I woke up to
breezy conditions this am with winds out of the
east keeping things nice and not so hot. I
personally took the 4th of July Weekend off to
enjoy some family time but, I was still on the
water out having some fun in one of my race
boats. The backcountry looked amazing and the
water was just awesome. Boats from everywhere
were out there and enjoying the big full tide
that this new moon gave us for some massive
amounts of flushing water in and out. I love the
summer here in the Florida Keys.
My partners did
fish throughout the weekend. They had trips
everyday and sometimes two a day. Fun times to
be had by all here at Dream Catchers as they
were in the tarpon pretty thick along with a
good dose of shark fishing requests landing some Big Lemon sharks and one
very nice sized bull shark around 9 ft. Along
with that there was a hammerhead landed as well.
Yesterday our family fun
fishing trip
was out in the backcountry fishing a close in
wreck, and happened upon some Huge summer
kingfish. Very cool surprise as each angler
landed fish in the upper 30lb range using blue
runners for bait.. Our flats trips this weekend
were great as well with trips to the Marquesas
the worked out to be a quadruple permit day and
a bonefish for one angler fishing with one of
our guys.
Last week and
the week before were great too. We have decided
that it does not take a professional angler to
go Key West bonefishing..
We are catching them on the trips with the kids.
Last week we had kids ranging from 8-16 catching
their first bonefish out on the flats with me
and my guides. Big fun. I still think the kids
were more impressed with the sharks. None the
less the bones are here and in great numbers
eating along with Trout, Jacks and the
occasional permit and for more fun the poor mans
tarpon the Lady fish is still here showing us a
thrill in the mullet muds.
Offshore deep sea fishing the dog days of summer are here.. the winds have
not slowed to our typical 5-10 though and that
is keeping the doldrums off of us and keeping
the offshore bite alive. The dolphin have been
decent sized for the most part and offering most
of our anglers a shot at limiting out on some
little guys and the occasional gaffer, last week
we caught a 29lb Black fin Tuna... The deep
dropping is not only fun but being very
productive as well as a nice change of pace when
trolling we stop and drop the electrics and make
it happen for an hour or two. The bottom fishing
has been strong in the 45 -65 ft range for the
Mangrove snappers and the 200+ area for True
American Reds and Yellow eye snappers all great
table fare.
For the coming
months.. Well the offshore trolling thing will
be good right through Sept. With Dolphin moving
through and eating like pigs. If you are booking
a dolphin trip avoid the full moon as things can
be a bit slow, your best bet on the full moon is
the flats for permit or the bottom fishing on
the reef for Huge mangrove snappers in July.
Tarpon will be good right till August we suspect
as our catch ratios are actually climbing per
trip. Tarpon in the summer makes for a great way
to start a fishing trip early in the morning.
That's it for
now. If you are coming down drop us a line and
lets see what we can do to help you with all
your Key West needs. Call my office and speak to
Gennifer, she knows every fishing guide down
here as well as the ones here at Dream Catchers
very well and can steer you the right direction.
Here at my camp
I offer Flats, Backcountry, Family fun fishing,
shark fishing and Tarpon fishing on my Yellowfin
Bay Boats and My Lake and Bay Flats boats.
Offshore We use a 2008 32 Ft Yellowfin Center
console to bottom fish, troll and deep drop for
sword fish and other species. We also offer
family fun fishing charters as well with the
Lesser experienced anglers in mind, making
everyone on the boat a hero. We custom tailor
the trips here just for you and your needs.
As you can
imagine it is hard for me to run all these boats
myself and fish with everyone. I have been
blessed with many repeat clientele and new
business, so about 8 years ago I took on my
first apprentice to help me with trip volume and
never regretted it. I wanted to see what a young
man with my knowledge and his desire to fish
could do out there. I was truly amazed and so
were the people that fished with him. That first
apprentice is now one of the middle keys premier
fishing guides. I teach our guides how to be
fishing guides, how to show a client a great
time on the water and help them achieve
greatness everyday. They throw in a tremendous
yearning to be the best and the clients benefit
from that.
I now have a
team of 4 fishing guides that fish along next to
me under my direction and all the knowledge I
can give them from 20 years of fishing in the
Florida Keys. These guys have gone through
rigorous training that they sacrificed their
time for, to become a part of our elite team and
a minimum two year full time commitment to Dream
Catcher Clientele. Our fishing guides have
customer service and attention to detail as
their number one goal. We are the only guiding
service where you will find a full money back
guarantee based on Professionalism, Customer
service and the quality of your fishing charter
with us. My guides that work here at Dream
Catchers always have new gear, the best tackle,
and the boats we use are the BEST in the
industry hands down.
Nowhere else in
Key West maybe further will you find a more
complete organization for fishing charters with
the customer as number one.
Going fishing in
Key West ? Give us a call, I think we can help.
1-888-362-3474 captstevenlamp@bellsouth.net/font>
Inshore the fishing has been typical. The
tarpon season is a little off with
inconsistencies in numbers of fish and eating
patterns but all in all every trip has had the
chance to have one on here at Dream Catchers for
the most part. I have seen this before, when
this happens we generally get a great push of
fish later in the summer making tarpon season
last longer, that would be very cool for those
looking to do some inshore fishing and take
advantage of the Key West summer rates on
accommodations.
The flats have been steady for us here at Dream
Catcher Charters offering up great catches of
bonefish and permit on a daily bases as well. In
the last three weeks I can think of 6 different
trips that anglers on our charters caught a
grand slam, and some coming ever so close with a
lost permit or tarpon at the boat not quite
getting it. On the flats as well we have been
getting into some trout as well this late in the
season offering our anglers a bit of Extra on
their day on the flats. The redfish are being
consistent as well.
Offshore our anglers are living the dream
catching all sorts of fish. The last week held
for us some great weather and we ran some trips
to the Dry Tortugas to catch some MONSTER permit
on the towers and wrecks along with Some
excellent bottom fishing. Things were "Just
Right" to make some memorable trips out there.
Closer to Key West we have been crushing the
dolphin and when the fun of that game slows a
bit we have been doing some deep dropping and
reef fishing limiting out on all sorts of large
bottom dwelling species such as Red and Mutton
Snappers with some nice grouper as well. A
really great mix of fishing to make your day
well rounded.
Inshore and offshore we have it all here at
Dream Catcher Charters.. With state of the art
boats from Yellowfin Yachts and the newest
fishing gear we cater to your every need as an
angler of all skill levels light tackle, spin
fishing and fly fishing we have it all. We are
also the only charter in town that has a
guarantee. We guarantee that you will have a
professional highly qualified fishing guide with
the latest well maintained gear in the business
or your money back.
Come see why so many people keep coming back
year after year to fish with us at Dream Catcher
Charters.
See You Soon.
Capt. Steven Lamp
April 1st 2008
March is behind us now and
looking back it was a great month of fishing for
us here at Dream Catcher Charters. We had all
sorts of great reports from many of our trips
with catches of Tarpon, Permit, Bonefish, Huge
barracudas, Jacks, and Trout. As the rest of the
country had record snow fall and a "real" winter
we only had to put our jackets on a few times to
fend off a chilly north wind. Traditionally with
March the winds started around the second week
and have yet to let up indicating the change of
seasons here in Key West. Leading old winter out
and ushering in the Spring and summer flats
fishing that the Florida Keys and Key West are
famous for.
For April we expect things to
tone down a bit as far as the wind goes and the
Gin clear waters have already shown up with an
invigorating invitation to come and fish. April
is a great month for all of it on the flats.
Here at Dream Catchers our
anglers will have some awesome tarpon fishing
which is our focus this month. Fish ranging in
size from 60 - 150 lbs that come in out of the
gulf to feed on copious amounts of bait fish. An
angler fishing with us on a 4 or 6 hour trip can
expect to see Hundreds of fish to target. Unlike
the summer April water temps stay very mild all
day long so, the tarpon bite is more tide
related than water temp offering our anglers
shots at fish all day long. In the back for our
flats fishing and fly fishing enthusiasts we
have laid up fish that will be gathering in the
basins first thing in the morning. A calm
morning coupled with the right fly or delicately
placed crab and you will have the time of your
life fighting one of these great fish.
Bonefishing has been good all
through March I only expect it to be even better
in April with the flush of the clear water and
plenty of food around the bones will be pretty
much all over the flats. Permit as well will be
found very strong in the beginning of the month
as they get ready for the traditional spawn out
to the reef. I have seen fish starting to stack
up on some of the wrecks that I have been
fishing. Check out the Offshore report.
Charter
Availability is getting tight with us here at
Dream Catchers. For tarpon we still have some
slots open for our 4 hour evening trips on the
bay boats. We still have some limited
availability for our morning flats and
backcountry trips. Best thing to do is give us a
call and see what we have. If we are not able to
help you we know someone that can.
At Dream Catcher
Charters we are on the water every day and stand
behind each and every charter that we run with a
professional guarantee. We guarantee the nicest
boats with Yellowfin Yachts and Lake and Bay
flats boats along with the best equipment and
professional service. We have an office located
over the beautiful Sunset Marina located on
Stock Island just minutes from anything in Key
West with Free Parking. Our office hours are 9-6
everyday with someone standing by to answer the
phones or your email to help you plan your
entire Key West Vacation.
We look forward
to earning your business.
Semper Paratus
Captain Steven P. Lamp
Happy New Year,
Festivities and partying are almost over
here in the Southernmost City. Our tourist
season came here like someone shooting a gun.
Traffic has picked up and I think it took me
almost 15 minutes to get to work on Friday. I
know that is nothing compared to what some of
you in the “real” world have to deal with on a
daily basis. Oh, Almost forgot. I did not know
that my trucks thermometer in the rear view
mirror would go into the 40’s. Yes I said 40’s.
Key West experienced an All Time Low temp of 43
degrees this week. I experienced some new
things.. Heat, I found out my new AC installed
two years ago has a heater in it. Good discovery
as it was rather frigid for keys standards in my
home this week. Thanks Carrier.
Let’s get to fishing The New Year was off
to a shivering bang this year. December of 07
went on the books as some of the best inshore
fishing ever in December for the Key West grand
slam. I often tell people when they are calling
to book on Christmas week that they have a one
in five chance for perfect weather. Well, this
was the one of five it was truly incredible and
the fishing was on fire. We caught bonefish,
permit and tarpon all month long. Also, the
Trout hung around for the 78 degree water along
with some stellar Shark fishing too. A few lucky
clients had the chance to catch Hammer head
sharks and release them off Key West. Very Cool….
Now for the Forecast part. I was looking
at the Computer models to cheat a bit with my
crystal ball and it seems as though we have a
Banner outlook for the next two weeks here in
Key West, weather wise. Temps are coming up to
the norm of 75 daytime and the water temps
should remain in the low 70’s or upper 60’s
which is fine for this time of the year.
Realistically it’s behind schedule. We needed
the front to bring things back to normal and set
things up for the coming spring and summer.
Funny how all that plays a part. The cooler
water temps really light things up for the
inshore waters of Key West with the Spanish
Mackerel, Tarpon, Permit, Trout, Redfish,
Pompano, Cobia and more.
All speculation at this point on the
forecast but that’s what makes fishing fun. Ya
never know what you will get till you wake up
and see which way the Palms are blowing.
Come see me here in Key West I have a lot
of fun things happening here with new boats
coming in February in the form of a 32 ft
Yellowfin Center console and another 24
Yellowfin Bay boat.
Key West
Inshore Fishing Report for Oct - Nov 07
Capt. Steven Lamp
The
calendar says October however the mercury is
thinking it must be August. Here in the lower
Florida Keys and Key West we are definitely
still in our summer patterns. The inshore
fishing has been everything that one would
expect for the late summer and early fall with
larger bonefish and permit lurking the flats
with the extra bonus of a much later than usual
tarpon season. As of writing this report we are
still catching sizable tarpon in Key West daily.
Key
West comes alive in the fall with the hard core
visitors that truly love Key West for its
culture. With room rates down (except during
Fantasy Fest) and the weather traditionally
starting to cool things off a bit, Key West as a
destination is an awesome place to visit this
time of year. Seems like every weekend there is
some sort of party brewing making the night life
fun and enjoyable. As locals we are all
breathing another sigh of relief for our
hurricane season being as uneventful as it has.
To learn more about Key West and the events
check out www.gotothekeys.com to see what is going
on.
The
fishing forecast at this point is anyone’s
guess. Traditionally things start to cool off
and that means lots of fishing action right
through November.
The
cooling scenario drops our water temps a bit and
really changes things up. More species come to
Key West looking to get their fill on baitfish
and shrimp. The mullet muds inshore will start
to increase as the temps get cooler and there
you will find an ample supply of trout, reds,
pompano, bluefish, spanish mackerel and of
course the high flying lady fish. This does not
mean the flats are void of our big three. The
bonefish will seek a bit deeper water and come
on the flats in the top of the warm days to feed
on the higher tides. The permit generally will
not be affected, in fact Late October and
November permit fishing is really incredible.
The tarpon will start a fluctuation of warm
versus cold. After a good cold front in
November don’t discount the nice South Easterly
that follows a few days later for some hard core
tarpon action as they come in out of the gulf to
feed, some of these fish are huge.
Offshore things change as well. With increasing
northerly winds our offshore captains can taste
the sailfish. Here again don’t discount the
South Easterly’s for some large dolphin and
other migratory species lurking around under the
birds. On the reef one can expect the black fin
tunas to come on for the traditional Feed Fest
over the deeper wrecks and humps along with an
ample supply of our smaller kingfish population.
On the bottom expect the grouper and snappers
fishing to get better as the cooler waters come.
The late fall can be windy but the fish get
closer to shore making for shorter runs for the
fun. That’s a good thing these days with the
price of fuel.
Planning a trip to the Keys bringing a boat or
not the fishing is incredible this time of the
year. Hiring a guide is a great way to go as it
certainly lowers the learning curve and in the
long run saves you time and money on your well
deserved fishing vacation. Feel free to contact
us at Dream Catcher Charters, we will be
delighted to offer you our professional fishing
guide service or share some local knowledge to
help you find your way here in Key West. Check
us out on the web at www.chartersofkeywest.com.
While your hear in the Florida Keys be sure to
listen to AM WFFG 1300 for My fishing show
called “Live the Dream” fishing in the Florida
Keys every Wednesday at 5 pm and don’t forget to
also check out Fish Monsters Radio with your
host Capt. Scott Hopp and his cast of characters
from 7am-10am on Saturday mornings for the weeks
fishing wrap up and forecast.
Sept Oct
07/font>
Last
week I fished with and we won Celebrity Grand
Champion honors with Wade Boggs in the
17th annual Mercury Redbone celebrity tournament.
Wade and I were fishing with Mercury
Representative Brent Wood. Wade Boggs and I have
fished this tournament and a few others many
times to a win in the past years and have gotten
to know each other quite well. This was Brent's
2nd time salt water fishing and as many times in
tournaments, coming from fresh water I am sure
that Sight fishing was a big change for this
bass fisherman he did very well in his own
right.
Fishing next to Wade Boggs has to be daunting
alone let be the fact he is a hall of fame
baseball player and a national hero in many
arenas that he works in. That being said Brent
and Wade Boggs shared the deck of my boat for
two days and we had some excellent opportunities
with Bonefish and Permit.
In
the wash at the end of the tournament Wade had
caught 2 species of fish, a Bonefish and Permit.
I knew that Mark Cooper his competitor fishing
with Capt. Drew Delashmit and Vaughn Cochran had
caught a single tarpon on the fly. Although the
points were the same (200) I knew that Wades two
fish would win over Coopers single fish as this
is how the SLAM goes. The angler with more
species wins over angler fewer. This made for
some good antics at the awards ceremony as Gary
Ellis awarded Mark Cooper the win for his single
fish much to the false protest of Wade Boggs.
Wade was a great sport through the whole thing.
He has won this division in the past and made
for a ton of fun running away with the trophy
only to bring it back and hand it to Mark Cooper
for Mark to later return the trophy back to
Wade. Big fun.
The
fishing has not slowed. The tides are different
but September is shaping up to be what we all
know and love about it. Bonefish, Tarpon and
Permit. The flats are alive and well. With no
(knock on wood) storms yet this year and none
seemingly in the long range forecast it looks
like October will be awesome too. There are days
we have been catching 2-8 bonefish in a single
trip.
That's not all. Redfish, Black Drum and
sharks have all been a hoot as well. We are
doing the Mangrove slam almost daily with the
Goliath Grouper, Redfish, and black drum.
No
matter your skill level you are sure to get some
fun out of a day fishing with us here at Dream
Catcher Charters. |
