4/28/12 Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report

This is the time of year for islamorada tarpon fishing.  The fishing as of late had been a little tough, with a cold front coming in April and before that a few days of hard 20-30 knot west winds that really stirred up the backcountry and bay.  Most day and night trips have still yielded some fish, however often it has been only a bite or two a trip and you need to make the most of them.  The overcast and rainy conditions today made for great fishing for Capt. Jeff Beeler.  They caught 3 out of 6 bites on a half day trip fishing live mullters, fishing nearby and dodging in and out of the foul weather!  Capt. Vic Gaspeny had 2 nice fish a couple mornings ago going early, very large fish too!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported catching 1 out of 2 fish yesterday, getting a fish early the morning before, and a 1 out of 3 fish during the day before that.  Capt. Ben Loy had 1 fish last night as well.  There have been reports of large schools of fish making their way towards Islamorada especially on the ocean side, so look for the fishing to improve as we get into May, which traditionally is the peak of tarpon fishing in the florida keys!  Crabs have been working good in the dark hours, and mullets are the bait of choice this time of year during the daylight.  As I tell all my anglers even when the fishing is red hot, often you must put your time in.  On most trips the bites do come, however lately you've needed to make the most of them as the shots are limited!

Capt. Skip Nielsen also reported catching one fish on fly yesterday sight casting the edges of the banks in the backcountry of Islamorada.  Fly tarpon fishing in Islamorada can be done too!  They also caught a fish later on live mullet down near the channel 2 and 5 bridges.