Spring Break 2011

It has been a wild and crazy ride the last couple of weeks! It is a thing of beauty to see Ocean Reef Club this busy. What a difference a year makes!

I have been fishing with mostly families as you would expect. That means lots of snappers, jacks and small groupers, but we also have been catching lots of small redfish and some huge trout! This is an unexpected but pleasant surprise. I have been fishing with my regular Monday and Friday client Don Asher and he has been on a roll of late! Don caught another beautiful permit, 31-pounds and lots of dandy bonefish.

I hope the floodgates remain open and the Club stays full of business and fish stay hungry!

Tight Lines Capt. Dave

Flats Fun

Fishing the last couple of weeks has been a blast! We have been catching all the target species we love to catch, but have been in short supply lately. I have had several night tarpon trips and we caught at least one tarpon on every trip. There have been plenty of permit on the flats around Ocean Reef Club. Don Asher has the biggest so far a dandy 25-pounder. Bonefish have been on both the oceanside and bay flats around Ocean Reef. We have caught them up to 10-pounds.

Charters are really starting to book up, so if you are planning a trip this spring please let me know as soon as possible so we can work you in and have a Grand Adventure!

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave

Fishing The Backcountry

Most of the clients I have fished with lately have been interested in action and maybe dinner! To make everyone happy I have spent most of my time in the backcountry or the creeks.

I fished last week with Meg Blair out of Islamorada. We had a great day on the water and ended up all the way back to Flamingo. We caught a boatload of fish, mainly trout and ladyfish. Meg's dog Buster also had a blast checking out every fish that came aboard!

I fished with the Asher clan several days last week. I had a wonderful time fishing with them and we had a blast teaching the younger crowd the art of fishing! High line was Gabrel Asher with a monster hogfish he landed in the Angelfish Creek.

We have also had some nice catches of puppy redfish and snook mixed in with lots of ladyfish, snappers and small groupers!

Tight Lines Capt. Dave

Bonefish Action Heating Up

While the rest of the nation is crippled with snow and ice we are finally having a warm up! The water was up to 74-degrees on the flats yesterday! It was May last year before we saw that temperature. With the warm water we are seeing bonefish return to the flats.

Yesterday fishing with Meg Blair and her friend Johanna Paterson, Johanna caught her first and second bonefish! It was a pleasure to be involved with her conquest! We also caught lots of jacks and other fish, it was a great all around trip.

Earlier in the week fishing with Don Asher we released three nice bones and a boatload of other species. Fishing for redfish, snook and tarpon has also been good. So all I can say is "Life Is Good" !!

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave

Roller Coaster Ride

Fishing the last couple of weeks has been a real roller coaster ride! It goes from bitter cold to above normal warmth. This is not great for the fish. They don't know where to stay and we don't know where to find them. I have had the best luck fishing in deeper water and along the deep ledges in the creeks. At these locations Snapper fishing has been very good with some small Groupers also.

Last Wednesday I took a trip over to the Everglades with my dear friend Meg Blair. We left her house and went almost all the way to Flaming. It was a beautiful calm day and we had a absolute blast. We stopped and fished at several locations and caught a boatload of fish! Lots of Jacks, Trout and Ladyfish. What a great day.

I have also been still having some luck with Redfish up around Ocean Reef Club. I am looking at another busy week and hoping by my next report I will be telling you about releasing lots of Bonefish!

Tight Lines Capt. Dave

New Year

Since my return to Ocean Reef after my Christmas break I have been faced with some challenging conditions. We have had some bitter cold and windy day's. Thank God these conditions have moderated and we are again back to normal winter conditions!! You know the old adage " When the going gets tough".

I have had some outstanding trips of late and we have been having way to much fun on the water. We have been catching lots of fish, not always the clamorous verity, but fun none the less!

Top Gun so far is Sarah Asher. Fishing with her grandfather Don she released 25 Redfish! She kept both her grandfather and I busy releasing and reloading. What an outstanding trip!! The bar is set high for the rest of the season!

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave

Headed Home For Christmas

It is time for me to head back to Michigan and enjoy my family and do a little skiing. It has been a bit chilly in the Keys the last week. It is to cold to early!! I left the dock one afternoon sweating, returned in full rain gear and freezing. What a change!!

Fishing was holding up well until the last couple of days when water dipped into the fifties. It has been a real mixed bag at Ocean Reef Club of late. We have caught a couple of Permit, some nice Snook, several Bonefish and lots of Ladyfish, Jacks, Sharks and Snappers.

I hope the water has warmed into the seventies and it is sunny and warm upon my return to Ocean Reef.

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave