Islamorada Fishing Report

The Islamorada Fishing Report

Fishing in the Florida Keys this past week was amazing. The wind finally settled down and there was plenty to do. I ran all over and it seemed the fish were everywhere. Downtown Islamorada was hot with tarpon, bonefish, and we even had some shots at permit. Bonefish were up on the flats and hungry during the incoming tide and fished best at the top of the incoming. Permit have been around bridges and their usual summer flats.

Tarpon are eating flies!

Tarpon have been pretty much everywhere. We have been getting eats on the ocean side, as well as great action in the back country. I have done some live baiting for them under the bridges but mainly fly fishing. Fly fishing for tarpon is the reason I moved here and though this season has been tough with cold weather conditions and wind most days, the season is here and tarpon are rolling!

Speaking of Tarpon, I just finished my article on “Choosing a Saltwater Fly Reel”

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Everglades and Backcountry

Fishing in the backcountry has been hot fire. We’ve been seeing great numbers of trout, redfish, and snook. The trout fishing has been spectacular with anglers catching 20-50 fish a day! Snook and redfish we have been working a bit harder for, but when we get on em its been great. The Flamingo side up the East Cape have been producing a lot of fish lately. Hopefully this wind comes down soon so we can get back out!

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What to Expect this Week

Weather this week has taken an unfortunate turn for the 30mph worse. Winds picked up yesterday and things are cooling off a bit. The weather looks like its going to be pretty nasty for the next few days until Sunday. Next week looks amazing with low winds and clear skies. Should be dream weather for anglers! So get that honey do list done this weekend so you can get out on the water next week!

Thanks for reading,

Capt. Josh

Islamorada Fishing Report

Suzuki 90 from Outboard Specialties

Well folks a lot has happened in the past two weeks since my last report. Tarpon fishing was getting off to nice start when all of the sudden my Yamaha 90 decided to give up the ghost on a guide trip. Lucky for us she died only about a half mile from the marina and we were able to limp her in. After cancelling a few trips and making some phone calls to find a new motor, Outboard Specialties in Pompano Beach was able to find me a new Suzuki 90, and they got her mounted in just a few days. The people at the Outboard Specialties were amazing to work with, and i’m super stoked on my new 90! I’m back on the water so lets talk about that!

Bonefishing in Islamorada

Last week before this wind picked up and cooled everything off we were seeing good numbers of tarpon and getting awesome shots everyday on both fly and spin gear. We hooked a few up but we got beat, sometimes the king wins! The bone fishing has picked up and has been a really nice way to get out of the wind and get some solid action. Snook fishing and backcountry in general was great but this front that is rolling through out of the NE has pushed a lot of the water out of the already shallow bays in the backcountry so fishing channels is best until the wind lets up.

Tarpon season is right around the corner and I still have dates available for end of April, May and June.

See ya on the water,

Capt. Josh

Islamorada Fishing Report

Windy! It has been blowing like crazy here for the past few days. The water has been turned up in the backcountry and its looking like its going to stay that way for the next 2 days. Last weeks fishing however was great. Big snook on flies and a few nice tarpon were jumped! Nothing was landed, that’s how it goes with bigger fish, they beat the unseasoned angler, all the more reason to spend more time tarpon fishing!

This week the wind is looking to die down around Wednesday. Its gonna to be chilly so tarpon fishing is going to be tough. If the weather calms down enough there should be permit out and about on the edges of flats and bonefish to be found fishing live bait on the edges of flats. Snook and Reds will be in their usually winter holding waters.

Tarpon Season is right around the corner and with the amount of fish we’ve seen last week it should make for a great season. I still have dates available and would love to get you into the fish of a lifetime!

Capt. Josh

Islamorada and Florida Keys Backcountry Fishing Report

Backcountry Cobia

The weather has been awesome these past few days! The water has been glass for the past 3 days and we have had plenty of shots at permit and big tarpon. When the conditions line up it makes fly fishing the backcountry a dream. We can see tarpon roll a long way off and permit tailing in areas that are difficult to fish otherwise. We did manage to sight fish a few cobia this week and that was amazing, and delicious. Best table fare the keys have to offer in my opinion.

Early this week consisted of windy fly fishing conditions, though the wind was up we still managed to land a few nice snook on the fly and had multiple shots at redfish. Fly Fishing in the Keys can be amazing, however its only as amazing as your ability to cast. I highly recommend casting lessons and practice before your trip to the keys. Theres nothing worse than being just 10ft short of a tailing permit! As a rule of thumb I tell my guests to practice until they are able to cast 60ft comfortably, a double haul helps. I have links and resources that I send my guests to help practice. Let me know if you need a tune up before your visit, I am happy to help! Simply making a vid of yourself casting and sending it to me for review can help a lot!

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you on the water,

Capt Josh

Islamorada, Florida Fishing Report

The Holidays are here and the fish are have been gifting tight lines on both fly rod and light tackle!

We had a bit of a weather change these past few days with cold fronts coming in. Everything has started to settle in nicely with the fish getting used to the cooler water temps and heading into their winter holding zones. This creates awesome opportunities to fish the flats in the Everglades and in Islamorada.

Snook have been holding on banks and in channels, and they’re hungry! They’ve been eating almost everything we’ve been throwing at them. Redfish have been the same, however we’re finding large schools on flats and sight casting to them has been a lot of fun and should stay good until April. Fly fishing for bones has been good on calm days when the wind isn’t beating up the angler and we’re able to see. We have been getting bones in the AM on live shrimps in town. There have been some tarpon still cruising around but I have not spent a lot of time targeting them due to the other species fishing so well right now.

Hope to fish with you soon,

Capt Josh

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Islamorada Fly Fishing Report November

Well now that the hurricane season is coming to and end we can get back to fishing!

Bonefishing locally around Islamorada has been amazing for the past month and will continue to be well into January. We have been catching 2-10 bones a day on live bait and fly fishing. Seems the bones are eager to eat and if you can get a fly around them they’ll pretty much turn around and smack it! The permit fishing has been awesome too and should be until they head offshore to spawn in April. Baby tarpon have been eating well and when we’re finding a large group of them we’re spending most of the day fishing them. They can be had on light tackle and fly regularly. Snook fishing in the mangroves has been good, tough casting requires you to get tight to the bank. If you can make the cast, good anglers are getting paid!

Thats the update! headed back on the water!

Capt Josh

Islamorada Fishing Report

Well, winter is finally here in the Keys. The air temps dropped down to a bone chilling 72 average for the past week because of a cold front. Good news it we can finally turn the a/c off and open the windows!

As far as fishing goes this first big cold front starts the end of the really amazing tarpon fishing we’ve been seeing this fall. It doesn’t mean they’re not around, it just means they’re not going to be as close to Islamorada to target. I’ve been heading north to the Everglades and have been getting my fix for the silver king up there. Snook fishing has really taken off. I’m catching snook daily on white and black flies, as well as on spin gear tossing topwater lures and soft plastics. The redfish game has been great too. Its an awesome challenge to try catching these backcountry bones on a fly! When the wind isn’t maching I’ve been heading out oceanside looking for permit and bonefish. All in all the fishing has been great, just a few less giant tarpon.

Give me a call if you want fish!

Thanks,

Capt Josh

Islamorada Fishing Report

Welcome to Moon Cast Anglers and the Fishing report!

I moved back to Islamorada in October and have been super busy fishing. I was bummed out that I was missing the hunting season up north however, this has been one of the best few weeks of inshore fishing I’ve seen in the Florida Keys. Tarpon, Permit, Bones, and Snook!

The Everglades has a few large tarpon swimming around as well as tons of baby tarpon. I’ve been lucky to get on large schools of baby tarpon, catching one after another on top water flies. Snook fishing in the park has been great as well. Tons of smaller fish, showing good signs for the resource.

The Keys have been fantastic. I’m seeing permit almost every outing in large numbers. Even though they’re in schools it doesn’t make them any easier! Tarpon are cruising around and have been quite eager to take a fly. Check out my latest clip on Instagram (checkers_j) fishing for permit and hooking a nice tarpon on 16lb test! Totally awesome.

The wind has come up and seems like its going to be blowing for the next few days. I’ll be sneaking out here at least a couple of days this week.

-Capt Josh