11-27-12 Offshore Fishing in Islamorada

We had some beautiful weather here while fishing Offshore in Islamorada. One thing you should know is when we refer to our offshore fleet of boats, as well as to offshore fishing, this time of year most of the boats fish the edge of the Reef. We may call it "reef fishing", but it doesn't just mean bottom fishing, we catch most of our sailfish while fishing the reef, as well as mackerel, a few tuna, an occasional mahi, wahoo, as well as cobia. Anyhow there's been a few boats fishing each of the last few days. The sailfish bite has been spotty. Three days ago a bunch of boats fished and two of them caught sailfish. The Catch 22 had a great day releasing 6 sailfish and the Relentless released two. The BnM, Finnster, Gon Fishin V, Reel McCoy, Redfish, and Predator find other sorts of action. They combined for some mutton snapper, reef sharks, king mackerel, cero mackerel, little tunny, yellowtail snapper, amberjack, and barracuda to name a few. The following day the Kalex had a spectacular day on sails, releasing half a dozen and the Catch 22 released a couple as well. Yesterday the Catch 22 found a nice school of cobia and caught 3 keepers to 25 lbs, a few mangrove snappers, and some barracudas. The Bn'M went out for some daytime swordfishing and the bite was on! They managed to catch 4 broadbill swordfish and lost a 5th one about 50' away. The fish were anywhere from 35 to 90 lbs. All of the swords were caught on conventional (non - electric) tackle in 1700' of water. The biggest fish was sword less, which was the the first time they had seen a battle wound of this caliber. Today the Relentess had a good bite of yellowtail snapper this morning, and then the sailfish bite turned on in the afternoon. They managed to release three sailfish after catching plenty for dinner. That's the nice thing about a full day compared to a 1/2 day reef fishing trip, it allows for more options and gives plenty of time to make moves if necessary. The Party fishing boat also caught and released a sailfish today while trying for some king mackerel. Here's a picture of a sailfish they released last week as well.