Captain Skip's Fox Sport Fishing Blog: Three Days Of Great Action

Annelies caught not only her first but
ended up with 6 Tarpon releases in
2 day of fishing.

Chester Brandes and his charming wife Annelies fished three days with me. After the hot Tarpon fishing we had had last week they were excited to give it a try. We headed out to the far backcountry but a big rainstorm was right where we wanted to go. Sometimes timing is everything. So we stopped mid way in the Transition Zone and did some light tackle action fishing. Annelies had barely wet a line in the past so this getting acquainted with spinning tackle ect really primed her for what was to come later in the day. Ladyfish, Gag Grouper, Seatrout and a nice mess of Mangrove Snapper were caught. We used Bonefish Trek travel rod fitted with the 350 Diablo reel.

I could see the clouds evaporating by about 10 am so we ventured on towards Cape Sable. We got lucky and came across an area with flipping mullet and muddy water caused by the mullet feeding on the bottom and clouding it up. A couple throws of the castnet and we were ready to go. It was perfect, after a rainy morning it was cool , overcast and slick calm. The Tarpon were rolling with an occasional freejumper. Annelies now was using the Fox sport fishing 8' four piece Sailfish Trek rod fitted with a Diablo 750. She had graduated to the next level.

It did not take long for lady luck to work her magic. Annelies went 4 for 4 on fifty pound Tarpon in the next few hours. Chester did well himself with 2 released. Pretty amazing. Not only her first ever Tarpon but 4 and she was loving it. And I may add there was somewhat of a competitive spirit there....

A Goliath Grouper was a change
of pace during the hot
Tarpon fishing

Day 2 was bright and sunny and the breeze had picked up. We spent the morning at First National Bank action fishing. It was alive with birds, bait and feeding fish. We had loads of fun with the usual variety of light tackle gamesters. Today we went to lighter tackle and used the Rage 185 Ultralight rods fitted with Diablo 350's. Big fun!

Now of course Chester and Annelies wanted another go at the Tarpon. Today was a different day and they were not hungry. But we had plenty of action with Blacktip and Blacknose Sharks and Chester caught and released a fat Goliath Grouper which he caught on the Sailfish Trek Diablo 750 combo. We tried another channel and a few more Shark before heading home.

Chester finished out the trip with this
Snook. He had released a Redfish and
a Tarpon earlier in the day giving
him a West Coast Grandslam

Day 3, Spent some time catching pinfish and pilchards and mullet. With the baitwells full we headed over towards Cape Sable. The wind had died out and we were going to give the Snook a try. But on the way saw a freejumping Tarpon. That immediately changed the gameplan. Chester and Annelies released 3 Tarpon and had 7 takes. We used Permit Trek rods and Diablo 550 reels for this action. These outfits are medium sized and make catching 20 to 50lb Tarpon a real thrill. But of course a couple of hefty sharks jumped on the baits which made for some tough work.

After that we tried the Snook. Slow at the first 2 spots but Chester came up with a nice Redfish and Annelies did get a Snook. Now we needed a Snook for Chester so he could complete a west coast florida grand slam. At our very last stop Chester caught a really big Snook. Congrads .

These folks have already booked their fishing dates for next May.

Captain Skip Nielsen