Mackerel Archives

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! Another great week in the Islands of the upper Florida Keys, and yet another weird week of weather. Just when you think the fronts are over, we get one in the 2^nd week of May…pretty crazy. Anyway, it is what it is, so it definitely could be worse.

Offshore Fishing...Epic Swordfish!

The offshore bite this week has been on the slow side as well, with very little current offshore. The fleet has been picking up a few Mahi’s here and there, but there isn’t a “real” body of fish up here just yet. It appears that down south there is a decent body, and we are waiting for it to move up here, or a new batch move in with some current. Tunas are slow on the Islamorada and 409 humps, except for the Feather Tunas, but the larger ones are on the Marathon hump if you can make the trek. Plenty of Amberjacks and sharks on all the humps, so no reason not to catch anything. Deep dropping has been on the slow side with the lack of current, but I am sure it is all going to pick up soon enough. Way offshore on the Swordfish ledge there has been some pretty epic fishing. A lot of bites over the past couple weeks, and a lot of fish being caught. A few sea monsters caught as well in the 500 pound range, but lots of smaller fish in 40-120 pound range. A lot of fun out on the ledge the past couple weeks for sure, and the weather is getting right again, so I am sure there will be more caught.

Reef & Wreck Fishing... Slowly Heating Up!

The fishing this week on the reef has been pretty good. The Yellowtail Snappers have been biting pretty good, as well as the Groupers. Some nice Yellow Bar Amberjacks and Cero Mackerels on the reef have made for some great excitement. The wreck fishing has been slow, but only because there is nearly zero current. Had a trickle up the road today, but was barely enough to move the boat, so the bottom fishing hasn’t been too great. We have managed a few here and there, but nothing worth spending a lot of time on.

On That Note

Looking forward to the weekend and this beautiful weather. Hope to see you out there!

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!

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 5-12-2022