July 8th through 10th Fishing Report

David Kubert and Steve Kost joined my for 3 days of fishing.

Steve Kosh caught this big Lemon Shark on the
Boat rod XT EOS 30 combo at the same river mouth

The wind was up from the South east so I decided to take a long ride around the backside of Cape Sable and do some exploring and be able to fish in the lee. The river mouths were alive with bait fish. Spanish Mackerel were feeding actively on the small bait fish. I rigged up a Bonefish Trek fly rod and David and Steve caught 20 Spanish on fly. When we arrived we had lost a big Snook to a shark so I rigged up a Fox Sport Fishing XT Boat rod fitted with an EOS Trolling reel with a wire trace and baited it with mackerel. It took about 10 seconds for a hungry Lemon Shark to inhale the mack. We caught several up to 8 feet in length. While having a little lunch we loosened the clutch and put the rod in a rod holder with the bait right a boat-side. A big boil and take and 20 minutes later a 150lb Goliath Grouper. We were anchored in 6 feet of murky water. What a surprise.

David was surprised when he landed this Goliath
Grouper while fishing for a shark at a river mouth

On the way back we stopped along the western edges of First National Bank. That is a shallow area between Sandy Key and the mainland. With a chumbag out and castnetting Ballyhoo for bait we had non-stop action with Snapper, Trout, Ladyfish and Crevalle Jacks. Steve used the Fox 9 weight flyrod and David used a Rage 185 Ultralight rod with a Diablo 350 spinning reel. Lots of fun.

David had fun with Spanish Mackerel using a
Fox sportfishing 9 weight Trek Flyrod

Steve Kosh had fun catching Ladyfish
on the Fox 9 weight Trek flyrod

Day 2 dawned slick calm. I was thinking Tarpon today. On the way out we sabbikeed pinfish and pilchards for live bait. We also threw the castnet and loaded up with live mullet as well. This took time but its "all about the bait" as I like to say. We rigged up Permit Trek rods fitted with Diablo 550 reels with bobbers and circle hooks. Using live pinfish off Cape Sable we were into Tarpon all morning. Steve also jumped a couple off on a Fox 12 weight flyrod and a Fox Cellmax flyreel.

David Kubert on a Tarpon with the Diablo 750 Sailfish  Trek combo.
This is one Happy Man

Foxsportfishing Tackle  lands another Tarpon

The action slowed around 11 am and we had 5 released Tarpon. I moved to a channel and we fished the mullet for bait. Now since we were fishing bottom I rigged Sailfish Trek rods and Diablo 750 reels just in case we hooked  some really large fish. The Tarpon were biting here as well. Most of these fish were in the 30 to 70 lb range. Not the giants of April, May and June but much more active jumping wise. 5 more releases by 1pm. Lets try something different. I could not believe the  Tarpon bite today. So staking up on a bank and chumming up small pilchards which we castnetted we then ran back towards Flamingo where we still had a good tide. Fishing the moats around Frank and Palm Keys we caught several Snook and yet another Tarpon making it 11 releases for the day. Steve and David used the Bonefish and Rage Ultralight rods and did a great job of pulling the fish away from the Mangrove roots.

so much action and the Foxsportfishing rods and reels are always dependable

this one almost came in the boat

using a Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550 spinning reel
David gets major air from his Tarpon

on July 9 David Kubert and Steve Kosh released 11
Tarpon using Foxsportfishing Trek rods and Diablo reels

Day 3 was a short 1. Steve had left the night before so it was just David Kubert. We fished at Murray Key first and caught a nice Snook then moved to a nearby channel. Deploying yesterday's mullet David caught a 90lb Tarpon along with several sharks. In between big fish David casted a Rage 185 Ultralight rod and released Seatrout and Snapper. Day after day and fish after fish the Fox sportfishing Travel rods and Diablo reels never miss a beat.

Steve Kosh with a jumper

Steve Kosh did an excellent job of keeping this Snook out of
the trees using the Bonefish Trek rod fitted with a Diablo 350 spinning

Captain Skip Nielsen