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

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

The past week has been pretty exciting!

Tarpon Fishing Florida Keys

I have been putting my guests on tarpon all week, which for this time of year is totally awesome. Warm weather has got the silver king happy and chowing. Water temps are in the high 70s and low 80s and that means happy fish! We have been hooking tarpon on flies and artificial lures everyday this week. Bycatch has been mega Jacks and they pull plenty hard. Hopefully this cold front that’s hitting the rest of the country stays north!

We have also been having shots at permit every time we go looking for them. They’re getting ready for their spawn offshore and are headed out of the backcountry and towards the islands. Bonefish have been around as well but this week we focused on the silver king.

Back country has been great as well, when I am able to find clean water fish have been biting. I’ve just been keeping it simple with plastics and flies.

I have some dates available for the end of this month and some spots in March. If you want to fish give me a call.

Capt. Josh

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 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 Fishing Report

We have definitely been having out ups and downs with weather this winter! Seems like one days its 75 and sunny and the next is 50 and blowing. That hasn’t been stopping me and my guests from getting on the water and making it happen! This past week was a lot of fun! A lot of firsts, I had some newlyweds that crushed the snooks and reds, and a veteran saltwater fly angler that had never caught a snook, we made it happen and his rod stayed bent for the rest of the day.

The inconsistencies in weather have the fish moving around a lot this time of year, which is fine once we’re able to find them. They seem to be hungry and willing to eat flies, artificial baits, and live bait. This time of year I’m doing long runs out to the park and spending most of my time fishing edges of different keys until we find on that’s hot. One thing I’ve noticed this week is the lack of gear that guests are bringing on board. Though I love a clean clutter less boat, it is important to remember to dress properly. You can bring whatever cold weather gear you want and we can always stash what you don’t use. I know it seems warm on the islands but when we get out on the water and are underway at 30pmh it gets chilly. Shorts and a T when its 60 out is gonna make for a chilly ride. Try to dress properly, and as always, call me if you have questions on what gear to bring!

Another thing I have noticed are guests forgetting or not bringing on the boat is a pair of polarized sunglasses. The $20 polarized glasses at the local sporting goods store will get it done in a pinch, but a nice pair of Costa Del Mars, or Smiths, are even better. It can make or break your day if you can see subtle changes underneath the water surface, and you can see fishies!

Thanks for reading and hope to see you on the water soon!

Capt Josh

Islamorada Fishing Report

Nicole with her first Everglades Flats Redfish

Its a chilly one here in Islamorada today. I stepped outside with a hot cup of coffee to let the dog out and was greeted with a cool blast of winter air. I thought I left the cold behind in Idaho! No matter, the warmer temps start blowing in this afternoon and this week looks like it going to be great.

Pre cold front the fishing was steady. I was finding redfish, snook, and black drum in their usual haunts. Deep holes with lots of current. I have been catching redfish up on the flats around Flamingo, and if you’re willing to take some chances and pole some flats with these super low tides the action has been good. Just have a way out, or bring a book and an extra sandwich if you get high and dry!

With these coldfronts coming and going the fish have been pretty dialed in on shrimp, gulps, and flies. When we can get out of the wind the fly has been working well tight against the bank. We’ve been seeing snook, tarpon, and reds on fly.

Weather this week looks great and its back on the water for me tomorrow! Hopefully this weather warms up and some bigger tarpon get moving around. I look forward to taking you fishing!

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 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