Archives for August 2020

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 08-21-2020

August 24, 2020 by Mark

Hey guys and gals! Capt. James Chappell here with this week’s fishing report from the upper Florida Keys! Another incredible week of fishing as the bite remains on FIRE!

Swordfish, Grouper, Tuna, Mahi... & Sharks

Offshore, the swordfish ledge was hot this week with some nice swords, and most averaging 3-5 bites per day. Not a bunch of monsters caught, but some decent fish up to 180 pounds or so, with plenty of 40-90 pounders having been caught.

The deep dropping was good too with some nice tiles and groupers inside in the 500′-900’ range. Some tasty eating fish for sure, as most the deep drop fish are delicious!

The humps are in full swing with the Blackfin tunas, and plenty of sharks. The sharks haven’t been too bad, but they are definitely there. Catching one or two has been fun this week as we have had some young guys on the boat that were ready to do battle. Big sharks always make fishing a fun adventure! The mahi-mahi bite has been nothing short of incredible all week, and there have been some nice ones around too.

It has been a fun summer with a better average in size compared to the last few years, and it’s been really nice to see them. We are hoping this continues throughout the fall, as it feels like we are just really getting going the past few weeks.

Still Solid Reef & Wreck Fishing

The wreck and reef fishing remains solid as well with the yellowtail snapper and mangrove snappers continuing to be hungry, and the muttons in the deep have started to bite again a little up the road. It’s pretty much all you want, so there have been a lot of really happy faces all week!

On That Note

Looking forward to the the rest of it, but it appears tropical depression #13 is going to mess things up for us early next week. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting a CAT 1 hurricane coming through the Islands Monday afternoon. It isn’t going to be too bad, but it’s definitely gonna mess things up for us starting Sunday and probably through Wednesday.

No worries, it’s just part of living in Paradise, and more of an inconvenience I feel, so I’ll check back next week to let you all know how it all pans out. Well, be safe everyone, and have a great weekend! See ya next week!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 08-15-2020

August 17, 2020 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! Another incredible week of fishing here in the upper Florida Keys, as both offshore and the reef have been on fire!

Tons of Mahi & Tuna Offshore

Offshore, there are lots and lots of nice mahi-mahi around right now, and are of really good size. These fish are averaging 6-10 pounds, with lots of teenagers and a decent amount of slammers mixed in with them. These fish have been between 16-25 miles off the beach, and the birds have been all over them. The humps have been solid as well with good numbers of Blackfin Tunas on the live baits and jigs all week. The live baits have been yielding mostly fish 8-15 pounds, while e jigs have been mostly less than 8 pounds.

Still great Reef & Wreck Fishing

The reef fishing has remained strong this week with some nice mangrove snapper and yellowtail snapper catches, as well as a few nice Mutton snapper and groupers off the wrecks. Still some king mackerel on the wrecks too on the live bait.

On That Note

Just all around REALLY good fishing, and each day appears to be getting stronger. It is definitely shaping up to be a great fall! That’s all for this week, so give us a call if you would like to get out for a day or two. Be safe!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 08-08-2020

August 10, 2020 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! Another great week of fishing offshore, and the reef fishing Remains solid!

More Exciting Offshore Fishing

Lots of Mahi’s out in the blue water and plenty of tunas on the humps. Deep dropping and Swordfishing were both active as well, so things are definitely rolling strong.

The Reef Fishing & Wreck Fishing Bite

The reef and wrecks payed good dividends all week with a great bite from the mangrove snappers and Yellowtails, and the Muttons were good on the deep ledges and wrecks.

On That Note

It’s hard to go wrong right now as the bite is SOLID! It’s all lined up, so all you gotta do is get after them! Good luck out there everyone, and be safe!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 07-22-2020

August 4, 2020 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! It has been a tough one here this week with the torrential downpours and heavy East wind. We have managed to brave it out all week, and thankful that we have had tough groups. Only one that didn’t make it out offshore, so we managed to make the best of it with the snappers on the reef. The fishing has been great with the wind, as I mentioned last week that was just what we needed.

Mahi-Mahi & Tuna Offshore

Lots of mahi offshore, and the tunas are biting good on all the humps. They all seem to have a decent amount of nicer sized fish on them too, so I would say if you can get out there with some live bait it should make for a fun day. No report this week from the swordfishing grounds, as I don’t know anyone who made it out that far, and no report from the deep dropping either. It has been a little rough this week to say the least.

Reef Fishing & Wreck Fishing Report

The reef has had some action this week with the mangrove spawn still going strong, and the fish are appearing to be getting larger. A lot of nice 3-5 pounders caught this week with nicer yellowtails, muttons, and even a few nice black groupers thrown in the middle. Bait hasn’t had much traction this week other than some smaller pilchards, but they have been good enough to get the job done. Rumor has it there’s a nice school out back, but we haven’t been able to make that trek just yet.

Looking Ahead

Not looking too good for next week with Tropical Storm Gonzalo moving toward Cuba, but hopefully it will stay weak and not mess things up too bad. Maybe we will get lucky and it will take the Covid with it!! We can only hope for a cure to this pandemic, but for now we are grateful and blessed that we get to go fishing every day so we will take it!

The weekend weather is a 50/50 with Saturday looking a little blustery, but they aren’t showing much rain in the forecast just yet. Sunday looks nice with the winds calming down to 9-11 knots, so if that sticks it should be a nice day. Not sure what next week will have in store, but you “Lobster Mobsters” might be in for some tough conditions. Time will tell, that is for sure!

Well, that is it for this week! Give me a call at 305-803-1321 or look us up at www.floridakeysfishingcompany.com. We are here to help you out however we can. Be safe out there everyone!

Islamorada Fishing Report – 07-16-2020

August 4, 2020 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! Another beautiful week here in Islamorada, as the weather has been pretty nice all week. Of course we had the normal summer showers and such to work around, but that is just part of living in paradise in the summertime!

Fishing on the Reef

The fishing this week has been pretty good, especially on the reef. The mangrove snapper bite has been in full force as these tasty critters continue to spawn. The yellowtail bite has been pretty good too, as they are mixed in with the mangroves in a lot of areas, but nonetheless have been pretty solid on the deep reef too.

Offshore - Deep-Sea Fishing

A few nice surprises this week with a few sails showing up out in the deep, and a few blue marlin as well. The offshore report this week has remained a little stagnant, but did show some promise late in the week. It appeared that some mahi’s were trying to move back into the area.

The last couple day we were able to catch out limit of schoolies, and a few nicer fish. The best of the offshore bite has been on the west hump live baiting for the tunas. There’s a pile of nicer tunas out there, and they are on the west and 409 humps as of Thursday afternoon.

The swordfish bite this week has had a couple whoppers in it with 2 fish caught in the high 300 pound range, and a few smaller fish seems to be the word on the street. Make no mistake this is going to get better as the late summer and fall gets closer.

Fishing the Wrecks

The wreck fishing this week has been decent as well, but not red hot by any means. A lot of king mackerel around, jacks, sharks, and bonita, but the bottom bite is one day to the next. The bottom fishing has been really inconsistent this year, and I wish I could tell you why, but I can’t. It just hasn’t been a great year for bottom fishing. Very inconsistent current, if any, so that is what I am going to chalk it up to.

Charter Fishing

Well, I am sure we will find a way to get it done no matter what is going on, and I am sure you will too! If you need a boat, or any advice email me at jchappe7@bellsouth.net and I will do my best to get you squared away. Have a great weekend everyone, and be safe out there!