4/23/18 April reef/offshore fishing report

What a week at Bud n' Mary's Marina!!! On April 19th I had Patrick out aboard the Broad Minded for a swordfish trip. It was quiet all day, but late in the afternoon we hooked up. Patrick wanted to hand crank so we got him in the harness and he went to work. After a two hour battle we put the gaff and harpoon in a 600.5 lb swordfish!!! It's one of the biggest ever caught in the Florida Keys and the biggest we've ever seen at Bud n' Mary's Marina since we started daytime swordfishing back in 2003!!! Congrats Patrick!!! The catch 22 also fished that day and released 2 swords and kept 1 for dinner. We released 2 swords our next trip on the Broad Minded, but we didn't get any yesterday. 

 

The mahi bite has been fair. We had a couple good days and boats had 20 - 30 fish, but then the next day there was just a few caught. It's still a little hit and miss right now, but it should only get better and more consistent each week. We saw fish from 3 - 25 lbs caught the last few days. The blackfin tuna bite has been great, with a lot of "footballs" in the 3 - 7 lb range and a few nicer ones from 12 - 25 lbs. There's been some big amberjacks and sharks still around too. 

 

On the reef there's been plenty of yellowtail snapper and a few mutton snapper in the mix. Permit have been pretty good on the wrecks, but there not a guarantee by any means. About a week ago we had a weak cold front and it sparked the sailfish bite for a couple days, but then the bite really slowed down. All of a sudden two days ago the current picked up with a little bit of wind around lunch time and almost all the boats that were on the reef caught sailfish! The Catch 22 managed 6 releases, the indigineous had 3 and a few othter boats had a couple. However, the next day the current let up and there was only 1 sailfish caught amongst the fleet. We are looking forward to May 1st because grouper season opens up, so get ready! 

 

Give us a call in the marina office at 305 664 2461 to book you're next Islamorada Fishing Charter and we'll set you up with a great boat! Remember we have lodging options and "galley girls" cafe is open daily at 6 am. We recommend you order food the day before though so it's ready for your fishing trip the next day! Galley girls can be reached at 305 664 0166. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk