Islamorada Fishing Report

The Islamorada Fishing Report

Guided Fly Fishing and Light Tackle

Fly Fishing and Light Tackle Florida Keys

Fly fishing and light tackle in and around the Florida Keys this past week was interesting. There were storms, wind, permit, and tarpon. Conditions this 2021 season have not made things easy and this week was no different. Seems when the wind isn’t blowing the clouds are rolling in making sight fishing difficult. We were able to bend rods and put some nice fish in the boat and put some tarpon in the air!

We have been catching fish on crabs, mullet, soft plastics and outgoing tides. Early bird gets the tarpon bite! Permit have been chowing crabs around structure, just be sure to get em out of there if you do hook one, they tend to know how to pop that hook off.

Tarpon Fishing in Islamorada, Florida Keys

Fly Fishing and light tackle Everglades

The snook fishing in the Everglades has been awesome these past few weeks. If you can find a bank or shoreline where there is one or two fish, keep poking around, there could be a big school just lurking. I have been putting my guys on big numbers of snook daily on out going tides and were having a ton of fun out there. Baitfish have been working best, however they have been eating darker flies as well. There are a few tarpon to be found out there too if you look for them. Redfish have been cruising the flats eating gulp shrimps, look for muds!

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I have AVAILABILITY the first two weeks of july if you want to come down and get tight on snook, tarpon, permit, bonefish, or redfish! lets get your picture up here on the fishing report!

Thanks for reading

Capt Josh

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

The water is starting to warm up and the tarpons are warming up too!

The past few weeks we have been dealing with very inconsistent weather. Tarpon are not a fan of cold water. The past cold front dropped the water temps into the 60s and they are slowly starting to work their way back up.

This week brought wind and chilly water temps, but we were still able to make it happen. We worked lee banks and found nice snook and a few baby tarpon on flies. Later in the week the water temps started to warm up and I changed my game to hunting for the bigger tarpon around Islamorada. Though there have not been great numbers of fish we were able to hook a few on the fly rod!

Fly Fishing For tarpon Islamorada

This weekend looks like it’s going to be windy and bring in some warmer temps. Next week is looking solid and we’re going to try and hammer down on some silver kings!

Fly Fishing for Snook

I checked my personal fishing reports from last season and the tarpon are definitely running behind schedule due to the colder water temps. The great news is that once the tarpon fishing gets into full swing we’ll have solid fishing through June, which is even better news if you’ve waited to book your trip! June is going to be an amazing month and I have availability!

Thanks for reading, and if you’d like to book a trip feel free to reach out,

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

Tarpon Fishing Florida Keys

Tarpon season is right around the corner! We have had a big push of large fish the past few days that were happy and eating! The small cold front this past weekend slowed the bite a little, however the snook and redfish game was strong.

The past week was exciting, filled with tarpon bites daily and snook in the back country. I think a few more weeks and we’ll start seeing the large groups of migratory fish swimming in ocean side. As long as the bay stays warm there will be plenty of tarpon moving in, as well as happy permit, snook, and redfish.

The backcountry has been producing awesome snook fishing on fly rod and spin rod. This week I stuck to fly for most of my trips and we were able to sight fish snook and pull em out of mangroves.

I still have some dates available for March, April, and May. The calendar is starting to fill up. shoot me an email or drop me a line, lets go catch some fish!

Capt Josh

Fly Fishing For Snook

Islamorada Fishing Report

Fly Fishing For Tarpon Islamorada

The weather warmed up and the Tarpon got happy! The past few days have been a ton of fun hooking tarpon on fly and spin gear. Black flies have been working best and soft plastics in white and black have been getting them too. This colder weather coming in might put them off for a few days, but the season is right around the corner and my guests and I are stoked!

The backcountry up the East Cape has been awesome this past week. We’ve been Catching Tarpon, Snook, Redfish and Black Drum. We’ve also been finding schools of nice trout that are game to eat pretty much anything. Fly fishing up against the banks has been epic, we’re seeing good numbers of redfish and snook.

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

Contact me for availability, I still have some days open February and March

Cast Josh

Fly fishing for Redfish Everglades

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

Sight Fishing for Snook

This week has been a bit crazy, windy and cold. I’ve been dressing like i’m headed out on a ski trip in the mornings, but no matter, the fishing has been epic. Winds from the North bring in cooler temps and moves fish around to their winter holding locations. The north wind has also been pushing fish up on flats close to banks. There we have been able to sight cast to large groups of snook. I’ve been using anything white and they seem to be loving it! The past few days we have been seeing awesome numbers of snook, catching 30-40 in a single spot, and getting a 30+ every now and again on fly and light tackle. This trend should continue through the winter months with redfish and trout filling in the gaps between snook spots.

Cast 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 and Everglades Fishing Report

The past few days have been windy, though that didn’t stop us! We were able to get behind a few islands in downtown Islamorada and catch a few bones! Afterwards, we headed out back to the Everglades and the Flamingo area. The ride was a little rough but it was totally worth it. Almost everywhere we fished we hooked a lot of healthy snook, on flies, artificial baits, and some on live bait. The snook, redfish and trout are plenty in the Everglades right now and the trips have been flying by with the amazing action! Typical days have been starting in town fishing for bonefish then heading into the backcountry to catch snook and redfish.

We have also started doing group trips. If you have a group of more than 2 people let me help you book another boat and take care of finding you a captain that suits your needs and will provide an amazing trip for your family, friends, and associates!

-Capt Josh

Islamorada Fly Fishing Report

Moon Cast Anglers is now taking bookings for the Winter and Spring 2021 Season! As the snow falls Up North, come warm your feet island style. The fly fishing down here has been amazing. We're consistently catching Bonefish, Snook, Redfish, with daily shots at Permit. The big tarpon have headed out for deeper water but the local juvenile tarpon (8-40lbs) are always around and we have been hooking them every time we go looking for them. Typical trips start off by hunting bonefish on the beautiful sand flats of Islamorada for a few hours, then heading into the Everglades to finish off the day looking for Snook, Reds, and Tarpon. All skills levels are welcome! I also offer online casting lessons to get your cast dialed in before you visit. Contact Moon Cast Anglers to book your trip!

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