 |
Upper Florida Keys & Islamorada
Capt. Izzy Donatiello
April 17, 2001
Islamorada - Saltwater Fishing Report
In the last two weeks, I had some excellent catches both offshore and backcountry. In the deep water, we caught some Dorado mostly on the small size, however, the Blackfin tuna have been in the 10# range with a lot of skipjack and bonita to keep the interest up. On the edge, the fishing has been hot. There are nice size kings and cero mackerel, and the snapper and grouper bite has been excellent. On Saturday the 7th, I had three regulars abroad. We started the day catching about 50 pinfish and 3 dozen ballyhoo. My first stop resulted in two 20+ inch. mutton snappers, but the current picked up and I had the move to a shallower location. Here, I had steady action; resulting in three black groupers from ten to eighteen pounds, a 7 pound mangrove snapper and over thirty yellowtails from sixteen to eighteen inches in length. On another reef trip, later in the week, the bottom fish weren't as cooperative but the yellowtails were.
In the backcountry, the trout fishing has slacken off. There has been plenty of action with 18in. Jack crevalles and ladyfish. The deeper channels are yielded 5 to 6 foot blacktip and lemon sharks and some tarpon. Last week, I had a 7 year old girl fight a 70 pound tarpon until the hook pulled. The tarpon bite has been very good in the channels around the bridges. I have been landing at least one fish a night. One night I had two fish to the boat before 7 PM. The unusual catch the week was a 6 foot Sawfish; that ate a bait on the bottom.
Treat yourself, book a fishing trip with a full time pro . Call 1-800-320-2753.
Izzy
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
