11/18/16 reef/offshore fishing in Mid November

We're past the half way mark while fishing in November in Islamorada and it's starting to feel a little more like winter. Temperatures have dropped down a few degress and we've had some north wind. Last week we saw quite a few sailfish caught and released, with most of the boats catching atleast a fish or two if they put their time in. The past few days we saw the sailfish bite slow down, but I'm sure it will pick back up any day now. 

We're starting to see more and more king mackerel caught each week on the reef and the wrecks. They've been averaging 4 - 12 lbs, with a few bigger ones in the mix. The yellowtail snapper bite has been a little on and off, but catching at least a handful for a fresh fish dinner while on vacation shouldn't be a problem. A lot of boats caught mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, and a few grouper on the patch reefs with the windy weather the past few days. The Kalex had a nice wahoo a few days ago while live baiting on a wreck as well. 

Way offshore the swordfish bite was was steady until today. Today was slow with no bites, but before this we had 1 fish on 4 different trips and 3 fish one trip. The fish have averaged 60 - 100 lbs, but we did have one big 253 lber. We also caught and released a mako shark estimated at 250 lbs, that came up eating a swordfish. We cut a piece of the swordfish off, and hooked it on another rod to catch the mako. There hasn't been a lot of mahi around, but on 2 different trips we found a school, and it's always nice to get some bonus fish. We tried some deep drop bottom fishing on the way out a few trips, a couple days finding a few barrelfish.

Give Bud n' Mary's Marina a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next fishing adventure in Islamorada, Florida Keys! Also our outfitter store will be back open on November 25th, so make sure to check out all the different apparel and accessories!  

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk