Islamorada Archives

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 05/28/2021

May 28, 2021 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! It has been a windy week here in the Upper Florida Keys up to the end of the week, but as of Thursday it is pretty awesome out! Looks like it is going to be a beautiful Memorial Day weekend!

Mahi, Tuna, Sailfish, Amberjacks, & Sharks Offshore!!!

The fishing this week has been pretty good, as the mahi bite is picking up as the moon progresses. Not a lot of big ones, but decent numbers of schoolies. The story on the hump is the same with the smaller tunas, sharks, and jacks…plenty of them…..go for it. There’s been a nice edge in 300’ of water, and it has had some sails and bigger tunas, but I don’t think it is going to be around for too long with the weather changing.

Reef Fishing & Wreck Fishing

The reef and wrecks have been decent thus far, but the water is pretty clean so we will see.

On That Note

It is going to be busy out there, I am sure of that with the nice weather, so pick your poison and pick it early. I think anything you want to do will work, at least enough to feel successful or put dinner on the table.

Bait has been the worst of it, but as of this AM there were a few schools showing up down south. Well, that’s it for this week! Have a safe weekend everyone!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 05/21/2021

May 21, 2021 by Mark

Hey guys and gals, welcome back! What a week of wind we are having her in the upper Florida Keys, and it has had us completely shut down since Wednesday. We are planning on going on Saturday, but the winds are going to remain a bit blustery throughout the weekend, so for those in the smaller boats you may want to stay close to shore, in the bay, or bellied up somewhere with a cold one!

Great Offshore Fishing

The fishing early in the week was really good on the offshore scene as the mahi fishing has been great! I would expect it to be just as good, if not better, than it was before the wind and they should be close. The current is surely going to be in tight after this heavy wind, so fishing should be really good offshore. No doubt the tunas, AJ’s, and sharks will be thick on the humps as well. The deep dropping might be a little tough with the gulf stream current having moved in so close, but may push in far enough that the sword grounds won’t be so bad. We will have to wait and see on Saturday.

Hopefully the bait fishing will be possible, but the offshore fish should be hungry, so I am sure squid and other dead bait will work just fine.

Reef Fishing & Wreck Fishing

As for the reef and wrecks, they were in pretty good shape when we left it with a decent bite of mutton snappers, groupers, and miscellaneous critters, so I would expect that it will still be good when the wind slows. Although, with the current pushed in, if it actually is way in, this could make for a difficult condition.

On That Note

Well, that is it for this week, sorry for the short report. Check back next week and we will see how it all ends up! Be safe!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 05/14/2021

May 14, 2021 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! This week has been pretty incredible as the weather has been beautiful, and the fishing has finally found some consistency. Although this has been great, a “but” is coming…..we have another cold front coming through. As welcomed as the cooler temperatures will be, it is pretty crazy that on May 15^th we are getting a cold front. We will see what happens to the fishing, but hopefully it won’t screw things up too bad. If the wind comes around quickly we should be good, so stay tuned. Or, maybe the North wind will spark up the miracle “tailing” condition for the sails? Who knows, but one thing is for sure that it will be what it will be! We are going to get pretty breezy for most of the weekend into next week, so thankfully we have a bunch of troopers on the schedule.

Offshore Mahi Fishing is HOT!!!

As for the fishing, the mahi fishing has been great! Finally we have been able to pretty much catch a limit on both boats every trip if we choose. Even a few nicer fish too, with a couple over 30 pounds and several nice teenagers. Let’s hope this keeps going! The tuna fishing has been pretty good on the humps as well, although they aren’t very big, they are still fun to catch and tasty!

Reef Fishing & Wreck Fishing

The reef and wreck fishing this week has been a little on the slower side, but not terrible. It has been day to day fighting the predators and/or current and water clarity, and the groupers have actually bit pretty well.

On That Note

All-in-all things are pretty good, and they definitely could be a lot worse. Let’s just keep out finger’s crossed and hope this change doesn’t mess up a good thing we got going! Until next week, be safe!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 05-07-2021

May 7, 2021 by Mark

Looks like the weather is gonna be decent, and boating conditions favorable, so get on out and get tight! Have a great weekend everyone, and be safe!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this weeks report! The weather this week has been really nice, and the fishing has been pretty good too! A couple days have been on the tough side, but as the week progressed things have begun to show signs of promise.

Offshore Fishing

The offshore scene on the Mahi’s is getting better as more of these guys are moving in to the area. It’s been a slow start all around, as the offshore current hasn’t been playing very nice. Looks like it might shape up for the weekend, so hopefully some larger groups of fish will be out front.

Plenty of tunas and Jacks on the humps, as well as all the sharks anyone could ask for.

Reef & Wreck Fishing - Grouper Season is here!

The wreck fishing inside is picking up with the mutton snappers and groupers starting to play nice again, and still some kings wandering around these structures. The larger blackfins have seemed to keep moving north, but lots of Jack’s, Bonita, and sharks around.

Fishing reef bite was super slow early in the week, but the yellowtails seem to be getting their appetite back as the week winds down. I’d think they should be happy for the weekend.

On That Note

Looks like the weather is gonna be decent, and boating conditions favorable, so get on out and get tight! Have a great weekend everyone, and be safe!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 04-29-2021

April 29, 2021 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! It’s been a windy week here in the upper keys, and some pretty gnarly weather all around. We had 2 cool fronts come through back to back, and it really churned things up. We were off due to the weather for a few days earlier in the week, but as of Wednesday we were back at it. The fishing this week has been challenging, but doable.

Offshore Fishing

The offshore scene had a few bright lights in it this week with a few really nice swords caught off the ledge. The few who managed to make it out after the mahi’s did decent with a few nice ones and a decent amount of schoolies. No report on the tunas or AJ’s on the humps but I am sure they are there.

Reef Fishing & Wreck Fishing & SHARKS

The reef bite was good while on the hook with some nice catches of yellowtail snappers, and some nice cero macks.

The wrecks have tons of sharks on them again as it seems the spinner shark migration is happening early as these guys are already mixed in with the spawning hammerheads. Plenty of bull sharks too, so there is no shortage of sharks that is for sure.

The mutton snappers have been playing pretty nice this week so far, not surprising with the moon, and this should only get better. Grouper season opens up Saturday, but with the slick calm weather and gin clear water we have right now who knows how good that is going to be. I am sure the deep stuff will produce, or maybe even the shallow stuff on the troll, but anchored on the 60-90’ reefs is going to be a challenge with the condition. Maybe it will change a bit with the big tides, I guess we will see.

We keep hoping for a nice push of sails, but I am not holding my breath for this tailing condition to happen. It still might, but a lot of things are going to have to come together before this happens.

On That Note

This week is going to be really nice if the storms stay away, so this will be the kickoff to summer I believe. A big tournament going on out of Marathon, so we will see what the boys find out there! Well, that’s it for this week, check back next week for a new report!