The tarpon remain spread out in the lower Keys, with many anglers and guides eagerly awaiting the next push of fish. The result is, often, a day spent chasing bonefish or permit–a rather nice change for those of us who have been mutating ourselves on tarpon for the last few months. Congratulations to Thomas Rapone…

The last three days I fished with Captain Doug Kilpatrick for the 3 kg (6 lb) tippet tarpon record. Currently, this record stands at 82 pounds, 8 ounces, and was caught by Stu Apte in 1977. Over the three days we hooked 7 fish. They ranged in size from around 90 pounds to 130; every…

well, it happened. I couldn’t go last night, but the worms were out. I passed on an evening with Aaron Snell in favor of a prior commitment, and from what I hear it took off. Starting 3 days with Doug Kilpatrick tomorrow, and I’m hoping the fish go back to normal after their worm-a-thon. Best,…

The name of this fishing report reminds me of a DVD by the same name that is probably the best fishing show ever. Guests include Tom Waits, who does a great job ice fishing. Anyway, if you haven’t already seen it look for some clips on YouTube before committing: it’s humor misses the mark with…

Yesterday I was generously invited to join a friend of mine for a day fishing with Captain Doug Kilptarick. The fish were hard to find due to the cloud cover, but we managed to eke out a bite from a smaller fish to prevent pulling a blank. We found a pair of bonefish and had…

Shark fishing with Fitz was great fun, though the blacktips refused to cooperate. This is tarpon season, however, so it may indeed serve us right to have had the difficulty we did chasing the teeth. We did hook one fish on 3 kg, though broke it off soon after hooking up when the reel handle…

Yesterday was a great day on the water, though capture eluded us. We began west, and threw at a number of disinterested fish. Following that, we looked for a more willing partcipant in a bonefish; though we saw a few, we didn’t get a shot. Farther east we had a great shot at a group…

Over the weekend, Atsushi “Sush” Katagiri visited from Shimano Corp. After a few lessons and an evening spent trying to catch a few small fish in the lights, he spent a few nights fishing with Captain Aaron Snell. Check out what he got done: Nice work, Sush! In daytime fishing, the wind has been calm…

So the tarpon fishing is still going on, and the fish are here. The calm weather, however, can make the approach difficult at times. Most importantly, however, congratulations are due to Max Willard, who landed his first tarpon on fly last night. When Scott and Max come by I will try to get some photographs…

For the last few days, the wind has been 8-12 mph, a distinct change from the days earlier in the week that made for less than thrilling fishing on Sunday and Monday. Fish are still arriving, though it seems we may be in between large pushes. Of course, this may change (or have changed) today,…