12/21/14 Islamorada Offshore fishing report in December

The past week has been some of the nicest weather you could ask for while offshore fishing in Islamorada in December! We've had light winds, clear skies, and lots of sunshine! A fair amount of boats have been getting out each day, with both full and half day trips to the reef. The 50th annual Islamorada Junior Sailfish tournament took place this Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday the Kalex had a great day with some kids releasing 5 sailfish, but unfortunately Sunday their luck changed and they lost the lead but it was still a great time. The reel mccoy also had some sailfish action with a young angler releasing a sailfish Saturday and the Strictly business got in on some of the action today and released 2 sails for a youngster. Great job kids!

Today the Relentless had a big day on the sails, releasing 6. The Man O War had a great catch with over a dozen mahi, a few nice blackfin tuna, and a big wahoo. The Buzz On had a great catch of yelloweye snapper while deep dropping in 400' of water.

Big wahoo on the Man O War

Great catch of deep water snapper on the Buzz On

We've seen some really nice cobia here the past week, inlcuding a 62 lber on Kalex and a 58 lber aboard the Relentless. When fishing for cobia it takes lots of patience, as the boats cruise inside the reef looking for stingrays which the schools of cobia typically follow this time of year. You usually don't have any lines in the water, some people say they don't think they are "fishing", but the truth is the crew is searching and scanning for fish the entire time! When you find a school, be ready for action! The easiest days to find them are the calm clear sunny days, as we can spot them easier, but weather conditions change every day here and you just have to adapt and "fish the conditions". The sailfish bite the last two definitely picked up from what it was overall the past week, as there was some quite days for the sails. It looks like we have another cold front coming through in a couple days so hopefully that keeps the sailfish biting for us around Christmas.

40 lb cobia for Ron on the Catch 22

Jimmy from Relentless prepares to gaff a big cobia

On the wrecks there's been king mackerel in the 5 - 15 lb range,  and the occassional wahoo mixed in. The bottom fishing on the reef has been steady, producing a few grouper and the usual yellowtail, mangrove, and mutton snapper.

Catch 22 with a mixed bag of snapper, grouper, mackerel, cobia, and a sailfish release

Great 1/2 day charter on the Redfish

Wahoo for the Gimme Jimmy!!!

Handful of king mackerel, a big mutton snapper, and the target species, a sailfish release for Man O War

Kalex with a limit of Mackerel and a few nice cobia

I made it out on a daytime swordfish charter yesterday on the Bn'M II. I had Anthony from Massachusetts out in search of his first broadbill swordfish. Things worked out perfectly as we caught one around 75 lbs on the first drop. We missed one other one after that. There's still a few swordfish around, but it is getting late in the season for them. If we have decent weather though and can make the run 40 miles, we always have a shot at a broadbill off Islamorada. 

Christmas week usually brings a lot of people around the docks, many of them booking charters, so give us a call ahead of time to get a great charter booked while you're on vacation! Bud N Mary's Marina 305 664 2461

Capt. Nick Stanczyk