John Rawle
Angling Charter Captain
Bradwell on Sea, Essex
Tel 01621 776445
Mobile 07860 920 964
Mobile 07860 920 964
Bellropes,
Maldon Road, Bradwell on Sea, Essex. CM0 7HY
Tel 01621 776 445 Mobile 07860 920 964
Tel 01621 776 445 Mobile 07860 920 964
Florida Keys Fishing Reports
simply the best...................
better than all the rest...........
January & February 2011
Whenever you go away on a fishing holiday even to Florida you need the weather on your side and this year the weather was fantastic - calm, settled and consistent.
The first group out with us included two of my fellow skippers from back home in Essex so I was under a bit of pressure to produce the goods. The water temperature this time of year needs to be around 70 degrees for the fishing to be at it's best and for the whole time we were there it was. Even getting into the high 70's in February. The early reports when we arrived from the other guides were excellent with plenty of fish of all species in all the usual places and this proved to be so.
The general fishing in the Gulf for mackerel, blue fish, trout, ladyfish, snappers and groupers etc was unbelievable - almost too easy. In fact, some days it was too easy! There were huge numbers of fish as close in to a mile from the house all giving great sport on light tackle.
There were plenty of small sharks and a few bigger ones. The tarpon fishing round the bridges was excellent. We were catching numbers of fish on every trip - mostly 20 to 50 pounders the biggest of 80 lbs caught by Bart from Mersea.
The ocean side of the island was also very productive with lots of grouper, snappers, mackerel, jacks and off the reef the most kingfish I have seen in 16 years. There was also some big sharks with several over 200 lbs. One fish of note was a 200 lbs hammerhead caught by John from also from Mersea.
Luckily for me all the lads had a great time with plenty of fish and a break from the horrible weather back in the UK.
The next group was regulars John, Neil and Dave and again the fishing was excellent fro their whole trip. they exceeded their previous best of 45 species in a week by one to make it 46. Dave caught his first tarpon - a 50 pounder and on their last day we went for broke and tried to get a giant grouper from a small wreck I know . We didn't get one we got two - one about 250 lbs the other an absolute monster that must have been approaching 500 lbs. The lads had to tag team this fish for over half an hour! Eventually when it surfaced it looked like an upturned dingy with fins!
All in all this was the best January/February trip we have ever had when the weather and the fishing combined.
March, April & May 2011
After the excellent weather and fishing of January and February we were itching to get back to see what the tarpon and shark fishing of a Florida spring would be like and we weren't disappointed.
From the first week to the last week the fishing and the weather was excellent. There were odd days when the fish or the weather didn't behave themselves but overall it was easy with nice settled weather and plenty of fish. the tarpon are always big this time of year, mostly over a 100 lb but this year they were bigger than usual. there were lots of fish over 150 lbs and several over 180 and we had 3 over 200 lbs. The shark fishing again apart from the very odd day was really good with between six and a dozen most afternoons averaging around 160 to 170 lbs with a good number of 250 lbs plus and several over 400 lbs.
The grouper fishing in the gulf was exceptional and our anglers made some huge catches with some massive individual fish.
The main run of big tarpon started early this year and the numbers continued right through to when we left in June. Our groups averaged between 25 and 30 tarpon a week over 100 lbs and between 30 and 50 sharks a week again averaging 160 to 170 lbs.
A lot of notable fish were caught by our anglers this year:
Peter from Hertfordshire got a 210 lbs tarpon
Stefan from Southend got an absolute monster of about 225 lbs which was part of a four fish catch
Tony from Braintree again topped of a 4 fish catch with one of about 220 lbs
Paul from Hertfordshire also got a 215 lbs tarpon
On the shark front Denis got a 300 lbs lemon and a 300 lbs bull shark
Peter got a 500 lbs bull shark
Clive had a bullshark of about 375 lbs
Vaughn and Edwin both got 350 lbs lemons
Mike had a 400 lbs lemon
And on the grouper front John from Harlow got a 150 pounder
Dave, Tony, Vaughn and Edd got a dozen up to 275 lbs
And in one day Andy, Tony and Rob landed 45 between 60 and 100 lbs
But top of the tree was Paul and Sid who in one day landed 5,000 lbs of fish topped by a massive 500 pounder to Paul
Apart from the big stuff there were plenty of smaller species to have fun with this time of year. Ron and Nick had a couple of nice afternoons, with one afternoon catching several redfish and on another afternoon they both got 8 lbs plus bonefish.
The authorities in Florida really look after the fishing and the consistency of our catches is testimony to this. We are virtually fully booked for next year and this is nearly all repeat business because once you have been once you want some more and over the 16 years that we have been there the fishing has actually got better and with their legislation will continue this way,
Whenever you go away on a fishing holiday even to Florida you need the weather on your side and this year the weather was fantastic - calm, settled and consistent.
The first group out with us included two of my fellow skippers from back home in Essex so I was under a bit of pressure to produce the goods. The water temperature this time of year needs to be around 70 degrees for the fishing to be at it's best and for the whole time we were there it was. Even getting into the high 70's in February. The early reports when we arrived from the other guides were excellent with plenty of fish of all species in all the usual places and this proved to be so.
The general fishing in the Gulf for mackerel, blue fish, trout, ladyfish, snappers and groupers etc was unbelievable - almost too easy. In fact, some days it was too easy! There were huge numbers of fish as close in to a mile from the house all giving great sport on light tackle.
There were plenty of small sharks and a few bigger ones. The tarpon fishing round the bridges was excellent. We were catching numbers of fish on every trip - mostly 20 to 50 pounders the biggest of 80 lbs caught by Bart from Mersea.
The ocean side of the island was also very productive with lots of grouper, snappers, mackerel, jacks and off the reef the most kingfish I have seen in 16 years. There was also some big sharks with several over 200 lbs. One fish of note was a 200 lbs hammerhead caught by John from also from Mersea.
Luckily for me all the lads had a great time with plenty of fish and a break from the horrible weather back in the UK.
The next group was regulars John, Neil and Dave and again the fishing was excellent fro their whole trip. they exceeded their previous best of 45 species in a week by one to make it 46. Dave caught his first tarpon - a 50 pounder and on their last day we went for broke and tried to get a giant grouper from a small wreck I know . We didn't get one we got two - one about 250 lbs the other an absolute monster that must have been approaching 500 lbs. The lads had to tag team this fish for over half an hour! Eventually when it surfaced it looked like an upturned dingy with fins!
All in all this was the best January/February trip we have ever had when the weather and the fishing combined.
March, April & May 2011
After the excellent weather and fishing of January and February we were itching to get back to see what the tarpon and shark fishing of a Florida spring would be like and we weren't disappointed.
From the first week to the last week the fishing and the weather was excellent. There were odd days when the fish or the weather didn't behave themselves but overall it was easy with nice settled weather and plenty of fish. the tarpon are always big this time of year, mostly over a 100 lb but this year they were bigger than usual. there were lots of fish over 150 lbs and several over 180 and we had 3 over 200 lbs. The shark fishing again apart from the very odd day was really good with between six and a dozen most afternoons averaging around 160 to 170 lbs with a good number of 250 lbs plus and several over 400 lbs.
The grouper fishing in the gulf was exceptional and our anglers made some huge catches with some massive individual fish.
The main run of big tarpon started early this year and the numbers continued right through to when we left in June. Our groups averaged between 25 and 30 tarpon a week over 100 lbs and between 30 and 50 sharks a week again averaging 160 to 170 lbs.
A lot of notable fish were caught by our anglers this year:
Peter from Hertfordshire got a 210 lbs tarpon
Stefan from Southend got an absolute monster of about 225 lbs which was part of a four fish catch
Tony from Braintree again topped of a 4 fish catch with one of about 220 lbs
Paul from Hertfordshire also got a 215 lbs tarpon
On the shark front Denis got a 300 lbs lemon and a 300 lbs bull shark
Peter got a 500 lbs bull shark
Clive had a bullshark of about 375 lbs
Vaughn and Edwin both got 350 lbs lemons
Mike had a 400 lbs lemon
And on the grouper front John from Harlow got a 150 pounder
Dave, Tony, Vaughn and Edd got a dozen up to 275 lbs
And in one day Andy, Tony and Rob landed 45 between 60 and 100 lbs
But top of the tree was Paul and Sid who in one day landed 5,000 lbs of fish topped by a massive 500 pounder to Paul
Apart from the big stuff there were plenty of smaller species to have fun with this time of year. Ron and Nick had a couple of nice afternoons, with one afternoon catching several redfish and on another afternoon they both got 8 lbs plus bonefish.
The authorities in Florida really look after the fishing and the consistency of our catches is testimony to this. We are virtually fully booked for next year and this is nearly all repeat business because once you have been once you want some more and over the 16 years that we have been there the fishing has actually got better and with their legislation will continue this way,
Only a few places left for 2013
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