5/11/16 Deep Sea fishing in May in Islamorada

We've had boats fishing both the reef and offshore here in Islamorada lately. Offshore the mahi bite has been fair overall. A few days the fishing was great and all the boats found plenty of fish, and some of the days the fishing was tough with just a handful of fish around. Hopefully it continues to get more consistent soon. We are also hosting the 4th annual gotta luv them charity dolphin tournament this Saturday (May 14th), so if you want to fish it for a little added excitement, sign up on Friday afternoon! If you already have a charter booked call your captain to discuss! We've seen fish from 3 - 25 lbs lately, and last week the Gimme Jimmy said fishing was tough overall, with just a handful of fish over two days, but they finished with this monster Bull that weighed in at 43.4 lbs! 

43.4 lb bull dolphin aboard the Gimme Jimmy 

The blackfin tuna showed up in good numbers on the humps lately too. Most of them are "footballs" from 3 - 7 lbs, and there has been a few in the 15 - 20 lb range as well. There's still some amberjacks on the bottom, and they can be as big as 50 lbs, or even more! A few sharks are still out there following the schools of amberjack too. 

On the reef we've seen lots of yellowtail snapper, a few mutton snapper, and a handful of black grouper caught. The grouper bite is always the best the first few days of season (it opened May 1st), but if you put your time in on the reef and wrecks anytime this month you'll have a good shot at catching a couple. Making the bites count is key, not letting them get back into the bottom where they break you off. There's also been a few permit around on the wrecks. The sailfish bite has dwindled down, but there's still a chance of always catching one. 

Capt. Travis from "the Indigenous" with a big black grouper 

The sharks nipped this big permit aboard Relentless 

Fat 35 lb black grouper from the Buzz On 

Mutton snapper from team Kalex 

Further offshore a few boats have been "deep drop" bottom fishing in 400 - 600' of water and we've seen a few really nice yellowedge groupers and a few blueline tilefish. Current regultions only allow us to keep one tilefish per boat (where it used to be 3 per person), so make it a nice one when you catch one. 

Big yellowedge grouper from 600' of water on Bn'M 

Way offshore there still continues to be some swordfish, as both the "Broad Minded" and "Catch 22" each had a fish around 70 lbs on their last trips. A few days prior the "Broad Minded" had a 247 lber too. 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next fishing trip in Islamorada!!!  

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk