10-4-12 Islamorada Fishing in October

Yesterday the mixed bag continued for the boats that went out for some Islamorada Fishing. The boats are starting to focus their fishing on the edge of the reef, which is only 4 -5 miles from land, which is where we spend most of our winter. The Catch 22 was able to catch and release 2 sailfish today, and keep a bucket full of yellowtail snapper, a mutton snapper, a couple cero mackerel, as well as a yellowjack. The Relentless did a half day fishing trip, which can be easily done when heading to the reef since it's so close. They anchored down early and caught about 25 snapper, then before the trip was over, they found some mahi, which we see a handful around on the edge of the reef this time of year compared to the big numbers seen way offshore in the summer, and they managed to catch about 10 mahi up to 15 lbs! A great 1/2 day fishing trip! In the backcountry Capt. John Johansen caught fresh mullet and with the warm weather decided to look for some tarpon. After a couple hours of fishing Lynne Tyson hooked and landed her first ever tarpon! They took a quick a picture and released the big fish, close to 100 lbs, to fight another day. Jeff Tyson was up next and within an hour released a nice tarpon too! This is definitely late in the year for consistent tarpon fishing , but that why we fish conditions, and with the warm weather there was still a few around. Expect to start seeing some more sailfish reports as more boats get out for some reef fishing in October.