Happy 4th of July

A woman holding a fish in the water - Big-game fishing
Father Steve along with his daughters Taylor and Emily from Texas had a great morning snapper fishing with Capt. Bobby Manske aboard the Best Bet. After catching a couple dozen nice yellow tails, the girls each caught and released an amberjack. Way to go, team!

Flags across the islands and the reef

While we celebrate our independence from our cousins across the pond with cookouts and beach parties, hot dogs and burgers, we will fly our nation’s flag – Old Glory – proudly overhead.

There is another party taking place on our local reefs, and it involves a flag, too – several, in fact!

Father Steve along with his daughters Taylor and Emily from Texas had a great morning snapper fishing with Capt. Bobby Manske aboard the Best Bet. After catching a couple dozen nice yellow tails, the girls each caught and released an amberjack. Way to go, team!

The yellowtail snapper fishing on our local reefs is outstanding right now. Trips have been yielding lots of quality fish in the 16 to 20-inch inch range with a few larger fish or what we call flag yellowtail thrown in the mix to make things interesting. Flag yellowtails are those that exceed 6 lbs. on the scales and measure more than 30 inches long. They are surprisingly strong for their size and offer a great fight on light tackle for every angling skill level. They also taste great when prepared by your favorite local restaurant. The yellowtail action on the reef has been the best in the early morning hours or late afternoon and into the early evening.

Brad and Tyler were treated to a day of offshore fishing by their father Paul aboard the Best Bet. While Tyler battled seasickness most of the day, his big brother took full advantage and landed the majority of the fish including a 30-pound dolphin.

The offshore fishing for dolphin and black fin tuna remains an action packed venue for those willing to take the boat ride. We’ve seen great catches of big schoolie and gaffer dolphin caught 12 to 25 miles offshore that have been coming across our dock all week. Work the birds and the weed lines for best results. The tuna bite on the humps has also been outstanding with some tuna topping the 20-pound mark. We like to mix it up a bit on our offshore days by dolphin fishing our way to the humps then catching half dozen tuna or so and then heading back to dolphin fishing.

The tarpon fishing remains decent; though the bulk of the migration has moved on, there are still plenty of resident fish to be hooked that are exceeding the 100-pound mark. Your Best Bet for the season’s end of tarpon fishing is early evening.

Best Bet for the Week Ahead: Go snag some snapper on the reef or head offshore where the dolphin and tuna bites have been outstanding!