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!
