizon Fox braided line to do the job. Lots of Sharks were released as well on this day.

up periscope

watch out

wrapped up

On the second day Del and Martin fished with me. We did the backcountry flats and island moats. Redfish, Snook, Trout, Tarpon were part of the day. Del got a backcountry grand slam consisting of Redfish, Tarpon and Snook in the same day. Martin casted a bait to a 6' Lemon Shark sightfishing on the flats giving him a very exciting battle. He used the Sailfish Trek rod fitted with a Diablo 750 spinning reel for this. Del sight fished and casted a bait to a large Southern Stingray for another species to add to his list.

Martin Campbell caught his Snook on the
 Fox Rage Ultralight Diablo 350 combo

Del and Ray had plenty of action at the Bomb Craters using the
Rage Ultralight rods fitted with Fox Diablo reels

Del caught this Snook on a Fox Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

fishing around mangrove island moats was fun using
Fox Rage ultralight rods and Diablo 350 reels

Day 3, I was back on the boat with Ray and Del. These guys must really like fishing with me. We spent the morning Tarpon fishing and were rewarded with some great action using live mullet for bait. Crashes and splashes. Del and Ray successfully landed a Tarpon each. For the afternoon we fished the bayside for light tackle variety. 3 species of Grouper, Mangrove Snapper were caught using Fox Rage Ultralight rods fitted with the Diablo 350 spinning reels.Fixed spool across the sea. We caught some more mullet on the way home .We tried a couple spots for Tarpon but the bite was off. As I was headed for the dock I spotted mullet being chased and it was Crevalle Jacks going crazy. We used all our mullet and had a blast catching these super tough fighters.  A great ending.

Ray and Del caught these Crevalle Jacks while on a sunset Tarpon trip

Ray Jennings had 2 Tarpon releases using the
 Fox Trek Tarpon Spincast EOS 30 combo

Ray Jennings Tarpon

Del Elliot uses the Fox 5 piece XT Boat rod to catch
3 Mud Marlins This rod can do it  all

Del added another specie to his list. Southern
Stingray caught on a Fox Trek Sailfish Diablo 750 combo

On day 4 I had Martin Campbell and Bob Clements. These guys requested Tarpon fishing. Fine with me as it is my favorite. After catching a livewell full or frisky mullet with my castnet we anchored in closeby Indian Key channel. The Tarpon were in a feeding mood today. Bob and Martin each released 2 Tarpon making it 4 for the day. We had more bites and some that got away but that made for lots of action. My crew (ambulance) used the Fox 5 piece Tarpon spincast rods fitted with EOS trolling reels for the Tarpon fishing. A fantastic piece of kit.

Bob Clements admires one of the 2 Tarpon he caught using the
Fox 5 piece Tarpon Spincast travel rod fitted with an EOS 30 reel

Bob Clements with a jumping Tarpon

going for the release

Martin Campbell had plenty of Tarpon action

Martin Campbell with his Tarpon

Martin Campbell with yet another Tarpon

Martin Campbell

Tarpon release for Martin Campbell

Del Elliott Tarpon

Del used the Tarpon Spincast
EOS 30 combo to release 2 Tarpon

Skip releasing Del Elliot's Tarpon

A great time was had by all the other anglers as well on this trip to Islamorad, Florida Keys.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Plenty Of Variety Available Here In The Keys

It was a fun week for me, Long time clients that have become great friends made it down to fish this week. Tony Honour and Andy Dempster travelled all the way from Pagham, UK. Andy caught his first ever Tarpon on a sunset trip.

great way to end the day.
Andy Dempster catching his first Tarpon
using the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

On day 2 we had flat calm seas and decided to make the long run to the Gulf of Mexico and fish some wrecks. Fishing was great. At the first wreck a school of Bull sharks shadowed by a school of Cobia were circling the boat. We kept 1 Cobia for dinner and released a few more, Unfortunately the Bull Sharks ate a couple as well. Andy spent over an hour battling a huge Bull Shark I estimated at well over 350 pounds. This beast was caught using the Fox 4 piece XT Boat rod fitted with the EOS 50 Trolling reel. At boatside the shark tried to take a bite out of my boat.

Andy Dempster spent an hour fighting an estimated 350lb Bullshark.
He used the EOS 50 paired with the Fox Trek Boat rod XT to make this catch 

350lb Bull Shark tries to eat the boat

after a long battle the Bull Shark at the boat 

big smiles all around

Cobia gets pack attacked by the Bull sharks

Tony putting full pressure on a Bullshark using
the Fox Trek 4 piece XT Boat rod fitted with an EOS 30 reel

Later in the day Tony Honour spent over half an hour fighting a 35 to 40lb Goliath Grouper on the Rage Ultralight spinning rod fitted with a Diablo 350 reel. Can't say enough about the Fox Rage Ultralight rods. They are incredibly tough and my clients love using these light tackle rods. Bull sharks, Goliath Grouper, Cobias and lots of Crevalle Jacks with a few Pompano and Tripletail made this a very exciting day of fishing.

Tony and Andy really got into a school of hungry Seatrout

Tony Honour caught this Snook on a Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Tony Honour releases a 40lb Goliath Grouper he caught using
the Fox Rage Ultralight spinning rod fitted with a
Diablo 350 spinning reel. a GREAT catch

Tony Honour with a nice Cobia  the Permit Trek rod and
Diablo 550 spinning reel were used to make the catch

On the next day we headed around Cape Sable to fish the "creeks". We found a honeyhole loaded up with Seatrout and a few nice Snook. On the way back we checked out the birdlife, Another great day.

Birdwatching on the ride home

Another good friend is in town. Tom Cola and his charming wife Mary Ann and their friend David Wasinski. David had a great time catching his first ever Tarpon. Mary Ann added to her many Tarpon catches another that she caught on a sunset trip. The Tarpon bite this week was a little tough but we managed to catch at least 1 on every trip.

MaryAnn Cola caugth her Tarpon with the Tarpon Trek Spincast
EOS 30 combo and I got wet while taking a DNA sample

MaryAnn Cola gets her Tarpon release using the
Tarpon Spincast rod  fitted with an EOS 30 reel

Mary Ann's Tarpon put on a  show

Dave caught his first ever Tarpon using the
EOS 30 Tarpon Spincast combo

Last night I had my good friend Scott Barco and daughter Lexi with me. Right at sunset Lexi hooked a very larger Tarpon that she fought for an hour. A very tough battle for this 15 year old but she loved every minute of it and got her release well into the dark. She used a live crab free lined on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo.

Offshore plenty of Dolphin fish are showing up. The calm seas ended during the night and the wind is back.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Easter Week

We started off last with a slick calm day, I had tough duty. Taking Cathy Scott and Libby Adamson out for an afternoon of fishing. We were hoping to catch enough Mangrove Snapper for a fish fry that evening. Moving around and fishing a few of the "Bomb Holes" we were able to put together our limit of Snapper. Also released were Grouper and Spanish Mackerels. We used Fox Diablo 350 reels and Rage Ultralight rods for this fun.

Cathy Scott and Libby Adamson had a blast fishing with the
 Fox Rage Ultalight rods and Diablo 360 reels

Libby and Cathy with dinner

Being that it was slick calm it was like wearing a mask and snorkle. Everything on the bottom was very visible. All of a sudden the girls spotted not 1 but 2 very large Hammerhead Sharks behind the boat. This was a rare sight. I kept them around for 20 minutes by feeding them cut up mullet and snapper. What a sight. I video'd and hopefully it will show up on u-tube. After a while of watching this incredible nature show Libbey asked if she could catch one. I had a Fox Sailfish Trek rod with a Diablo 750 reel ready to go with 100lb mono trace and a circle hook. The shark took a bait right at the stern and it was game on for Libby. After an hour battle Libby used the eight foot Sailfish Trek to tire the Hammerhead out and we released it. Great catch for Libby Adamson.

rare slick calm condions in April. All of a sudden a pair of big
Hammerhead Sharks showed in the chumslick

Hammerhead feeding behind the boat

Libby Adamson uses the 8 foot Sailfish Trek rod fitted
with a Diablo 750 reel to catch an estimated 9 foot Hammerhead Shark

On another afternoon I had Debbie and Rich Riolo out fishing with me. They love their Tarpon fishing. We had fun with Rich driving the boat while I threw the castnet to load up on mullet for bait. April is the best time of the year to fish Tarpon with live mullet. So exciting to watch the bites. Well anyway this was a special trip. Rich released 3 Tarpon and Debbie released 2 Tarpon. All this action was at a spot called Monster Alley. These were all fish well over 100lbs. A lot of splashing going on behind the boat as these Tarpon chased the mullet. All of the Riolos' Tarpon were caught on Fox Tarpon Spincast rods fitted with EOS 30 conventional reels. I had 2 families down this week and on one trip took all the kids fishing. Lots of fun as they all caught some sharks.

Debbie caught this Gag Grouper while waiting for a Tarpon bite

after the sunset Debbie Riolo hooked and landed her 2nd Tarpon

Debbie Riolo caught both of her Tarpon using the
Fox Trek Tarpon Spincast rod fitted with a Fox EOS 30 reel

Monster Alley Tarpon

Rich Riolo used the Fox EOS 30 Tarpon Spincast combo
 to release 3 Tarpon this eve

On Thursday the whole crew went with me on First Growth. Our 28' boat. Cathy,Hammond,Parker and Garrett Scott along with Libby,Emily, Walker and David Adamson. We headed over to the legendary Spring Hole to see who and what was living there. We were busy from the time we arrived to when we left. Lemon Sharks,Bull Sharks, Goliath Grouper were caught. The last fish of the day was an estimated 300lb Sawfish caught by 13 year old Hammond Scott. One tough little girl! On this day we did not fool around with light tackle. We used the Fox EOS 50 reels spooled with 65lb Horizon Braid on Fox Trek XT Boat rods.

David Adamson released this Goliath Grouper

Emily Adamson pulling on a big Lemon Shark
with the Fox Trek Boatrod XT EOS 50 combo

Emily worked hard on this Lemon Shark now she is a happy angler

the Lemon Shark smile

thirteen year old Hammond Scott caught the most poundage by far

thirteen year old Hammond Scott is one tough angler. She released a
250lb Sawfish and  5 other Sharks using the Fox Trek Boatrod XT
fitted with the EOS 50 reel

Walker Adamson and Parker Scott fighting a double of Shark
while dad Garrett adds moral support

Of note here in Islamorada this week the offshore fishing has been spectacular. Swordfish of 520 and 787 lbs were caught daytime fishing in the depths and at least 4 Blue Marlin were released this past week. Springtime fishing is in high gear.

Captain Skip Nielsen