# islamorada fishing



## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

hi guys an gals nt posted in a while but my needs are great. goin for 2 week vacation to "the sport fishing capital of the world" aka islamorada in a little while and aim to wet my line a fair few times obviously. we have rented a canal front home which has fish in namely snapper and supposedly a couple silver kings. anyone have any idea how to catch the snapper or tarpon? chum? live bait? rigs?

any help will be greatly appreciated!!

delude


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## The Crew (Jul 8, 2007)

What kind of gear do you have, liveliners?


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## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

not sure what is meant by liveliners? the gear i use is a 7 ft medium heavy spinning rod and a spinning reel loaded with 30 pound braid. budget is tight so cant really afford to change rod and reel set up. 

delude


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## ddratler (Oct 14, 2007)

for snapper a smaller hook splitshot and a piece of shrimp or any other live or dead small bait fish will go a long way

for tarpon id say your best bet would be live bait like shrimp pinfish or live crabs either freelined in the channel under a float or with a fishfinder rig on the bottom

when you get there go to the local tackleshops and ask what theyve been catching on the bridges and party boats 

whatever you do your pretty much bound to catch fish
:fishing::fishing::fishing:


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## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

what would you class as a small hook for live shrimp? 1/0? is it worth fishing at night for the bigger snapper?

delude


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## ddratler (Oct 14, 2007)

1/0 or 2/0 is good size
daytime is fine but nightime may produce some bigger snapper
as for the tarpon id fish mainly at night and early morning because thats when they feed


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## Frogfish (Nov 6, 2007)

Actually, the best snapper and grouper bites are during the day, while snook and tarpon pick up at dusk and night.

Cutbait, live pinfish, or any baitfish should get you groupers and snappers.

Live Shrimp on a trollrite jig will get snook, tarpon, and snappers too. 

I suggest trying the bridges, especially Channel 2 and Channel 5. During the day, you'll catch mangroves, muttons, cubrera, blacks, gags, and smaller goliaths. Also, the permit will be around all day too. At night, switch over to the snook and tarpon.

You might get rewarded with one of these: 31.5"


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## SnookMook (Jan 7, 2004)

Frog--Good reply. Fishing for snapper down there from those bridges is pretty easy. A #1 or 1/0 j hook with flouro leader on a basic bottom rig and you're good to go. My first saltwater fish was a mutton snapper caught from the old bridge catwalk at Islamorada when I was seven-years-old and down on vacation from Jersey. That's the fishing trip that lit the fire in this lifelong fisherman.

Live shrimp pinched in half or fresh dead is my go to bait, but they'll take small live sardines/pilchards, threads, pinfish, small crabs, just about anything. They'll take em dead as well. I always freeze up left over baitfish when we cast net em on the flats while fishing for snook and redfish. Those frozen baits always come in handy when fishing for snapper and grouper from the bridges and piers.


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## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

hey, fishing from the bridges sounds good, i was just wondering will the gear i have, 7ft medium heavy spinning rod loaded with 30lb braid be alright for fishing from the bridge. i have a drop net aswell. i was just wondering if my rod will be able to holdenough lead to keep with the current in the channels. 

delude


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## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

nice snook by the way!!!


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## cobiadude33 (Aug 12, 2007)

At the hotel canal/marina we stayed at, there plenty of mangroves of decent size, as well as those nasty puffers. Did see a few small cudas. I suggest for snapper in the canals, use your spinning setup with a 2/0 hook and put small shrimp chunks on it, and freespool it out with the current. Caught countless numbers of mangroves in just a short amount of time.


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## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

where there any other species of fish in the canal? out of interest where was the canal you fished at?

delude


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## cobiadude33 (Aug 12, 2007)

It was Pelican Cove resort. They had a small marina near the ocean(only 5 small 25ft charter boats, marina was probably 50ft across). I'm not sure if you have to stay there to fish there, but when we went in August, the magroves were everywhere. I'm sure there might have been a few other species, but we only saw/caught those 3.


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## cobiadude33 (Aug 12, 2007)

I just checked GoogleEarth, and the marinas only 65 feet across by about 200 feet long.


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## Frogfish (Nov 6, 2007)

When fishing the bridges, use a heavy 40-60lb mono leader...The permit, tarpon, and snook can take you into the pilings FAST! Not to mention of you hook into a big goliath or a cubrera!


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## Keith (Aug 8, 2006)

*Frogfish is right on*

especially with the fluro leader. When fishing for snapper it really pays to invest the extra for fluro leader.


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## Dogg Fish (Jun 2, 2006)

I have rented a waterfront house in Islamorada a few times and found it incredibly easy to catch snapper and other fish right from the backyard. I recommend going to any baitshop and buying a baitbucket with an aerator, then each day getting live shrimp. The shrimp won't live long without the aerator, and snapper and most everything else LOVE live shrimp.


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

DOA Terror Eyez (or however they are spelling it these days). Unreal...snook....tarpon...deadly
One thing to remember when fishing those canals, is that a lot of those tarpon get pressured daily (imagine that house you are staying in having a family every week who wants to catch tarpon). Therefore they will probably be a bit skittish or spook easier than a "regular" poon.


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## delude (Jul 6, 2006)

the fish don't seem that skittish to me my friend!
on the first night alone we caught 7 mangroves, 2 black drum and my very first tarpon at approximatley 30 pound!

delude


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

I assume you're down there now. Have fun!


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## jakiger (Sep 22, 2006)

would love to go down there anyone recomend a place to stay? a rental house would be cool.


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## Dogg Fish (Jun 2, 2006)

man do i have THE cottage (2br) to rent in islamorada. Actually owned by Roland Martin, who you may remember from his fishing shows. (Don't know if his shows are still on the air.) The caretaker of the house is Tom Yarboro. Call him at (305) 664-2323. I've been there three times, and there is great fishing right from the backyard, plus two minute walk to Lorelie bar and restaurant.


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