Using Fox Sport Fishing Trek Travel Rods & Diablo Combos

Fishing in the Florida Keys offers so many options. During the last couple of weeks we have gone from fishing the Gulf Stream, Florida Bay, the Creeks and back bays of Everglades National Park by canoe, and the Gulf of Mexico wrecks to the Patch Reefs of Hawks Channel.

Meanwhile we have had a prolonged stretch of unseasonably warm weather which has brought early migrating schools of big Tarpon into the lakes and channels. Fly fisherman enjoyed excellent Tarpon fish the last week. A 154 lber was taken on fly by a lady angler. It is a pending IGFA record for 12lb tippet.

But that may be changing this morning. Winds have shifted to the north west and temps will be dropping the next few days. So it isn't quite springtime yet. Fishing last week with friends Rick Peper, John Morrell, my doctor, Joanne Mahoney and my wife, Cyd, we fished offshore for Sailfish. We caught some nice Blackfin Tuna's, Little Tunny and a Sailfish. Usually we fish heavier tackle but this season I have been using the Permit Trek 4 piece travel rods and Diablo 550 spinning reels. Using center console boats its easy to turn and go after the fish if losing too much line. The Permit Trek rods are amazingly light but super tough. I spool the Diablo 550's with 20lb Horizon super braid and there is plenty of line being the diameter of the braid is so thin.

Rick Peper and Skip with a Little Tunny about to be released.
Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo was the tackle it was caught on

Rick Peper about to release a Sailfish using
Fox Sport Fishing Permit Trek 4  piece travel rod
and Diablo 350 spin reel

John Morrell with a Blackfin Tuna he
caught on the Permit Trek 4 piece travel rod
fitted with a Diablo 550 spin reel

John Morrell fighting a Blackfin Tuna on the
Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo

beautiful colors in this Sailfish along side the boat

We fished a one day charity tournament and Cyd caught the heaviest Tuna, 18.2lbs, using the Permit Trek/Diablo 550 combo and received a beautiful hand carved jewellery box as a prize.

Dr.Joanne Mahoney and Cyd Nielsen
admire the winning Tuna

Dr. Joanne Mahoney fighting a Blackfin Tuna on light
tackle Permit Trek rod and Diablo 550 spin reel

On one of the cooler days Dr. Hugh Dennis and I took a canoe piggy backed on the skiff over to Cape Sable for the day. We unloaded the canoe and paddled deep into the swamp following tidal creeks. Using a Bonefish Trek travel rod fitted with a Diablo 350 spinning reel Hugh released 18 Snook to 9 lbs and a Tarpon. We saw loads of baby Tarpon but they were not feeding on this day. Lots of Crocodiles and incredible bird life. We never saw another boat all day.

Hugh catching a young Tarpon from the canoe on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Dr.Hugh Dennis had a fantastic day releasing 18 Snook
and a Tarpon on Bonefish Trek travel rods and Diablo 350 spin reels

big  snook for Dr. Hugh Dennis while canoe fishing deep in the 'glades

Then day before yesterday Dick Alt and Bob Leef joined me for the day. Dick wanted some big Sharks and since the seas were flat we headed out to the Gulf of Mexico after loading up with live bait.

Arriving at the spot we saw schools of herring getting busted up. We started catching Spanish Mackerel right away then Bob hooked a fish that almost dumped the Diablo 350 of line. That turned out to be a 20lb King Mackerel. Nice catch on the Bonefish Trek rod. We switch up to Permit Trek rods and live pilchards for bait and ended up catching 4 more of the over sized King Macks. The biggest was 35lbs. In between Dick caught and released 2 big Bull Sharks using the 7' Tarpon Trek spinning rod and Diablo 750 reel. He told me, "you've made me a very happy man today". Bob also released a nice Cobia that had been following one of the Bulls.

Bob Leef used a Bonefish Trek and Diablo 350 spin reel
to catch a hefty King Mackerel

Bull Shark for Dick Alt on a Tarpon Trek travel rod 
and Diablo 750 spin reel

Bull Shark

Dick Alt and Bob Leef fished the gulf today with Fox Sport Fishing tackle
and caught 5 smoker King macks with captain Skip Nielsen

Yesterday Dr. Hugh was back out with me and we hit the Patch Reefs and had excellent action with Yellowtail Snapper and Mangrove Snapper. Hugh also had some big battles with Grouper on the Bonefish Trek/Diablo 350 combos.

using Bonefish Trek travel rods and Diablo 350 spin reels 
Dr.Hugh  Dennis caught a dozen Yellowtail and
6 Mangrove Snapper and more

Dr. Hugh will be eating plenty of Mangrove Snappers

a colourful Nassau Grouper from the patch reefs with Hugh Dennis

We spent a couple hours after that trying for a Sailfish. We had a couple sightings but no hook-ups.

Soon I'll be fishing every day and chasing Tarpon. At the end of this week we are off to the Exuma's in the Bahamas for some Fly Bonefishing. I'll be taking my Fox Sport Fishing 9 weight fly rods with me for sure and a Bonefish Trek travel rod to catch a little dinner on the reefs.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Backcountry & Reef Fishing in 2 Days

Jim Magidson and his buddy Rob joined me fishing this past week. Thursday morning was iffy, very dark skies and a fairly brisk north wind. We decided to run across Florida Bay and fish creeks along the mainland. The fishing was ok.. We released 8 Snook and a few Redfish. Leaving the mainland we stopped about halfway back and found lots of action with Mangrove Snapper and Ladyfish. The recent cold had concentrated the snapper around an island. It was an amazing sight to see such a big school of fish. Fishing with FOX Rage rods and Diablo spinning reels made it even more fun. For the Snook we used Bonefish Trek rods. For a day with no sun and some rain we made the best of it.

Jim Magidson and Rob

Rob with a nice Snook caught on FOX Sport Fishing tackle

Snook action was fun for Jim Magidson on ultra light tackle

Day 2 was a very different day. Light winds and bright sunshine and temps in the low 80's. We decided to explore the patch reefs. Lots of Grouper were released along with loads of juvenile Mutton Snapper. We kept some Yellowtail and Lane Snapper for dinner. Yum. We released 5 Red Grouper that in season would have been keepers (over 20 inches). Using FOX Sport Fishing Bonefish Trek and FOX Rage Ultralight rods on these fish is unbelievable action. Most folks use a lot heavier tackle on grouper.

Rob's big Red Grouper

a nice Black Grouper for Rob on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Grouper are out of season but plenty of other fish
like this Lane Snapper were caught for dinner

Jim landed the Red Grouper after an up and down battle

Jim Magidson preferred using the FOX Rage light tackle for his fishing

Jim puts the stops on a big Red Grouper

Rob caught a big Grouper on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Later in between spots on a white sandy bottom we spotted a huge Stingray. This ray had a school of Cobia tagging along and we casted jigheads tipper with live shrimp ahead of the ray and as the baits sank the Cobia swam up and took the baits. We released a couple and kept a 17lber for the table. That was big fun on the Bonefish trek rods.

Jim used a Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo on this Cobia

Rob and Jim Magidson caught Cobia to 17lb on
4 piece Bonefish Trek travel rods

finding a big Stingray with a Posse of Cobia following
was a super bonus for an action packed day

So 2 very different days in the Florida Keys fishing. Thats what makes it so much fun for me. So many options.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Busman's Holiday

my favorite sunset shot

What does a fishing guide do when he has too much time off? Well he does what he loves, he goes fishing.
My wife Cyd joined me on a camping trip this past weekend. We tied a canoe onto my skiff along with our trusty Fox Sport Fishing Trek travel rods and our Diablo spinning reels, a tent, some supplies and we headed across Florida Bay headed for Cape Sable over on the mainland in Everglades National Park. We stopped at the mouth of one of the creeks that is posted with a sign saying "no motors allowed". There we unloaded the canoe and put together our rods and reels and headed up the creek. It has been really cold for south Florida and the air temp was in the 50's F. And the water temp was 59F. The first thing that got our attention was the Crocodile's. It was just a little scary paddling past at least 20 of them in the first stretch. I think they were gathered up because of the cold weather. Fortunately our crocs are pretty timid compared to the species in Africa and Australia.

packed up and ready for adventure

plenty of Crocs around

We saw baby Tarpon rolling and I released 3 of them. Great fun. We released a lot of Snook and Seatrout and numerous Ladyfish and Crevalle Jacks. A great start. At 3 pm we loaded the canoe back on my skiff and headed on to middle cape sable beach and set up our tent. With a nice breeze out of the north we had a bug free evening.

5 Tarpon were released

Crevalle Jack

Cyd admires her Snook

Cyd caught the largest Redfish on a
FOX Rage light tackle rod and Diablo 350 reel

the smile says it all

busman's holiday for me

On day 2 we went to another creek and paddled for a mile or so before fishing. We were not finding much so kept on going and found the entrance to a large bay. Here was the honey hole we had been looking for. All the Redfish and Snook you wanted to catch and release. What  a blast.  We did some more exploring and found 2 more similar spots. On the way back out Cyd released 2 Tarpon giving her a double backcountry slam. Snook, Redfish and Tarpon oh my.

sunrise at cape sable

on day 2 we paddled way in and found a hole full of Redfish

Bonefish Trek 4 piece travel rod and Diablo 350 spinning reels
are super tough outfits that get the job done

just another Snook

Sheepshead

the fishing was amazing

Our Diablo 350 spinning reels performed flawlessly as did our Bonefish Trek rods. Thanks for making such great travel easy tackle Fox Sport Fishing.

does it get any better than this

Back at camp the wind died off and it got slick calm. An incredible sunset . We had to get a fire going because the mosquitos and no-seeums came out of the woods and swarmed us. With wood smoke and deet we survived but camping in the Everglades is not for everyone.

Captain Skip Nielsen