Captain Ron Howell
305-896-1507
With the Winter season in full swing we are catching a variety of fish inshore and around the Gulf. Inshore, the snook and redfish are working the edges of the mangroves following the schools of bait traveling. Live bait or a well placed artificial bait will work perfect to get hooked up. Near the Gulf we are finding tripletail around the crab buoys and landing them with a live shrimp. The cobia are sight fished just like the tripletail and both make for excellent table fare. Black drum and permit can be caught off the wrecks and deep channels of the FL Bay. I have done a few offshore trips where we are catching snapper and grouper. Grouper season ends this month, so lets get your trip booked to get a few in the cooler! Happy Holidays!
Captain Ron Howell 305-896-1507
0 Comments
The winter fishery is in full swing! There is plenty of bait in the area to keep the rods bent for customers! I have been running several Florida Bay (Gulf of Mexico) charters and inshore reef trips. In the Gulf we can find Spanish Mackerel, permit, jack crevalle and sharks. The Spanish Mackerel are responding to chum and hitting jigs tipped with shrimp. Last week we caught a few nice cobia and tripletail also. The tripletail tend to hang out by the stone crab traps - the older the trap, the better! In the mornings there is a great snook and mangrove snapper bite. Just before lunch we switch over to fish near Cape Sabal for tarpon in the 20-50lb range, snook and trout. Redfish are laying low in the channels and runoffs staying warm and can be caught with a live bait or well placd soft plastic bait.
The highlight of the month has been the 50+ lb permit we caught in the Florida Bay off of a wreck! Photo coming soon. Let's get you hooked up this winter. Captain Ron Howell 305-896-1507 Happy Mothers Day! Tarpon fishing has been great in the backcountry as well as around the ocean side flats and bridges. Live mullet have been the most successful bait of choice for tarpon right now. You can also catch a variety of fish such as grouper, sharks and snapper by having a bottom rig set up with a chunk of dead mullet/bait. The migratory tarpon are 75 to 100+ lbs. Permit are stacked up on the rock piles and wrecks ocean side, they put on an excellent fight for my clients once hooked up. Tripletail are still around until the middle of the month. The mangrove snapper and seatrout are biting great. Along the mangrove edges in Everglades National Park we are catching some decent sized snook as well using live bait and softplastic jerk baits.
Captain Ron Howell Robbie's Marina www.captronhowellfishing.com Snook season is now open on and we have been catching plenty in the past 2 weeks. The areas we have been getting hooked up are Sabal Creek and out front of Flamingo - both part of Everglades National Park. Mangrove snapper have been filling up the coolers, we're using live shrimp and the tripletail also started to show back up under the crab buoys. Tripletail will hit live shrimp, artificials and fly too. Tarpon are in the creeks and eating on a falling tide - we released a 40 lb tarpon last Friday using a live pilchard. Over the weekend we caught a few spinner sharks which always make for an action packed fight!
The weather has been beautiful. There are places to hide from the wind and still easily catch fish. Spring Break is coming up for the kids - give Captain Ron a call and get the family out on the water! 305-896-1507 We are still continuing to catch plenty of big Spanish mackerel in the Gulf along with a ton of mangrove snapper, jacks and grouper! The grouper are not in season but make a great fight! In Cape Sabal, located in Everglades National Park we are catching black drum, trout and snook. We caught a really nice snook in East Cape, also in the park using live pilchards and pinfish. In Flamingo, we caught a nice snook too.
There have been large schools of sheepshead in the flats along with tailing redfish. For the sheepshead we are using a live shrimp, they usually will not eat a soft plastic jerk bait. A lot of sharks around, make for a fun fight with clients. It's still early for tarpon season but that doesn't mean they aren't around - we can find them at a falling tide in the channels with live mullet or by resting a dead ladyfish at the bottom. Book a trip by calling: 305-896-1507. Captain Ron Howell Here in Islamorada we are catching large Spanish mackerel and mangrove snapper! They are chewing out the bottom of the boat. Spinner sharks are also feeding aggressively, they are great fighters jumping and spinning clear out of the water followed by long fast runs. The smaller ones under 25lbs make excellent table fare. Large sheepshead are also showing up. They have a soft bite and a hard fight; great to eat as well.
The calendar is filling up, the weather is beautiful! Book your next adventure today! Captain Ron Howell 305-896-1507 Last week Fred & Jane from London joined me for a day of fishing. They caught snook, redfish, snapper, trout and mackerel. Their targeted species was shark. Here in Islamorada the most common sharks we find blacktips and spinners. They are very aggressive and a true gamefish! When they strike at the bait is explosive usually sending them high in the air. The strike is followed by long fast runs and punctuated by spinning leaps that rival any tarpon or billfish. One day we fought 9 in a row before we could land one. The bonus with gamsters is they are great to eat. We also caught a couple lemon sharks. Fred and Jane were a lot of fun to have on the boat and I look forward to seeing them next year. I also fished Paul & Dave - we caught trout, snook, black drum and snapper. We scouted out for tripletail - found 2 and were able to get 1 to the boat. They are fun to sight fish, provide an excellent fight and even jump! One of my favorite fish to eat as well. Towards the end of the week, Tom and his son Brett fished with me. Brett caught a beautiful pompano and his dad caught his first snook measuring in at 33 inches. We have a new week ahead so please check back for the latest fishing reports in Islamorada! Aerial view of lemon sharks.
![]() The mullet run is in full swing here in the Keys. There is a lot of action on the water. This week so far we have caught large Spanish mackerel, redfish, tarpon, snook and a 200lb bull shark! Ready to go fishing? www.captronhowellfishing.com While Everglades National Park has remained closed, we are still catching plenty of fish here in Islamorada, FL. We anticipate the park re-opening by this Friday. This week on one trip we easily caught over 100 fish just outside of the park boundaries in the Gulf. Species included huge Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper, cobia, tripletail, jack crevalle, and blue runners. We also caught several sharks in the 10 to 25 lb range. There have been big schools of mullet traveling down this way during the fall mullet run. Morning, depending on the tide will be the best time to target tarpon.
Some of the best fishing to be had in the Florida Keys no matter what season we are in lies within swimming distance of the shore, it's what we call Patch Reef fishing. In minutes you'll be on top of mutton snapper, yellowtail, grouper, mackerel and other fun fighting, good tasting fish. Once the park opens back up, I am looking forward to getting clients hooked up to the redfish, snook and trout action in the backcountry. Give me a call to book your next fishing trip! Captain Ron Howell 305-896-1507 |
Capt. Ron
Check back frequently for the latest Islamorada fishing reports. Archives
September 2018
Categories
All
|