10/19/16 October Deep Sea fishing report for Islamorada

Sorry I missed last weeks fishing report, I was out of town but now I'm back to tell you what's been biting in Islamorada so far this October. We've been seeing some sailfish caught and released most days the past couple weeks on the edge of the reef. The Kalex had the only release yesterday out of a handful of boats, but a few days ago the Cloud Nine released 4 , and a little over a week ago the Indigenous and Team Kalex teamed up and released 6 one day. I would definitely say you have a fair shot of catching 1 or 2 any trip you go out now, and it should only get better as we near winter.

 

The yellowtail snapper bite has been very good the past few days. Most boats have been catching their limit and there's been a few nice mutton snapper in the mix too. We haven't seen a lot of groupers lately but the Relentless did have one keeper black grouper his last trip. Once we get a cold front I expect to see some more keeper size groupers caught. There's been a couple king mackerel and cero mackerel around, and the Kalex had a suprise cobia last week one day as well. 

 

The dolphin bite slowed down for the most part the past couple weeks, but there's still a couple around. Usually we catch most of our dolphin 10 - 30 miles offshore in the late spring through early fall, but this time of year we catch a few on the edge of the reef. They are usually decent size as well, averaging 10 - 20 lbs. There's been a few blackfin tuna on the edge of the reef and there was a good blackfin tuna bite on the hump last week but the sharks were so ferocious it was nearly impossible to boat any decent size tuna while on the hump. 

 

The wind has been blowing hard lately which makes it difficult to run way out to try for swordifsh, so most trips have had to switch game plans the past week, but the Reel McCoy got a trip in last week before the strong winds and they boated a 215 lb broadbill swordfish. Congrats guys!!! 

 

It's still windy as of now but if you're fishing the edge of the reef the wind wont hurt anything. Sometimes it gets the sailfish biting and it stirs up some of the bottom fish to make the bottom fish snap as well. Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 to book your next Islamorada Fishing Trip. 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk