MIXED BAG

Boy's Fishing Trip

Don and Jean's son-in-law Scott holds up a dolphin he caught while on a boy's fishing trip in the Keys.

NICE REDFISH

My cousin Kevin's son Kyle fished with his uncle, Captain Ray Leahy yesterday at Matalacha and caught two nice 21 inch keeper reds.  They also caught a variety of other fish.

35 Pound Almaco Jack

Gus also caught this almaco jack

TWO DAY LIMIT

Gerry Leekey and his son Mason show off their two day catch of lobster that they and a group of fighter pilots caught.  All of these lobster were caught on on the ocean side.

Amber Jack

Captain Gus and Captain Carlos caught a lot of fish yesterday including this 45 pound amber jack.

"HI DAVE, THIS IS A 45 POUND GREAT AMBERJACK, WE RELEASED, BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE CIGUATERA POISON.

WOW

Chip Massa and his son Danny took some friends out and caught their limit of lobster on the first day of mini season.

BUGS

Don and Jean from Aberdeen Court did some lobster hunting yesterday with friends Ray, Rick and Diane.  They got 5 very nice bugs.

New Snapper Hole

The first time we experimented with our prototype UFL, ( Underwater Fish Locator ) we found a nice snapper hangout.  Big snapper they were.

Grouper

We went out again today and caught this small grouper on a live pin fish.  We also caught a shark.

GROUPER TIME

My FISH TIME PRO app said the fish will be biting today between noon and 2 pm, so the Keyswoomon and I went back country to see if the bite was on.  It was.  The top and middle picture is a 22 1/4 inch red grouper that I caught on the first cast.  Red grouper have to be 22 inches in Monroe County and 20 inches in the Gulf.  The bottom picture is of a gag grouper that was 23 1/2 inches, a half inch too short.
We left that area and went searching for some new spots and I finally found an island with a moat around it and was able to get the boat right up to it.  I know this island moat will produce in the future.
Sometimes I use very big pin fish for bait if that is what I have, and I am always asked if they are too big to catch a grouper?  Well, take a look at that mouth in the second picture.

Cobia

My cousin Ray from Cape Coral fished for grouper yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico on his friend Mike's new Everglades. Doug caught this 55 pound cobia.  Left to right, Doug, Ray Mike and Ed.

20 POUND DOLPHIN

Captain Gus Ramirez is holding a 20 pound dolphin he caught this morning.

20 Pound Grouper

Captain Gus Ramirez of Bristol Court caught this 22 pound grouper deep dropping in 700 feet of water.

Paulie

My cousin Ray took out his friend 8 year old Paulie who is quite a fisherman.

Sea Trout

My cousin Judy loves to fish for them trout.

Grouper

Guy and Sue Leekey's grandson Mason caught this red grouper but started to filet it before Sue could get a picture of it.

Snappers

Captain Jerry Leekey did some fishing the other day and caught a few nice snappers.

22 POUND DOLPHIN

Captain Gus Ramirez caught this Dolphin a few weeks ago but I was not able to get the pictures on the blog while I was away.

HAWAIIAN BONE FISH

I hired a guide in Hawaii to take me fishing for bone fish. All the bone fishing in Hawaii is done with a fly rod, and since I have never fly fished before the guide brought me a spinning rod.  He could not get any live bait so he stopped in China Town and bought some dead shrimp.  I was surprised to see that he used the same setup that I use for bone fish, a kale hook with a sliding weight. On the first cast I caught this small bone fish but that was it, not another fish all morning. The Hawaiian bone fish are supposed to be bigger then the Keys bone fish.  They average 6 to 7 pounds in the area we were at.
That is Diamond Head in the background.

Grouper

Ray getting ready to net a grouper for his brother, my cousin Tommy.

Backwater Fishing

Captain Bob Randall has a new show called "Fishing The Backwaters With Bob."

Tommy Catches a Grouper

Yesterday my cousin Ray and I fished the back country.  We caught a few gag grouper but they were all an inch or so short.  We saw a lot of feeding redfish but could not get close to them because of the shallow water.
This photo is of Ray's brother Tommy holding a gag.  He is in the witness protection program.

Red Fish

Dan Hosler from Homestead Airforce Base fished with Dave Perkins today and caught this 27 inch red fish.

They caught and released 5 red fish.

Blake's 1st Red Fish

Captain Dave Perkins holds Blake's first red fish.  Dave has been using gulp shrimp to catch these fish.

My cousin Tommy from New Jersey fished with his brother Captain Ray Leahy in the Cape Coral area catching this19 inch redfish.

Manatee

Pat Catches a Grouper

Big Big Fish

Jerry and Bert did some spearfishing yesterday and caught a few hogs and a grouper.

It took Pat and I a week to get out for some grouper because of the weather and doctor's appointments but we finally got out today.  Pat caught the top grouper and I caught the bottom one.  They were both gags and they were both a few inches too short to keep.  I also caught a huge sting ray that took 20 minutes to get to the boat.

Captain Bob Randall caught this 15 pound king salmon in Lake Michigan yesterday.

Grouper Time

Glenn gave me a bunch of pin fish today so my friend Dave and I decided to go and see if the grouper population is doing good in my grouper hole.  Yes they are.  They will be waiting for us on May 1, 2012.
These two gags were 20 and 24 inches.

Captain Dave Perkins decided to go back country yesterday afternoon when the winds died down.  He wrote, "Poling in a foot of water in Flamingo. She spotted, cast, hooked and fought it on her own. 30 inches. Got a red and trout as well for her first back country slam!"

Glenn and I went out fishing this windy morning and Glenn caught this grouper on the first cast floating a pin fish behind the boat.  That was it!

DOLPHIN

Gus and Glenn went offshore today and caught five dolphin.  Glenn said, "Caught 5 Dolphin today with Captain Gus. Unfortunately I got seasick in the 7 foot seas and we came in early. I agree with you Dave the creek is nicer!!"

What Is It?

Guy Leekey and his son Jerry are in Uruguay on a hunting trip and I guess a fishing trip also.  I have no idea what kind of fish that is that Jerry is holding.

DOLPHINS

While on the way to our fishing spots with my sister, niece and nephew we ran into this pod of dolphins.  I think they may have been mating because I have never seen them rolling in the water the way they were.This was just one pod of many that we saw that day.

Captain Gus Ramirez and Captain Glenn Warrington fished the backcountry the other day and caught a few grouper including this 22 inch black grouper that Gus caught.

While we were at Disney World my nephew John hired a backcountry guide from Key largo.  He caught a few trout and reds and missed a backcountry slam when he lost a big snook.

Large Snapper

I fished with my sister Marie, nephew John and niece Elizabeth last night.  Elizabeth was the first to score with this 18 inch
mangrove. 

Barracuda

My nephew John Koblen caught a few snapper and this small barracuda yesterday

Permit

Captain Dave Perkins is holding a permit that one of his anglers, Jason Rupert, caught Monday off of the Islamorada flats.

Another Snook

Captain Glenn Warrington has been nailing the snook lately.  He has even been catching them in the daytime.
This snook was 29 inches.

Lone Yellow Tail

Captain Gus Ramirez took his grandson Gus and Gus's girlfriend Amanda offshore for some yellow tail fishing last Saturaday aboard the Wahoo VIII, but had not much luck.  Amanda is holding the only yellow tail they caught.