After a few challenging days trying to find mahi, today was a easy as it gets. It helped that we only had two people and could only take 20  so  once we found them it was over in less than an hour.
Casey and Mike brought their luck with them catching two tarpon on the night trip Friday then today catching their limit of mahi and when we went back to the reef they caught their limit of yellowtail snapper on top of that. I think we ruined Mike for life  as this was his first fishing experience and now he thinks it's always this easy.
Another beautiful day and it looks like the good weather will stay for a while.

Surprise, surprise, our 11.8 lb mahi won it all today. 16 boats in the 36th Dick Fuhr Memorial Fishing Tournament and no one caught a larger one. Congratulations to John and the rest of the guys!!

Yesterday was really slow for us. We weren't alone in having difficulties finding mahi but that doesn't make it feel any better coming home with just a few fish. Today was much better, we found some fish early and then found a black barrel out at 22 miles which had enough fish on it to make me feel good about returning to the dock.
John and his guys were part of a tournament that fishes us every year and although we caught a 12 lb fish I doubt it held up as biggest fish but we will see. Had a great time with the guys and look forward to fishing with them again.

I didn't think we were going to catch a tarpon tonight as the first 3 came off in a hurry but in the  last quarter of the last half hour Casey caught his and Mike followed up immediately with a tarpon that was even bigger.
They are scheduled for and offshore trip Sunday so we will see if they can retain some of that knowledge they gained tonight catching sharks and tarpon. Looking forward to it!

Still rough yesterday as we fished the first day of the OZ tournament and so we were back at the dock early but not before catching a few mahi.

We didn't get to fish with our folks from One Hope last year for obvious reasons but they did get it set up for this year. We had two Davids, a Jason and a Kingsley on board and they all did great with the high winds and waves they encountered today. There were big schools of small fish that we had to cull thru to put our catch together but we did and ended up with over two dozen mahi once again.

I was concerned for our folks from Iowa this morning as the wind is still with us and has not lessened from yesterday. After a short discussion they decided a half day may be best and we headed to the hump. Once there had a few tuna bites, then the mahi showed up and then a big tuna bit that we pulled the hook on and then more mahi showed and then another 20 lb tuna that we caught and more mahi. It was busy!
Some of the mahi we released because they were small but we caught some nice schoolie too. We had a couple of our folks not feeling well but overall they did fine and they had a great experience for a half day with some rough seas.

Floyd was our neighbor for many years and then moved to Tennessee, Joe and Jean are still our good neighbors and longtime friends of Floyd, Kenny and Vicky are friends of Floyd's from Tennessee and they all went fishing today on the KK.
It was rough and the fishing wasn't easy but we went the distance and at 24 miles we found a barrel that had a good number of mahi around it. With the ones we caught earlier, the barrel and the school we found after the barrel we ended up with over two dozen fish and long ride home.
Great to have our friends on board today and hopefully we will be able to do it again sometime.

Brian had his hands full this afternoon with scuba class for two of his boys and an evening trip planned for his other two and their friends so we were very happy to help him out and take Patrick, Henry, Cooper and Ryan on the evening charter. A good time was had by all as we caught a bunch of sharks including this 100 lb blacktip.

John and Shane got married on our boat a couple years ago and today they fished with us. Once again it was fairly windy and bouncy but they handled it well with John doing most of the catching with Shane's support. We caught our limit of mahi, a few blackfin tuna and a couple vermillon snapper for variety.
They will be back in ten days to fish with us again, hopefully on a less windy day!

I didn't think we were going to make a full day of it today as Josh started getting seasick soon after we left the reef but much to my surprise (and his dad's as well) he never tossed in the towel. It took us a while but we were able to catch our limit of mahi by the end of the day along with four tunas and a skipjack.
 I'm glad it worked out for this duo as they usually go out on the headboats from Canaveral or Tampa and this was a special trip for the father and son team. Good to have them on board and hopefully they will be able to fish with us again.

Bill and his family got more than the weathermen had predicted today both with wind and rain. They hung in there though and were rewarded with some nice fat mahi and one that was around 14 lbs. We also caught a couple tunas so they could enjoy a nice tuna appetizer this evening.
 Enjoyed our day with them and hope to see that back on the KK again soon.

The mahi bite was just OK today and since we caught a bunch with these guys yesterday and they wanted to try deep dropping we did a little mahi catching and then went to find some bottom fish. We caught 8 verms but unfortunately pulled off the same number part way to the surface. Also caught a few other things , small groupers, red porgies and blackfin snapper that didn't make the cut.
We had a great time with these guys and hope to see them again soon.

The learning curve was more like a mountain today as we got into our first school of mahi. I actually turn my back on the chaos and gave up for a few minutes as thing went from bad to worse. We caught some of those first fish and surprisingly each mahi encounter from there on got better and better to the point where I almost forgot the mayhem that had occured at the start. We ended up with over 30 mahi, one tuna and we get to do it all over again with Bubba and this group again tomorrow. Hopefully there won't be any short term memory loss.

Richard and his family fished with us last Friday  and we caught plenty of mahi that day so today they wanted to experience something different.
We started with the yellowtail snapper, catching about 30 of them  and  then went out to a deeper spot where we caught the nice mutton and large vermillon snappers. Caught a couple rudder fish at the Islamorada hump and a wayward mahi on the way back. All in all a very successful change from the usual mahi fishing most people want to do this time of the year.
Had a great time with this folks and hope to see them again sometime.

Hard to believe but we have had both good weather and good fishing the last few days and Bill's group (deservedly so) got to experience both this year. Bill has fish with us for many years and has been on board for some great  fishing days but has also seen some nasty weather and tough fishing at times. He always fishes this weekend which add to my stress level due to the addition boat traffic and competition from them.
Today was fairly easy, we  were catching a few fish out of each school that we found until we had 35 or so fish and then toward the end of the day I found a very large school that were eating everything we threw in the water. We caught a few more and then we headed back home to get those fish cleaned up so the guys could get the packed for their trip back to PA.
Always a pleasure Bill!

With the wind down and the keys filling up with visitors we expect to see a lot of small boats out there vying for the same mahi we are. We were  not to be disappointed today although by 12:30 I could hardly find a small boat on the horizon, not sure if they caught and went home or got frustrated and went home!
Took us a while to find any numbers of fish and we ended up 22 miles from home but we finally found a couple good schools and ended up catching over 25 nice heavy lifters. Bill and his guys will be back tomorrow to do it all over again, hopefully with similar success.

Richard and his family flew  in yesterday from the west coast  and understandably everyone was a little tired today but they were able to rally once we got into the fish. We caught fish at various distances, no big schools for us but plenty for the guys' dinner tonight with some fresh tuna  for the appetizer. They will be back on Monday to do it all over again.

Doug, Jim and Steve didn't need a lot of fish but they did want to see some different styles of fishing, so we started with the tunas, caught some mahi and ended up back on the reef catching 20 yellowtails. The guys loved the changes and learning different techniques. At the end of the day they took enough fish for a couple meals which left plenty for Dave and I to split.
The guys will be back, promising to make this an annual event. See you next year guys1

Ken and his son Dillon got all they wanted today with the fish and the weather.
Went to the hump and caught our limit of tunas, then went looking for the mahi, around 600 ft the seas really started to build but Ken and Dillon had no problems with the increase wave height. Caught a handful of fish off the first group of birds and later found a turtle that was loaded with fish but we couldn't keep them behind the boat long enough to catch all that we needed so we  had to push on and find two more schools of fish to get our limit.

Cody was last man standing today as the rest of his family succumbed to the motion of the sea and we had to end the day short of a 3/4.
Still some wind but getting better hourly as we headed out this morning although not fast enough for our group. We caught a mahi on the way out, 8 tunas at and around the hump and a mahi on the way home so there was a fresh fish dinner to look forward to.
Hope to see these folks again and I'm sure Cody will be pushing for it!

Finally able to get away from the dock today after 25 to 30 knots of wind kept us at home the last few days. We did have to return to the dock once to drop of a few but we went back out and Shannon with son Patrick caught their limits of snapper on the half day.
First time I have seen Patrick in 2 years so it was good to be able to catch up with him. Shannon is always a  joy to be with and she got to fish this time as apposed to watching everyone else get to fish and catch fish first.
Good people, glad we were able to get them out and fish with them again.

Took a beating today as the wind got up around 20 knots and the current picked up slightly and our guys from GAF handled it pretty well although it was definitely a challenge. Saw quite a few small fish today which was different than it has been but there were enough legal size fish available that we were able to put together a decent rack of fish.

Caught 20 fish today but I was able to steer around most of them for a good part of the day, it was only at the end of our shorten day that I found a decent school of mahi. We did catch 5 tunas while on the hump which added to the catch for Karen and David and we had more than enough fish for our folks for the couple dinners they were looking for.
Always a pleasure to have Karen and her husband out with us even when the wind is making things difficult. See you next time folks!

Beth and her group were not to be discouraged from going this morning even with a 20 knot east wind, so off we went.
Started great, catching a couple mahi as soon as we got to 250 ft and a few more when we got to 350. We had more then a hand full at by 8:00 and hearing that the hump was fishable (not a lot of weed) and that there was a tuna bite happening there, we made the turn and headed towards it.
We never left it once we got there as the fish (both tuna and mahi) kept biting on every pass. We ended up with 25 mahi , 12 tunas and 6 very happy people on our 3/4 day. Our only casualty was young KK  but he quickly recovered once we started for home.
Good times with good people!