What a great week of fishing here in Islamorada.

The week that was March 25-31...

Bryce Henderson of Leeds, UK, spent 5 sunsets with me Tarpon fishing. His first 4 sessions produced 2 Tarpon releases each. On his last trip we hit the jackpot. Using live mullet and Fox Tarpon Spincast Trek rods fitted with EOS 30 reels Bryce released 5 Tarpon. It was outstanding action. We must have had Tarpon chasing the live mullet at least 20 times. Bryce was casting out and reeling in slow and just watching the takes was a great show.

Bryce Henderson released 13 Tarpon in 5
sessions using Fox sport fishing tackle this past week

on his last sunset trip Bryce Henderson released 5 Tarpon

For 2 days I had Craig Balsam and son Will fishing with me. On day one we started out fishing the end of an outgoing tide at Teatable channel. No luck but I spotted a free jumping Spinner Shark about half a mile further out. We moved out there and it was Shark Fest. Anchored up and dicing mullet for chum we had Blacktip and Blacknose Sharks in a frenzy. After releasing 12 sharks I had the boys casting the Sailfish  Trek Diablo 750 outfits with a mullet way out then teasing the sharks in. It was exciting action and we filmed it. The water was muddy and filled with baitfish as well. Bluefish, Pompano, Crevalle Jack and Spanish Mackerel were in the mix.

On day 2 we went back to the same spot but it was over. Then we hit a reef patch and released Groupers. Craig learned the art of "short pumping" to keep the grouper's head up and tail down and managed to catch 5 or 6. At first the were rocking him up but once he got the technique down he was catching them. What really made it fun for Craig was that he was using Fox Rage Ultralight rods fitted with the Diablo 350 spinning reel to catch these Groupers. Not an easy feat. We finished the day at Channel 2 bridge. It was a hard incoming tide and with our live mullet Will and Craig went 2 for 2 on 100lb plus Tarpon. What a great way to end their two days of fishing in the Florida Keys.

Craig Balsam and his son Will used Sailfish Trek rods and
Diablo 750 reels to release over 20 sharks on this morning

Craig Balsam caught this Tarpon at Channel 2

Craig catches his first Tarpon on the Fox Trek
Tarpon Spincast rod and EOS 30 reel

it was a tough battle but a
huge Tarpon for Will

it was a tough battle for Will Balsam but using the
EOS Fox reel and Tarpon Spincast Trek rod he won

Will and Craig had this Pompano for dinner

Will Balsam caught this Red Grouper on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Will Balsam poses with his first ever Tarpon

On Friday afternoon I took James Scott and his 2 sons out Tarpon fishing. We caugth some mullet with the castnet on the way out. We had a slack tide and waited it out. While waiting each of the boys got to pull on a big Nurse Shark. Once the tide began to run the action began. We ended up with 2 Tarpon released and 3 that got away. One went thru the 100lb trace and another went around a bridge piling. Oh well plenty of action...

James Scott and sons enjoyed using Fox Tarpon Spincastrods
to catch 2 Tarpon on a sunset trip

James with his first ever Tarpon

Sunday Dr.Frank Eismont and sons, Adam and Austin joined me for a day in the backcountry. Mangrove Snapper were the order of the day. We moved around a bit but finally found the honey hole and limited out. We used Bonefish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 350 reels and the Fox Rage Ultralight rods as well. Adam caught the biggest snapper and also a Goliath Grouper. The family ended up with a nice mess of fillets to enjoy.

Adam Eismont caught this jumbo Mangrove Snapper
on the Fox Rage ultralight Diablo 350 combo

Frank Eismont caught a nice Mangrove Snapper
on the Rage Ultralight Diablo 350 combo

young Austin Eismont with a Gag Grouper
and his Rage Ultralight Diablo combo

The week that was...

Captain Skip Nielsen