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Captains note:  
      A great fighter, tarpon that will challenge the most seasoned angler. Long battles with fast runs, awesome jumping and an exhausted angler is common with tarpon. Tarpon are most often inclined to run out many yards of line and jump often, shaking their heads and rattling gill plates sending adrenaline rushing into the angler. I use relatively light tackle (30 pound Penn spinning outfits) and can expect the fight to last 1/2 hour to 1.5 hours. Although the fishing rod held at  10 - 11 o'clock is preferable for the beginning of the fight, I encourage anglers to lay the  leader line on the gill plates by turning the rod to the side in the later part of the fight. By doing so it will shorten the battle by restricting water to the gills. A shortened  fight is a stronger fish when returned to the water. Most fish we are catching average around 60- 100 pounds with monsters coming in closer to 175. Best time of year is late April, May and June. I fish for tarpon with live bait and practice catch and release although legally a tarpon kill may be made with a special permit purchased prior to the catch. It is not  necessary, to kill a tarpon for a trophy mount to be made. With proper measurements  taken a complete accurate mount may be built.

Tarpon   is a large coastal fish notable as a prize of anglers. The (Atlantic) tarpon, Megalops atlanticus Valenciennes, inhabits coastal waters and estuaries. It feeds on various fish and crabs. It is capable of filling its swim bladder with air and absorbing oxygen from it. Specimens have been recorded at up to 250 cm in length and weighing up to 161 kg. In appearance, it is greenish or bluish on top, and silver on the sides. The large mouth is turned upwards, the lower jaw containing an elongated bony plate. 
              The tarpon is considered one of the great saltwater game fish, not only because of the size it can reach and its accessible haunts, but because of its fighting spirit when hooked; it is very strong, making spectacular leaps into the air. The flesh is desirable but bony. A special permit is required to kill and keep a tarpon, so most tarpon fishing there is catch and release. The concept of anglers releasing the fish they catch - alive and as unharmed as possible - in order to preserve the fish as a resource. Also commonly referred to as C&R.

• Florida Record: 116 lb (52.6 kg).

Captains note: 
            Sailfish are my favorite big game species found in the Florida Keys. They are strong, fast, long winded, great jumpers and we have a large number of fish in the area. There are now a very good number of sailfish to be caught because anglers in general practice catch and release with sailfish released without leaving the water. The Islamorada area offers large schools of ballyhoo and pilchards to bring the fish in and hold them there through the winter months.  Using light tackle(20 pound ) we catch a lot of sailfish with most battles 1/2 to 1 hour. Fish are often hunting in small groups so we are often hooking up more than one with doubles and triples. Anglers are not only challenged with the fight but also keeping each other line out of the others way. I use different methods for catching sails with the most often being trolling of live baits. The best fishing begins in November and lasts into March with windy, sunny days to be the most active. 

King Mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) is a migratory species and are considered a pelagic fish.  Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They occur in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) enter bays and can be caught near bridges and piers. It is an important species to both the commercial and recreational fishing. King Mackerels are found in Subtropical (or semitropical) areas are those adjacent to the tropics, usually roughly defined as the ranges 23.5-40° N and 23.5-40° S latitude. These areas typically have very warm to hot summers, but non-tropical winters. King mackerel often using their razor sharp triangular teeth to cut their prey in half, before returning to eat the remainder.The King Mackerel has a similar body to other members of the family, and is often confused for the smaller Spanish Mackerel by anglers. Young King Mackerel will exhibit light yellow spots, approximately 1 cm in diameter, on their sides. This is very similar to the Spanish Mackerel, which keeps its spots throughout its life, and what leads to most of the confusion. King Mackerel are silver to gray in color with purple and green iridescence on live fish immediately after being pulled from the water. They also have a distinct  lateral line which  is a sense organ used to detect movement in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail. The receptors in the line, known as neuromasts, each consist of a group of hair cells, whose hairs are surrounded by a protruding jelly-like cupula, typically 1/10 to 1/5 mm long  running the length of their body. This line makes a sharp drop from the dorsal and is the side in which the backbone is located. This is usually the top of an animal, although in humans it refers to the back. In fishes, it refers to the top, front fin (see Dorsal fin). It is the anatomical opposite of ventral (referring to the front or underside of an animal). side toward the ventral side of the fish, approximately 3/5 of the way down the fish. This drop in the lateral line is considered to be distinctive and characteristic of the King Mackerel, and can be used to distinguish it from other similar mackerel species.
King Mackerels are common up to 1 meter and 15 kg, but have been reported up to 184 cm in length and 45 kg weight.

Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) is a dark blue scombrid  fish. is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas.
The body is elongate and covered with small scales; the back is an iridescent blue green, while the sides are silvery, with a pattern of vertical blue bars. The mouth is large, and both the upper and lower jaws have a somewhat sharp appearance. Specimens have been recorded at up to 2.5 m (8 ft) in length, and weighing up to 83 kg (183 lbs).
Wahoo tend to be solitary or occur in loose-knit groups rather than in schools. Their diet consists mostly of other fish and SQUID. The flesh of the Wahoo is delicate and white and regarded as very good in quality. This flesh has created some demand for the wahoo as a commercial food fish, but its solitary lifestyle makes large-scale commercial fishing largely inefficient. In many parts of the world it is pursued as popular Sport fishing.  

The anal fin are both bright yellow, thus the common name, and they are very long, as are the pectoral fins. The main body is very dark metallic blue, changing to silver on the belly, which also has about 20 vertical lines.
Yellowfins tend to school with fishes of the same size, including other species of tuna, and larger fish are often seen with porpoises . 
and Whales. and whale shark . Yellowfins eat other fish, crustaceans and squid. 
              Commercial fisheries catch yellowfins with encircling nets, as well as with rod and reel. The fish are mainly sold in frozen or canned form, but are also popular as  Sashimi (Japanese: is a Japanese delicacy primarily consisting of the freshest seafoods thinly sliced served with only a dipping sauce (like soy sauce with wasabi, or ponzu sauce) and a simple garnish like shredded daikon radish. Some sashimi ingredients, like octopus, are usually served cooked, but most, like yellowtail, tuna, and other fishes are served raw.

Northern Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) 

s a species of tuna Tuna are several species of ocean-dwelling fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers and include several species that are warm-blooded. Unlike most ocean fish species, which have white flesh, the flesh of tuna is pink. This is because the tuna's blood has a higher oxygen carrying ability than other fish species. Some of the larger tuna species such as the bluefin tuna can raise their blood temperature above the water temperature with muscular activity. This enables them to live in cooler waters and survive a wider range of circumstances living in both the Western and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean.
. Northern Bluefin Tuna can live up to 30 years old. The typical size is 6.6 feet (2 m) at about 1100 pounds (500 kg). The largest recorded specimen was caught off  Nova Scotia and was recorded as weighing 1500 pounds (679 kg). They are caught by sports fishermen using a heavy-duty rod and reel. The record for the longest battle took place off of Liverpool, Nova Scotia in 1934, when 6 men, working in shifts, fought a 795-lb tuna in a terrific fight that lasted 62 hours. It is an important food fish.
The species is also known as the leaping tuna, tunny, shortfin tuna, ahi, and the great albacore. It is often referred to simply as the "bluefin" or "bluefin tuna", but this name is ambiguous as it is also sometimes used for the Southern Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus maccoyii, and the Pacific Bluefin Tuna, T. orientalis. However, even the preferred name, Northern Bluefin Tuna, is not unambiguous, because this is sometimes used for the Longtail Tuna T. tonggol.

The body of the Northern Bluefin Tuna is cigar-shaped and robust. The head is conical and the mouth rather large. The color is dark blue above and gray below. Northern Bluefin Tuna can easily be distinguished from other members of the tuna family by the relatively short length of their pectoral fins  have a unique and definitive characteristic in that they are covered with blood vessels (striated). In other tunas with short pectoral fins, such vessels are either not present or present in small numbers along the edges.
The Northern Bluefin Tuna is an important source of seafood, providing most of the tuna used in sushi. It is a particular delicacy in Japan.
where the price of a single giant tuna can exceed $100,000 on the Tokyo fish market. As a result, some fisheries of bluefin are considered overfished, and this problem is compounded by the bluefin's slow growth rate and late maturity. 

Amberjack is the name of a pair of species of  fish is a poikilothermic  of the Carangidae family, which includes the jacks and the pompanos.

Greater amberjacks, Seriola dumerili, are the largest of the jacks. They usually have dark stripes extending from nose to in front of their dorsal.. They have no scutes and soft dorsal bases less than twice the length of the anal fin bases. They are usually 40 pounds (18 kg) or less, and are found associated with rocky reefs, debris, and wrecks, typically in 10 to 40 fathoms (20 to 75 m).

Lesser amberjacks, Seriola fasciata, have a proportionately larger eye and deeper body than the greater amberjack. They are olive green or brownish-black with silver sides and usually have a dark band extending upward from their eyes. Juveniles have split or wavy bars on their sides. The adults are usually under ten pounds (5 kg). They are found deeper than other jacks, commonly 30 to 70 fathoms (50 to 130 m). Amberjacks feed on squid, fish, and crustaceans, and are thought to spawn offshore throughout most of the year.

Call or e-mail with any questions 
Captain John Bielat, 207-310-0627

Contact by E-mail

Captain John Bielat

reelfishin@hotmail.com