Captain Skip's Fox Sport Fishing Blog: sawfish

Showing posts with label sawfish. Show all posts

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Tarpon Season Shifts Into High Gear

Tarpon season is getting into high gear but we have been fishing for variety as well.

Stanley McJunkin and Jeff Turner fished 3 days and had very good fishing. Lots of Snook, Redfish and Tarpon to report. Jeff released a Tiger Shark and a couple Bull Sharks that gave the Tarpon Trek and Sailfish Trek rods a thorough workout. One of the Bulls' was around 300lbs. That is a great catch on a 4 piece spinning rod. The Diablo 750 spinning reels loaded with 50lb Fox braid handled the job. Stanley caught a big Goliath and a Mud Marlin and a few big Sharks as well. On one day the pair released over 30 Snook using Bonefish Trek rods and Diablo 350 spinning reels.

Fox sport fishing's 8 foot 4 piece Sailfish Trek rod and
Diablo 750 spin reel is an ideal combo for big Saltwater fish

Tarpon putting on a show for Jeff Turner

Stanley using a Tarpon Trek rod and Diablo 750 reel
on a jumping Spinner Shark

Stanley McJunkin wires Jeff Turner's first ever Tarpon

Lot of Bull for Jeff

Jeff Turner getting a release on one of his Tarpons

Goliath Grouper on a Tarpon Trek rod Diablo 750 spin reel
for Stanley

Mug Shot!

Stanley used a Fox Sport Fishing Boatrod XT fitted
with an EOS 50 Trolling reel to best this Mud Marlin

Jeff caught Snook, Tarpon and Reds for Backcountry Slams
2 days in a row

Jeff Turner and Stanley got into the Redfish

Stanley released over 20 Snook on this day using
the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

lots of Snook for Jeff Turner as well

I had Dr. Joanne Mahoney and Dr. Mark out on Friday. They released 25 Snook and then we caught a limit of tasty Mangrove Snapper. It was a slick calm day and the water was crystal clear. Jo released a feisty Red Grouper she sight-fished.

Mark holds a Snook for Dr. Mahoney on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Joanne Mahoney and Mark had a great day releasing over 25 Snook

Joanne spotted this Red Grouper on the bottom and lowered a
bait down and caught it on a Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

Mark's largest of the day caught on the Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

On Sunday I fished my wife Cyd. She released a Tarpon around 90lbs on her fly rod. We were poling amongst laid up Tarpon early in the morning. The tarpon were all around us and it was thrilling for Cyd to have one take her well presented fly.

Saturday evening Bryce Henderson fished with me. Right at sunset he hooked a huge Tarpon. This fight lasted well into the dark. I estimated this Tarpon at 175 plus. Easily the largest Tarpon beside my boat in the last couple of years. Congrats Bryce.

Bryce Henderson caught this Crevalle Jack while sunset Tarpon fishing

Bryce Henderson fought an est. 175lb Tarpon
well into the dark before getting a release

He used Fox Sport Fishing Tarpon Trek boat rod and EOS Trolling reel to make the catch.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Tarpon Are In The Mix

Tarpon are in the mix. Even though a couple vigorous cold fronts have pushed through the Keys fishing remains in the Spring phase.

Martin Chambers, a keen fly fisherman visiting from Colorado, fished with me this past Monday. We spent the morning poling edges of banks near Man-O -War key in the backcountry of Everglades National Park. We spotted numerous Sharks and a few Tarpon. No luck feeding any the fly though. At mid-morning we had solid cloud cover and opted to do a little blind casting along the edge of a channel. Martin was casting with a Fox Sport Fishing 12 weight fly rod. He came tight to a fish after 20 minutes of casting and the battle was on. Two quick jumps in the beginning so we knew for sure it was a huge Tarpon. After an hour fight with wild changes of direction and greyhound rolling and some great jumps Martin had his fish of a lifetime alongside my boat. congrats Martin.

Martin Chambers doing battle with the
12 weight Fox sport fishing Fly rod

end game

catch of a lifetime for Martin Chambers
using a Fox Sport Fishing Fly rod

back at the dock Martin with his
Fox Sport Fishing Fly rod and a replica Tarpon
that is much smaller than the one he released

During my next few trips this week we did not do any more fishing for Tarpon but had some pretty great light tackle catches.

Jim Magidson was using an ultralight Fox Rage rod fitted with a Diablo 350 spin reel when he did a great job of landing and releasing a large Red Grouper. Lance Schillizi used a Permit Trek 4 piece rod with a Diablo 550 spin reel with 20lb Horizon braid to catch and release a 150lb Sawfish. He was targeting a big Snook and fishing with a live pilchard for bait when the prehistoric fish took. These mud marlin are getting more and more numerous thanks to the outlawing of inshore gill netting in Florida state waters. We have one of the best inshore fisheries in the world if not the best thanks to the voters of Florida.

A little while later Lance , using the same outfit, caught and released a 30 lb Goliath Grouper. And then a nice Cobia. What a day for Lance.

Lance Schillizi and George Witts released
Goliath groupers and Sawfish while pursuing Snook

a quick release boatside

a big Red Grouper for Jim Magidson on a
Fox sport fishing Diablo 350 spinning reel

Friday David Curtis and friend Nate joined me. It was a mixed bag kind of day. Using Fox Sport Fishing Bonefish Trek rods and the invincible Diablo 350 spinning reels we caught Snook , Seatrout, Barracudas, Lemon Sharks and Crevalle Jacks for lots of action.

Nate's first Snook

Nate's first fishing trip to Islamorada
was a great experience

Nate with a Lemon Shark in the crystal clear
backcountry waters using a Permit Trek Diablo 550 combo

Dave Curtis with a really nice Snook on the
Bonefish Trek Diablo 350 combo

a fat Seatrout for Dave Curtis using the
BonefishTrek Diablo 350 combo

catching Barracuda on the flats was great
action for my anglers Dave and Nate

Some really great news here in Islamorada is that Rick Berry of Key Largo Rod Shop is now a dealer of Fox Sport Fishing Diablo spinning reels and has all three models in stock at his store at mile marker 82.5.
Go try one out for yourself. He is offering some great prices.I will be glad to show you the reels that I have been using for 4 years now. I have never had a gear or a handle break. And there is no anti-reverse springs to replace like in so many spinning reels. Stop on by Bud 'n' Marys marina in Islamorada and ask for me. I'll be glad to show you all my Fox Sport Fishing tackle and how I have it rigged.

Captain Skip Nielsen

Monday, 10 June 2013

Cliff and Cathy Fox with Freddy DuPreez - A Squally Fishing Report

This past week has been very tropical. Like in tropical moisture (rain) and also our first named storm of the year, Andrea. Cliff and Cathy Fox along with best friend Freddy DuPreez got very wet at times but we had good to excellent fishing for Tarpon. We were using the Diablo and EOS fishing reels and pulling hard on the Trek Travel Rod series, It was all good. Countless Sharks , 20 or so Tarpon and even a Cobia or 2 were released. Because of the off and on squalls we spent a few days fishing locally around the bridges. Catching the resident Tarpons was tough. The fish would head immediately around the pilings and weave in and out. Nerve racking for the boat driver and angler. Using the power of the Trek rods and my anglers fishing experience we lost very few fish to the bridge pilings.

We also had good action with 12 to 15lb Crevalle Jacks. Even had a large Barracuda demolish a Jack right next to the boat. On the nice days we fished over by Cape Sable. Lately a school of medium sized Tarpon have moved into that area and these fish were so much fun to catch. They jump a lot more than the bridge fish and since being mostly in the 50lb range we were able to take DNA samples for scientific research as well.

But over at the Cape there are many big Sharks. Bulls, Lemons, Spinners, Blacktips, Hammerheads and Nurse were brought alongside the boat for release. A couple big Sawfish were hooked but lost(maybe that was the plan), also Cathy had 2 Cobia released. They follow along with Sawfish and Rays much like Remoras do. We had memorable Tarpon fishing and the Fox Sport Fishing Trek Travel Rods and the bullet proof Diablo and EOS reels held up to all the big fish we could test them with.

Out of a couple hundred pictures I've sorted out a few of the good ones.

Captain Skip Nielsen