Permit Archives

Islamorada Fishing Reports – 4-29-2022

May 18, 2022 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! The winds have finally subsided and it looks like we are going to have a stretch of nice weather for once with NO COLD FRONTS! Pretty amazing that we are finally getting to see some consistency as it has been a LONG winter. Whatever it is we will take it! The fishing this week has been pretty good with a mixed bag of just about everything.

Offshore Fishing is Producing

The offshore has produced some swordfish, mahi, tuna, Amberjacks, and sharks.

Reef & Wreck Fishing... with Bait Comes Fish

The wrecks and deep ledges have been producing some mutton snappers, amberjacks, throwback groupers, permit, bonita, and jack crevalles. On top of that the reef fishing has been really solid with the yellowtail snappers in full spawn. There have still been a few sailfish running around, and even a few wahoo around the reef edge and the wrecks.

Fishing has been pretty good, and a lot of it has to do with the amount of bait around. As soon as the wind died out the pilchards showed their faces and there’s bait all over the shallow patches making the chumming optimal.

On That Note

A lot of opportunity right now, and it should only get better as we swing into summer. Looking forward to this nice break from the wind, and some great fishing! Hope you all get a chance to get out this weekend, and if you do be safe out there!

Islamorada Fishing Report April 18, 2019

April 18, 2019 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! A great week of fishing here in the upper Florida Keys as the sailfishing was going off early in the week. Slowed down a bit on Thursday, but hopefully the current will pick back up and they will start tailing again.

Offshore – Deep-sea Bite

The offshore bite continues to show promise with more mahi moving in each day. The moon is Friday, so I will bet that soon after she passes it will be game on. The football sized tunas have been getting thicker on the humps too, and there are plenty of AJ’s around there as well. The sharks have even been quite nice so far, but we will see how that ends up. Not much from the sword ledge this week as it has been a bit rough, but once the winds subside, I am sure there will be more reports.

Wreck Fishing

The wreck fishing has picked up nicely this week as the mutton snappers have been chewing pretty good. It has helped that the current has been decent all week for sure, but this moon is the beginning to them getting fired up to spawn. Going to be a lot of nice “pinky’s” caught over the next few moons. Plenty of Kings and groupers around as well on the deeper structures, but remember that you can’t keep any groupers until next month. Grouper season opens May 1st, so you can bet there will be some really nice one’s caught. The permit have been pretty solid on all of the usual wrecks as well, but the winds have made it tough this week.

Reef Fishing

The reef remains as good as it gets with yellowtail snappers, as they continue to spawn, and some whoppers at that. Some really nice mangrove snappers have been showing up as well, although it is a bit early for their spawn, they are already seeming to gather on the shallow reefs.

Plenty to catch out there if you have the vessel to brave the seas safely. The winds are gonna be 15-30 over the weekend, so be safe. Let’s hope the fish bite!

Tight Lines,

Capt. James Chappell

Islamorada Fishing Report April 4, 2019

April 5, 2019 by Mark

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! Another interesting week with weather, but the fishing remains pretty solid! The offshore bite is beginning to heat up as the mahi are starting to show up a bit better each day. Here hasn’t been much consistency to depth, but the Frigate birds have been on them hard. The humps offshore have been holding some smaller tunas, but not much for the larger ones. They have been spread out in the deep edge of the reef and wrecks mostly. The sword ledge produced in a big way this past week with a couple monsters hitting the docks. Two fish over 500 pounds with one of them at 757 pounds! Another fish off Haulover Inlet going 650 I heard. I’m going Saturday, so hoping for a nice one! The deep reef and wrecks slowed up this week as the current weakened considerably from the week before. Hoping this SE wind will push it back in and keep the ball rolling. Plenty of kings around as well as some wahoo, so still some good action. The reef and patches have been great all week despite the lack of current. The Yellowtails are spawning and hungry, so pretty easy pickings there. Permit have showed up on the wrecks as well, so get your crabs and give it a go! Well, that’s it for this week! Have a great one and be safe out there!

Tight Lines,

Capt. James Chappell