Another great family today. Delilah and her brother Desmond were a joy to be fishing with today  as they were enthusiastic, helpful and following direction well throughout our morning charter.
Caught the yellowtails well at the start until the current changed and then kept them busy with a bunch of mutton snappers (all but one were short), grouper and kingfish.
Look forward to seeing them again in the near future.

We started strong, getting a bunch of bites by muttons and kingfish in the first hour but after that it tapered off some. Not much sailfish action on our morning half day but enough bites to keep Rich and his fiance Rachael happy. They will be back!

Second time this year we have had fog and that's the most I have seen in any year and it was dense. Made fishing difficult where I was most of the morning although farther to the west I heard it cleared a lot  earlier. We caught some nice kings on our short day but never saw a sail or tuna. Dan and his group enjoyed the day and plan on coming back to the KK next year. See you then guys!

Nice fish Ed!

Probably the last day for the Jersey boys this trip but today was a beauty. The wind was down and so were the waves, which made for a ideal morning to catch a sailfish.
We hooked the 1st one shortly after putting out the baits near a bait shower, Eddie got two jumps out of him and the hook came out. The second fish was also on a bait shower but this one stayed hooked and Eddie did a really nice job of catching him after a 15 minute fight.
Things slowed down after that and we headed out to the deep water to catch some meat for the boys. The almaco jacks were biting as well as the silk snapper but the current was just a little too strong and so after catching some fish (including a mahi) and losing a bunch of weights we decided to go somewhere less sticky.
As always Dave and I enjoyed our days fishing with the guys and look forward to next year.

Woody is a trooper, the high winds were mostly gone from yesterday's blow but we still had some rough water and Woody couldn't quite stomach those big waves but he never complained even after 6 hrs of it. Dad finally had to throw in the towel for Woody and we got him back to the dock. Saw probably 10 sailfish that either wouldn't eat or we couldn't get baits to, caught a few muttons, tuna and kings.

Didn't get this report up on the second day the Jersey boys fished because things got a little busy for me after we fished, so here it is now. The wind was up and so we stayed shallow and caught 6 or 7 muttons, all undersized except one, additionally we caught a decent mahi and some king mackeral. Some of the boys were a little under the weather so it probably was just the kind of Lite  (Coors or Miller) day they needed. Tomorrow they fish us again and it is supposed to be a great weather day, just what these guys requested.

The annual NJ to the Keys PCED tournament  kicked off today and Dick, CP, Pat and Ed  were all in fine form arriving at the boat at the designated time all smiles and excited to be back in the keys AND even better they were ready to fish having gone to bed at a reported 8 pm last evening. They really did look like they were well rested and primed for a good day on the water.
We tested them with a little yellowtail snapper fishing to start but after catching a few under less than ideal conditions decided to head for the deep water and try the deep water snapper.This worked out well as the silk snapper were hungry along with the almacos jacks  and margate snappers. CP was the margate slayer catch three all by himself and was awarded top honors at the end of the day. Nice CP!
Tomorrow we do it again, probably different target fish but whatever we do it will be good fun!

Another great family that we fished with today. Seth and Lynsey knew all about fishing from watching you tube but didn't have much practical experience but under Dave's tutelage they soon were angling like pros. The tails didn't bite well again as they didn't two days ago  but we did catch a couple legal mutton and released a few throwbacks. The kings kept us busy while we waited and hoped for that sail to show itself but it wasn't to be this day. Next Time!

Kevin has done a number of evening trips with us and it is always a good time with his friends and family. Tonight we caught a red grouper and a Bermuda chub. had a spinner shark on and a tarpon, caught 3 nurse sharks and had a number a big mystery bites. Fun evening with plenty of action.

Joe told me today that it will be 25 years ago August the 5th, 2020 that Captain Rob and I aboard the Challenger pulled Susan and him out of the water. Their boat had sank and they had been in the water since early morning with the Coast Guard looking for them but unable to locate them.  We happened along, heard their voices and picked them up and hour or so before sunset. They have fished on the Challenger and now on the K KAY IV ever since that fateful day.
We started the day catching some yellowtail snapper, surprisingly not an easy bite with the good  conditions but we did get what they wanted for dinner. Saw a couple sails in the shallow water but could not get them to bite and then later in the day we had one eat a flat line and Joe got to catch our first sail of the new year.
Always a pleasure to have the Sachs on board and look forward to their next visit.

Finally got a halfway decent weather day today, although a couple hours in we got to experience a rarity in the keys, fog! It stuck around for a hour and then was gonebut it wasn't until noon that the sun really came out.
Our morning was good with Matt and his boys catching 20 yellowtails in fairly quick order, after which we went searching again for that elusive sail but once again to no avail.
The afternoon trip was slow, with the current gone the snapper did not want to come up very high and although we had some good fished hooked up on the patch reefs we were not able to get them to the boat. We did catch plenty for dinner and our youngsters had a great time with the yellowtais and runners in the shallow water so it was still good fun.

No pictures from the dreary morning trip we had, where it rained for almost all the 4 hours we were out there. We sailfished but never saw one, we did catch a nice blackfin tuna of which half  got eaten, not by a shark but by our clients who had the wasabi and soy sauce out before the tuna stopped wiggling.
The afternoon started rainy but soon the sun came out and our new friends from France got to catch a bunch of yellowtails when the current started up and made them cooperate. They are headed to a local restaurant this evening to have them cooked up and looking forward to a great meal.

The wind was still blowing yesterday for our folks from Hungry and a couple of them didn't feel all that well but stayed with it on the short day. We really wanted a sail today but they were in short supply and we had to be satisfied with a major barracuda and some good eating fish.

We had Chris and Chad Kalis onboard today, on a not so calm day with seas running in the 5 to 6 ft range for most of the day. Both these guys did great in the morning catching over 25 yellowtail snapper and then in the afternoon  Chris hooked up this sailfish.
I saw there was something amiss with this fish before it even ate our ballyhoo. He had something white around his head and it turned out to be a ring of plastic (possibly from a bucket lid) that he had swam through and it probably would have killed him if he hadn't gotten caught by us. We got him along side the boat, removed the ring and sent him on his way to fight another day.

The evening out in Whale Harbor Channel was slow for most of the evening with a few missed opportunities and not much else but in the last 10 minutes we hooked up two big blacktip sharks and got the adrenaline pumping in both of the two boys we had onboard. We caught one and pulled the hook on the other for another successful evening in the channel.

This is the 4th year that Denny and Marsha have fished with us and to set the record straight, I have never abused Denny on my fishing report for their day on the KK.  Just because his sailfish got away after a very short fight does not mean that I am finding fault with his angling expertise, these things just happen. All kidding aside we always look forward to fishing with Denny and Marsha and the friends they bring with them, it is such a pleasure having them on board.
We caught the yellowtails on the reef early in the day even with a lack of current and later while bouncing the bottom caught 5 mutton snapper (2 legal), a couple kings and a grouper. Tried the hump but just caught one tuna and an AJ off the bottom. Came back to the reef and that is where we had the sail on for that moment.
Marsha has already secured next Christmas eve day for another trip on the KK and we will see them then.

What a miserable few days we have had, with lots of wind and rain, not typical keys weather at all. Today we finally got a reprieve, we did have some residual swells still coming in from the southeast but conditions were much better than they have been out on the reef.
Caught the yellowtails to start, along with a few kings, did some bottom bouncing and caught a cobia, grouper and some undersized muttons. Stopped at a vermillon spot but they were small so we just took a few, missed a bunch of fish and the sharks ate some good ones but overall a good day.

Jerry is a RV salesman so I thought the title appropriate. We went 1 for 3 with the 1st sailfish up and jumping before it even came out of the pin (didn't get that one) and later we had two fish come up and lost the first one to the second fish. Plenty of kings to keep Jerry busy and a couple mutton snappers for dinner made for a fine day on the water.

You think getting a new phone would be simple and transferring everything over to it would be seamless, it's not!. I'm finally back to where things work close to where they should and I can post the pictures we took last week.
Al, Dave, Mitch and Ken came down from The Villages to fish with us and had a great time. The first day we caught a couple mahi at the Islamorada, watched the cudas eat our blackfin tunas there also, came back to the reef, caught a nice bunch of yellowtail snapper and finish off the day catching a sailfish.
The second day we did the snapper thing again and sailfished but did not seen one on the short day. Dave and I really enjoyed these guys and look forward to fishing with them again soon.

The sharks crushed us today, eating all of our vermillon snapper except the first big one and additionally the tunas did not cooperate .The reef was also frustrating  with the current into the wind as we tried the yellowtails and not a whole lot on the bottom in the deeper water except a couple mutton snapper and a few jacks. CP and Joe had a great first day and we had plenty for dinner on the second day, most importantly a great time was had by all! See you in a few weeks guys.

Once again we had the dynamic duo, CP and Joe on board the KKIV to enjoy the day and kill some fish. We succeeded well at both endeavors catching 4 big blackfin tunas , a bunch of smaller blackfins and our limit of yellowtail snapper. We tried the bottom at the hump but there was just a little too much current and predators were aggressive so we had move on back to the reef to catch the tails.
Nice day guys ,we look forward to doing it again on Sunday.

Mitch wouldn't shake my hand today but I was glad he wouldn't, he didn't want to pass on a nasty cold to me or anyone else for that matter. With Mitch on the sidelines, Mitch's wife Sue did a great job and was our top angler catching most of the 2 dozen yellowtail snapper and the blackfin tuna. The other half of our split Heath, did well on the large mutton snapper and just OK on the yellowtails but a good time was had by all and it was beautiful day here with a high around 79 and lots of sun.

I was open today but I got a call last evening from Jim and he said he only had time for a half day but would love to catch some tunas if possible. I was hoping the big tunas would bite as they have been the last few days but unfortunately we could only catch the feather tuna today but fortunately there were plenty of them!
I saw the bag with the red hats when we got on the boat but wasn't sure what that was about until Jim asked me to stop on the way home so they could take some pictures  for their 2019 Christmas  Card. Good looking Crew Jim, have a great Christmas and New Year!

Rob wanted to fish for sails this morning even after we had the discussion about it being slow for sails. It was, but they knew the risk and the only consolation was Rob son got to catch a tarpon back at the marine.
The afternoon with Jason's family went much better as we headed out to the hump, caught a few small tunas, caught the vermillons on the bottom and finished up with 3 nice tunas, the biggest coming in at a solid 25 lbs.