A Collage Of Pictures From May 2013

The month of May is just about over. I would say that May is our busiest month of the year. Anglers from everywhere converge on the keys hoping to catch Silver Kings. Mostly its been one of the best spring runs of Tarpon in a long time but we have had a 10 day lull. Tarpon are still being caught and its picking up at the moment. So I have put together just a few of the many pictures taken in the last few weeks. 

I can't say enough about my Fox Sport Fishing Tackle. As you can see through my pictures this tackle takes a beating day in and day out. The most I've done in the last few months is a little WD 40 spray oil now and then and a freshwater rinse. There is not enough time in a day to repair broken tackle and that is why I use Fox Sport Fishing rods and reels. They are tough and do not fall apart even with me fishing 7 days a week.

Captain Skip Nielsen

3 days of slow Tarpon fishing for
Hugh Dennis and friends but we got a few
May 16-18

Neil Stewart and his sister and husband had 4 releases on a sunset trip

Nick Charek and his friends released 4 Tarpon on this morning

Nick Charek took some great  pics of his friends Tarpons-001

Tarpon fishing really slowed down May 16 -21
due to weak tides, spawning. we still managed to pick away at them

Tarpon fishing was slow but big Mangrove Snapper
were a hit with Tom and Wendy Sims

This is Fred Cades Tarpon.
His brother Len and friend Neil fished a sunset trip May 27 for this one

Tom Cola gets a quck pic before releasing this beautifull Snook
caught on the Permit Trek Diabol 550 combo

Tom Cola had Redfish,Trout and Snook fishing on May 26.
Tried for a slam but alas no Tarpon

Wendy and Tom Sims were happy to have the power of the
Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 to land several oversized Crevalle Jacks

another of Nick's pics

Barracuda

Dan Atkinson used the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo
on all his Tarpon catches

Dave and Dan Atkinson had 7 Tarpon releases in 3 days of fishing
May 13,14 and 15

fat Seatrout

George Soth caught his first Tarpon on May 12 using the
Fox Sport Fishing Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750 reel

hi jumper taken by Nick Charek

I never get bored Tarpon fishing

Couple days of Tarpon fishing at Cape Sable

Tom Berry and Craig Solderholm were my anglers. Tom started the day with a big Tarpon caught near Sandy Key. After no more bites except multitudes of sharks we moved on to Cape Sable. Action was good here with Craig and Tom having 4 more released Tarpon and over a dozen assorted sharks. Some big Spinner Sharks put on a show for us as well. We finished the day with a pair of nice sized Snook.

Tom caught and released this beauty of a Snook.
He caught it using the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

this was Tom's Tarpon  Big....

Tom using the Fox Sport Fishing Sailfish Trek Diablo 750
on the first Tarpon of the day

Craig gets in on the Tarpon action as well

Sailfish Trek rod Diablo 750 spinning reel.
 Great combo for Tarpon fishing

Chester and Annalies Brandes and nephew, Rueben joined me on May 10 and 11. Rueben is 8 years old and had only caught some small stuff around the docks. He was so keen. At first while drifting live pinfish for Tarpon young Rueben got warmed up catching the small Blacktip Sharks.  Later on he became a Tarpon angler and held on to his rod waiting for bites. It was a blast watching him fighting fish. With the Tarpon averaging 75lbs understandably it was a bit much for the young lad. But with plenty of assistance from Annalies and Chester the boy really got the hang of it.

8 year old Rueben  was fired up

there is nothing better for me than seeing
the joy on this young anglers face

Uncle Chester and Rueben double teamed the
Tarpon using the 8 foot Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

a good look at a Tarpon's jaw

Annalies and Chester Brandis

Annalies catches the last Tarpon of the trip

Chester admires one of his 5 Tarpon catches

Rueben gets an assist his first Tarpon then
later catches one all by himself

Rueben loved being on Shark patrol

Ruebens Tarpon shows off its gills

At the end of the 2 days 8 Tarpon were released. All taken on Sailfish Trek spinning rod fitted with Diablo 750 reels. The 8 foot long Trek rods made it really easy to follow the fish around the boat with out the line touching anything and maybe causing a break-off. As you can see in the pictures Rueben had a large time fishing.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Dad brings his daughters fishing to Islamorada

Some great memories for this family. Stanley McJunkin and daughters Whitney and Chezney spent May 6,7 and 8 fishing with me here in Islamorada. We fished different areas for different kinds of fish all 3 days.

Tarpon fishing on day one was successful with 4 releases. Chezney caught her first ever and Whitney released a huge Tarpon estimated over 150lbs. Day 2 we rode over to Cape Sable. Plenty of sharks but no Tarpon. No problem, we went Snook fishing and had 17 releases. We spent some time each day procuring enough Mangrove Snappers for dinners at local  restaurants. Day 3 we headed out to the Gulf and fished a few choice spots for Goliath Grouper, Bull Sharks , Cobias and Crevalle Jacks.  On the way back we stopped at the Arsnicker Keys and released small Barracudas and nice sized Lemon Sharks.

Everyone had a blast.

Chez catching a Lemon Shark on the Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo

Stanley with 1 of 4 big Snook he caught on the Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo

we definetley put the Foxsportfishing tackle to the test

Whitney and Chez let Dad catch a few

Whitney stops a big Tarpon in its tracks using
the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Whitney takes a close look at her Goliath Grouper
caught using a Boatrod XT travel rod fitted with an EOS 30 Trolling reel

Whitney's tail-walker

Chez caught this Snook on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Chez putting a lot of pressure on a big mean
Tarpon using the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Chezney catching her very first Tarpon

Dad lets one go for his daughters

Snapper dinners were had every night.
note the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Stanley holds Whitney's biggest Snook caught on a
Rage ultralight rod and Diablo 350 spin reel

Stanley leaders a Lemon Shark. what weather we had these 3 days

Stanley winching up a big Goliath on the
Boatrod XT  EOS Trolling Reel combo

The weather was slick calm all 3 days which is pretty rare in May. We used Bonefish Trek, Permit Trek, Sailfish Trek travel rods.These rods have been in my arsenal for a few years now with a few scratches here and there but holding up wonderfully. The Diablo spinning reels, 350, 550 and 750s are virtually bullet proof. For the really big stuff we used EOS 30 and 50 Trolling Reels fitted on Trek Boat XT rod and Tarpon Spincast rods. For some more fun I have a few Fox Rage freshwater rods which are really tough rods.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Tarpon Trek Fly Rod In Action

Dr.Steve Hanske and his son Steve had their annual fly fishing trip to Islamorada the last 2 days of April and first day of May. We did a combination of sight fishing the ocean-side flats for Tarpon and dredging the channels as well.

Tim caught a nice fish at Long Key point on a tiny yellow fly called Goldilocks. Over the 3 days father and son hooked 17 Tarpon on Fox Sport Fishing Tarpon Trek fly rods. It was really epic fly fishing. Early mornings and sunset dredging amongst laid up Tarpon was truly exciting. Steve and Tim have already booked their fishing dates for 2014. After 3 days of intense action and heavy pulling the Fox Fly rod held up beautifully.

Included are just a few pictures, way to go Steve and Tim!

Captain Skip Nielsen

acrobats

Dr.Steve Hanske bowing to the Silver King

dredge fly view

fantastic catch on a Fox Fly rod

Red Grouper bit the dredge fly.
Too bad it was day before grouper season opened

this was a big Tarpon on the
Fox Tarpon Trek fly rod

Tim fought this Tarpon for over an hour with the Fox Tarpon Trek fly rod

Tim Hanske

Tim trying to stop this Tarpon in its tracks