By: Capt. Greg Poland
I hope you have been getting out on the water with all this beautiful weather we have had lately. The fishing both in the backcountry and around the keys has been on fire and my clients have been catching everything from bonefish to baby tarpon. The live bait has been plentiful out there making it easy to load up your live well, grab a fly rod, and get out on the water. I have been finding lots of finger mullet and pilchards both here in the Islamorada area and around the Flamingo area, so if you don’t find them close to home, I bet you will on your ride into the Backcountry. As a backup plan, I always carry various soft plastics which have been working almost as good as the live bait. I like to use a 2-4ft piece of fluorocarbon just above the hook and we are usually fishing with a 12-15lb spinning outfit on a 7ft rod.
As the cold fronts start coming through, one of my favorite species will start showing up and it will be game on for action packed fishing out on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, so check out next month’s article for some tricks on how to fish out that way for spanish mackerel.
Last year at this time, I was looking for something cool to give the kids next door. They are so into fishing much like I was at their age, so I visited Islamorada Fishing Outfitters and had Randy Towe build my two fishing buddies Blue Custom Rods just like I use on board my Contender. Check out my next-door neighbor getting ready to go fishing with his brother and parents down at our local homeowner’s park. If you are looking for something for the neighborhood kids this year, get them a fishing rod instead of an electronic gadget! You never know but you might just be living down the street from the next local Charter Fishing Captain – I get the feeling I am.
— Contact Capt. Greg at 305.393.3327 or email gregpoland@icloud.com