Late Season Cold Front Slows The Action (a little)

Tuesday morning Mike Davidson, Rick Connelly and Paul Harris joined me for a half day Tarpon fishing trip. During the night the wind had switched to the north and it was blowing 20 knots and getting colder by the minute.

Paul using the Fox Sport Fishing
Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo catching his Tarpon

Paul Harris's Tarpon putting on  a show

These guys were really eager to wet a line and I did have plenty of fresh bait so off we went to a sheltered (somewhat) channel. We really did have a good time catching 6 sharks including Shovel-nose, Atlantic Blacknose, Blacktips, Spinners and a few big Nurse Sharks. The boys loved it. We made a move and were giving it a few more minutes when Paul hooked a Tarpon around 75 pounds. All the fishing this morning was done with Fox Sport Fishing Sailfish Trek rod fitted with Diablo 750 spinning reel.

Atlantic Sharpnose

Mike Davidson, Rick Connelly and Paul Harris spent a fun filled
morning catching assorted Sharks and releasing a Tarpon as well

Nurse Sharks are good for a big pull

Wednesday it was 50 degrees at 7 am. I had Dick Alt with me today. We gave the fish a chance to warm up and left the dock at 11 am, pretty civilized. Had a wonderful afternoon fishing light tackle (Bonefish Trek and Rage Ultraight rods Diablo 350 spinning reel) on close to shore reef areas. Lots of variety and some good eating.

Thursday still a cold start. Got behind some mangroves and caught a limit of Mangrove Snappers. Around midday it finally started warming up and the wind dropped out. On and outgoing tide ocean side we got into frenzied action with Bluefish, Ladyfish and a few Pompano. Gary Long had joined me today and used Bonefish Trek rod and Diablo 350 spinning reel for his fun. Well as soon as we got in I had another trip.

Gary Stock used Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo
 on huge Ladyfish

This was with old friends Debbie and Rich Riolo. I was supposed to be a Tarpon sunset trip but since the water temp was hovering around 63 degrees F I decided to go with some action where I had left off an hour before. We still had enough tide to keep the bite on and it was non stop action for 2 hours. The Riolos released over 30 Pompano 20 Bluefish all on Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combos. My afternoon was made. No pressure now.

I had told Debbie with the water temp of 63 it would be
slow but she had faith in Doc's Hole

Rich used Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo
to catch the largest Pompano

It was a hot bite of Pompano for Rich and Deb Riolo

Debbie and Rich and I agreed we ought to at least give the Silver Kings a try so we went to Doc's Hole named after Rich's dad. He fished this spot by himself for years. So we sat there for an hour and did not see a thing. I said 5 more minutes. At that point a fish rolled behind the boat. I told Deb to reel her bait to that spot and within a minute the bobber went down and Debbie was hooked up. We really enjoyed this Tarpon. It jumped twice and was a bit lethargic but we were thrilled to get a bite and land a Tarpon at Doc's Hole.

Debbie Riolo's Tarpon released by Skip right at sunset

Deb caught her Tarpon on a Fox Sport Fishing Tarpon Trek Spincast rod fitted with an EOS 30 Trolling reel.

Captain Skip Nielsen