Diablo - A Reel Workhorse

Well the seas have settled and the Tarpon bite has improved. I had Doctor Hugh Dennis and Ken Totherow out after a couple days off and quite the change. We were able to catch plenty of Mullet for bait and had a nice incoming tide. Immediately after anchoring we had rolling and freejumping Tarpon near the boat. It only took a few minutes before Hugh was hooked up to the first Tarpon of the morning. It was non-stop until we ran out of mullet. 8 Tarpon were jumping behind the boat and 4 were leadered. Each angler had 2 releases. Many Sharks were landed and lost as well. No wire trace was used. Its great to have the Tarpon bite back on. My anglers used Fox Sport Fishing Sailfish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 750 spinning reels for all these fish.

8 Tarpon were jumped and  4 landed by Hugh and Ken
using the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combos

rare picture of a jumping Spinner Shark

Tarpon of all sizes were jumping behind the boat today

We made a special dinner stop on the way home

Dr.Hugh Dennis fights a jumping Tarpon using the
Fox sport fishing Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Hugh Dennis with a very large Mangrove Snapper
caught on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Hugh with a flying Tarpon

Hugh with a Lemon Shark on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Ken brings a nice 80lb Tarpon in for release

Ken Totherow shows off the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Ken Totherow used the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo
on this jumping,spinning Spinner Shark

Ken with one of 3 jumping Spinner Sharks

I am still using my original Diablos day after day and fish after fish. These reels are INCREDIBLE ! Its been well over 3 years now of big fish action and I have had only 1 handle broken and that was serious angler malfunction. The reels themselves are bullet proof and the Sailfish Trek rods are the best. Well the summertime bite is on here in Islamorada but I am running way out in backcountry for the action. The action near the bridges is now a pretty much night time event. Offshore the Dolphin fishing is going well and the boats targeting Swordfish are getting them on almost every trip.

Enjoying nice weather and great fishing now.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Good Fishing for the Deardon Family

Fishing report June 28 and 29 2012

Kim, Savannah, Milo and Miles spent a couple nice days in the Everglades Backcountry with me this past week. Nice calm weather and lots of action.

Spent a morning on the flats fishing light tackle for whatever was biting. The water was still riled up after the recent windstorm but the fish were hungry. Using fresh caught Ballyhoo for bait the family had a blast catching Redfish, Seatrout, Spanish Mackerel, Ladyfish, Mangrove Snapper, Bluefish, Gag Grouper and small Sharks. The highlight of the day was fishing a river mouth and having some big Snook action. Permit Trek, Bonefish Trek and Sailfish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 350, 550 and 750 reels were all used on the Snook. Lots of fun until a big shark showed up and we moved towards home. The next day was the boys turn. We were hoping for some Tarpon but they were still not in the biting mood since the big winds. But Goliath Grouper to 100lbs. Bull Sharks and lots of Blacktip Sharks kept the men busy. Milo caught 2 Cobia as well as his first Goliath Grouper. Dad, Miles , caught a the big Goliath of the day on a Sailfish Trek rod fitted with a Diablo 750 reel. Nice catch.

a nice sized Snapper by Miles on the Rage Ultralight

Milo and Savannah catching Mangrove Snapper for
dinner on the Rage Ultralight Diablo 350 combos

Milo caught his Goliath Grouper on the
Trek Boat rod XT fitted with an EOS Trolling reel

Milo caught this Cobia on the BonefishTrek Diablo 350 combo

Milo caught this Snook on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Milo caught this Snook on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Savannah Deardon used the Bonefish Trek Diablo combo on this Redfish

Savannah with a Gag Grouper while the boys wait on a big one

Sharks and more Sharks on the Sailfish Trek rods fitted
with Diablo 750 spinning reels

Cobia in the water

Kim and Savannah with a Seatrout on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Kim Deardon caught a big Snook

Mile's Bullshark

Miles Deardon caught this Goliath Grouper
on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Miles Deardon with an off-season Bluefish
on the Rage Ultralight Diablo 350 combo

Miles had his hands full with a Bullshark on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Miles used the Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo on this Snook

The family comes down to Islamorada at least once a year and love using the Foxsportfishing tackle. Plenty of snapper fillets and good memories were taken back to Tampa, Florida.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Tropical Storm Debbie No Deterrent For Anglers

fishing report june 23,24,26,27

Windy weather and rain associated with Tropical Storm Debbie did not deter hard core anglers, even I was hesitant about leaving the dock. But Dan and Dave Atkinson said they were not worried about getting wet. Winds were puffing from the southeast about 25 miles per hour when we left the dock. The radar showed most of the rain to the west and well offshore.

We decided to get out of the wind over by Cape Sable and give Snook fishing a try. It had been good a couple days ago with the Pielow's and this father son team were keen. We used sabike rigs behind a chum bag and soon had plenty of pinfish and some razor belly pilchards for bait. We made the run around the "corner" and tried 4 spots ending up with a couple smallish Snook. Finally on the last move Dave Atkinson hooked a large Redfish. The action began and lasted for over 2 hours. Using Fox Sport Fishing Bonefish Trek rods fitted with Diablo spinning reels Dave and Dan caught 3 of the big Redfish and 7 large Snook. Luckily for us the bite stopped and we headed home to Islamorada. The sky was getting dark by the time we hit the dock and 15 minutes later the squall hit with gusts of wind to 50 and a downpour. These guys must be doing something right!

Dave and Dan Atkinson had the hands full of Big Reds
and Snook using Fox sport fishing Bonefish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 350

another whopper of a Snook for Dan Atkinson

Big Reds started biting

big Snook on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo
for Dave Atkinson of Chicago

The next day we did not go far from home and caught a mess of Snapper for dinner. I was able to cast-net a few mullet so on the way home we anchored in a channel close to Bud 'n' Mary's marina and got really lucky. The wind was out of the south west about 30 and we still managed to catch 2 Tarpon. One each for Dan and Dave. Both fish were caught on 5 piece Tarpon Spincast rods fitted with EOS 30 Fox Sport Fishing reels.

Now I had 2 more days with some of my favorite anglers. Richie Silver and Ira Kanarick.These guys have been fishing with me since 1973 and love using Ultralight tackle. The weather was rediculously windy with gusts to 35. Even running the edges of the flats we took plenty of spray but once we got behind one of the backcountry keys you could not feel it. Plenty of Mangrove Snapper were caught and Richie caught a beauty of a Redfish on the Fox Rage Ultralight rod fitted with Diablo 350 spinning reel.

it was blowing a steady 30mph but we found a lee and had fun catching
Mangrove Snapper on Fox Rage Ultralight rods.

Richie Silver proudly displays this Redfish before releasing it to fight another day.

you would never guess the wind was blowing 30 on the other side
as Richie Silver fights a nice Redfish

On day 2 the wind had died down to 20mph and we made a run to west. We chummed up small bay ballyhoo and cast-netted them for bait and started casting. Plenty of big Mangrove Snapper and Seatrout were caught this day. The boys ended up having a fine time.

Captain Skip Nielsen