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By Robbie's, October 22, 2010 9:19 am

After an amazingly good September this month has gotten off to a bit of a slow start.  Last month we were catching tons of nice mangrove snappers with some muttons and groupers spread in the mix.  Most of them were coming on live ballyhoo fished on the bottom.   At the same time as these nice bottom fish we were also catching lots of yellowtails.  Really the event that seemed to be the switch that turned this hot bite off was the last tropical storm that passed by.  The rains that fell for two days straight cooled the water off very quickly and the winds that blew made the water very, very dirty.  For a week it has almost looked like green mud.

Now that we are over a week past the storm we are seeing the fish come back, but it’s not still where it should be.  The bait fish, mainly ballyhoo have not returned to the reef were they are just a few weeks ago.  They are slowly but surely returning, and this will bring more predators, which is what we as fisherman want.

The hottest bite out there right now is the yellowtails after dark.  Our night trips have been producing some extraordinary catches lately.  Both Capt. Dave and Capt. Ron have been targeting the wrecks off the edge of the reef and catching nice “flag” yellowtails one after another.  Last week I think they limited out 4 nights out of the 5 they fished.  A few random mutton snappers also came off the wrecks, but the big highlight is really the ‘tails.

The sailfish are just starting to show up on the reef again.  They will be here all winter long and will make thousands of anglers very, very happy this year.  We catch a hand-full every year on the party boat,  but the charter boats catch hundreds.  Almost every day of the winter the charter boats catch at least one per boat.  Sometimes you can catch 12 or 15 if you hit the right day!

I would expect the reef fishing to get better for snappers the next few weeks, the groupers are going to start moving into the reef and so are the sailfish. In other words… October is going to be an awesome month!

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, September 16, 2010 8:57 am

This time of year is always exciting, yet frustrating at the same time. The reef fishing is still really pretty good right now, but we hardly have any customers around to enjoy it. After Labor Day the business end of the fishing dies off drastically, even though the fishing is still good. The good news about that is that if you are able to come down and fish with us there is very little competition on the party boat and few boats on the reef competing with us. A month ago you would have been one of 40 people on the boat, where-as now you are one of 12 on a typical trip.

The mangrove snapper spawn is coming to an end, but the fish are still out on the reef and hungry. We are actually catching more of them in the day time, as the night spawn areas have shut down. It’s fun to catch them in the day time because they swim right up into the chum slick and you can almost watch them eat your bait. In some ways it’s like sight fishing!

The yellowtail bite is still good both day and night. They tend to be a bit bigger at night, which is to be expected. At night both Capt. Ron and Capt. Dave are fishing wrecks in the 100 foot range and catching the big “flag” yellowtails.

We have been seeing a few muttons both day and night too. Nothing big in the daytime, but at least they are there. At night they have pulled up a few in the 10 to 12 pound range, which is a respectable fish no matter who you are. The nicest day time mutton recently was caught by Ron White who was fishing with a live ballyhoo on a long leader rig in 75 feet of water. He had the nicest fish on the boat, until his fishing parter Nancy White topped his catch with an 11 pound red grouper in 205 feet of water on the same rig. Needless to say, Ron got quite a bit of teasing the rest of the day.

As for the offshore scene, not many boats have been getting off the dock to give reports. The last day that the Islamorada Lady II fished they came in with blackfin tunas, skip-jack tunas and some deep water dwellers such as the rarely caught barrel fish. The barrels are really good to eat, but very hard to catch, making them quite an exciting catch. The one the Lady caught was about 12 pounds, yielding multiple fantastic dinners for the lucky angler.

In the near future I would expect to see the snappers continue to bight quite well due to the warm water. The groupers are going to be few and far between, as are the king fish. Basically the word of the fall is snapper, snapper, snapper.

Hope to fish with you soon,

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, July 6, 2010 7:34 am

First off I would like to mention that we have NO OIL IN THE KEYS from the BP oil spill.  We are fishing, boating, snorkeling, swimming and beach-going as usual.

Now for the fishing report:

Good news and bad news:  The good news is that the mangrove snapper fishing is about as good as it can ever get in the daytime.  The bad news is that if you wait 3 weeks it will slow down and you won’t catch as many fish.  The night bite, on the other hand is still warming up.  I would guess that the fish have about another week before they are in full swing for the night bite.

In the daytime we are fishing patch reefs no deeper than 25 feet and slaying the mangroves (grovers)!!!!  They are swimming right up to the surface and most of them you can watch eat the bait.  Not that you could use one on the Capt. Michael, but you could easily target these fish with a fly rod if you wanted to!  If you are interested in something as unusual as snapper fishing with a fly rod just call the ticket booth at 305-664-8070 and set up a trip with me on the Satisfaction.  I will make it happen!  Not too many people can say they ever caught a snapper in fly!

As for the yellowtails they are biting their butts off too, but I haven’t been targeting them as much as the mangroves for a few reasons… A: mangroves are easier to catch, B: grovers are better eating, C: grovers fight better and lastly you can catch mangroves all the way around the boat instead of only on the back which makes it more fun for more people.

We are catching lots of short groupers, but I don’t think we have filleted one in a week or so.  That’s pretty typical of the summer time.  Snappers are on and groupers are off.  The last sizable grouper was about a 15 pound black off a wreck in 95 feet on a night trip during the full moon.  About the only time groupers really bite at night for us is during the full moon.

As for the offshore scene, the Islamorada Lady II has been slaying the dolphin (mahi-mahi)!  Schoolies, gaffers and slammers, they are getting all of them!  With Capt. Jeff temporarily helping the government search for oil in our waters (there is none!!!!) we had Capt. Carlos Jimenez take the helm and he did a fantastic job.  Capt. Jeff is back now and the dolphin are stacking up on the fillet table.  Tunas are biting too, as well as the occasional wahoo.

The night bite for yellowtails and mangroves will stay hot for another two months, with the next 4 weeks or so being the best.  If you want to fish the party boat for $40 just call 305-664-8070.  If you prefer a private trip on a charter boat for the same fish with less people on board it’s the same number, just tell the booking agent you would like a night snapper trip and they will point in the right direction.

Happy fourth to everyone out there!  We look forward to fishing with you soon!!!

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, May 25, 2010 9:07 am

Wow! Are the yellowtails ever here!  Mainly at night, but the bite is out of this world!  In the patch reefs we are catching them up to a pound and a half, but out on the wrecks we are getting them up to 4 pounds on a consistent basis.  And to make matters even better underneath the tails on the bottom are lane snappers, muttons and porgies.  Don’t worry too much about the bait for the tails.  It’s more about the tackle you fish with.  You want a spinning rod with 10 to 20 pound test MONO on it and a small jig from 1/32 ounce to 1/8th ounce.  That’s it, you don’t need anything more or less than that.

The mutton bite is on too.  A while ago I mentioned in a report that if you want to catch muttons all you have to do is get with the Robbie’s ticket booth at 305-664-8070 and they will set you up on my boat.  One group of guys did just that and we did what I like to call a “nuttin’ but mutton” trip.  We came up with 9 muttons up to 16 pounds.  We fished nothing but deep wrecks with fresh and live bait.  It was a lot of fun and we are already planning on doing the same thing again next year!

Groupers have been a bit slow.  Now that the water is warming up they are getting pretty hard to come by.

The hot scene offshore is dolphin.  They are biting like crazy everywhere outside of 300 feet of water.  I haven’t seen the Islamorada Lady come in with a catch that was anything less than awesome in weeks!  They have mainly been catching dolphin, but tunas and wahoos have made their way into the box also.

Tarpon is also red hot.  The charter boats out of Robbie’s are getting them on a nightly basis.

Sometimes I feel like I sound like I relay the idea that everything is fantastic and everything is biting.  I guess I tend to only talk about what you can expect to catch with us as opposed to what isn’t biting well.  Well in the interest of not being misleading or a liar, here we go…   the kingfish bite is absolutely horrible.  If you come down just to catch kings you are probably going to be less than impressed.  The sailfish bite is also pretty much non-existent.  I suppose a few boats are seeing them from time to time but they are basically gone.

So that’s the report from the last week or so… As for predictions, I would expect to see the tails and muttons bite like crazy for the next couple months.   The mangroves will start really chewing at night after the full moon in July, while the dolphin will remain hot until late August.  If you are coming to fish the Capt. Michael party boat make sure you bring your light spinning gear for the yellowtails!

Looking forward to fishing with you soon,

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, May 14, 2010 9:43 am

Lately the snapper bite has been getting better and better both day and night.  If you name a snapper out there that we commonly catch I guarantee you it has been more abundant this week than last, and you can expect the same verdict next week.  The mangroves at night have been red hot. Nothing like the main spawn in July and August but it has been very good.  Capt. Ron limited out a few times last week and the week before in 20 feet of water.

The yellowtails are getting very close to spawning.  They all have eggs and “milk” in them when we fillet them and they are getting much more available to our angling tactics too.  The days when the water is very dirty are much more productive, but even when it’s clear we are catching them.

Grouper-wise, both the charter boats and party boat have been catching nice reds, blacks and gags.  As usual with groupers if the entire boat catches two or three it was a good day, so please don’t expect to go out and bring home a bunch of groupers just because I say the bite is good.  A good grouper week is one where we bring in about a keeper a day.

If you plan on fishing with us in the next few weeks I would expect the yellowtail bite to get RED HOT very soon.  Most likely a few days after the next full moon.  They will bite on almost any bait this time of year as long as it’s on a small hook and line no heavier than 15 pound test.  Ballyhoo and silversides are usually best.

The mutton snappers are getting ready to jump into the boat too. This full moon and the three days on either side of it are going to be awesome!  Use fresh ballyhoo and goggle-eye for them fished on bottom on a long leader.

The grouper bite will be about the same as now… a few here and there, mainly reds and blacks. Live baits are usually best but don’t discount a butterflied grunt or yellowtail.

We are creeping up on the hot mangrove season too.  It’s close but not here quite yet.  With the cold winter we had I wouldn’t expect a hot bite until after the full moon in July. When they are biting they eat anything, as long as it’s on line twenty pound or under.

Hope to see you out on a boat from Robbie’s soon!

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, April 9, 2010 11:03 am

The reef is definitely changing for the better as we speak!  The kingfish are moving out, but being replaced by yellowtails, muttons and occasionally dolphin (mahi-mahi).  The water temp is now up into the 70′s (finally) which makes the snappers start to think about eating again.  Mark this week as the first week of the 2010 snapper season.  The bite is still pretty slow, but it’s improving better and better each and every day.  It will continue this trend with a MAJOR peak in May and a very strong, exciting June, July and August.

One of the major events of the year for me is the mutton snapper spawn.  You can catch muttons in the Keys 365 days a year, but on a few occasions they stack up together to spawn and the bite is unbelievable.  The full moon in May should be the first big push of spawning muttons this year.  After that the bite will remain good for the summer before lagging off again in the fall.  I look forward to getting out there during this time and filling the box with big “pinkies”.  If you would like to jump on a mutton charter just call the Robbie’s ticket booth at 305-664-8070 and tell them you want to catch muttons with Capt. Brian.  They will do the rest!

At night Capt. Ron on the party boat has been doing amazingly well with mangrove snappers considering the time of year.  He has even limited out a few times lately!  This is really rare in March, but he found a school of fish that are living in Hawk’s Channel feeding on shrimp and he is puttin’ a hurtin’ on them!  Truth-be-told the rest of the night fishing is slow, but in classic Ron fashion he found a light at the end of the tunnel and turned a crummy fishing season into a hot one!

As for the offshore scene the dolphin are just starting to move into the Keys.  They take the spotlight from the sailfish in the spring and hold onto it all the way into the fall.  Look for the Islamorada Lady II, Satisfaction, Fishin’ Pole, Blue Heaven and Contagious to be bringing in coolers full of them from now until the weather cools off in the fall.

Thanks for reading again this week!  If you are coming on the Capt. Michael soon expect yellowtails, mangroves and a few muttons to be caught!

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, March 16, 2010 9:25 am

Bottom fishing, bottom fishing, bottom fishing!  Every species that you tend to think about on the bottom is biting quite well right now.  Porgies, groupers, lane snappers, vermillion snappers, mangrove snappers, etc.  The only common bottom target that we shoot for that I haven’t seen too many of is the mutton snappers.  They should be starting to bite a little better now that the water is up 10 degrees from a month ago, but I just haven’t seen them yet. The Islamorada Lady II caught a few nice ones last week, but three fish doesn’t mean the bite is on.  Usually the party boat is a great barometer of the bottom bite because that’s what we do all day long every day, and we aren’t bringing any “mutts” back right now.

Live shrimp have been the hottest bait out there for just about every reef fish you can try to catch.  I have talked to charter captains who say if it weren’t for having shrimp in the livewell they would have come in with nothing.  The sailfish and kingfish bite is so poor that when it’s too rough for the big sportfish boats to get offshore for tunas and amberjacks they are anchoring up on the reef and targeting porgies and snappers with live shrimp.  That really isn’t the typical way of fishing for most Keys charter boats, but with the otherwise poor fishing conditions we are caught in right now they are doing whatever it takes to put a catch together.

I’d like to add a testimony to how strange things are on the reef right now.  There are a lot of fish that you catch on the bay side as well as on the ocean, but then there are others that NEVER stray from one side to the other.  One that we are commonly catching on the ocean side right now which belongs on the bayside is the spanish mackerel.  We catch thousands of cero macks, but rarely ever any spanish out where we fish.  The example that blows my mind, however is the gaff-top sail catfish.  This fish ONLY lives on the bay side in the middle and upper Keys.  I talked with another charter captain out of Robbie’s who swears he caught two of them the other day on the reef while yellowtail fishing.  Basically what this means is that the water temperatures are so messed up and the conditions so unordinary that the whole ecosystem has been thrown for a loop.  It doesn’t mean its the end of the world, it’s just a testimony to what a strange winter this has been.

This next week I would look for the snapper bite to pick up a bit, the kingfish bite to stay basically absent and the groupers to bite well (not that you can keep them for another month and a half).

I look forward to seeing you all down at the marina,

Capt. Brian

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By Robbie's, March 9, 2010 9:26 am

The last report I had given was unfortunately pretty grim.  One thing I believe in strongly is being honest in my fishing reports.  When its good, I let you know how good it is, and when its crummy, although it isn’t as much fun for you to read I tell you the truth.

Fortunately this week I get to give you a better synopsis!  The Islamorada Lady II out of Robbie’s came in a few days ago with smoker (large) kingfish, yellowtails, amberjacks up to 30 pounds and it was all topped off with three mutton snappers up to 18 pounds!!!  Capt. Jeff said they caught the nice muttons on live ballyhoo fished on or near the bottom while slow trolling.

The Capt. Michael got back into the swing of things after a brief mechanical grounding by catching porgies, kings, lots of vermilion snappers, a few muttons and large numbers of groupers.  As stated a hundred times this winter… all of the groupers and “vermies” had to go back due to new state laws.  We will be able to keep both species again starting May 1st.  There has been a lot of controversy over this new rule change, as with any closure to a fishery, but lets all just hope it makes the grouper fishing of the future much better.  Whether you like or dislike the rule you can’t do anything other than hope that it makes our future fishery stronger.

The words “deep drop” mean different things to different people.  For some fishermen deep dropping is 200 feet of water and for others its 900 feet, but whatever you want to call it the Contagious with Capt. Shannon Attales at the helm did great in 300 feet of water on yellow-eye snappers, red snappers, mutton snappers and tunas.  Capt. Brian Cone, the boat’s owner and normal captain was out of town so his mate, Capt. Shannon went out there and showed everyone that Brian isn’t the only great fisherman on the boat.  They limited out on snappers and threw a few tunas on top of them just for good measure.

I would love to give you a night fishing report, but we just haven’t been getting any boats out there after dark lately.  I think that’s mainly due to the cold weather.  I know 55 degrees doesn’t seem like cold, but when you get out there in the middle of the ocean and its blowing 15 knots 55 gets pretty darn chilly.  Fortunately, the weather is getting warmer and warmer every day and the forecast is for this trend to continue.  Historically speaking, the nights should start getting pretty nice starting this time of year lasting all the way through the fall.  The yellowtails should be biting well on the wrecks this time of year… don’t be afraid to call Nancy or Steve at our ticket booth and make a reservation at 305-664-8070.

Hope to see you soon,

Capt. Brian