Great Variety For First Timers

I fished the Annis family on July 4 and 6 and we had a great time as you can see by the photos. Bob, son Bobby and friend Nolan and wife Pam used Fox Sport Fishing tackle to catch plenty of variety and some big Grouper and Sharks. It was their first time fishing the Florida Keys and will not be their last. The four and five piece Travel rods were a big hit with them.

Bob and Nolan releasing a Goliath Grouper caught on a
 Fox Trek Boat XT and the new EOS 50 Trolling reel

Bob Annis with a nice Snook caught on a Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Bobby and Nolan had big fun catching Sharks on the
EOS reels and Trek Boat XT rod

Bobby Annis gets in on the Goliath Grouper
action with the EOS 50 Trek Boat XT combo

Nolan and Bobby with the makings
of a Mangrove Snapper dinner

Pam Annis was thrilled to catch this Snook on the
Fox sport fishing Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Seatrout were mixed in with the Snook

Captain Skip Nielsen

Casey's First Sailfish Tournament

Wow, The last 2 days have been rough, Six to eight foot seas. There were times when I almost turned around and said it isn't fun and almost dangerous. But young Casey Blakey is a sailor and a very patient angler.

At the end of the 3 day tournament Casey had released 7 Sailfish which garnered him 2nd place in the junior division. The highpoint for us was on day 3 when Casey managed a double header of Sailfish totally unassisted. We were drifting in 20 to 25 knot winds gusting to 30. Downwind of the boat we flew a kite with 2 blue runners suspended off it for bait. On the upwind side we drifted live ballyhoo.

Bill and Casey with the
Permit Trek rods and Diablo 550 spinning reels

For kite rods we used the EOS 30 reels and the rod was the Tarpon Spincast. A wonderful combo that I use for many different fishing situations. The reel held over 500 meters of 12lb test monofilament. Thank goodness.

Casey used the EOS 30 conventional reel
paired with the Tarpon Spincast as his kite rod

We watched a Sail eat the short kite bait and as Casey reeled down the slack and hooked him another sail ate one of the ballyhoo on the spinning rod. Casey flipped the bail shut as we went ahead and was hooked up to his first ever double header. It got pretty exciting. Casey had to put the kite rod in the rod holder and do battle on the Permit Trek/Diablo 550 as it had less line capacity. Casey also loosened the drag on the EOS so the line would'nt break as the fish took over 350 meters of line. We managed to release both Sails and Casey did a heck of a job as a couple waves washed over the bow and thru the boat.

Casey won second place junior angler with 7 releases

So all in all we had a good tournament and young Casey can't wait for the next one.

Congratulations to Casey and all the winners.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Islamorada Sailfish Tourney report December 2, 2011

A quick story. Slow morning, Caught our Ballyhoo easily enough but no curent and sails were slow. We caught 3 Dolphin fish, a few boats were picking at the Sailfish.

At 1pm we hooked up a double header and because my main angler is 14 years old I had opted to use Permit Trek rods paired with 550 Diablos spooled with 12lb monofilament. Somehow we caught and released  both Sailfish. We were down to the knot on an empty spool but after a back and forth battle young Casey got his to the boat first then his dad Bill released his Sail soon after.

Dad Bill Blakey fighting 1 of a double header of Sailfish

Casey just about to release his Sailfish

In the next couple hours Casey caught and released 2 more Sails giving us 4 releases for the day.

The Permit Trek rods and DIablo reels worked great except we could have used another 100 meters of line. Should be using the Diablo 750's but Casey had his hands full with what we used.

There was quite a bite in the afternoon. Three boats have 7 releases . Four boats with 5 and us with 4. We are fishing a center console 30' Regulator. A good seaboat. Winds were 20+ knots out of the northeast and it was rough to say the least. I am including a picture of one of charter boats fishing. The high tower really helps spot the sails. But we are tough. No deckhands and towers on our boat Just a lot of heart.

Charterboat Catch 22 backing down on a Sailfish

We have 2 more days left. Hope we continue to catch fish.

For tournament standings go to http://www.islamoradasailfishtournament.com/

Captain Skip Nielsen