Fishing Report -- 01-26-13

I’m going to chalk today’s somewhat slow trip up to the full moon. Typically the full moon really slows things down offshore for daytime fishing but fishing near to the beach usually isn’t affected as much. However the fish we found today were behaving very full moonish. We found schools of Tarpon, big Jacks and Bluefish and we only got one Bluefish out of all those fish to eat something. Tarpon you expect to be tough but the Jacks and especially the Bluefish are usually extremely cooperative. Even the sharks were not out in full force as expected. We caught as many as we wanted however we didn’t see the numbers that I know are there. Perhaps they took a little trip to deeper water for the day. Roy and Ollie hung in there and ended up with an Amberjack, 3 sharks, Bluefish, ladyfish and small Jacks. Check out the picture of the Lizard fish Roy caught that is the same size as the jig, only a Walleye fisherman can figure out how to do this !

For more info. on TKF Charters click this link to my website www.tkfcharters.com
To see Fishing Reports prior to 2012 click  www.tkfcharters.com/reports/reports.php

Fishing Report -- 12-28-12

Adam has fly fished with me for a number of years now at the same time of the year. This pretty much means the same fish are pretty much around each year. So this year we tried to change it up a little and the mission was to try catch a Spinner Shark on fly. It’s a little early for them and typically they get hot on the fly a little more into the season (late January they seem to begin to eat the fly better) but we figured we’d give it a go. The conditions weren’t ideal for the sharks but they we good enough that we gave it a shot. We located a decent number of sharks hanging around some Mackerel and Bluefish so Adam went to town catching some Bluefish & Mackerel to use for chum. It wasn’t long before Adam had landed a number of Jacks, Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish. Then it was time to try the sharks. We had quite a few curious sharks come in but bites were a little scarce. Adam did hook 3 fish. Two were quick on offs and one stayed on just long enough to give Adam an idea of what Shark fishing on fly was all about. Unfortunately the hook bent out, which is a little odd because Adam hadn’t even started to put any heat on the fish yet and it was a good 5/0 Owner hook, just wasn’t meant to be I suppose. On the way back in we stopped to end the day with catching some more Spanish Mackerel. We were partially successful on the sharks and Adam landed a bunch of Bluefish, Mackerel and Jacks all on fly. We didn’t take any pictures but I did get a little video.                        

For more info. on TKF Charters click this link to my website www.tkfcharters.com
To see Fishing Reports prior to 2012 click  www.tkfcharters.com/reports/reports.php

Fishing Report -- 12-23-12

This is just a warning right up front that I am going to whine about the wind. Today was brutal. 20 + mph NW wind and temperature of 46 degrees at the boat ramp this morning (not considering the wind chill). For us South Florida boys that is just plain cold. Grandfather and grandson Boyd and Bill were on board today and hats off to them for braving the cold. Sometimes with a strong NW wind we can still get out into the ocean close to the beach and still have good day on Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, Sharks etc however not today. Swell was miserable and ocean rough. So we were pretty much confined to the Palm Beach inlet. Which this time of year is not necessarily a bad option. The Jack Crevalle fishing can be very good, there are big Cudas around and if lucky can see some Permit. The Jacks were around today and the big Cudas were there too but they both had serious lockjaw. The Jacks were about as uncooperative as I have ever seen them. We were fly fishing but eventually I threw some jigs, swimbaits and lures at them but they were totally disinterested, which is somewhat unusual for Jacks. The company on the boat was great and grandfather & grandson had a great day taking jabs at each other (all in good spirits) however fishing was terribly slow. Not sure what had the Jacks all finicky today, perhaps some big sharks moved into the inlet or they just didn’t like the weather either and were protesting.                      

For more info. on TKF Charters click this link to my website www.tkfcharters.com
To see Fishing Reports prior to 2012 click  www.tkfcharters.com/reports/reports.php

Fishing Report -- 11-23-12

Well, the weather truce referred to in my 11-01-12 report was definitely over. Steve was in town and  going to fish multiple days, fly only. As you can imagine using just fly gear in very windy conditions is extremely challenging, but Steve is an old salt when it comes to fly fishing and understands the game. He wasn’t phased by the challenging conditions and kept his enthusiasm high every day. I had to include the first picture below to show Steve’s mad skills in being able to catch a fish the same size as the fly, quite a feat. Thankfully the fish got a little bigger as the adventure progressed. The Jacks and Bluefish were pretty cooperative. We lost count on the number of Bluefish landed. Eventually we kept going down and down in rod size to keep things interesting. They remind me of Piranhas the way they mow through flies, just as well Bluefish haven’t developed a taste for human flesh. Our favorite was the popper, you can hear their jaws snapping as they come out of the water after the popper. Very cool to experience. The Jacks were out and about too, not quite in the numbers we were hoping for but Steve managed to get some nice Jacks to the boat. Of course the big one got away, Steve had a nice 25 lb Jack hooked up but it bit through the leader leaving us only with memories and some choice words for the fish. After a few days of grinding it out in the wind Steve’s positive attitude was rewarded big time. The wind subsided and we hit the ocean with great expectations. The day began with some large Blue Runners. I was hoping for the Amberjacks to have shown but still they were a no show (any day now, they are running a little late this year). Next were Spanish Mackerel, Ladyfish and some more Bluefish. Then we began to see something really cool. Large schools of minnows had pushed in near to the beach and the False Albacore (Bonitos) were on them pretty good. The water was frothing when the Bonitos charged the minnow schools. It doesn’t get much better than this for a fly fisherman and Steve took full advantage. Once we figured out the fly they wanted it was hammer time for Steve. We lost count but figured round about 20 Bonitos were landed. Only one was chomped by a Bull Shark, right next to the boat. I thought I was going to have to get the defibrillator out for Steve, the shark came out of nowhere and really surprised us. What a spectacular day, it was phenomenal to see that many Bonitos frothing up the water, even better was Steve catching that many. So here’s the lesson kids, you need to put in your time on the water to get to those epic days. Steve really deserved a fantastic day and that is exactly what he got. Fishing trips aren’t always fair so it was great to see someone who really put in the time being rewarded with such a special treat. Check out the little bit of video we took of the craziness.                 

For more info. on TKF Charters click this link to my website www.tkfcharters.com
To see Fishing Reports prior to 2012 click  www.tkfcharters.com/reports/reports.php

Fishing Report -- 11-01-12

Tony hails from the same hemisphere as I do and seems to have the same luck when it comes to wind. It would be good luck if we were sailors, unfortunately we are very wind sensitive fishermen. Day one the wind was brutal and the fishing very slow. I figured I could at least take Tony to my inside shark spot and catch a few nice sized fish. Again the southern hemisphere luck (or lack thereof) kicked in. It was the first time I have ever been skunked at my shark spot, we didn’t even see the first sign of a shark. We moved on and all the waters were willing to offer us were some small Jacks and one medium sized Jack. A few days later Tony was back and brought some of his northern hemisphere luck. This time the winds were a lot less and we were able to make it into the ocean. We started on the fly rod at my favorite Amberjack spot which proved to only have very big Blue Runners on it but no AJ’s. We moved closer to the beach which was loaded with small Blue Runners, we put a bunch of them in the well and headed for some bigger quarry. It wasn’t long before we began to see Spinner sharks just off the beach, we put out some baits and soon Tony was hooked to his first screamer. Spinner Sharks are so athletic, it’s a blast to watch them go. After some huffing and puffing and removing of the jacket the first shark was brought to the boat and released. The sharks were still hanging around so Tony went back at it. It’s pretty early in the season but there were a decent number of sharks to keep Tony busy. Three more sharks were landed before we called it a day. This time of year it always seems like we are fighting the weather, today the weather called a truce and let us out to play, much appreciated.        

For more info. on TKF Charters click this link to my website www.tkfcharters.com
To see Fishing Reports prior to 2012 click  www.tkfcharters.com/reports/reports.php