Summer Backcountry Fishing Is As Good As It Gets!

This past week we had great conditions for fishing the area around Cape Sable. It is a 30 mile run from Islamorada but is truly a wilderness and an awesome fishery.

My guests this past week included David Kubert and Steve Kost for an action packed 3 days, Jeff and Christine Thompson for a day, and Liz and Mark Harris for a couple days. All my guests had days of Tarpon, Snook and Redfish, along with all the action fish while baiting up like Mangrove Snapper, Ladyfish, Seatrout and Crevalle Jacks. 

The Tarpon bite was very good. Liz Harris got her first ever fly-caught Tarpon while Mark jumped a couple off and Jeff had a few in the air as well. Live bait fishing under corks was a blast for the Tarpon. These Tarpon are medium size fish. 20 to 60 lbs and jump like crazy.

Great sport using Fox Sport Fishing's Permit Trek travel rods fitted with Diablo 550 spinning reels. 

After spending mornings Tarpon fishing we explored creek mouths and shorelines. Snook and Redfish were plentiful and all my guests caught "Backcountry Slams" consisting of all 3 species on one outing. Nice!

Big Sharks are on the prowl and fighting a fish for any length of time invites them in so quick releases were done in most places we fished. Bull sharks and Lemon's are great sport in the shallow water as well and are part of the eco-system and unfortunately can associate boats with easy pickings so lots of the time we catch a fish or two then move to another spot. Bait on the edges of the flats is thick right now. Baby pilchards and Ballyhoo are swarming and all the Crevalle Jacks and Ladyfish are right behind.

Tarpon will be around the rest of the summer in the far backcountry and readily take flies and lures. Mornings are best for this action. In the afternoons thunderstorms build over the mainland and you should be on your way back by 2pm latest to avoid the threat. I backed off the drags, sprayed some lubricant and loosened the rod pieces up and stored the tackle til November. I am on a bus-mans' holiday until then fishing the western USA flyfishing.

Here is just a few pictures from my last week of summer fishing...

Captain Skip Nielsen

4-spotted Redfish for Steve Kost

Chistine Thompson with a jumping Tarpon

Christine's photo finish

David Kubert releases this Tarpon from the livewell
after carefully taking the hook out, Again

David Kubert with an honest to goodness Great Hammerhead

DK got his Redfish using a Diablo 350 spin reel
mounted on an Ultralight Fox Rage rod

DK had fun with the Fox 9 weight Trek Flyrod

DK with one of many Snook caugth the last week of June

double header of Tarpon for Liz and Mark on
Permit Trek rods and Diablo 550 spin reels

Fishing creek mouths with Bonefish Trek rods
was very productive for Redfish

fishing the shorelines of Cape Sable with Bonefish Trek rods
and Diablo 350 spinning reels David Kubert released lots of Snook

Jeff Thompson with a nice Redfish caught on a
Rage rod and Diablo 350 spinning reel

limit of tasty Mangrove Snappers.
All caught on Fly using Fox 9 weight Trek flyrods

Liz and Mark Harris

Liz Harris catching her first Tarpon on a
flyrod built by Fox Sport Fishing

Liz Harris Nice Redfish

lots of Jacks cruising the beaches of Cape Sable.
Steve Kost used a Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo here

Mangrove Snapper provided fast action for
Jeff Thompson on the Fox Trek 9 weight fly rod

Mark and Liz Harris had fun fly casting with the 9 weight Fox flyrod

Mark Harris and the Fox Sport Fishing Permit Trek travel rod
and Diablo 550 spinning reel on this crazy Tarpon

medium sized Tarpon perfect on Fox Permit Trek rods

nice air on this Tarpon for Jeff

nice Redfish for Liz on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

since the big freeze in 2010 these guys are making a good comeback

Snook for Mark

Steve Kost points his Permit Trek rod at this Tarpon

Steve needed this Snook for his Slam

Steve with the 9weight and a fat Snapper

Tarpon on Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo for DK

we have lift-off

Season is a Changin'

In the keys this time of year the weather is constantly on the change. This past Monday morning we woke to East-North-East winds gusting to 30 knots. Just about all the guides cancelled their fishing trips for the day. My guests however wanted to give it a go. Fine by me as there is always a lee somewhere to fish out of the wind. Its the getting there and getting back that gets you bounced around and whipped with spray though.

I had Cliff Fox and Freddy DuPreeze on this very windy day. In the past I have fished similar days and if we could find the right size live bait I knew just where we needed to go to keep the rods bending. We did find the bait and off we went on an hour run to a small protected creek up in the Everglades. I hadn't fished this particular creek in a couple of years since the big freeze that had decimated the Snook population. But as I had been finding plenty juvenile snook lately it was the right weather condition to give it a try.

We arrived and tied up to an overhanging mangrove branch and threw out a few "freebies" while I rigged up our Bonefish Trek Travel rods and Diablo 350 spinning reels. I knew immediately we were in for a treat. Fish were exploding on the bait. Cliff and Freddy spent the next 3 hours catching Snook to 8lbs, many Seatrout, Redfish and Jack Crevalle to 10 lbs in this small creek. The wind was blowing the water out and the bite was on. Plenty of Mangrove Snapper were in the mix also. Its great to see the Snook population making a comeback.

Cliff Fox fishes a small protected creek deep in the Everglades

its blowing 25 mph on the other side of this island in the backcountry

It's great to see the Snook making a strong comeback

Freddy pulled this Snook out from under the roots

bobber fishing is so much fun

you had to get your bait tight to the bushes to get a Snook bite

Crevalle Jacks were great fighters on the Bonefish Trek travel rod

Freddy had a big battle using an ultralight Fox Rage rod

Freddy with a Seatrout

I caught a Redfish with no spots

Day 2 the wind was down to 15 out of the south east and Cathy Fox joined us today along with Cliff and Freddy. I went back to where I'd had the small Tarpon a few days back but they had moved on. No current and just a few snappers. So we moved out to the open bay and fished some of the "bomb craters". Nice mix for the light tackle. Grouper and Snapper to 4 lbs. Spanish Mackerel and Ladyfish were biting as well. The action was on the slow side with there not being water current. I remembered a spot close to 9-mile bank that usually held some fish and went there in the afternoon.

note the wire trace albrighted onto the mono trace.
Spanish Macks are toothy critters

we kept a few of the big Macks for the smoker

great action

we kept a few of the big Macks for the smoker

 Here we had a nice current flowing with the wind. The bite was on. Big Spanish Mackerel to 6lbs. Bluefish, Crevalle Jack and big Mangrove Snapper were biting. Cliff , Cathy and Freddy had a great time. Its great to keep 3 rods bending on every cast. The Bonefish Trek travel rods and Diablo 350 spinnings reels had a real workout.

Cathy caught a couple of Barracudas

that same freeze 3 years ago hurt the goliath groupers
but they are making a comeback.
Cathy caught this one on a Bonefish Trek

So during the night around 2am it started thundering and lightening. Big strong cold front pushing through. Around 9am the rain finally quit and we headed out. Just after filling the livewell with castnetted pilchards one last rain squall caught us by surprise. It was basically a white-out. Being close to home we did a quick change into some dry clothes and headed back out.

The wind picked up out of the west north west and the temp was dropping. By days end it was blowing 20+ from the north.  We caught a few Snook around the islands then headed into Flamingo. We fished in the lee of the mainland and got into a hot bite of 4 to 8lb Crevalle Jacks. It was wild action til we had enough and made a nice downwind ride home back to Islamorada and Bud n Marys Marina.

Cathy and Cliff finished out the day catching
Crevalle Jacks on the light tackle

Cliff really likes fishing Rage Ultralight rods

There is always a lee here in the keys to find some action when the wind is blowing.

This morning as I write this it is Thanksgiving day here and we have so much to be thankful for. As I write it is 57 degrees out and chilly. But it will warm up tomorrow. Last week we fished 3 days and the wind was down and we were able to fish the outer reefs so there you go.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Nice Action In The Backcountry

Lesli and Ray Rogers spent 3 days fishing with me this past week. On day 1 we did not go far as it looked as if it could start raining at any time. We had no problem loading the live well with fish candy, Live Pilchards. Using FOX Sport Fishing Bonefish Trek travel rod fitted with a Diablo 350 spinning reel we caught plenty of nice sized Mangrove Snapper. Then the rain started and turning into a downpour and the wind came up. Getting chilled we moved to the leeside of the island we were fishing to warm up. Right away we saw Tarpon rolling. That warmed us up right away. Lesli and Ray had a ball the next hour releasing 4 Tarpon and jumping another 10. These small Tarpon were from 3 lbs to 15lbs and great jumpers. But then it started pouring again and we headed home on a half day.

Backcountry baby Tarpon

FOX Rage ultralight rod was perfect for
small Tarpon around the islands

The next 2 days were spent in different areas of the backcountry.The weather was warm and sunny. In one spot we were catching a variety of Spanish Mackerel and Ladyfish. I rigged up a Fox 9 weight flyrod with a flashy fly that I tie for the macks.

Bonefish Trek travel rod and a Diablo 350 spinning reel
were perfect for Spanish Mackerel

Great catch! Gag Grouper caught
by Lesli on a Fox 9 Weight fly rod

Mangrove Snapper were on the menu

Lesli and Ray caught Snapper, Ladyfish and Spanish Mackerel on fly which was great fun but Lesli hooked up with a fish that got well into the backing on its first run. After a 15 minute fight she landed a 27 inch Gag Grouper on the flyrod. Heck of a catch and a complete surprise. We were fishing in 7 feet of water over grass bottom. Later on we fished a creek near the mainland and got into more baby Tarpon and Snook.

Day 3 we fished near Flamingo around island "moats" and had more Snook action as well as a few big Redfish. As the tide dropped we moved onto the flats and caught Crevalle Jacks and Seatrout and jumped off a 40lb Tarpon. The water has been unseasonably warm so Tarpon are still in the feeding mode.

what we call a "gator Seatrout"

Lesli Rogers with a  nice Snook

Lesli with yet another Snook

Ray Rogers with a fine Snook on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Ray scored a big Redfish

Bonefish Trek rod is strong, sensitive and pack down to 4 pieces making them easy to travel with.

Captain Skip Nielsen