Captain Skip's Fox Sport Fishing Blog: February 2015

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Fishing Report Mid February

It is for sure a day to be putting together a fishing report. Its in the mid 50's outside and tonight is forecast to be the coldest day of the year. The fishing has been very good though. In fact by tomorrow afternoon it is supposed to warm up into the 70's. It won't be long before the Tarpon start showing and I'm ready for them.

In the meantime we are keeping ourselves plenty busy catching lots of Reef fish and some nice Snook and Reds in the backcountry of Everglades National Park. We took a short trip to Belize last week and I was lucky enough to release a nice Permit on my Fox fly rod. What fun to be on the front end of the boat with my own guide! My anglers have been using Fox Sport Fishing Diablo 350 spinning reels to make their catches this past week. We have also been using the Bonefish Trek 4 piece travel rod series and the Fox Rage light rods. Fishing with ultralight tackle on the reefs takes fishing to a whole new dimension. Very challenging and rewarding when you do catch a big Grouper or Barracuda.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Captain Skip Nielsen

another shot of Bruce Beardmores Black Grouper caught
using the 4 piece Bonefish Trek rod and Diablo 350 spin reel

another Snook on light tackle

battling big Barracudas on Fox Rage ultralight rods was a blast

big Barracudas on light tackle was way too much fun for Bruce

Bruce also caught and released this beautiful Nassau Grouper

Bruce Beardmore got a big Cuda using very light tackle

Carolyn Doster coaxed this Gag Grouper
out of a hole with some good angling

catch and release Grouper fishng was great fun for Jim Magidson

catching Redfish using Rage Ultralight rods
and Diablo 350 spin reels out of a canoe

Chris Gilbert landed this big Red Grouper
on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Chris Gilbert with one of his toothy critters

Cyd landed this Tarpon using the Rage Ultralight Diablo 350 combo

Cyd Nielsen completed a west coast Florida slam
by releasing Redfish, Snoook and Tarpon

even a Scorpion Fish

George Witts and brothers, Steve and Paul
had plenty of action on the reef patches

Hogfish for Paul Magidson

I used my Fox 5 piece 9 weight flyrod to catch a few Snook on fly

it was great to be on the bow flycasting to tailing
Permit, my guide Victor Garbutt holds my prize

juvenile Amberjacks were fun as well

lots of Mangrove Snapper action for Stokely and Carolyn Doster

on this perfect day Chris and Bruce really
enjoyed catching Barracuda on light tackle

outstanding patch reef catch in 20 feet of water by Bruce Beardmore

Paul Magidson and a nice Black Grouper on the
Rage ultralight Diablo 350 combo

Steve and Paul Witts

Tarpon release

this Snook gave Cyd a fit. taking her thru and under the Mangroves

uncommon catch on the patch reefs. Sheepshead

Monday, 2 February 2015

Wintertime Fishing in the Florida Keys

Yes it is winter and we have been wearing windbreakers. But the fishing has been loads of fun and the variety of species to catch is staggering..

Cathy and Cliff Fox joined me for 5 days of fishing during the last 2 weeks.

Grouper season is closed so it is catch and release only but I love it. Lots of big fish to catch and all within a couple miles of the dock. Along with the Grouper were Hogfish, Porgies, Mutton Snapper, Yellowtail Snapper, Yellow Jacks and too many more species to mention. Just loads of great action on very light tackle.The Fox Sport Fishing Diablo 350 spinning reel is my all time favorite spinning reel. Contact me and I can get you hooked up with Diablo spinning reels. For rods we used Fox's line of Trek 4 piece travel rods. Bonefish and Permit series. Cliff's favorite rod is a Fox Rage Ultralight 2 piece . It is superstrong but very light and sensitive.

To watch Cliff battle 10lb grouper or a big snook on such a light rod is a real pleasure for me.

We spent a day way back in the Everglades. Black Drum,Snook and Redfish were biting. It was a really cool day and the Crocs were sunning on the banks. Quite the sights back there with all the birdlife as well.

On another day we got into a crazy bite of jacks,bluefish and spanish mackerel. I broke out the Fox 9 weight flyrod and Cliff and Cathy had some fun tossing flies and catching!

On our last day we fished the reef patches once again. We had seen some Permit the last 2 trips out but had not had any luck feeding them. Today finally they got a little hungry. We saw them flashing. Reflecting the sunlight off their silvery sides.

Cathy casted out a live crab and was rewarded with her first ever Permit catch. It took her 30 minutes of very careful angling to land it. Cathy used the Fox Sportfishing Permit Trek 4 piece rod and a Diablo 550 spinning reel to make the catch.

The water temperature had climbed to 71 degrees on an incoming tide and that finally got them feeding. Before that we kept getting refusals. But that is Permit fishing.
So here are some pictures of all the fun we've had the last 2 weeks here in Islamorada, Florida Keys.

Captain Skip Nielsen