Three days on Islamorada
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
A Robbie's Marine employee demonstrates correct tarpon-feeding technique.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
The mate throws the net. He might know what he's doing.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
Capt. Mike with a yellow jack, a tasty reef fish rarely seen in our area.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
Ballyhoo in the well.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
Toro or bigeye are just ridiculously red.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
Jeff and Mike show off a three-species triple header: A silk snapper, a vermilion snapper and a mutton snapper all caught on one drop.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
A lit-up wee-hoo comes in the boat.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
This mahi represents the avergae size we caught.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
Jeff, Mike and Scotty fight three fish at once.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
The mate displays a barracuda's weapons.
WaterLine photo by Mike Myers
This yellowtail was a lot of fun on that tiny pink rod.
WaterLine photo by Josh Olive
Capt. Bruce keeps an eye out from the tower while Scotty waits for some real action.
The Florida Keys are one of the state’s biggest tourist draws. This island chain is unlike any other place in the United States — basically, it’s a little piece of the Caribbean that you can drive to instead of hopping a plane or cruise ship. Although it’s just a few hours from Charlotte Harbor, the difference in climate and atmosphere is more akin to going to another country. And the fishing — well, there are fishing opportunities there that just don’t exist in our neck of the woods.
Recently I had the chance to sample the Florida Keys for the first time. Although I’m a Florida boy, I’d never made it south of Homestead until a few weeks ago. Capt. Mike Myers, his brother Scotty and Mike’s mate Jeff Connor were making plans to go swordfishing out of Islamorada and were thoughtful enough to ask if I wanted to tag along. (Swordfishing? In the Keys? Nah, sounds super boring — I’ll just stay home and watch Frasier reruns.) Naturally I jumped at the offer. The game plan was to go on a boat Mike had fished many times before: The Capt. Easy. And being diehard fishermen (or maybe just idiots), we were booked for a 12-hour trip.
