Fox Sport Fishing Catch Report - 28th July 2011

MIke and Scott Evans joined Stanley Mcjunkin today along with Mike Porterfield. Mike and Scott have a big farm in Kansas and Stanley does a little hunting on their property and wanted to show the father and son some Keys Fishing. We used Foxy Lady  a 22ft bay boat which is ideal for groups of 3 and 4 anglers.

The wind was up but bait was plentiful, Live pilchards and small ballyhoo and pinfish.

We spent the first 3 hours in an area I call the transition zone, The Gulf of Mexico meets Florida Bay and it is an area of huge grass beds in 6ft of water, With our chum and live bait in no time at all we were catching fish.

Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo reels did a great job
for my crew all morning action fishing

Seatrout, Mangrove Snapper, Spanish Mackerel, Ladyfish, Crevalle Jack and Catfish kept me hopping baiting up my 4 anglers. We used Bonefish Trek rods and Fox Rage Ultralight rods paired with Diablo 350 spinning reels and Fox Horizon 10lb braid line.

We probably caught and released a hundred fish. We kept a couple mackerel and a dozen or so ladyfish for our afternoon fishing.

Ron and Scott Evans had a blast using the Fox Rage Ultralight rods
paired with Diablo 350 reels for light tackle action

At one o'clock we moved over to Cape Sable just off the beach where I had been doing a lot of Tarpon fishing last week, We had seen numerous sharks in the area and that is what we were looking to catch this afternoon. As the tide switched and the water started moving to the west with the wind the sea conditions calmed.

Ron used the EOS 50 to catch 6 Sharks to 250lbs

Lemon Sharks have double dorsal fins

The action began after about 20 minutes of soaking baits, We caught and released a dozen sharks, 3 Lemon Shark, 7 Blacktips and 2 NurseShark.

Mike and Scott enjoy a double header of Sharks using
EOS Fox trolling reels and Trek travel rods

Mike Porterfield's Blacktip Shark scowl

The last fish of the day was a HUGE surprise. Scott Evans was using an EOS 30 reel on a Trek XT Boat rod and kept losing line on a big fish, I thought maybe he had foul hooked a shark. With the strong current he was steadily losing line so we dropped the anchor buoy and gave chase. One hour into the battle we were able to get our first look, A Goliath Grouper. The biggest I have seen in the last few years, I estimated this fish at 350 to 400lbs. Scott had Fox 50lb Horizon Braid and really had to put the pressure on but it still took another half hour before we could get the leader and take a picture.

Scott Evans fought an estimated 350lb Goliath Grouper for over an hour

Scott used the EOS 30 Fox reel and the Trek XT boat
rod to best this giant fish

Stanley Mcjunkin release's giant Goliath  Grouper caught by Scott Evans

The pictures do not really show how big this fish really is, It was truly a monster. Congratulations to Scott Evans for a great job of angling and Fox Tackle for giving us such a great rod, reel and line.

Captain Skip Nielsen