Liverpool Strikes Hard

Bernard Pielow and best friend Ian travelled all the way to Islamorada from Liverpool, England. We spent 6 days fishing the back country of Islamorada.

Bernard loves pulling on just about any kind of fish as long as its big. He and Ian had a great week. A dozen Tarpon were caught, Bernard had 2 that were in the 130 to 150 lb class. Ian had 5 Tarpon releases the  last day we fished.  We made it out the Gulf of Mexico for 3 trips and targeted Bull Shark, Goliath Grouper. Lots of Crevalle Jacks, Black tip sharks, Nurse and also Cobia were caught out there as well.

Along shorelines Snook and Red fish were released. At the river mouths we had had great action with Snook. Bull Shark and Lemon Sharks were caught when they started chasing the Snook. I don't know how these boys did it. Wore me out watching them.

Goliath's up to 300 lbs were caught by the boys. I spool the reels with 65 lb braid then splice 50' of 100lb mono top shot on. As you can see in some of the photos Bernard applies both thumbs on the rod fore grip and just leans back and pulls. We have not broken an XT Boat rod yet. This is the go to travel rod.
Well we had a great 6 days of fishing and it was sad to see the guys leave.

Fox Sport Fishing XT boat rods are 4 piece travel rods. These rods are unbelievably strong and tough. Fox makes 2 reel sizes, the EOS 30 and 50 conventional's. I've field tested these 2 reels for 3 years now and I am a believer. Great reels.

Now I have moved to Livingston, Montana for the summer and will be fly fishing for Trout. But I'll be back in November, I'm already missing the Keys.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Circle hook doing its job

fishing at the end of a rainbow.  note home made sun wear..

Fox Sport Fishing 4 and 5 piece travel rods can go anywhere
packed in a carry on and as you can see are tough

Fox Sport Fishing XT Boat rod and EOS 30 Trolling reel
for Bernard's Goliath Grouper

Here Bernard demonstrates just how tough the XT Boat rod is by
putting both thumbs on the 100lb test to literally stop a Goliath

Ian caught this Red fish casting a
Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo

Ian using the Tarpon Spincast 7' spin rod and
Diablo 750 reel on a tough Tarpon

Ian with a massive bottom dweller on the XT Boat rod EOS 50 combo

lot of Bull

lots of Crevalle Jacks were caught

nice Tarpon boatside for Ian

one of Bernard's giant Tarpon on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo.
I'm about to take a DNA sample for research

summertime Tarpon are usually 30 to 60lbs
but there are still big ones around

This high jumping  Tarpon is in the Fox crosshair's

this Spotted Eagle Ray jumped pretty high

while fishing for Tarpon this Cobia was
caught and then later enjoyed for dinner

with an mouth like that no wonder Tarpon are so hard to hook

Bernard letting a big Goliath go for Ian

Bernard Pielow captured  this beauty on a
Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Bernard Pielow caught 2 Tarpon over 130lbs last week

Bernard really likes pulling on big fish

big fattie on the Fox Sport Fishing Boat XT rod and EOS reel

Bull Sharks are excellent fighters and the Fox Sport Fishing XT Boat rod
 fitted with an EOS reel is the perfect combo for big fish

chase is on

Summertime Action Heats Up In Everglades Park

David Kubert and his 2 sons, Joe and John had an exciting 3 days of fishing last week. Lots of big fish and big action out at the Gulf of Mexico wrecks. Goliath Grouper, Bull Sharks, Lemons were caught on every drop. Surface action was good as well. On a slick calm day Permit were waking about. John Kubert casted a crab using the Fox Sport Fishing Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550 spin reel to catch a beautiful Permit. Great job John. Also John caught his first ever Tarpon. Joe released a Hammerhead Shark. Many jumping Spinner Sharks were caught also.

After his sons went home David was joined by friend Steve Kost. We fished for Snook and Redfish  on day 1 and released 14 Snook and 3 Reds. All were caught on Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combos.

On day 2 we spent the morning fishing 9 weight Fox Sport Fishing Bonefish fly rod. Using red and white flies we had a blast catching Seatrout, Mangrove Snapper, Crevalle Jacks, Ladyfish and Spanish Mackerel. We used diced Ballyhoo to chum the fish in and both fly anglers got bites on almost every cast.

That afternoon I moved to Cape Sable and we had 3 incredible hours of Tarpon fishing. We should have rigged the fly rods for this action but the wind was up and the big incoming tide was hard into the wind. Casting straight into 15 to 20 mph was not doable  So Fox Sport Fishing Sailfish Trek rod fitted with Diablo 750 spin reels were used. David and Steve jumped over 20 Tarpon and released 11 of them. Most of these fish were in the 50 lb range. This was so much fun. Medium sized Tarpon are jumpers. I was also able to get DNA samples for the database Mote Marine laboratory is keeping.

Next morning we came back to the spot on an outgoing tide and the wind was down and we could cast fly rods downwind. Each of my anglers jumped a Tarpon off on fly but it was slow. That's fishing for you.
Tarpon fishing is crazy good one day and tough the next. But so much is going on in the backcountry there is always fish to catch.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo spin reels were perfect for
catching Snook along the beaches of Cape Sable

brothers John and Joe caught numerous Goliath Groupers using Fox Sport Fishing XT Travel Rods fitted with EOS reels

David Kubert got 5 jumps from this Spinner Shark he caught using a
Sailfish Trek rod and Diablo 750 spin reel

David Kubert released 7 Tarpon on this frantic afternoon.
All using the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

DK caught this Pompano

DK used a Fox Sport Fishing Bonefish Trek rod
and Diablo 350 spin reel on this Snook

fishing along sandbars at low tide Joe released a few Snook

great summertime Tarpon action on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

Joe catching a Hammerhead Shark on the versatle
Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo

John Kubert with his first ever Tarpon. Over 100 lbs he used the
Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo to make the catch

John trying to turn around a Goliath Grouper.
The Fox Sport Fishing XT travel rod does the job for him

Lemon Shark for Joe Kubert

One of 7 Tarpons for David Kubert

this big Croc warning us to stay away

using the Permit Trek spin rod and 550 Diablo reel,
John Kubert caught this beautiful Permit