Happy holidays to everyone I sure hope lots of families are coming to the keys this year. Take advantage of all the keys has to offer, especially the fishing of course, whether it be backcountry, offshore or even from the shoreline.

Offshore this past week the sail fishing has remained very productive. One area captain caught and released 10 sailfish on Monday; great job guys. They found pilchards on their way out of the whale harbor channel and were able to throw the net and gather up a couple hundred. Pilchards, even though a smaller bait, can be very helpful in raising sailfish up behind your boat and giving you a great opportunity at catching multiple fish or even on those slow days making that one bite happen when it seems almost hopeless. Keep your eyes peeled in those channels on the way out in the morning you never know what you might be running over could be the pot of gold your looking for, as far as bait are concerned. We are also seeing balls of sardines moving down the edge of the reef, the tell tail signs for those guys are birds diving in the water and hanging in one tight area slowly moving to the south west. Don’t disturb the school just run up along side and throw a No. 4 sabiki in there and catch all you want. If you run your boat through the middle of the school you won’t have a chance at catching any; you will just drive them down out of sight and reach.

If you are into catching a good dinner those yellow tail snappers are still on the edge of the reef in good numbers and size, there were a few reports of yellowtails being caught in the 2 to 3 lb range, which is very nice for this time of the year. Catching your limit of yellow tail and mutton snappers is not unusual this time of the year lots of action on the reef edge especially with those bait balls moving through. Always keep a treble hook on wire ready. Soon as you get a couple of cutoffs, while yellow tailing, fling a live bait back there on the wire and expect a quick bite probably a king fish for the grill or smoker or a great eating cero mackerel. There are only a few more days left that you can catch grouper so try to take advantage of it while you can. They should be fattening up for their spawn, giving you a good opportunity to put a couple in the fish box for dinner.

On the Gulf side of things, the Spanish mackerel are still there in good numbers, as well as some lane snappers and pompano. All great light-tackle fish, great fun for everyone. Cobia are starting to show up more often and I am going to guess, after another good cold front. With more bait pushing through the gulf you will start to see more. For those looking for the big game fish the black tip and bull sharks are definitely attainable and wow what a fight you’re in for.

Keep those rods bent . . .

Even though this time of the year the focus seems to be on sailfish, you would be surprised at how many different species of fish are also being caught. Wahoo is one of them, and they can be found this time of the year, all the way through January. Some people will tell you that the only way to catch Wahoo is to troll for them, which does work. However, if the conditions are good (meaning good current and clean blue water), a bait well full of Speedos can give you just as good an opportunity to catch some. Rigging the Speedos on 5 wire with a stinger rig usually produces a very cool bite. Wahoo are one of the fastest fish in the ocean and one of the tastiest. You probably don’t want to fish them with too tight of a drag. Leave yourself a little room in the drag for short spurts of energy, allowing them to take line when they need to so you don’t break them off. Fish your Speedos at different depths, watching your bottom machine – look for marks of fish, and the depth in which they might be swimming that day.

Catching one or two Black Fin Tuna or a couple of Dolphin and some Mackerel are not uncommon for anglers this time of the year, too. We are also starting to see some really nice Mutton Snappers on offshore wrecks. The King fish numbers are definitely increasing as well right now. It is a great time to fish the Blue Water side and catch a variety of species! Here’s to keeping the rods bent!

Killer White captain Aaron Brower and his crew, Linda Butler, Brad Goodrich and Danny Brack, got a very respectable second place finish in the Don Gurgiolo Sailfish Classic, held this weekend in Islamorada, FL. The Killer White caught and released a grand total of 10 Sailfish during the 2 day event.

Captain Aaron Brower of the Killer white put together a nice split for this lady who hadn’t yet been told about the secret of Dramamine. You take a half the night before-not the day of. She was a little loopy in the office but holding ok just fine. She said the yellow tail bite was so fun and she was just so glad to have been out there today with the captain. Great job Aaron and mate Colby Mason!

A trio of anglers from Ohio, Kentucky and Philly had another fun offshore fishing session aboard the Killer White with Capt. Aaron Brower today.

Don, Wayne and Mike landed a beautiful 15lb Red Grouper (yum!), a half dozen Kings and 2 Bonitas. You can rest assured that the fellas’ will be eating well tonight!