4-17-13 Mid April Offshore Fishing Report for Islamorada

It's been beatiful weather here the last few days on our Islamorada Offshore Fishing charters. About half the boats have been heading out in search of mahi the past few days while the other half has stayed on near the edge of the reef. There was a handful of sailfish around today near the reef, the Reel McCoy released 3, the Relentless and Kalex each released 2, and the Fearless released one. There has also been plenty of yellowtail snapper for action and for table fare, as well as a few mackerel mixed in. The dolphin (mahi) fishing was a little tougher today, but the Redfish was patient and picked away on a nice school they found, keeping about a dozen and a half fish. Yesteday, While Fishing offshore in Islamorada , the mahi bite was fair for the boats, Relentless had about 15 keepers as well as a big permit, and the Gon Fishin V had 8 keepers. The day before though there was plenty of dolphin (mahi) to be had, The BnM had 35 keepers , nothing huge, mostly 3 - 7 lbs, the Relentelss had 30 keepers and the Kalex and Gon Fishin each had 20 + keepers. The Kalex also released a sailfish in the morning. There has also been plenty of hard fighting amberjack around. The Bn'M had 6 fish to 45 lbs today as well as 4 big Islamorada Sharks , including a pair of tiger sharks at 400 and 700 lbs, a 250 lb hammerhead and a 200 lb brown shark, all caught and released of course. The Fearless also released a nice black grouper today on the reef (we are counting down the days till May 1st when our shallow water grouper season opens back up). I think the reef will continue to be the best bet for action the next week, with sailfish, mackerel, snapper, permit, and the occasional cobia. Hopefully the dolphin bite continues to get more consistent and we will see some more rack fulls of them the next week as well. It's still early to guarantee mahi action, but with this east to south east wind it may help us out. Give us a call when you're ready to go out on a Florida Keys Fishing Trip and we'll get you on a great boat! 1 800 742 7945

Capt. Nick Stanczyk