Steelhead

Bob's photos of fish are super.

Steelhead

Captain Bob Randall landed this 16 pound Steelhead from the Little Manistee River.

THE SEALS

Joe Jones and Gerry Leekey got a nice bunch of fish and and one lobster yesterday.

BIG RED

Captain Dave Perkins and girlfriend Wilmarie took a  short afternoon trip to Key Largo and caught this nice over the slot Redfish.

YELLOW TAIL

Mike and Ian had some trouble finding the patch reefs because of murky water but managed to catch a few Yellow Tail,

Hog Heaven

Jerry Leekey and Joe Jones speared some nice Hogs and a Yellow jack.

2010 Freeze

This is what occured when South Florida experienced the cold spell a few years ago.  Many of these fish were large snook, but they are making a comeback.

A fun Honeymoon

Newlyweds Catelyn and Kenneth from Virginia fished with Captain Dave Perkins on their honeymoon.  Neither had ever saltwater fished before, but they got a backcountry slam.

Dinner

Gerry Leekey has another good day diving for lobster under his dock.

King Salmon

Captain Bob Randall holds a 15 pound King Salmon he caught a few days ago in the Manistee River in Michigan.  He also caught a few 10 pounders.

Nice Catch

Pam Brown holds a few of the many lobster that her and Marc dive for in Islamorada.

198 pound Bigeye Tuna

Tom Orgo and Captain Mike Sarapochillo hold their first place prize for winning the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Tournament.  The winning catch was a 198.5 Bigeye Tuna caught aboard the "Miss Kayla Ann" on its maiden voyage, bringing in over $63,000 in prizes.
Tom is also holding his granddaughter Mikayla Ann.

World Record Tarpon

Epic World Record Catch in Maverick 

Mirage!

Tournament Tails / February 14, 2014

 

Capt. Tim Mahaffey and Heidi Nute

Unseasonable late January and February warmth has sparked red hot shallow water tarpon fly fishing throughout South Florida. Much higher than normal winter water temperatures are bringing great numbers of silver kings out of the deep and into the sightfishing arenas. These winter poons are large and willing. Finding them is knowledge and timing. Catching an unforgettable world record is all about talent in the front and back of the boat and pouncing on opportunity.

Recently, Heidi and Paul Nute joined Capt. Tim Mahaffey for their first tarpon outing of the year. After a slow start in the morning, they began finding fish and switching off turns after every 3 shots. They had several solid eats, jumped 5 and Paul broke off a giant. Using 12 pound tippet, Heidi now had the honors and Tim immediately spotted a massive figure, laid up and finned out in barely 3 feet of water. The right-facing silhouette heard the purple and black toad pattern enter the dirty water. The broad shape lined up and followed the undulating maribou . Heidi twitched the bug enticingly and the cavernous bucket opened! The giant shiny missile left the water three times in high, greyhounding leaps. Tim reflexively shouted, “That’s the one!”.

Mahaffey wisely stayed quietly on the pole for nearly five minutes. They were in a productive area of Everglades National Park where other fish were peacefully laying around. If the fly came out, they would still be very much in the game with the motor off. The fly stayed in, and the Yamaha on the 17 Mirage was cranked up in pursuit. After 45 minutes, the fish stopped and displayed its very first signs of fatigue.

Heidi had been to this point and further, during her 3 1/2 year quest to best the 12 pound tippet Women’s Flyrod Record 74 pound 4 ouncer held by multi-record holder Dotty Ballantyne. Ten of the “right” fish had eaten the fly in the past and several somehow escaped. On four of these occasions, Nute had record or near-record tarpon subdued at boatside, but decided not to officially weigh them, waiting instead to trounce the 74 pounder and establish a mark that would deter other “close” fish from being unnecessarily entered.

Now, standing on the bow facing the daunting task of sticking an obvious world record fish, Mahaffey was fired up and adrenalized. The important instrument in his hand was the folding-barb kill gaff that Paul and Heidi had bought at auction from Billy Pate’s collection of historic memorabilia. This very hook had boated all of Pate’s tarpon and marlin records.

Literally gripping that reverence for angling history, Tim waited for the exact angle to subdue the fish. Finally, after 16 jumps and 65 grueling minutes, the great tarpon laid up sideways and Tim slammed the perfect hit and held him helpless against the gunwale. Heidi was careful to remain slack if the fish fell off the hook and the fight continued, and also to preserve the integrity of the leader. A broken class tippet will disqualify a record under IGFA rules. After Tim and Paul skidded the whopper into the skiff, they both guessed him at easily over 130, and he “taped” at 145.

The tree limb-mounted official electronic scale at Worldwide Sportsman in Islamorada awaited their arrival, set up because of a call on the way in. The congregation in attendance gasped as the tail of the tarpon was still on the ground after hoisting. He was simply too long to hang in the air! The staff summoned a forklift for higher mounting which worked. The beast weighed 152.8 pounds and handily destroyed the existing record. (And also coined a new term for any fish too big for the tree: “forklifters”).

Ms. Nute used a Hardy 11 weight stick, a floating tan line, 50 pound fluorocarbon shock leader and a custom made Tom Kapusta reel.

As with any record catch of this magnitude, there was no randomness and very little luck. Heidi (and Paul) went through Sandy Moret’s school of flyfishing in 2006 and both made the decision to excel. Paul has already won the Islamorada Fall Fly Bonefish Tournament twice with Capt. Bou Bosso. Heidi was victorious in the Islamorada Ladie’s Tarpon Fly Tournament in back to back years in 2012 and 2013. In fact the Kapusta reel she used to beat the record was a Grand Champion award from the 2012 win! She has also won the Ladie’s Fall Fly, a bonefish, tarpon, permit, redfish and snook event, all with Capt. Rob Fordyce.

And it didn’t hurt to have Tim Mahaffey in the stern, smoothly making the transition from angler to captain. Mahaffey’s numerous and impressive tournament wins are highlighted by: Redbone Superfly Series Grand Champion, Redbone Celebrity Series Grand Champion, and the first and only angler to have won both the Spring and Fall Bonefish Fly Tournaments, and all three of the Tarpon Fly majors, the Hawley, Gold Cup and Golden Fly.

Ultimately, Heidi Nute’s 12 pound tippet slightly overtested. It was moved into the 16 pound division, where it bumped out Diana Rudolph’s 135 pound 5 ouncer. Far from sad, Heidi now owns the Largest Women’s Fly caught tarpon on the books. She plans to continue chasing the 12 pound record.

- by Capt. Mark Krowka      Article taken from Maverick Boats website.

Trout

Pat caught this 18 inch trout the other day. We caught 6 or 7 but this was the only keeper. We have been using jigs with 4 inch white shad.

Black Tip Shark

Ray caught this 4 foot Black Tip Shark while fishing for Trout.

Steelhead

Captain Bob Randall is holding a 7 pound and 8 pound summer run Steelhead that he and nephew Jake caught.

Lady Fish

Pat caught this Lady Fish on the first cast and then I cut it up to use for bait for Red Fish, but it didn't work.  We caught nothing else.

That's Gerry also know as Lechon Rojo.

Big Bugs

Gerry Leekey and his friend from Germany jumped off the dock and came up with 7 of these beauties. It was Torsten Henke also known as Hummer Fluesterer (the  lobster whisperer) first time diving for lobster.

Monster Fish

Bert Fretyes caught this monster.  His equipment was a little over-kill.

Trout

New bump board I made for the online fishing tournament.

Bull Red

Young Justin Maddox from Northern California caught his first over-slot Redfish.  He fished with Captain Dave Perkins.

Back Country Bone Fish

Captain Dave Perkins while fishing some mud in the back country for Trout hooked this Bone Fish.  Very unusal to catch a Bone in that area.

TROUT

Molly is holding a keeper trout she caught in the back country.

Snapper

Gracie caught a small snapper off the dock.

PIKE

"A great 90 minutes on the river last night after work from 6:30 to 8 PM. 5 pike landed and one pickerel. This was the best pike of the afternoon at just over 36 inches,"  Danny
Danny fishes on the Passaic River.

TROUT

We went out for a little while this morning to test out my new remote control trolling motor but I left the remote at home.  We caught this trout on the first cast but the wind sent us home.

Snapper

I just went fishing with my pop. I caught a snappper!

Stalking Reds

Found someone to fish with, but she always wants to take the bow.

Neighbor Kids Hudson and Tristan fished from Guy and Sue's dock and caught this Hog fish. Not many Hogs are caught bay side.

TROUT

I went out by myself this morning and caught about ten trout and a Blacktip Shark.
Only one was a keeper.

MUTTON SNAPPER

Captain Carlos Jimenez holds a huge Mutton Snapper he caught a few days ago. He will be fishing tonight with Captain Gus Ramirez and Captain Jimmy Canata aboard the "Wahoo VIII".

Trout

Bobby and I caught 10 1/2 trout yesterday including one that a shark cut in half.

Reds and Saws

Five year old Madoc is one happy little fisherman.  He fished the backcountry yesterday with his dad Frank and Captain Dave Perkins.  Madoc scored with this slot Redfish and dad caught his first Sawfish.  Frank is a Hammer Point Home Owner.

REDS

Charlie Hurst fished a second day with Captain Dave Perkins and caught this nice Red.
They fished into a school of about sixty tailing Reds in the Flamingo area.

Red On The Fly

Captain Dave Perkins fish with Clyde and Charlie Hurst. This Red was caught on a fly and four more on spin.

Tavernier Sunrise

Looking For Reds