Saturday, June 1, 2013

Here Fishy Fishy!

If you say it, they will come.  Here fishy fishy!  People ask me "does that really work?"  To that I respond "It sure does, I say it every day!"  A good friend and client of mine Mr Dennis Wright is a regular user of this phrase and it works for him every time.  He will be here in a couple weeks to perform his magic fishy chant.  I can't wait to see the results.
 
Tarpon season has about one month to go and it's been a great one!  The evening tarpon bite has made many tarpon fishermen very happy.  One of the happiest is another good friend/client of mine Mr Jerry Graber.  Jerry accomplished what I have never witnessed before.  He landed an amazing 5 out of 5 drag screaming, head shaking, rocket launch jumping, swiming under the boat, around the boat TARPON!!!  Yes, 5 hooked and 5 landed tarpon.  Not small fish either!  He landed a 40, 50, 80, 90 and a 100 pounder...all in one evening tarpon trip(about 3 hours of tarpon fishing)!  For those of you who have never been tarpon fishing this may not seem to be such a great feat.  But for those who have caught tarpon..you know how difficult it is just to land ONE.  The average hook to catch ratio is about 1 tarpon caught for every 2 or 3 hooked.  Great job Jerry!  The tarpon have been averaging 100-130 pounds for the last month or so.  We landed a monster 180 pounder two eveings ago.  The great evening tarpon action should continue through June and into early July.
 
The trout and snapper bite coninues to be excellent and it's what you want to do if you are looking for some table fair.  They are plentiful, fun to catch and are great to eat!
 
Sharks are plentiful this time of year and I always have the gear ready for anyone who wants to do battle with JAWS.  Blacktips, Lemons and Bull Sharks are the majority of what we catch and they range in size from smaller 15 pounders up to the monster 300 pounders.  We caught a 90 pound blacktip yesterday and I had a young 12 year old man aboard a few days ago who landed an 80 pound lemon shark.  His biggest fish ever!  Nick Sabol invited his dad out for the first time with me a few weeks ago.  He caught a monster 300 pound Bull shark.  Nice catch Joe!  The sharks should be here, in force, until we get our first cold snap in November.  A cold snap for us is 65 degrees :)
 
Snook and redfish are on the flats right now and will be throughout the fall.  This is one of my favorite times to catch them on artificial lures.  I like to throw swim baits, spoons, jerk baits and a variety of Berkley gulps.  Site fishing or blind casting the flats and shorelines are producing some good numbers and nice size fish.  The reds are running from 2-7 pounds and the snook 2-12 pounds. 
 
There is always something biting in the Keys.  So, come on down and lets go fishing!  Don't forget the Magic phras HERE FISHY FISHY!!!!!
 
As always, thanks for reading,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone: (305) 393-1641
 
 
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Saturday, March 9, 2013

Time for a Fishing Report

How's the Fishing?  Well..let me tell you.....The fishing is great!  Islamorada is known as "The Fishing Capital of the World".  That's a pretty big reputation to maintain.  The reason it is called "The Fishing Capital of the World" is because we have such a diverse fishery here...there is always something biting and there are sooo many different species you can "target".  In the backcountry you have tarpon, redfish, snook, trout, snapper, shark...etc etc...and on the offshore side you have sailfish, king mackerel, amberjack, dolphin (mahi-mahi), snapper..etc etc...  That is just to list a few!  How many other places in the world can you find this diversity???? 
 
I still get asked "How's the weather gonna be?" or "I heard the weather is going to be bad - what do you think?"  The best answer I have to this question is "There are only 2 types of weather...whether you are going fishing or whether you are not.  I have been out on the windiest, coldest, nastiest weather days and had some of the best fishing and I have been out on some of the nicest, calmest, sunniest beautiful weather days and had tough fishing...and visa versa. 
 
Not knowing what's going to happen is one of the reasons fishing is so much fun...you never know exactly what it's going to be...any day could be that banner day...where you catch that trophy or get into a school of big bruisers...crankin em in one after the other.  You could be fishing for trout and have a monster tarpon eat your lure...WOW!! That just happened to us last week.  We hooked up with a 100 pound plus tarpon while fishing for trout on a medium action spinning rod!!! Very exciting...chasing around a monster tarpon that is flying out of the water and screaming line off the reel.  Fun fun fun....and you never know what you will hook into next.  Tarpon in a trout hole, redfish in a snook spot, snook in a snapper hole or maybe even a 21 pound permit in a snapper hole!!!  What?? - you say that could never happen.  Well, that is exactly what happened.   About a month ago a group from Michigan was down and we were catching snapper for their dinner and WHAM a 21 pound permit took the bait and we were off to the races ..chasing him for a good 20 minutes.  Got him in the boat for pictures, weight and released him to fight again. 
 
The trout, snapper, redfish and black drum are biting well right now.  We are in the very beginning of our tarpon season.  They should be showing up in big numbers over the next few weeks as our temperatures increase.  We are getting a few nice snook, some triple tail, pompano, mackerel and sharks too.  The tarpon season is just about here and I expect it to be another great one!!
 
The fishing is always good here and even on a slow day...you will still catch more fish then almost anywhere else in the world.  When the fishing is great..it is unmatched anywhere!!!  Come on down and experience the fabulous fishing and beauty of our area.  
 
Thanks for reading,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone: (305) 393-1641
 
 
 
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