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

10lb braid, Fox Rage rod, Diablo 350 spin reel = big Gag Grouper

75 lb Blacktip Shark hooked in the pec fin is a tough fight

battling sharks close to home

Black Drum are a winter time catch and strong fighters

Bluefish on the flyrod

catching large Grouper on light tackle takes skill and Great tackle

Cathy caught this Snook on a cool winter morning

Cathy did an expert job angling this hefty
Black Grouper on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Cathy Fox caugth and released this Black Grouper

Cliff might be having Yellowtail for dinner

Cliff releases a Red Grouper for Cathy

Cliff scores a big Snook on the light Rage rod and Diablo combo

colorful Porkfish were stealing a lot of bait

finally after 3 days of trying. Cathy Fox caught her first ever Permit
and she used a Permit trek rod and Diablo 550 spin reel

handle with care

infamous Bermuda Chub

mugshot of the day.. Lizardfish

nice going Cathy on your Permit

nice hogfish for Cathy

nice Hogfish! note the Fox Diablo 350 spinning
 reel and 4 piece bonefish travel rod

on one afternoon Cathy and Cliff had loads of fun catching Yellow Jacks

one of the locals

plenty of Cero Mackerel on the patch reefs

Rainbow Parrotfish

smaller Gag Grouper were fun also

some nice Redfish were in the creeks also

Spanish Mackerel on the flyrod were fun

the bayside channels are holding lots of grouper for catch and release

the business end of a Rainbow Parrotfish

then Cliff comes right back with a bigger
Black Grouper on the Rage Ultralight Diablo combo

using the Fox Rage Ultralight rod and Diablo 350
spinning reel all week, Cliff had some great catches

Yellow Jack

you have to start somewhere...Cathy's first ever fish on a fly

Cathy & Cliff Fox with Freddy DuPreez had good fishing in spite of tough weather in the Keys

Tuesday morning: the ocean was flat, not a ripple. With a few throws of a castnet we had our livewell brimming with Pilchards.

FOX Trek rods from the Sailfish, Permit, Bonefish, Rage rods and the FOX Diablo spinning reels in all 3 sizes were rigged up and ready for action.

We cruised the edge of the reef looking for signs of life. Hopefully a freejumping Sailfish. But as we ran down the dropoff the wind started to pick up out of the west and we could see the cloud build-up of an approaching cold front.

I anchored the boat on a patch reef in 30 feet of water. With a little chum and a handful or "freebies" the water behind Foxy Lady erupted  with feeding fish of all sorts. As the wind increased so did the feeding frenzy behind the boat.. Cero Mackerel, Yellowtail and Mangrove Snapper,. We would toss a handful of freebies then cast back and get a bite immediately. This was patch reef fishing at its best. By 2 pm the wind was up to 20 mph and it was time to slowly work our way towards shore and then use the lee to ride back up to Islamorada.

The next day it was howling from the north and a nice drizzling rain to boot. Cathy took a day off but Cliff and Freddy were game. This is what is so cool about fishing the Keys. We made a ride into the deep "backcountry" following the edges of shallow banks. That kept us in a lee for most of the ride over to the mainland. There we worked our way up a narrow creek totally out of the wind and had action with Snook and Crevalle Jacks using Bonefish Trek  and Rage rods and Diablo 350 spin reels. Except for the ride over and back it was another fun day for the boys.

Day 3 was different yet again. 20 mph out of the northeast. At least today it did not rain. But it was a very cool morning and the during the ride across the bay we were layered up with warm clothes. We fished an area called Snakebite. A channel that drains a vast area of flats along the mainland near Flamingo in Everglades National Park. With a very low tide thousands of feeding birds were on the mudflats. Roseate Spoonbills and Egrets and multitudes of White Pelicans, Black Skimmer's, Herons and countless smaller varieties. What a sight to see.

The water temp had dropped to 64 degrees and we could not get a bite on live pilchards. But the fish were Hungry for shrimp. We had good winter time fishing catching Black Drum, Redfish and Sheepshead, So as I always say  we can find a place to fish no matter what the weather is doing and have a fun day.

Below are a few of the fish we caught the last few days on FOX Sport Fishing Tackle.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Big Sheepshead were biting.
Water temp was 64 and it was a winter day's catch

Black Drum were a big battle

Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo spinning reels
were perfect for fishing the trees

Cathy is a patient and attentive angler.
It paid off with the big Red of the day

Cliff with a Cero Mackerel caught on a
Rage spin rod and Diablo 350 spin reel

Crevalle Jacks were fun action on FOX Sport fishing tackle

Freddy with a Cero Mackerel...
notice the stripe and slashes

how about some Sheepshead

it was nice fishing once we got out of the wind

lots of spots on this Redfish caught by Cliff

Mangrove Snapper were biting for Cathy

Yellowtail Snapper for Freddy

Backcountry And Blue Water

It was hot and calm this week. All the options were open...

Richie Silver and Ira Kanarick fished with me last Thursday and Friday. Day 1 we took a ride over to Cape Sable. Small pilchards are swarming right now which is making for plenty of great fishing. Using  4 piece Bonefish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 350 spinning reels the boys released 25 Snook, 4 Redfish and countless Seatrout and Crevalle Jacks. Finally a large Bull Shark showed up and ate a Redfish which is when we moved on to another spot where Ira landed a Tarpon. Nice job on the backcountry slam for Ira. Snook, Tarpon and Redfish.

Snook action was red hot as was the temp

Richie Silver with a Redfish

Richie and Susan with a beauty

Day 2 it was slick calm again. The offshore report was lots of Dolphin fish so we decided to check it out. At 10 miles offshore we hit the edge of the Gulf stream. Even though the wind was very light the hard running current made for some choppy rips.

Fifteen miles out we started running into schools of Mahi-Mahi. What fun on the light Bonefish Trek and Permit Trek rods. We kept 15 for the table and released another 20 or so. We finished the day at the 409 seamount. Trolling a couple small ballyhoo on the Sailfish Trek rods and Diablo 750's Richie caught 2 Slammer Dolphin. Rest of my crew was worn out. 

Ira Kanarick with one Snook of many

great jumpers great fighters and great eating

fishing close to the beaches of Cape Sable

Ira and Richie with 2 Slammer Dolphins.
Sailfish Trek rods fitted with Diablo 750 spinning reels were used

On Saturday  Doctor Frank Eismont and son Austin fished with me. After hearing yesterday's report they wanted to try Dolphin fishing. It was slick calm once again so off we went. On the way out we stopped in a school of pilchards inside the reef and loaded the livewell with 2 inch baits. We got out to 20 miles before finding the right set of birds. By this I mean 5 or 6 birds feeding on baitfish that a school of dolphin fish were pushing to the surface.

This was an incredible school of fish. There must have been 75 Dolphin. Dr. Frank had heard about this but this was a first for him and Austin. We used the Bonefish Trek and Rage Ultralight rods fitted with Diablo 350 spinning reels. We drifted for 2 hours.. Every once and awhile I would toss a netful of pilchards to keep the school around the boat. It was a sight seeing these colorful fish all around the boat. We kept enough to feed family and released the rest.

On the way in we did a little deep dropping in 450 feet of water. Young Austin cranked up a nice Tilefish. The Fox Sport Fishing Boatrod XT fitted with an EOS Trolling reel was perfect for this action.

450 feet of water

after plenty of dolphin we did some deep
dropping in 450 feet of water.
EOS Trolling reel and XT Boatrod was perfect for this

Austin Eismont with his first Dolphin of the day.

Its amazing to be able to fish 30 miles into the backcountry and then run 20 miles offshore into the Gulfstream the next day. Fishing in the Florida Keys is the best.

Captain Skip Nielsen