Fishing was slow

What an amazing day. We took off from the Tarpon basin from a convenient little neighborhood dock. The water coming through the canals was crystal clear. The tide was running strong. We went out to a patch reef that at first didn’t seem to have much going on. Once the Capt found the right drift he set the anchor, put out the chum, got the rods ready, and then they started coming. We caught many fish to including a 15” mutton snapper,  several 12+ inch yellowtails, mangrove snapper, 18” Red Grouper, and an 8lb trigger fish.  If we had a little better skills we may have managed some bigger fish. But it is hard to react and stop a freight train grouper if you have never done it before so we lost several nice fish due to poor reaction times. We will get them next time. And next time we will be again fishing with our new keys Captain, Capt Manny. And also that Mako 25 is a sweet ride. People who like boats should book him just to ride on that baby.

Great Captain! Very nice human being! Highest level of professionalism. Keeps his equipment and boat well maintained. Felt safe the entire time. Very informative naturalist, knows his birds, plants, etc. Has a deep connection and understanding of the natural world. Fishing is in his blood, knows how to catch fish. Lifelong local Florida Keys fisherman. Would think anything eventually becomes a “job”, not the case here, can see the joy and passion for catching fish when his face lights up as fish are coming aboard. I Have been around some dud captains before, not Captain Manny. Fair prices. Highly recommend. Thank you for a great experience with Dad!

It was great!  He was energetic, hard working and knows where the fish are hanging out. His boat is well maintained and ocean worthy.  Our catch included Glassy Snapper, Brown Spotted Grouper, Princess Parrot Fish, Sailor’s Choice Grunt, Blue Stripped Grunt and Yellow Tail Snapper.  We also had four fighters that we hooked and were reeling in when something much bigger bent our rods U shaped and snapped our lines. Captain Manny blamed those on “Shark”.  Overall it was a pleasant experience for us and a perfect way to spend the morning offshore in Key Largo.