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