Fishing Report

Hello from Key West, This is captain Paul Tryon with Key West PRO Guides and Tailchaser Charters, here with your April and May fishing report:

Spring has arrived! Great weather, nice light to moderate winds and plenty of sunshine! We are still experiencing fronts, but they are much milder than last year at this same time. A day or so before each front, we experience the winds shift and create opportunities for many different styles of fishing. When the winds are from the South, we can sometimes have great offshore fishing and even boat some nice Dolphin. When the winds are from the North, we have our best chance for the sailfish just off of the reef. No matter where the winds are coming from there are always great spots to have some fun fishing. The bait of choice this time of the year and through the Spring will be the Pilchards or “greenies” these baits are the best you could hope to fish with and they are pretty abundant if you know where to find them.

Here’s how things are shaping up…..

Offshore:
The Gulfstream has averaged between 9 and about 30 miles to the south. With the winds changing direction more through out the week, this will keep some of the larger weed lines from forming. As the winds start to blow from the south east with more consistency, we should see more weed lines forming and the dolphin fishing pick up. The scattered weed lines that we are finding are finding are holding some schoolies and on the deeper trolled lines we are picking up a few nice 20-30lb Dolphin. Just south of the reef anywhere from 30 feet to about 240 feet, we have been doing quite well on the Sailfish. We have been hooking them up both drifting and on the deep troll. Most of them have been pretty good size, averaging about 6 ˝ to 7 feet long. When trying for Sailfish, look for high flyers, or North American Frigate birds, there usually on some of the bigger fish.

Deep off the Reef:
The deeper wrecks off of the reef have still been good with Amberjacks, African Pompano, Barracuda, Bonita and smaller sharks. We are coming up on the first of a few spwans, so the Mutton snapper action should also increase. If the wind and current conditions are right, anchoring up from them is a great way to drum up some action. Dropping whole ballyhoos to the bottom has produced nice Black and Gag Groupers along with my favorite the Mutton Snappers. Dropping a fresh live Ballyhoo to the bottom is sure to get nailed! Now that we have the water temps. stabilizing, the blackfin tuna have spread out over more of the deeper wrecks. On days where you can get further out in to the gulf, the shrimp boats provide nonstop action for these bruts. They seem to prefer the late afternoon and sunset hours and having a live well full of big Pilchards can be deadly for them. If you have never experienced this type of fishing, you are missing out on an awesome experience.

Reef/Wrecks:
The gulf wreck action has been really good. Now that the water temps. are cooling off some, the sharks are very aggressive and the smaller 3-4 foot Lemon and Blacktips are just everywhere. As soon as you get a good chum slick started they are as far back in it as you can see. These powerhouse fish are very strong fighters and a challenge on light tackle. We have been battling nice size schools of Bonita at some of the other farther out gulf wrecks and by tying off to any of the dozens of shrimp boats anchored in the gulf. Shrimp boat fishing is some of the best action trips you could possibly go on. The cobias are abundant and there are some nice schools of them starting to show up. You have to run a bit further than usual to find them, but when you do, the schools are large and the fish average about 30-40lbs. The snapper bite along the reef has been good lately with the Greys and Yellowtails eagerly feeding in the chum slick and the smaller mackerels are still hanging in strong. These very aggressive fighters are a blast on light tackle using live ballyhoos. The grouper bite is good, lots of Reds, Gags and some Blacks hitting live bait steadily.

This is Captain Paul Tryon, Give me a call to book your day with some of Key West s best guides here at Key West PRO Guides and have some fun fishing! Until next month, keep those reels screaming! For booking information with Key West PRO Guides or TailChaser Charters, you can call me at 305-296-6602 or visit my website:

www.keywestproguides.com or www.tailchasercharters.net

Tight lines,

Capt. Paul Tryon

Hello from Key West, This is captain Paul Tryon with Key West PRO Guides and Tailchaser Charters, here with your March fishing report:

Winter still has her grasp on us as the waters continue to stay cool. The cold fronts still come every three of four days and the winds, although not near as bad as last year, continue to blow. Things are getting better and with the approach of April things will shape up to be outstanding, considering the milder than normal winter we have been having. Here’s how things are shaping up…..

Offshore:
The Gulfstream has averaged between 9 and about 30 miles to the south. This has kept some of the warmer waters from reaching us and the slow down in the fishing has shown. The water temps are still cool and this has slowed the action down a little. Just south of the reef anywhere from 30 feet to about 240 feet, we have been doing pretty well on the Sailfish. When you find the color changes, take a troll or a drift by and you should have pretty good luck.

Deep off the Reef:
The deeper wrecks off of the reef have still been good with Amberjacks, Black fin tuna, Barracuda, Bonita and smaller sharks. The kingfish have been showing up pretty good and the groupers are hitting really well. Most of the larger groupers; anywhere from 20-45lbs. are hitting nay large live bait dropped their way. The best baits are the Pinfish when fishing this deep and any big tipped jig should get looked at.

Reef/Wrecks:
The Gulf action has slowed quite a lot with the cooler water temps. The Cobia and the Kings are still hitting well, but we have our yearly invasion of the Bluefish setting up camp on most of the rock piles and wrecks in the Gulf. These guys have been showing up the last few years with the cooler water temps making it down here and are a real challenge when trying to fish for the snappers and groupers. The sharks are very active on the shallower wrecks, these guys are a great fight on the lighter tackle with most sharks averaging around 40-50 lbs.

Flats/BackCountry:
Slow, that’s about the jist of it, the flats are still slow with the cooler water temps. The Permit are showing on the edged still hoping to get on the flats to feed and as always the Sharks and Barracuda try to find the warmth from the sun by keeping in the shallow water. Most of the fish seem to be quite lethargic when the temps dip below 70deg. or so and spring to life at the first sign of a warm up. Pray for the sun these days!

This is Captain Paul Tryon, Give me a call to book your day with some of Key Wests best guides here at Key West PRO Guides and have some fun fishing! Until next month, keep those reels screaming! For booking information with Key West PRO Guides or TailChaser Charters, you can call me at 305-296-6602 or visit my website:

www.keywestproguides.com or www.tailchasercharters.net

Tight lines,

Capt. Paul Tryon

Hello from Key West, This is captain Paul Tryon with Key West PRO Guides and TailChaser Charters, here with your February fishing report:

Winter has arrived! The cold fronts are still not as strong as last year, but the effect on the fishing is the same. We pray for a short winter and hope the water temps warm as fast as possible to keep the fish nearby. Here’s how things are shaping up…..

Offshore:
The Gulf stream has averaged between 10 and about 23 miles to the south. When it moves in close, it drives some species like the Black fin Tuna away, but has the opposite effect on the Wahoo. Lately we have been doing very well on the Black fins and the Kingfish and exceptionally well on the Sailfish. Live baiting the Sails has been very, very productive, most trips we land 8-12 fish and jump off a few more. The live threadfin and smaller blue runners have been the baits of choice and they Sails are eager to feed. The Kingfish are biting well closer to the reef and will hit just about anything; jigs, live baits or a trolled spoon all work equally well.

Deep off the Reef:
The Muttons are hitting very good now, most of them near 20lbs. The groupers; blacks, gaga and scamps are all hitting great. These guys are stacked on the deeper ledges and just waiting for your live bait to get within range. We have had a few true Red Snappers landed a fish that prefers the cooler winter water temps.

Reef/Wrecks:
The Gulf action has been red hot for the Kingfish and the Cobias. The Kings are all over the bars and smaller wrecks and the Cobias have set up shop on just about any obstruction they can find. Jigging the Kings is a very productive way to hook them up and tossing live Pilchards is a sure bet. The average King has been about 30-40lbs. on light tackle it gets no better.

Flats/BackCountry:
The flats have been slow lately, with the cooler water temps, the Permit and Bones have moved to deeper water and have not been as plentiful as we would like. The Sea trout, Pompano and even the Redfish have found their way down here, what a great treat. As always the sharks and Barracudas are all over the shallows and pretty easy to get to eat.

This is Captain Paul Tryon, Give me a call to book your day with some of Key Wests best guides here at Key West PRO Guides and have some fun fishing! Until next month, keep those reels screaming! For booking information with Key West PRO Guides or TailChaser Charters, you can call me at 305-296-6602 or visit my website:

www.keywestproguides.com or www.tailchasercharters.net

Tight lines,

Capt. Paul Tryon

Hello from Key West, This is captain Paul Tryon with Key West PRO Guides and Tailchaser Charters, here with your January fishing report:

Winter is in full effect. Cold fronts every three or four days and the winds shifting every two days from a different direction. The winds have been surprisingly mild compared to last year and some days even feel like spring has arrived. Lets pray it keeps for another month or two! Here we go…

Offshore:
The Gulf Stream has been relatively close leaving us with a great color change. This color change provides for great action from the Cobia, Sailfish, Wahoo and Black fin Tuna. So far we have been seeing the Black fin up to about 25lbs. and the Cobia close to 40lbs. The wahoo action has been improving, lots of the in the 20lb range with an occasional dolphin hitting the spread. So long as the great weather holds, the fishing should continue to be outstanding.

Deep off the Reef:
The deep wrecks have been producing nice Mutton snappers, most of them close to 20lbs. these great eaters have been hitting jigs tipped with ballyhoo and don’t waste any time striking. The bigger black groupers are showing up to the dock, the biggest at 48lbs.

Reef/Wrecks:
The Gulf action has been awesome with the winds letting us get to some of the better spots. The Kingfish are hitting anything that moves like a bait fish and they have been pretty good sized. The Cobia action out on the wrecks has been very good, each trip has limited out with the bigger ones around 30lbs.

Flats/BackCountry:
So far it seems like spring on the flats, we have had warmer than normal temps so far and the Tarpon have been showing up quite well lately. The Permit and bonefish are feeding good on the flats and as always the Sharks and Barracuda are looking to eat.

This is Captain Paul Tryon, Give me a call to book your day with some of Key Wests best guides here at Key West PRO Guides and have some fun fishing! Until next month, keep those reels screaming! For booking information with Key West PRO Guides or TailChaser Charters, you can call me at 305-296-6602 or visit my website:

www.keywestproguides.com or www.tailchasercharters.net

Tight lines,

Capt. Paul Tryon