Awesome week of Tarpon fishing

Tarpon and more Tarpon, It was game on this past week here in the Keys. Even though the Palolo worm hatch was happening it did not slow the bite down on bait. From what I hear the fly anglers had a great time tossing tiny worm flies at schooled up Tarpon down at Bahia Honda channel.

All week we put the Fox Sport Fishing rods and reels through fight after fight on big Tarpon. Nick Charak and Tom Taylor had a great day releasing 5 Tarpon and that same afternoon Neil Stewart and his friend Roger released 3 more. This action took place at Long Key bridge.

Nick Charak and Tom Taylor had a great day releasing 5 Tarpon

Tom Taylor used the Fox 5 piece Tarpon Spincast rod and EOS 30 reel

chasing through the bridge

Roger battling his first ever Tarpon while Fred Kohly takes pics.
750 Diablo Sailfish Trek combo was the tackle

Neil Stewart caught this dancing Tarpon on a
Fox 5 piece Tarpon Spincast rod fitted with the EOS 30 trolling reel

having fun now!

Randy, Curtis and Butch had 3 releases during a day and a limit of big mangrove snapper down at channel 5. Stanley Mcjunkin and friend Randy fished 2 days and an evening and had 11 released Tarpon. Randy had a serious battle with a very large Tarpon estimated at well over 150lbs.

hot action at Long Key bridge

jumper

Stanley Mcjunkin used the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo
on this gulping Tarpon

Randy spent a tough hour battling this estimated 150lb +
Tarpon using the EOS 30 reel and 5 piece Tarpon Spincast Travel rod

nightime Tarpon for Stanley

Curtis bows to a jumping Tarpon using the
8 foot Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750 spinning reel

Yesterday I had John Kozlowski and his grandson Jake Lopez. Jake caught his first ever Tarpon and John had a release as well, After that light tackle action for snappers and seatrout on the Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo 350 reels. For all the Tarpon we used Fox Tarpon Spincast rods fitted with the EOS reels, and Sailfish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 750 reels. If you are a travelling angler these rods are the best there is and so easy to travel with.

John Kozlowski used the Fox sport fishing
Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750 spinning reel to catch this Tarpon

remora fish hitching a ride on this jumping Tarpon

Jake Lopez uses the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo on his first ever Tarpon

Congrads to all the anglers this past week.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Action packed week with Tarpon Season near Peak

big Seatrout and Crevalle  Jacks were swarming at Cape Sable

lots of Redfish on Wednesday. Bonefish Trek rods
and Diablo 350 spinning reels

Wendy Sims caught a nice Red on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Wendy and Tom Sims of Miami fished 3 days and caught a total of 8 Tarpon, 15 Redfish, many Seatrout and Crevalle Jacks and also managed a limit of Mangrove Snapper every trip. They had so much fun. The Fox Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750 spinning reel took all but 1 of the Tarpon they released. I had put topshots of Horizon 50lb braid on the two 750 Diablos I use for Tarpon fishing It amazes me just how strong these big Tarpon are. My anglers are experienced and know how to put the pressure on and these big fish just do not give up. 1 hour battles are the norm if you want to get one boat side.

Wendy Sims worked for over an hour on this huge
Tarpon using Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 tackle

Wendy used the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750
on this hour long battle

Tom with a jumping Tarpon on
the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

The Fox Sport Fishing tackle is unbelievable. I still have not had to redo a clutch or replace a handel or anything. Other reels would be destroyed with what I put the Fox tackle through on a day to day basis.

4th Tarpon on Saturday

Tom puts full pressure on a big Tarpon with the
5 piece Tarpon Trek rod and EOS 30 reel.

Tom Sims caught this estimated 150lb Tarpon on a
5 piece Tarpon Spincast rod and an EOS 30 Trolling reel.

Also fishing this week was Neil Stewart on a sunset trip and ended his trip with a nighttime release.

Neil Stewart with a beauty after sunset

Gary Pollock caught a Tarpon at Channel 2 drifting a live crab at 1 pm in afternoon. What a battle on the Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550 spinning reel. Nice catch Gary!

Gary Pollock caught his Tarpon on a
Fox Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550 reel

We have had an early start to rainy season but the Tarpon have really swarmed into the channels this week. Not always easy to get them to bite in the daylight but with a combination of live and dead mullet and crabs we have been getting the job done. At night on live crabs the action has been spectacular but its kind of hard to see...

Captain Skip Nielsen

No complaints on the weather and fishing this week!

May 7-10 2012  
Monday Evening Craig Sudbrink released a Tarpon right at sunset, Craig was fishing with live mullet and a Tarpon Spincast Trek rod and an EOS 30 reel. We had fished live crabs for awhile on a hard outgoing tide but no bites until the current let up. We missed a couple more bites before calling it an evening.

Craig Sudbrink released this Tarpon after catching
it on a Fox Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Craig Sudbrink used the Fox Sailfish Trek Diablo 750
combo to release this Tarpon

On Tuesday Gary Pollock joined me for a day of backcountry fishing. First fish of the day was a 100lb Tarpon near Sandy Key. Gary used the Sailfish Trek rod fitted with a Diablo 750 reel for this catch. We spent the rest of the day light tackle fishing with Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo 350 spinning reels. Lots of Seatrout, Ladyfish, Spanish Mackerel and a limit of tasty Mangrove Snapper.

Gary Pollock of England released this Tarpon near Sandy Key

Fox Sailfish Trek travel rods fitted with Diablo reels
are perfect for Tarpon fishing anywhere

On the way in I got some exersize throwing the castnet and loaded up on mullet for my sunset trip with Neil Stewart and friends. The sunset bite was on fire. The boys had 3 Tarpon releases and a bunch of "cheap shots" on the live mullet. So exciting... We used 5 piece Tarpon Spincast rods and EOS reels for this action.

Neil Stewart  and friends Tom and Doug from Canada had 3 Tarpon
releases this afternoon using Fox 5 piece Tarpon Spincast rods

Neil gets his release

On Wednesday it was Tom Berry and Craig Sudbrink. We spent the morning trying for a Tarpon near Sandy Key but not even a shark bite. I had a feeling and we moved to Cape Sable off the beach. As the tide started rise Tarpon were showing all around us, Rolling and freejumping, Only problem was small Blacktip sharks. Glad I had lots of mullet because in the next 3 hours we released 3 Tarpon out of 6 bites and also at least 25 sharks.  It was special to see a fresh school of Tarpon had moved in from the Gulf and not another boat in sight. On the way home we spent an hour securing more mullet for the trip tomorrow. Craig and Tom had had a blast catching Tarpon and wanted another go at it.

Tom Berry gets a jumping release

we had 3 hours of constant Tarpon and Shark action

the spray was flying with these fiesty 60lb Tarpons

But Thursday morning was a different day. The wind was up out of the west and that was not a good thing for Tarpon fishing at Cape Sable. We changed gears and spent the morning rising tide fishing moats around backcountry islands. It was a good move. We got into good sized Redfish at 3 different locations. Using Fox Bonefish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 350 reels the boys released at least a dozen big Reds. Once the tide started rolling out the action was over so we spent the rest of the afternoon fishing the Transition Zone for action and some dinner. Mangrove Snappers up to 2 lbs were kept for later and plenty of Seatrout, Ladyfish and even a rare Rabbitfish was caught.

Craig used the Fox Bonefish Trek Diablo 350
combo to catch 8 large Redfish

Tom Berry and Craig Sudbrink got into a bite a Redfish

heres' one you don't catch every day.
Rabbit Fish Puffer and Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo 350 reels

the hard fighting Rabbit Fish very rare catch

Of course while I am home this morning it is slick calm but at 2 pm I am back on the water catching live mullet for a sunset trip, Can't wait!

Also I want to say that I am still using all my original Fox Sport Fishing Diablo spinning reels and EOS trolling reels. I put this tackle through day after day of constant fish battles and it refuses to break..... It is the toughest there is.


Captain Skip Nielsen

Sunset Fishing for Tarpon

Tarpon are getting back to normal, for a week the migration had slowed down with abnormal weather. But now the Tarpon are back on track and fishing is good. Especially right around sunset.

Fred Clancy and his son Fred Jr. come down every May for 2 evenings of Tarpon fishing. On the first afternoon Fred Jr. hooked a very large Tarpon near Teatable Channel that he fought for over an hour. Fred is a very good angler and put as much pressure as he possibly could at all times. I estimated the fish over 150lbs. Fred used the EOS 30 trolling reel and the 5 piece Tarpon Spincast rod to catch this fish. I had spooled a 100 meter piece of Horizon 50lb braid on the reel and we needed it. What a battle. Of course the Fox sport fishing tackle took all we could give it. At boatside we got a DNA sample and also got very wet as this fish was still not finished. Great going Fred. On afternoon 2 Fred Sr. got into the act and released 2 Tarpon for another great afternoon.  Fred Sr is in his eighties and is a former Charter fishing skipper from Nantucket.

big battle

Fred Clancy fought this estimated 150lb Tarpon for 1 hour
before getting it boatside for a DNA sample

Fred Sr. doing battle on one of his Tarpon at Channel 5

Fred used the EOS 30 Fox trolling reel and
5 piece Tarpon Spincast rod  to release 2 Tarpon

releasing Fred Clancy Sr. Tarpon

Tarpon Spincast Trek rod fitted with the EOS 30
beat this Tarpon after an hour battle

The boys had a great time as usual and I look forward to seeing them next year.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Talk about a day of fishing, WOW!

Doctor Hugh Dennis must really live right, His first fish of the day was a Bull Shark and then a 100 pound Tarpon.

doing battle with the 4 piece Fox Sailfish Trek rod
and Diablo 750 spinning reel

Hugh Dennis with a 100lb Tarpon caught on the
4 piece Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

We decided to try for a Florida Backcountry grand slam which consists of Tarpon, Snook and Redfish. We tried 4 spots before finding success. Hugh was casting small ballyhoo's for bait around a submerged tree and caught a really nice Snook of about 8lbs. This catch was made on the Fox Rage Ultralight rod fitted with the Diablo 350 spinning reel. A tough battle as the Snook got into the tree and Hugh was able to lead him out. A couple more snook were released here as well. Also 3 small Redfish which completed Hugh's slam.

Doctor Hugh caught this Snook on a
Rage Ultralight rod fitted with a Diablo 350 spinning reel

Hugh Dennis completed a Backcountry Grand Slam
using the Fox Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

But the best was yet to come, We were on our way home. It was a close to full moon high tide and as we were running I saw a lot of disrupted water to my right and shut down. Getting on the poling platform and pushing closer we saw sharks chasing and making a large school of Redfish very agitated. We could not believe our eyes. This school had to consist of several thousand Redfish. We staked out and Hugh released over 30 Reds in the next hour. The Rage ultralights and Bonefish Trek rods fitted with Diablo spinning reels were perfect for this action.

over 30 Redfish were released by Hugh Dennis
after we found a huge school up on the flats.

The Reds were from 5 to 12 lbs, Too bad we did not have a flyrod with us, We videod all this as well, Truly a day to remember for Hugh and myself. After a week of wind, rain and tough fishing a reward like this keeps you going and I can't wait until tomorrow to get out fishing again.

Captain Skip Nielsen