Soc-Et-Tu-Um Charters Blog
-
Snook Bite11/08/2011
On Sunday, the winds gusting 20/25kts, my angler/guest Gregory went out in seach of a tarpon bite I heard about the day before. While the ride to the fishing spot was sporty, the fishing spot was beautiful. We found the tarpon rolling but could not get a bait past the jack crevalles. Greg caught at least 12, a few jacks were chased by a couple of big bull sharks, good stuff to see. Then we saw a lot of pelicans diving on baitfishes, soon Greg though he saw tarpon blasting the bait. However on his first cast a nice snook was hooked, that fish was eight pounds! The next five casts also were snook, up to ten pounds, Greg also pulled off a couple of snook but he did land four really nice snook before we ran out of time. We had to head back to the resort so Greg wouldn't miss his plane back home. He was still smiling as he headed down the dock. -
Rain and Fish10/30/2011
We had lots of wet weather the last two weeks, 16/18 inches on Duck Key. But on the good days we fished there was lots of good fishing. The snook fishing up in the Everglades was good with fish 30/34 inches being released and the redfish bite has been great! Add that with lots of seatrout and Jack crevalle bending the rod. But we only found one permit of 10 lbs and the bonefish remain elusive, but I did find tailing redfish on a recent bonefish hunt. Fall action will still be good this coming November. The shallow water shark fishing has been thrilling as well, lots of big lemon and spinner sharks out in the bay. -
Breeze and Nice Trout10/07/2011
The wind of early October kept the tarpon from rising to the bait. But my anglers decided to switch gears and head out into Florida Bay for some "action". It was a little choppy on the ride out but after we arrived at my spot 9 miles out. First bait in we were rewarded with a 19inch spotted sea trout, good show. After couple more nice Trout I could see some fish 25inches following the smaller fish. Then some really nice Spanish Mackerel moved in. We caught a lot of fish in a couple of hours. And we brought back fish for dinner. -
Cooking Your Catch09/22/2011
The snapper fishing has been pretty good this last couple of weeks. I had a request from my angler's wife that we should bring her a few snapper back for dinner. I'd be glad to, and we caught some nice fish. Now this is one of my favorite recipes. I like to use a cast iron fry pan with olive oil about 350 degrees, I season the fillets with light salt and pepper, dredge them in four,on both sides. Crack a couple of eggs in a bowl and whip em up then I put the fish in the egg mixture, let the flour absorb the egg. Check the oil by dropping a little egg, if it is hot enough it will foam up. Place the fish in the pan and cook until they are golden bron on the edges, flip them over carefully and let them cook untill they're brown. Then I take the fish out and place them on a paper bag ,to help absorb the oil, then place them on a plate and garnish with parsley and lemon. Fsh doesn't get any fresher, enjoy. Lets go fishing... -
September Fishing, some cloudy days09/02/2011
Now that September has arrived our shallow waters should begin to cool off just enough to heat up some great tarpon, bonefish and snook action. Cloudy days make for good fishing action as less sunlight keeps the fish less spooky and more agressive on the flats. The tarpon will also rise up and feed on the surface more often, and so will the snook. Plus a lttle cloud cover keeps us cooler, look forward to a little bit of cloudines this month, it makes the fishing better. -
Shallow Water Snapper08/23/2011
Early morning departures from the dock have given my anglers lots of light tackle action. First we went to the bonefish spot, but the 3 to 5lb jacks beat us up, fun to catch, but no bones. Then off to a deeper spot in search of snapper. We caught a few smaller fish, the three bonethead sharks up to 36" and a nice jack. So still in seach of some snapper a couple of miles north, my anglers spied some avtivity along the shallow bank. And there were snapper busting bait, and every cast was another nice snapper! Lots of good action, we caught alot of fish, releasing all but a few for dinner. The weather was beautiful, calm, a few clouds to keep us cool, and the shallow water is crystal clear. We saw a few turtles, several sharks, and lot of stingrays, plus all the fish we caught and released, and were back at the dock before noon. -
Back Bay Fishing08/11/2011
Lots of lemon sharks have been our main source of excitement in recent weeks. Small snapper(10"-11") make the best bait, fished alive the lemon sharks find them fast on the shallow banks. In two feet of water it is quite the show! The lemon sharks , up to 8 feet, put up quite a fight on the light tackle in the shallow waters of the bay. Some bonefish and redfish have been caught as well. As the bay waters cool the fishing gets better, so better days are comming. -
Everglades Still Best Shot06/28/2011
I've been fishing alot up in the Everglades this month. One day we found some really nice snapper at the Arsnkicker Bank, snapper to 5 pounds, good fighters and great table fare, yummy. My anglers also enjoyed a good bite of redfish out west around Sandy Key, there were a lot of lemon sharks there too but my angler did not want to play with the sharks, so we left them alone. We looked for the snook but found only a few, they were fun but we have a closure on keeping snook, so they are still swimming. Looking foward to July -
Everglades Action06/15/2011
Recently, on an all day fishing outing, we headed up towards Flamingo, in the Everglades National Park. We fished around a few of the islands looking for redfish and snook. Some areas had lots of smaller fish such as snapper and small redfsh, but as I ventured out to the west we found them. On a high tide around some trees we found a school of nice redfish. And the was also lot of lemon sharks with them, one shark ate our spoon, but none ate our redfish, we caught 31 and kept two for dinner. I hope to get out there again soon. -
Big tarpon caught...05/30/2011
On Satutday evening my angler , Pat Hev, caught and released a big tarpon that was close to seven feet long! Pat struggled with this fish for close to forty minutes, and when I finaly caught the leader the big fish made a spectactular jump off the bow of the boat, an amazing show that many spactators on a sunset cruise applauded to. We also had another fish that pulled off the hook earlier. A new moon will be rising with the start of June, I hope to see more good action the next two weeks.I've been fishing alot up in the Everglades this month. One day we found some really nice snapper at the Arsnkicker Bank, snapper to 5 pounds, good fighters and great table fare, yummy. My anglers also enjoyed a good bite of redfish out west around Sandy Key, there were a lot of lemon sharks there too but my angler did not want to play with the sharks, so we left them alone. We looked for the snook but found only a few, they were fun but we have a closure on keeping snook, so they are still swimming. Looking foward to JuliaRecently, on an all day fishing outing, we headed up towards Flamingo, in the Everglades National Park. We fished around a few of the islands looking for redfish and snook. Some areas had lots of smaller fish such as snapper and small redfsh, but as I ventured out to the west we found them. On a high tide around some trees we found a school of nice redfish. And the was also lot of lemon sharks with them, one shark ate our spoon, but none ate our redfish, we caught 31 and kept two for dinner. I hope to get out there again soon. -
Tarpon still King05/25/2011
The worm hatch has occurred, tarpon were slurping down copious amounts during the hatch! My anglers were mesmerized by the show of numerous fish feeding on the worms. Since the hatch the bite has setteled down a bit, and now that we are on the wanning of the moon the bite is off. But, anglers, this is only temporary, the faze will change and the fish are still here, and as the tide changes the fish will bite again. The weather is forecasted to be 10kts or less this weekend, great news! So, let's Soc-et-tu-um!!! -
May, Tarpon rule...05/04/2011
Despite a blustery beginning, May will be all about tarpon fishing. My anglers have been delighted with the numbers of big fish. Under the Long Key Bridge there are lots of big hungry tarpon. Yesterday my angler Ron Kenyon, landed a 100lb fish. While he was realing in that fish a 14ft hammerhead shark tried to eat his tarpon! But Ron's fish raced away from the boat, still hooked, to the safety of the big bridge, where we released the big tarpon alive to swim again. -
Unbelievable, fish stories...04/20/2011
Fished with a couple from Ohio tonight, First tarpon jumped off right away, then a 40lb cuda ate the other bait, and we captured it. After releasing the cuda we set back up. And our next bite was a huge bull shark! After that bull shark ride was over, another bull shark ate our other mullet. We are not shark fishing, ok? The next bite was a big tarpon, a really big mean tarpon. And that mean fish made two spectacular jumps, the put his tail into high gear and spooled us in a matter of seconds. I felt quite helpless, tarpon fishing has a story every trip...
Go Back -
First week, big tarpoons!04/08/2011
So far my anglers have scored big with big tarpon. I have yet to release a fish under 100lbs! Two anglers from Spring Texas each released a fish over 150lbs! Yesterday my angler's fish, estimated 150lbs+, jumped several times after hook-up then jumped into the boat!No one was hurt, but that was a very exciting 30seconds. A green tarpon in the boat can do a lot of damage, thank goodness it went back in the water fast. We saw many more big fish in the bay, going fishing again this morning, will write more later, see ya.... -
Tarpon starting to bite...03/25/2011
March has just about blown itself out and the tarpon have stared biting for some of us guides. There are scatered sightings of fish around Duck Key and some of the bridges, but the big schools have not arrived yet. April is just around the corner, and if the weather stays good, the fish will soon be here. -
Closing out February02/27/2011
While the exceptionally beautiful weather has delighted us all, the fishing in Florida Bay has been awsome! Yesterday was perfect, light to moderate warm breeze, light chop and clear waters and lots of fish! At one point while fishing for pompano, a huge goliath grouper, over 200lbs followed a hooked fish to the boat. We loved seeing this behemouth, but no one wanted to try and catch it. We did catch a lot of nice pompano yesterday both on light spin and the fly rod. Pompano are a great game fish, beautiful, and great tablefare, delicious... -
Beautiful weekend in the Keys...02/20/2011
Warm sunny days, with gentel breezes made for great fishing. My anglers kept busy catching mackerel, seatrout, snapper, pompano,redfish and cobia! We also had a shark enthusiast and he caught two sharks, a nice lemon shark and a big spinner shark, about 150lbs! Most anglers used light spinning gear, but I had a couple of realy good fly casters on board. And they had a blast catching all they wanted. -
Warmer Waters...02/08/2011
Waters have warmed-up 5-10 degrees, and we have been seeing a few tarpon showing. Last Sunday Fred and Gabriel came fishing with me and Gabe caught his first cobia! It weighed in at 25lbs. Plus they also released several large Spanish mackerels and bluefish. On that same trip we saw a few permit, but couldn't fool them with a bait. Lots of big jacks kept us busy with the flyrod yesterday. and we saw more tarpon, but again couldn't get them to eat our fly. Lots of sharks on the banks too. Going fishing again this morning; see ya.. -
Cobia, pompano, seatrout and Spanish mackerel.02/03/2011
Cobia have been the biggest draw,but seatrout have showed up in good numbers and 23"-25"long fish. The pompano have remained constant and have been weighed in at 8 pounds! Spanish mackerel continue to provide fast strikes and good action. We have had a week of fabulous weather, and the fishing should only get better. -
Hot Pompano Fishing in Florida bay01/29/2011
Today was a beautiful day in the bay, flat calm conditions and clear water. And there was a lot of hungry pompano to be had. Casting flies to schools of these florida pompano produced fast action and great fights. These fish run of line like a small bonefish, and fight like a big jack. We also found good sized schools of bluefish in the 5-7lb range, they ate flies and jigs every cast. Cool water,62degrees,but lots of action, February is right around the corner, and the fishing should just get better.
Flats and inshore fishing charters in the middle keys. specializing in fly and light tackle fishing for
tarpon, bonefish, permit, snook redfish and more.
"Let us help you plan your trip! Enjoy a stay at Hawks Cay Resort and your fishing adventure will be just steps from your door."
Phone: (877) 423-6403
Have a question
for the Captain?
Contact the Captain
Directions
Soc Et Tu Um
Soc Et Tu Um
Fishing Charters
At Hawks Cay Resort
61 Hawks Cay Boulevard
Duck Key, FL 33050
Watch Now
