Fish Bites

It may be wintertime in most of North America - but it's basically springtime here in South Florida.  Mid to upper 70's during the day and 60's at night - beautiful weather - and the fish are bite-in!! 

 

Andy from Michigan found out the hard way why we call 'em snapper down here.  He got his finger a little too close to the mouth of a mangrove snapper and "Ouuuch" this fish Bites!!  Yep, Andy - that's why they call 'em snapper. 

 

In the last few weeks we've been catching lot's of redfish, trout and snapper.  Some really nice spanish mackerel out west of Everglades National Park with some trout, snapper, pompano and a few triple tail in the mix.  The snook fishing has been pretty good the last few trips.  Andy from Michigan felt the furry of the savvy snook.  He landed 3 or 4 snook up to 5 pounds and lost a couple in the mangroves.  They love to scream off the drag and get you into those bushes!  

 

The tarpon season is right around the corner and I've seen a few of the big monsters swimming around lately.  They are already starting to show up and I've got the heavy gear all lubed up and ready.  The peak time for tarpon is generally mid April through Mid July - but I start catching some nice size fish (30-70 pounders) in the early part of March.

 

So, if your tired of looking at the snow and ice - or you just want to do some fishing.  Come on down to South Florida.  The weather is beautiful and the fish are biting!

 

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Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com

Reds are Still Rollin

Is it normal to catch a redfish on almost every cast?  The redfish continue to be one of the main target species this winter.  Some of my spots are filled with them.  Literally hundreds of them and they are hungry!  They are eating shrimp, gulp shrimp and yes, they are even eating the fly.  Drop a small weighted clouser in the hole and wham - redfish. 

 

The last few days have produced lots and lots of redfish, some good size sheepshead up to 5 pounds and some nice trout.  The spanish mackerel bite has been very good out west with some snapper, jacks, ladyfish and trout in the mix. 

 

The redfish are the really big story this year.  Last winter was super cold.  We had a fish kill worse than anyone had seen in a lifetime.  The snook, baby tarpon, bonefish, jacks, snapper, grouper and even some sharks where severely affected.  Almost all of these species that got caught in the shallow backcountry waters died.  Yes, the shorelines were filled with thousands of dead fish.  From Tampa to the Florida Keys, February 2010 will forever be remembered as one of the biggest fish kills in Florida history.  But - with every bad comes something good.  The redfish can handle the severe temperature drop.  They had a normal spawn in 2010 and because there were far less predatory fish (snook, baby tarpon, jacks) to eat the fry and fingerling reds - the population exploded.  This last summer of 2010 these newly spawned reds were averaging 12-14 inches.  Now they are averaging 15-18 inches.  We are still catching some larger reds in the mix - but the big numbers we're catching are from the great spawn last year.  By spring 2011, I expect these fish to be 18-22 inches on average and another great spawn to produce even more great redfishing. 

 

The trout also can handle the temperature drop and are still around in great numbers.  The majority of our snapper migrated out to the deep water wrecks and reefs.  They have returned to the backcountry in good numbers as well.  The migratory tarpon were unaffected - as they were in the warmer waters of the Caribbean during the cold snap.  In fact, last tarpon season (April- July 2010) was one of the best I have ever seen.   We caught tarpon almost every evening with several 3 and 4 fish catches.  To catch 3 or 4 -100 pound plus tarpon in a 4 hour evening trip is a great feet.  You are pretty much catching a fish from the moment you put a line in until we head back to the dock.  I look for this years tarpon season to be as good or better.

 

Another good thing to come from last years fish kill is - there are more crabs, shrimp, pinfish and all other kinds of baitfish.  So, with more bait in the area, the fish have more to eat and will grow faster and stay in feeding areas longer.  Bigger fish to come and easier to find.  I can't wait for this years upcoming fishing - it should be great!  Give me a call and - LETS GO FISHIN!

 

   

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com

Cast and You Shall Recieve

The redfish population has exploded!  Yesterday we caught 30-40 redfish in about two hours.  Not only were the redfish biting - but mixed in with the reds we landed over 20 big trout, several very nice size mangrove snapper and hooked into 2 drag screaming snook (we landed one 6 pounder and lost an even bigger one)!  Wow!  All in one spot.  It was literally throw the line in the water and catch a fish.  Did I mention - we only fished for about 2 hours!

 

The action had been good all week - but the cold front Sunday had the bite a little slower earlier in the week.  Fishing was very good on Monday and Tuesday - Stu and Stu Frazer from Michigan got into 8-10 reds, some nice trout and limited out on some big mangrove snapper on Monday - and it was COLD.  The high was around 46 degrees and the wind was 15-25mph.  The Robinson family had great fishing Tuesday - duplicating Mondays catch.  Wednesday got a little better - Then the weather started to warm up.  The water started to warm and the fish turned on - big time - yesterday afternoon.  Mike Chapin from the Chicago area caught a fish nearly every cast.  He landed his first Backcountry Slam (redfish, trout, snook) and has a soar arm, a permanent smile and some great photos to prove it.  Days like this will be remembered for a lifetime.

 

These fish are in their winter patterns.  They are concentrated in the deeper holes, pockets and near the creek mouths and run offs.  The run-offs are where the water runs off the flat during a low/falling tide situation and it looks like a small stream running into the main channel.  The shrimp run with the falling tide and all predators are waiting for a good shrimp dinner.  They ambush the shrimp as they run with the water flow off the flats and into the deeper holes and pockets.  If you locate the right spot the action can be hot and heavy all day - hammer time!

 

The weather looks beautiful here for the next week.  Mid 70's and no snow!  The fishing should be great.  Give me a call and LETS GO FISHIN!!!!

 

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com

December Keys Fishing

The mangrove snapper bite was on fire yesterday.  Shelly and Dennis were down from NJ and they slayed the fish.  We got into some nice redfish to start the day, then headed out for trout.  The speckled sea trout were biting well - with some really good size fish - but the trout are out of season until January 1st.  Shelly and Dennis wanted some fish for dinner, so we headed to one of my mangrove snapper holes.  The snapper bite was crazy.  We couldn't keep a line in the water for more than a few seconds and WHAM another big snapper.  These mangrove snapper are real fighters and great fun to catch on light tackle.  Not only are they a great fight - but they are one of the best eating fish.   The longer we fished the bigger the snapper got.  We caught well over 100 fish and kept a limit of some really nice 2-3 pound snapper.

 

The weather has been beautiful the last few days - sunny, highs around 75 degrees and light wind.  The water was like glass as we headed for the backcountry.  Cruising deep into Everglades National Park, it was hard to tell where the water ended and sky begins.   A perfect day for a boat ride and good rod bending.

 

We returned just before sunset.  I filleted the fish and they headed to their favorite restaurant for a few drinks and a fresh fish dinner.  I doesn't get much better than that. 

 

This is a good time of year to target redfish, trout, snapper, black drum, sheepshead, spanish mackerel and the warmest weather in the country.  It looks like January is going to be a cold one, but it's warmer in the Keys.  Come on down for some fabulous fishin!!

 

 

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com

Too Windy??

Is it too windy to go fishing?  I get asked that question a lot.  This last weekend was the first big cold front to come through the Keys this fall.  It was blowing 25 to 35mph and the temperature went from a balmy 82 degrees to 59 degrees overnight.  Yikes!!!  All the books I read say - don't even bother fishing today!  Well - I say - you don't know until you go!!

 

We slayed the fish this weekend - over 50 redfish on Saturday, several black drum, some nice mangrove snapper and a few good trout.  O.K. this was just the first day of the cold front.  The water temperature had only come down about 8 degrees.  Sunday will be the real test.  The weather was just as bad or worse on Sunday.   Still blowing, just as cold and the water temperature was down another 8-10 degrees.  We murdered 'em on Sunday.  We caught over 30 redfish - several fish in the 4 to 6 pound range.  We landed 15 to 20 black drum from 3 to 10 pounds, several big mangrove snapper up to 3 pounds, sheepshead from 2 to 5 pounds and 3 beautiful snook from 4-7 pounds!!  Monday the fishing was red hot too.  On a half day trip we boated several snook up to 7 pounds, 2 sheepshead in the 5 pound range, about 20 reds and several nice mangrove snapper.  Wow!  I sure wouldn't want to be the guy who didn't want to go fishing because it was too windy and cold. 

 

In general, when it is windy and cold the fishing can be tough.  But in our area, the Florida Bay, the first big cold front of the Fall can mean great fishing.  The wind blows strong out of the north and that pushes a large portion of the water out of the Florida Bay.  Many of the flats are bone dry (no water) - that pushes all the fish that were previously swimming the flats into the deeper water holes.  It concentrates the fish.   So, if you can find the hole that these fish have gather in - you can find some great fishing.  Another key element during a cold front is the shrimp run.  So, we have no water on the flats, fish concentrated in the deep pockets and shrimp running off the flats into the deep pockets - this can equal some of the best fishing you will see all year.  Don't let the weather get you turned off fishing.  There's only 2 kinds of weather - whether you go fishing or whether you don't.

 

 

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com

Tournament Time

Fall is here and this is Tournament Time for me.  Captain Steve Murray and Captain Robert Walczak took 1st Place in the Backwater Series Grand Championship Tournament on Saturday October 16th.  This was a two redfish tournament.  We brought in the two heaviest "slot size" redfish.

 

Fishing has been a little slow the last few days.  The weather has changed.  The humidity is down and the evening temperatures are down too.  Usually, when we first get this weather change, the fishing gets a little tough for a short time.  That's what happened this weekend.  Fortunately for us - we still got on the "right" fish.  We covered a lot of ground - fished live bait in the holes and threw 1/4 oz. jigs tipped with gulp shrimp across the mangrove shorelines.  We landed almost 30 reds - most of them were shorts (under 18") - but we got two "slot" size (18"-27") reds that were very close to the high end of the slot.  We worked hard and the effort paid off. 

 

The Fall is a great time to fish in the Keys.  The temperatures are excellent and there are many species available.  In addition to the redfish, trout, snapper, shark, tarpon, snook, jacks and ladyfish - this time of year offers some excellent spanish mackerel - the black drum and sheepshead will start showing up in the deep holes and tripletail and cobia out in the gulf.

 

Tight Lines - hope to see you in the Keys!

 

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com

Fall Fishing in the Keys

It's near the end of September and the fishing is great.  This time of year we get some higher tides.  That allows us to fish some of the shallow flats that are not so easily accessible other times of the year.  Last Tuesday we hooked two battling tarpon on the flats.  We were throwing weedless jerk baits in about 2 feet of water - looking for snook and reds.  There was a small group of tarpon working the mullet and they erupted on our jerk baits.  The first fish was about 100 pounds and when he felt that hook - the only place he could go was straight up in the air!  A few more crazy jumps and an angler who did not "bow to the silver king" was all it took to break off on our 15 pound power pro.  We kept working the area and the next one was a little more manageable - a nice 40 pounder landed.  It's hard to beat the excitement of hooking a crazy fish like that in shallow water on light tackle. 

 

We had a lot of rain mid week and that brought a lot of fresh water into the Florida Bay.  Friday and Saturday were a little tough.  We caught plenty of small reds, a couple big 150 pound sharks and lots of mangrove snapper - but the trout, snook and bigger reds were hard to catch.  Sunday and Monday the bite was "on" the trout were biting - as many as you want and some really nice big fat ones.  We got some nice reds, hooked a nice snook, caught lots of mangrove snapper and hooked up with several tarpon.  First time Florida Keys fisher "Ellen" landed her fist tarpon - a 40 pounder.  I think she'll be back!

 

 

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com