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

Backcountry Fishing

Backcountry Fishing really came alive this past week with cooling water temps.

Dr. Hugh Dennis used Fox Rage Ultra-light rods and Fox Sport Fishing Diablo spinning reels to release over 40 Snook. We even caught a few on a Fox 9 weight fly rod!
David Kubert and family fished on another day and at the start the water temp was in the low 60's, By afternoon it had warmed up to 66 degrees. After a couple dry spots we found the mother load. With 4 anglers it was wild. Snook , Redfish, Seatrout and Sheepshead were all huddled up together and made for an incredible 2 hours of fishing.

My anglers used Fox Sport Fishing Diablo 350 spinning reels and Bonefish Trek 4 piece rods and Rage light tackle rods.

Here are some pictures of the fun they all had.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Dr.Hugh Dennis released over 40 Snook

Fox Rage light rods and Fox Diablo spinning reels

Hugh Dennis used Fox Sport Fishing Rage light tackle on this Snook

its great fishing when the Snook are biting the Fly

the Kubert family released 30 Snook and 20 Redfish
using Fox Sport Fishing Tackle

Joe and John Kubert

lots of Sheepshead were in the mix

Patriarch DK released some big Snook

the bite was ON!!

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

Fishing Report November 11-15

With some cooler weather behind us and now a stretch of very calm winds the Reef fishing has been on Fire!

Cliff and Cathy Fox and Freddy DuPreez have been enjoying excellent "action fishing" the past few days. To make things even more fun the crew used a very light rod made by FOX Rage. As you will see in a few of the pictures these rods can take incredible punishment while pumping up big Red Groupers.

FOX Sport Fishing Diablo spinning reels are the toughest reels out there and I can not say enough of how well they hold up. We spent 2 days on the reef patches catching all sorts of species and one day in the backcountry on the gulf side enjoying a "hot" bite of Spanish Mackerel and Blacktip Sharks.

Here are some pictures of the variety we have been catching here in the Florida Keys using FOX Sport Fishing Tackle

Captain Skip Nielsen

Blacktip Shark

Cathy and Cliff had a great time fishing the reefs of Islamorada

Cathy catches a Blacktip Shark on her Special EOS 50 reel

Cathy with a Black Grouper

Cliff did an incredible job of keeping Groupers
out of the rocks with ultralight tackle

Cliff really put the pressure on 

Cliff used a Rage Ultralight rod and Diablo 350
to subdue some huge Red Groupers

Cliff with one of many Spanish Mackerel on very light tackle

for Ira and Richie it was Snapper City on the reef.

Freddy DuPreez caught his Red Grouper on
Fox Rage Ultralight rod and Diablo 350 spin reel

Freddy with a fine Spanish on the Rage rod and
Fox Sport Fishing Diablo 350 spinning reel

giant Cero Mackerel

Incredible strength (the Rage rod)

Ira Kanarich has fished with me since 1971. We are Old fishing buddies

Lane Snapper

multiples , once the action began it was non-stop

Mutton and Yellowtail Snapper on the dinner menu

say aghh

Spanish Mackerel season has begun

the eight foot long Sailfish Trek rod hard at work on another Blacktip Shark

Unique custom EOS 50 looks magnificent in Pink!

this Porgy matches the color scheme

we were surrounded by Blacktip Sharks after catching the mackerels

This is a world class Cero Mackerel.
It weighed 12 lbs and was captured by Richie Silver
on a Fox Bonefish Trek rod and Diablo