We moved right through November and are almost two week through December? I just can't get over how fast this year is flying by!!! The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament took place almost two weeks ago and there was some excitement on the reef! Some boats had very slow fishing but the last day was much better than the rest and the team aboard the Cloud Nine managed 8 sails the last day to put them in 3rd place! They had 3 sails one day, 1 the other day, giving them a total of 12 fish over the 3 day event. The past 5 weeks we have had a decent sailfish bite overall. The boats that have been putting their time in have had a few shots most trips.
Other reef action has included a few wahoo, some late season mahi, blackfin tuna, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, king mackerel, barracuda, and black grouper. Further offshore we have had some really active days on the humps while live baiting for blackfin tuna too.
The swordfish bite was very good the past couple weeks. We landed two double headers and 2 fish over 200 lbs. Most of the fish have been in the 40 - 80 lb range but we had a couple others around 100 lbs. I had the pleasure of fishing baseball hall of famer Wade Boggs in Late November. He was chasing his first ever swordfish. The first day we lost one near the boat, but a couple days later we got back out and managed 3 broadbill swordfish! We also had a bonus pomfret one trip. We also caught a few big queen snapper one day heading offshore for swordfish. Last winter was the best swordfishing we saw for the year so if you want to give it a shot now is as good as time as any as long as the weather cooperates. If not, you can always fish the reef!
Give us a call in the marina office at 305 664 2461 if you want to book your next Islamorada fishing charter and we'll set you up on a great boat! Remember we have lodging options available at the marina including motel rooms, a couple small houses, and a few houseboats. "Galley Girls" cafe is open at 6 am daily now so you can get breakfast and lunch before you go fishing.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Nick Stanczyk
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