1-29-13 Late January Offshore Fishing in Islamorada

The wind has picked up quite a bit the past few days, making for choppy conditions, but not un-fishable by any means. The Islamorada deep sea fishing charters have been focusing on the edge of the reef mostly, both live baiting and anchoring down for bottom fishing. The sailfish bite has been on the slow side the past few days, but there's still some around. The Catch 22 caught and released 2 sailfish yesterday in the 20 knot winds. The Fearless stayed on the patch reefs (shallow patches of reef inside the main reef line), where it was a little bit calmer and had lots of action. They caught a handful of cero mackerel as well as yellowtail snapper for dinner. Fishing in Islamorada the day before, the Catch 22 released 3 sailfish, the Reel McCoy released 1, and the Fearless also released 1. The Gon Fishin V focused on bottom fishing mostly and had a bucket full of yellowtail snapper, some mackerel, as well as a tasty hogfish. The BnM tried for sails, but they elluded us, (earning the name of "squatch"), but we did stop for some action and catch a couple hogfish and porgy for dinner, as well as some rod bending action with little tunny and barracuda. The Day before that the Relentelss released 2 sails, the BnM, Reel McCoy, and Pretty Work all released 1 sail. The Man O War caught a nice 30 lb wahoo, a 15 lb mutton snapper, and a lone mahi. There has also been some action with Jacks around the wrecks and a handful of king mackerel around. There's still plenty of time to come down here and book your Florida Keys Offshore Fishing Trip!