South Florida Fishing Reports

It's been quite a while since my last report. I have plenty to talk about! Fishing has been great and should only get better towards the end of the month. I will jump right into the action. Sailfish, Sailfish, Sailfish thats all that I can say. We spent the morning fishing on the edge catching sailfish. We went 5/5 and were home by 10am. We also caught some bonitas and a small shark. In the past 3 weeks I mostly had offshore trips consisting of Kite fishing for sailfish, kingfish, tuna and dolphin. I had a nice group of guys from Miami head out with me a few saturdays ago. We loaded up on bait and ran down south. We had a great day catching 4-5 sailfish, a few nice dolphin and missed some bottom fish. The following 2 days I fished with a group from the West Coast of Florida lead by George Cardoza. We started off day 1 pretty well catching 1 sailfish, 1 yellowfin tuna, and some bonitas. On day 2 we fished the same area only to find that the current died off, and the fish were gone. We got into a decent kingfish bite releasing a few of them. We finally managed a nice mutton snapper and a nice vermillion. Towards the end of the day we hooked into 2 sailfish landing one, and having a toothy critter bite the float on the other cutting the line. All in all it was a fun time and we were able to catch some fish.




The blackfin tuna bite has been really good in the afternoons, I have recieved many reports of fish in the 30-40lb range being caught along with some yellowfin tunas. The dolphin bite has been good also. Lot's of fish in the 10-20lb range and a few in the 40lb range as well. The kingfish bite remains strong in the morning with mostly 5-10lb fish being caught. We should continue to see these great days of fishing well into the end of the month.


Swordfishing and tarpon fishing have been well also. I have done quite a few tarpon trips the past few weeks. We have caught at least 1 everynight and our best night we released 6 in a 6 hour trip. Swordfishing has been hit of miss. Some nights they bite real well and the next night they shut right down. Thats just fishing!


I apologize for the delay in my reports its been a hectic month with great fishing. Give me a call and let's get out there and share some of the good times!



Tightlines,


Capt Joe McGivern

305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing

It's been a while since my last report. I have been extremely busy fishing the sailfish circuit. We had a great season this yr winning money in 5 different tournaments and taking home 3 third place finishes. My crew did a great job catching at least 80% of the fish we saw each tournament. This past weekend we fished the Miami Billfish Tournament. We caught 4 out of 6 fish the first day, 4 out of 4 fish the second day and not even seeing a fish the third day. We ended the tournament in 5th place in the outboard division and somewhere around the 15th place position in the overall tournament. Great job to the winners including my good friend Bouncer Smith!

Now on to the fun stuff. I have done a few trips in between tournaments. We have been catching plenty of sailfish, dolphin, bonitas, and kingfish. Right now the afternoon bite is where it's at. The Blackfin tunas have been slowly but surely been showing up. Anyday now they should be here in full force. This is the time of yr that I wait all yr to fish. Almost all of our trips should be highly successful and a lot of fun. I have a few swordfish trips this weekend so I will have a swordfish report to put up on monday. I have not done much tarpon fishing this yr but I have recieved some great reports of 4-7 bites a night! They seem to have finally turned on.

Give me a call and let's get out there and take advantage of the great fishing we will be having the next few months!

Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGivern

All I can say is wow! Big dolphin have invavded our water along with some nice kings, tunas, and sailfish. The sailfishing has been great if you can find current. We have been pretty lucky the past few weeks. We have had good current right out front and everyone has been getting plenty of shots at sailfish. The dolphin have been pouring through as well in good numbers under the birds.


Last week was the Bob Lewis Billfish Challenge. All week up to the tourney there was plenty of current, pretty blue water and lots of fish. We fished wednesday and thursday and caught a total of 14 sailfish. Friday we went out with big expectations on catching some sailfish. We we caught our bait and ran out to the edge only to find that the current vanished over night and the green water moved in. We fished until 12 catching just 2 sailfish. Definetly not the best conditions for the tourney the following day.



Saturday morning we arrived at the boat loaded up bait, tackle, and gear and headed to Miami Beach for the checkout. We cleared the inlet and headed down south. We made the run all the way to Ocean Reef and put the baits out. We were on right away with our first sailfish of the tournament. We ended the day catching 7 out of 10 sailfish and landing in 3rd place in the outboard division.





On day 2 we checked out at Miami Beach and started to make the run south. About half-way there we experienced some motor problems. We decided to stop where we were and start fishing. About 2 hours into fishing we started catch some nice dolphin under some frigate birds. We hooked a double header dolphin when behind the boat my mate noticed a large bull trying to eat his schoolie dolphin. We quickly grabbed a spinner and pitched at the bull. We landed the bull on 20lb test and 40lb leader after a 25 minute fight. That would be all we would catch for the rest of the day. With low expectations we headed in to the weigh station. We through our dolphin on the scale and it went 50lbs on the dot. Luckily noone was able to catch anything larger that day so we knew we were in the money.








We ended the tournament in 3rd place in our division releasing 7 sailfish and winning the funfish division with our dolphin. Congrats to Money Shot and Advanced Roofing for catching 10 sailfish each and bringing home 1st and 2nd place. It was a first class tournament and we can't wait until next yrs tournament!






Next weekend we have the Billfish Master's tournament. That is a great tournament with some great prize money. Hopefully we can bring home a 1st place this yr!



Bahamas season is right around the corner. I have booked a few trips already for Bimini, West End and Lucaya for tuna and bottom fishing. We always have a great time when we go. We catch lots of fish and enjoy the calm seas. If your interested please send me an e-mail with any questions. Blackfin tuna season is right around the corner also. We do afternoon trips and chum really hard to get them up behind the boat. That is alot of fun, especially catching them on light tackle!

Febuary is in full swing finally. This weekend we got a nice coldfront which pushed some sailfish in! Sunday I had a half-day trip planned. When I woke up I was greeted with a flat tire on my truck. I called my guys and told them I would be running late. We finally loaded up our bait and headed out around 10:30. We set up and listed to everyone on the radio catching sailfish.


At noon we finally got our first bite of the day and Juan made quick work of her. In the next 3 hours we would go on to catch 11 sailfish and a nice tuna. The fish were popping up all over the place. Some guys were catching them out in 180ft and some guys were catching them in 90ft. Most of our bite were in about 120ft of water.



Today I fished a fullday with some friends. We caught another 9 fish only missing 1 fish all day. It was a great day with lots of fishing tailing. There were some tuna and dolphin around as well. Some of the dolphin have been in the 40lb class, but the majority have been schoolie size.



The tarpon bite has also been very well. I have not been tarpon fishing for a while now, but I have gotten some great reports from some fellow capts. The snook bite has also been pretty good. We fished for 3 hours the past few afternoons and have caught quite a few fish in Govt Cut and along the mangroves.



The sword bite should pick up this week also with the fullmoon coming up. The daytime bite has been slow but there have been some good fish caught this week. My friend Capt Matt White in Boca caught a nice fish this weekend pushing 375lbs. The night bite has been slow with mostly small fish the past few nights.


I have a few more sailfish tourneys coming up this month and next month. I still have a few days inbetween open to get out. Feb is my favorite month for sailfishing. So give me a call and let's get out there.


Tightlines,


Capt Joe McGivern

305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing

It's been a few weeks since my last reports. We have been fishing some tourneys and doing a few charters in between. Last weekend we fished the first annual "The Sailfish Tournament". Fishing was pretty slow, we only caught 2 fish the first day. Heading into day 2 we were 5 fish behind the lead. We ran way down south to get away from the crowd of boats. Just like I though we were all alone down there and put the baits out. We spent the whole day down there catching 5 out of 7 sailfish and a nice 40lb yellowfin tuna to win the 1st place daily and 3rd place overall in the tourney. Congrats to Joey Turner on the 4 aces and Q on the Get Lit for taking 1st and 2nd place.


On to some other stuff. The dolphin fishing was really good here the past 2 weeks. We have been catching fish ranging from 5lbs to 30lbs. We have also been catching a few cobia's off of Rays on the shallow patch reefs. The sailfishing has been hot and cold if we get a good north blow and some current we have seen up to 15 fish a day.



We have also been swordfishing during the day. I had 2 trips the past 2 weeks and on both trips we scored fish over 200lbs. Hopefully the bite will pick up around the fullmoon in a few days. We can only expect the fishing to get better.



Give me a call and let's get out there and catch some fish!


Tightlines,


Capt Joe McGivern

Well fishing has been hot and slow the past few weeks. We have caught sailfish on just about everyone of our trips the last 3 weeks. We had a few days where we caught 3+ sailfish along with kingfish and dolphin. We also fished the Sailfish Kickoff a few weeks ago. Fishing was pretty slow for the most part. We caught 5 out of 6 sailfish and some dolphin and kingfish were in the mix also. It was a fun tourney with a great group of guys. Congrats to Brett and Jeff on the Miss Britt for the win and Neal and Chip on the Sandman for a great second day and a 2nd place finish.



We have also had a few great bottom fishing days. I fished on a really nice 31 yellowfin last week out of Key Largo. We did some bottom fishing and ended up catching our limit of yellow tail snapper, a couple of mutton snapper, and a really nice black grouper that went 29 lbs on the scale. I have also done a few daytime swordfish trips. We had at least 1 bite on all of our trips except for 1. Our fish have ranged from 70lbs to 200lbs. It's definetly a experience you want to have. Watching one of these magnificent fish jump during the day is just amazing.


We have a few more tourneys coming up in Jan. As the season goes on the fishing is only going to get better. Soon we will have those days where we have double digit releases. Also, our tarpon season is getting ready to start. I have not been out there to try for them yet, but I have heard some decent reports of some fish being caught in the Govt Cut area.


Give me a call and let's get out there and catch some fish!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGivern

www.southflfishing.com

305 588 8030

We are off to a great start this tournament season. I had the pleasure of fishing with some friends aboard the "Midnight Blue" in the first Sailfish Tourney of the season. The "Sailfish Cup" was a great success. We made the long run up to Palm Beach both days to catch 11 out of 14 fish. We finished second on day 1 taking home the second place calcutta money, and finished 3rd overall in the tourney. It was a first class tourney all the way. We made the long run up to Palm Beach both days to catch 11 out of 14 fish. Congrats to Mark Wodlinger on the "Catch One" for taking 1st overall, and to Jim Lambert on the "Reely Tight" for taking second over all.




On Friday and Saturday we fished the " K- Rock Classic on my boat. We ran up to Boca and pretty much fished there there whole day. We went 5/5 on sailfish and took second place in the small boat calcutta. On day 2 we fished off of Lighthouse Point and caught 4 fish finishing in 10th place over all in the tourney. We are excited having a great start in the tournament season this yr.



I have also done a few daytime swordfish trips in the last 10 days or so. We have caught at least one of all of our trips catching 3 on our best day. All the fish have been in the 100lb range. Daytime swordfishing has really become a fun sport. I have a full week this week with Thanksgiving in the mix. The fishing should only get better with this coldfront coming in this week. We also have the Winter Swordfish Tourney coming up on Dec 1st and and the Sailfish Kickoff on Dec 6th. We are looking forward to these 2 tourneys. I still have a few of the Islamorada and Palm Beach Tourneys open on my boat, or yours if you need a hand.

Give me a call and let's get out there and cash in on our winter season!

Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGivern

305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing
__________________
Captain Joe McGivern Sportfishing
South Florida Fishing Charters
308-588-8030

Sailfish season is definetly in full swing. On Sunday I had the pleasure of fishing with some friends from Ft. Lauderdale. We picked up some bait and ran down to the Hollywood area to see what we could catch. Before we could even hook the second kite bait on the first kite out we had a sailfish on. We made quick work of him and fired out 2 kites and 6 baits. Soon after we were hooked up with a triple header sailfish. By noon we had 10 sailfish tagged and released and 4 dolphin. We headed back to the dock around 2pm and ended the day catching 12 sailfish, 6 dolphin, 2 cobia and some kingfish. What a banner South Florida day.






Yesterday I had the pleasure of fishing with Adam and John and my 2 mates. We were getting ready for the up coming sailfish tourneys this winter. We caught our bait and headed offshore. We set up in 200ft of water. 20 minutes later we had our first bite and it was a beautiful sailfish. About 45 minutes later we hook another sailfish and as we are fighting that fish a nice 20lb cobia swims right up to the back of the boat. We made quick work fo him and he hit the fishbox. We only fished 4 hours and caught 4 sails a dolphin and a nice cobia.







Today I had a daytime swordfish trip. We ran out to 1800ft of water and started dropping. While out there dropping I put 1 kite up with 2 baits on it. Well we had plenty of action on the kite catching 2 wahoo and 13 dolphin up to 30lbs. On our first 3 drops we never got a bite. On our last and final drop we hooked a nice fish about 2 hours later we landed a nice 88" about 350 lb swordfish.
We were fishing stand up gear with 80lb tackle. Daytime swordfishing has definetly become the most popular type of fishing there is the past 6 months. So we are now doing daytime swordfish trips and we are also doing split afternoon swordfish and evening swordfish trips.


Let's get out there and take advantage of the great fishing!



Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGivern

305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing
__________________
Captain Joe McGivern Sportfishing
South Florida Fishing Charters
308-588-8030

Fishing the past 2 months has had it's ups and downs. We have done quite a few swordfish trips along with some sailfish trips the past week or so. I will start off with a great tournament I had the pleasure to be a part of down in that Cayman Islands. Through my good friend Capt Steve Huddleston I was put in touch with one of the most well known and respected Captains in South Florida, Capt Bouncer Smith. Bouncer was kind enough to add me to a great group of Capt's such as Bouncer, Steve, Alex, Jeff, Harry and Shreman to fish the first annual "Cayman Islands Swordfish Tournament". We arrived on Grand Cayman not knowing what to expect but were greeted with open arms and smiling faces.


The first night we were there we gave a seminar on how "WE FISH" here in the states and were able to talk to a few local fisherman who have caught a few swords to compare notes. The next morning we all gave a extensive rigging seminar and traded tips and notes once again. At about 1pm the 7 of us were auctioned off to the highest bidders to raise money to a local charity. What a success. We all got on good boats with a great group of guys. Just before dark Charles, a local fisherman hooked up to the first swordfish of the night. He landed the fish and we were all excited for him. As the night went on we all got a few bites, but Steve hooked up to a nice fish. Unfournetly he lost the fish boat side after about 1.5 hour fight. The tourney ended with 1 swordfish caught and 1 threasher fish caught. All in all it was a great tourney with a great group of people. I would like to thank everyone for their kind hospitality and generosity. A special thanks goes out to Clarence Flowers for hosting us and putting on a great tourney. I would also like to thanks the group of guys I was able to fish with. I truely had a great time and can't wait to come down and slay some hoos'!


Now for some local news. Sailfish season is starting off pretty well. We fished the past 3 days in these heavy winds and were able to catch 8 sailfish, numerous kingfish, some bonita, small blackfin tuna, and 1 really nice yellowfin tuna that went around 65lbs. We have also been pulling some really nice groupers and snappers off of the deep wrecks. In a couple of weeks the season will really kick off with the tournaments. Hopefully we do well in the majority of the tourneys like last yr and have a great time.



Well swordfishing has also been great. We have been catching them during the day as well as at night. We did a few day trips where we never got a bite and a few trips where we caught fish up to 200lbs. We have been having good luck at night on the live baits the moon phase. We also have the Hydrow Swordfish Tournament coming up on December 1st. I am still open for this tourney please call for info.


Now that the season is kicking up lets get out there and see how many double digit days we can muster up this yr. Give me a call and let's get out there and catch some fish!




Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGiven

305 588 8030

www.southflfishing.com

Fishing has been good off of Miami the last few weeks. We have had good action on the reef as well as offshore. We have been catching lots of kingfish and bonita on the reef, along with some yellowtail, mutton and mangrove snapper at night. We have also been dropping on the deep wrecks with butterfly jigs and live bait and catching lots of amberjacks and some big barracudas. Offshore we have been catching small blackfin tuna, some decent dolphin and lots of blue runners which are a ton of fun on super light tackle.




We have been doing lots of swordfishing also. We have been catching fish pretty steady but have had a few nights where we went hit less. We recently fished the islamorada swordfish tourney which is always fun. We made a long 100 mile run each night. On the first night we caught a bug golden hammerhead that went 300-400lbs, and pulled off two swordfish. The second night we had better luck releasing 2 swordfish in the 175lb range. Despite our best efforts we did not place in the money. Congrats to Ray and Nelson on a great tourney!



A cool new thing that we have been doing also is dropping for swordfish in the daytime. We have been doing this for a little while now and have had some success. We have caught fish up to 200lbs, and quite a few pups also. Its a ton of fun and really exciteing watching the fish jump all lit up in the sunlight. They truely beautiful fish.We fish from 1800 to 1100 ft of water. We are using 130lb tackle either stand up or in the chair. While out there we have also been catching quite a few dolphin.






We have the Miami Swordfish Tourney coming up at the end of the month which I am really looking forward to. We also have sailfish season right around the corner in a couple of months. Right now the ticket is the kingfish bite on the reef, and the swordfish bite day and night through out the month. Until next time!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGivern

305 588 8030

www.southflfishing.com

Well as most of you know my motors blew on me a month ago. I have only been able to take a few charters this past month because of the motor problems. If it was not for my good friends Capt. Dave Kostyo and James Rivera loaning me their boats and taking some trips for me I would have had to cancel my trips. Thank's Guys!!!

Now I did manage to take a few trips and we did pretty well on most of them. We did a Bimini trip, a few Swordfish trips, and quite a few dolphin trips. On our Bimini trip I had the chance to fish with Randy Kahn and his son Nick. We ran over to Bimini and picked the guys up around 10am. We were greeted with beautiful flat calm seas and great weather. We ran about 30 miles south and anchored up. Immediatly we had flag yellow-tail and spanish mac's in the chum slick. We spent the day catching tons of yellow-tails, plenty of mac's a few kings, a nice amberjack, a nice nassau grouper, and a nice 25 lb dolphin that swam right up to the back of the boat in 55ft of water. On day 2 we caught much of the same fish, but couldnt get the groupers to bite.



I had the pleasure of fishing with Adam and his wife from Tampa. Adam was on a mission to catch some dolphin. We were met with 20kt winds and rain everywhere we looked. We ran out to the range marker and caught some herring and headed offshore. It was a slow wet ride out there. We found a nice weedline and started working it. After about 20 minutes we had a dolphin on. We caught 5 or 6 dolphin up to 18 lbs and called it a day. Special thanks to Capt Dave for taking the trip on his boat the "Knot Nancy"





Last monday I did a group charter with Capt Dave. I met Dave and my group which consisted of Dennis and his wife Mary-Kate, Tom and Bennet. We caught some bait along the beach and off we went. We found a few decent weedlines with only some bar jacks to speak of. Finally As we were heading back into the reef to see if we could get some kingfish we spotted a pack of birds. Dave and I both worked this pack of birds and immediatly had dolphin around the boat. We caught and released over a dozen dolphin, plenty of bar jacks, rainbow runners and 5 sharks. We found a pallet and caught some triple tail also. Dave came over and dropped a jig on the pallet and ended up catching 3 wahoo to about 20 lbs. After that we headed in to the reef. We caught a few kingfish and jumped off a sail before we called it a day.


The swordfishing has been hit or miss. We had 1 trip where we caught 3 swords all under 100lbs, and 2 nights where we got a few bites but were unable to land the fish. I fished sunday night with, Darden, Art and Ed. We ran out at 6:30 caught plenty of live baits and set up just before sundown. About 5 minutes after getting the baits out the 500ft bait started to click out slowly. Darden quickly jumped on the rod and came tight on the fish. I cleared a few rods and left 2 out to fish while we were battleing this one. About and hour into the fight the fish came up and jumped right next to the boat. Gotta love the fullmoon! The fish sounded and we knew the fight had just began. 20 minutes later the fish came up and jumped again this time running right into the bow of the boat! 25 minutes later Darden had enough so Art was up on the rod now. Art got her up to the boat in about an hour and I sunk the gaff into a nice 200 lb swordie! It was their first swordie so they were excited. We called it a night after that and were back at the dock by midnight! It was a great night out there on the water. We caught a nice fish and were able to avoid the thunderstorms that were all around us.



I have my boat back now and she is running better than ever! Give me a call and lets get them! The swordfishing should remain good this whole month, and there are still plenty of dolphin around!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing

Dolphin fishing has been great all week long. We have caught fish on every trip this past week. All of our fish have been between 5 and 15lbs. We caught them the past few days right on the edge while chunking and chumming for tuna. The tuna fishing has slowed down a bit but there are still some around. We seem to be catching them better towards the end of the night.


We have also been tarpon fishing a bit. We caught 2 fish on saturday night. John caught his first tarpon, it was a fiesty 60lber. He made quick work or her and was done in about 15 minutes. Next we had Rich up on the rod. We set up for another drift and hooked a nice fish. The fish took us from the south side of the jetty all the way into the cut. We finally released the fish by Miami Beach Marina. We estimated this fish to be about 120lbs or so. It was also Rich's first tarpon. We will be tarpon fishing from now until the end of June. If you have always wanted to catch a 100lb fish now is the time to do it!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

305 588 8030

www.southflfishing.com

Fishing remains good off of Miami still. We have been catching plenty of dolphin, kingfish, and tuna. There have also been some sailfish still around so we have been having fun with them too. We have been catching the dolphin anywhere from the edge in about 100ft of water all the way out to 1100ft of water. They have been mostly nice fish in the 5-15lb range, but there have been quite a few fish this week between 30 and 40lbs. The kingfish and tunas have mostly been in about 130ft of water. They have been eating pilchards and herring on both the kite and flatlines. So far spring fishing has been great to us this yr.






Last week I had the pleasure of fishing the Miami Raft Invitational with Capt Ray Rocher, mates Kelly, Ozzy, Ryan and myself. We left Miami Bch Marina at about 12:30 pm and ran to the south end of Key Biscayne. We ended up in second place going 1-2 on sailfish, catching 2 tunas in the 20lb range, and a kingfish about 10lbs. We ended up taking second place. Congrats to Seth and Roger on the Scatterbrain for taking 1st place! It was a ton of fun and all the proceeds went to a great cause!




With summer almost here we are starting to book up pretty solid with Bahamas trips. You can't beat catching fish all day in paradise then heading back into the resorts or hotels for a few cold drinks and some great food. Our first trip is planned for June 10th. Its a 2 day Bimnin trip. We are going to be mainly bottom fishing. Last yr we had quite a few great trips with one really standing out. We caught over 30 mutton snappers, plenty of yellowtail, lots of jacks, and some really nice groupers. We also played with a few sharks when the fishing was slow. Its always a great time over there. On the way over we saw 5 large pilot whales just cruising their way north. So call and book your trips soon because the dates will book up fast! Here are a few pics from last yrs trips!



Tightlines,

Capt Joe

305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing

With the afternoon bite being so hot lately all of my trips were changed from morning to the afternoon. Sunday was a special day for me. I had the chance to do some family fishing and take my brother, his wife, and my two nieces out for the afternoon bite. We loaded the boat with bait and off we went.





We started our first drift in 180ft of water. We immediatly had a king on. My 5yr old niece Megan was on the rod. With a little help she landed a nice 10lb king! We quickly put them back out and hooked a double headder sailfish. My brother and his wife landed both fish quickly so we could get them back out for our targeted species. We fire the baits back out and hook another double header sailfish. We end up breaking both of the fish off, and get the baits back out quickly. I start to empty the well and a few minutes the bow flat line goes off. Again My 5 yr old niece Megan grabs the rod and she is on with a nice tuna!



After a 10 minute fight and some help from me I stuck the gaff in a nice 30lber! Final tally for the day was a 50lb cuda, 2/5 on sails and 1 blackfin tuna that went 30lbs on the boga! It was a great afternoon for my nieces and I!



Tuesday I had another afternoon trip. Bait was really tough but we were able to catch enough to head out. We started our drift in 200ft and immediatly caught a nice 15lb king on the flatline with mono leader and circle hook. Although we did not have enough bait to chum real heavy we still had high hopes for some tuna action.


After we finished our first drift I started to bump the kites back offshore and we had a double headder sailfish come up and eat 2 kite baits. After 20 minutes Justin lands his first sailfish. Adam quickly released his and the baits went back out. We never got the tuna bite we were looking for but we did catch 3 kings from 10-20lbs all on mono leaders with circle hooks. It was a very nice afternoon with a good group of guys and some great fishing.


This saturday is the Grove Slam dolphin tourney. I am looking forward to fishing this tournament. Its a blast and we usually have really great fishing. I do have a few night left in May for swordfishing, and a few day trips available too! Give me a shout and lets get in on this great action!



Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

305 588 8030

The afternoon bite is where it's at right now!! We have had 3 great trips the past 3 days. All 3 days we have caught Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo, Kingfish, and Sailfish. Friday afternoon we were met with great conditions. We loaded up the 150 gallon livewell and off we went. We started our first drift in 180ft of water. We immediatly we hook a nice bonito going 15lbs. We sent the baits back out and watched hundereds of small blackfin tunas and bonito's boiling right behind the boat. We made a few more drifts and caught a 20lb king, and a nice gaffer dolphin.




At 7pm we really started the heavy chumming. Throwing net fulls of pilchards every 5 minutes. We quickly hook a sailfish that we ended pulling the hook on and another nice big bonito. Finally we get a bite on the long kite bait. Its him the big blaci fin we have been waiting for Adam makes quick work of him and danny sticks the gaff in the 30lber. We quickly run back to the south and get the baits back out. 2 drifts later we hook another nice blackfin on the 12lb spinner. 25 minutes later we stick the gaff in a nice 35lber. All in all it was a great afternoon of fishing.



The afternoon bite should stay hot for the next few weeks. I have a few days still open for tuna trips. Also, swordfishing has been quite well. I havnt been out for about a week, but i have herd some really good reports, and even a few fish in the 200lb class were caught. Give me a call and lets get out there and catch some fish.

Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

Fishing has been " Red Hot " for the last week or so. Mostly consisting of Dolphin and Kingfish. The bottom bite was great over this past weekend. My boat has been in the shop for the past week so I have been fishing on a friends boat with some clients I have had. Saturday we loaded up on bait and headed offshore looking for some dolphin. We found a board in 800ft of water and picked up a nice bull going 28lbs and caught and released 15 schoolies. We moved on only to catch a few other schoolies.

We decided to run back into the reef to see what we could muster up. Right off the bat we caught a kingfish and a nice 12lb Mutton Snapper off the bottom. Quickly sent the baits back out and caught a few more kings and a nice black grouper that we decided to release to fight another day. We ended the day with plenty of dolphin, kings, a mutton, a grouper, and 1 sailfish.


Sunday I had an afternoon trip looking for Blackfin Tuna. We spent some time at bug light loading up the live well with pilchards and herring. We ran out to 300ft of water and sent up 2 kites with 3 baits on each and 5 flatlines off the other side of the boat. We ran into a school of small dolphin in 290ft of water. Had lots of fun with releasing over 20 fish. I kept live chumming and after about 2 hours we had a sailfish up in the spread. He ate the short kite bait and Josh made quick work of him with a nice release. Just before we picked up to head in we hit a school of bonitas and had lots of fun catching them. Again we caught quite a few of dolphin, and some kings and bonitas mixed in as well. Even though we didnt catch our main targeted fish we still had a great time and caught lots of fish.


Swordfishing has been very good also. I have fished 6 nights this month and caught fish every night except for one. All of our fish have been around the 100lb range. I have herd of quite a few fish in the 150 - 200lb range being caught this month. I would definetly say that we are having what seems to be a great spring run of fish.



I have a few openings left for May offshore and swordfishing trips. We are also offering tuna/tarpon combo trips, and offshore/swordfish trips for the next few weeks. We are just starting to break into our dolphin-swordfish season so keep your eyes and ears open for reports and pictures.



Tightlines,


Capt Joe M

It's been a couple of weeks since my last report. It has been really crazy for me the last few weeks. We have had mostly sailfishing trips, and just 1 swordfish trip. The night we went swordfishing the bite was really slow, we managed to go 1/2 and released a 175lb fish. Sailfishing has been the ticket for the past few weeks. The bite has either been really good, or really bad.



Most of the trips we were able to catch at least one sailfish, but there were a couple of trips where we never saw one. The kingfishing and bottom fishing have saved us on most slow days. Last week we fished the Billfish Challenge. Its a great tournament hosted by Jamie Bunn. The cool thing about this tournament is that you have the option to fish out of 3 different ports. Most of the boats chose to fish out of Miami. We left the dock at 6:30 am and made the run to Gov't Cut to check out. We set up by 7am and had our first fish released by 7:40. We caught fish all day long. We ended the day with 13 releases taking home 2nd place and $13,000. It was a great tournament.




This past week we were in Cabo San Lucas catching marlin. We fished 4 days and caught 13 marlin. The bite was definetly going off down there. We fished with the Picante Fleet on a 31ft cabo express. First class charter operation!




We have 2 tournaments coming up this month. The Billfish Masters and the first annual Kingfish Masters. We are looking forward to fishing both tournaments. I have a few days inbetween tournaments open for both sailfishing and swordfishing trips. Tarpon fishing is also a great choice for a few hours in the evening. The bigger fish are finally here, 100+ lb fish are being caught. So give me a shout and lets get out there!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

On Saturday we had the best cold front of the year push through. I had a group of 4 from Homestead fishing with me .We met at the dock at 7am and off we went. We were greeted with thick fog, you couldnt see 200ft in front of you. We made our way out to bug light, only to find bait fishing was really slow. We decided to buy bait from Jimmy Lewis and not waste anytime. We headed out between Fowey and the Monument Bouy. I threw out 2 flat lines and began to slow troll over the reef. Immediatly we hooked up with a double header bonita.

The next 20 minutes of so were really slow. As I bumped us down the edge we hooked a triple header sailfish. We quickly pulled the hook on 1 but managed to land 2. Both Chuck and Mary were able to catch their first sailfish. I quickly sent out 3 more baits and worked my way back toward where we hooked the triple. It was slow until 10am where we hooked up with another sailfish. We ended the day early at 12 with a few bonitas and 5/6 on sailfish.


I have a few swordfish trips this week weather permitting, hopefully the swordfish will be snapping. We have the Bob Lewis Sailfish Challenge coming up soon, and then the Billfish Masters. I have recieved some good reports about the tarpon fishing this weekend. Seems like they are starting to show up and stick around. With the strong winds the next few days tarpon and sailfish are definetly the best choice. Give me a call and lets get out there!

Tightlines,

Capt Joe M
305 588 8030

South Florida Fishing Charters, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sportfishing - Joe McGivern Sport Fishing

Sailfishing was pretty slow last week. Toward the end of the week, we had a decent coldfront push through, so the sailfishing started to heat up. Saturday started the first day of the 2007 Miami Mayor's Cup.

On saturday morning we loaded up the boat with goggs, herring and pilchards in hopes of catching a few sailfish. We checked out at 7am with the stake boat and off we went. We ran out to Key Biscayne to find some decent current and blue water. We sent our kites out and the fishing began at 8am. By 10am we had not seen fish, and had not seen anyone around us hooked up on a fish. We pulled in the kites and made a 14 mile run to the north. We sent out or baits and immediatly had a sailfish eat the left middle kite bait. We pulled the hook on that fish shortly after he made a few jumps. I bumped the boat back into the depth of water where we got the bite. Soon after we were hooked up again and landed our first fish of the tourney. We ended day 1 going 1/2 on sails.


On day 2 we decided to start the day where were left of day 1
We sent the baits out right when lines in were announced. We missed 1 sail right off the bat. By noon we found ourselves up off of haulover. We ran back down to the twin towers and put them back out. We quickly hooked a quad, but only landed 2 out of the four fish.We bumped back into the depth where we hooked the quad and saw 7 more fish, only catching 2. We ended the tournament with 5 sailfish releases, 1 mutton snapper, a few dolphin, some kingfish, and some spanish macks.All in all the tourney was slow for most boats, there were quite a few boats that never caught a fish, and a few who only caught 1. Congrats to the " Wound Up" on a great win!



I still have a few more days open in feb. We are expecting quite a few coldfronts this month, so the fishing should definetly pick up!This week we have a few swordfish trips, and a couple of sailfish trips mixed in. Give me a call and lets get out there and catch some fish!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

www.southflfishing.com

Fishing off Miami the past week has definetly been on and off. On the reef there has been no current, and ugly green water. We have been fishing to the South the past few days, and have found some current and better water. This week i had 2 sailfish trips and 2 swordfish trips. On wednesday we fished off of Pacific Light. We found some good current and decent blue water. We set up our spread and had immediate action. We caught and released bonitas all day long. We had 3 sailfish during the day, and some bottom action. Saturday i fished with Sean and his wife Stacy. Sean was looking for his first sailfish. We loaded the boat with goggs and a mix of pilchards and herring. We made the long run down to fish the elbow. Before I could get the kite put together, the rear flat line went off! Sean was hooked up to his first sailfish! After a quick fight Sean released his first sail. we quickly fired the baits back out. After a short while we caught a few bonitas, and had some cut off's. It was a slow day for us, but we accomplished our goal of catching Sean his first sailfish!


Now on the other hand, the swordfish bite has been great. On Tuesday night I had the chance to fish with Terry Lyons from Mass. We caught some speedo's and runners and off we went to the sword grounds. Right away the shallow rod goes off. As soon as we get tight on her the hooks pull. We quickly send the baits back out and the wait is on. We finished our first drift and ran back to the south. We quickly set up and the 100ft rod goes off. Terry gets tight and 15 minutes later we release a 54" fish. We send all the baits back out and just before the end of the night we hook up again. After a quick fight we boat a 55" and head home. Friday night the wind picked up and there was a nice swell offshore. We set up and the wait is on. We had very little action until about midnight. The shallow rod goes off and we are tight on a nice fish. After about 10 minutes the hook pulls. It was a long slow night out there for us.


This up coming weekend we have the Mayor's Cup Sailfish Tournament. Hopefully the current shows up this week and the bite turns on.Good Luck to all the teams! Until next time!




Tightlines,


Capt Joe M

305 588 8030

www.southflfishing.com

Well its been a few weeks since my last report. Fishing has been a bit slow on the reef. On thursday I had the opportunity to fish with a couple of guys from Toronto. John, Mark and myself hit the water by 7am. We loaded up the boat with goggs, pilchards and herring. We ran out just north of Fowey and found dirty green water. I decided to make a decent run south to Pacific Light. We set up in 200ft of water and in no time we had action. We landed 1 sail and 4 kingfish on the first drift. We had great action all through out the day. We caught 7 sailfish, 9 kingfish up to 12lbs, and 1 dolphin around 17lbs. All in all it was a great day out on the water.

Friday I had a swordfish trip with 5 guys from Miami. Rich, Chad, Danny, Chico and myself hit the water at 4 and made the run out to the swordfish grounds. It was a bit bumpy on the way out with the SSE wind around 17kts for most of the day. We set up in 1900ft of water. After about an hour I check the baits and sent them back out. 20 minutes later we get a bite on the 200ft bait. Danny gets on the rod and has the fish to the boat in about 20 minutes, as i start to wire the fish i can feel she has some weight to her. I get to the main leader and she decides to go crazy at the boat slashing the water, hitting her bill against the boat and then making a 400ft run. Since we were going to release her anyways, Danny gave Chad the rod so he could fight her for a while. Chad does a great job fighting her for about 35 minutes and we give her a good clean release.The guys decided to call it an early night and we were back to the dock by 11. All in all it was a great night aside from the bumpy ride out.




This week I have quite a few reef trips, and two swordfish trips weather permitting. Tarpon fishing has also started picking up. I have recieved some really great reports the last few weeks. With a coldfront coming in this week the sailfishing should really pick-up!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe

Over the past week we have been fishing just about everyday. Fishing on the edge has been awesome. We have caught sailfish just about everyday, and plenty of dolphin and kingfish also. Over the weekend we fished the Sailfish Kickoff Tournament out of Miami. On day one we fished was down south and caught 2 out of 3 sailfish. We also caught 14 dolphin between 6-17 lbs. On day two we fished a bit more to the south, we never saw a sailfish, but we had a great time catching numerous dolphin and kingfish. We had a great time fishing this tournment eventhough we did not finish in the money. Congrats to all of the winners!


Swordfishing has been a bit slow for the guys who have been able to get out there. The bite should turn on as we get a bit closer to the moon. The wind is supposed to lay down a bit next week soo hopefully we can get out there for a trip or two. I wanted to talk abit about tarpon season. Our tarpon season is about ready to start up here in the next couple of weeks. Last yr just about all of the guides who tarpon fished in the winter had lots of success. Not only do you catch tarpon, but you also may catch Permit, Snapper, Snook and even grouper. We were lucky last yr and caught a few snapper while tarpon fishing.


I still have a few days left this month, and a few next month. Give me a shout and lets get out there and do some fishing. Remember tarpon fishing is a great option when you can get out swordfishing!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

This past week we have been fishing on the reef mostly. Fishing on the reef has been pretty decent. This past weekend I had 2 afternoon trips. Friday afternoon started off pretty well. We had goggle eyes in the well, and caught some herring on the way out. I decided to run south towards triumph reef. Just before i got to the area i wanted to start fishing, I spotted a frigate bord diving in about 60ft of water. I quickly turned in shallow and caught up to the diving frigate. I fired out a couple of baits. With- in seconds we were tight on a double header of sailfish. I had a first time lady angler onboard, so she was very excited. We ended up landing 1 of the 2 sails a few kingfish, a couple of sharks, and a nice amberjack.



Saturday I had a couple of nice guys from New York. We got out to the reef at about 1:30 only to find a trickle of current and dirty green water. I ran to the south to try and find better water but i only found the same conditions. I set up in 160ft of water and we immediatle had a kingfish on. Fishing was pretty slow for everyone out there. A few people were able to get into some sailfish. We never got our shot at sailfish saturday. Eventhough fish was slow we managed to catch a few fish. We ended the day with 2 kings, a few cut-off's, a shark, and a really nice black grouper that we opted to release.



Swordfishing was pretty good over the weekend. I didnt make it out, but i herd of a lot of fishing being caught, and a few fish over 250lbs. You have to watch the winds, and get out there when you can. Remember that sailfishing is usually best when its too bad to get out swordfishing. Also, Tarpon will start showing up in the next few weeks, and will remain here until June. Winter season allows us to make many a few combo trips. We do sailfish/swordfish combos, and Sailfish/Tarpon combos also. You can't beat spending the afternoon offshore fishing for sailfish, the either running way offshore looking for swordfish or fishing along the beach for tarpon. So give me a call and let's get out there and catch some fish!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

It has been a while since my last report. Swordfishing has started to slow down. Noone has been out in the past few nights. I was out last week, we only fished for three hours before the wind and the waves pushed us back in. We caught 2 pups and went home happy.


Sailfish starting to show up on the reef now. With the past 8 or so days of north wind, and the couple of cold fronts we have had, the sailfish are showing up! This is what we wait all winter for. With the sailfish, the kingfish and wahoo are also starting to show up! Usually it takes a little longer for them to show up, but i dont think that any of us will be complaining.


I fished saturday and we had a decent trip. We caught our bait and headed off to the edge. We set up in 200ft of water where we saw lots of bait scattering. In the first 10 minutes we hooked up with a nice 13lb dolphin. Fishing was slow for about 2 hours after we boated that fish. All of a sudden i saw some bait blow up about 20yrds from my kite baits, and we had a double header of sailfish on. My clients made quick work of the fish, and we tagged and released them perfectly. Just before dark we boated 2 kingfish, and had a few cutoff's too.



Tournament season is almost here. I still have a couple of tournaments open this season, but they are starting to book up fast.So give me a call and we can discuss what tourneys are available. The first one of the season the "sailfish kickoff" was a great tourney last yr. I am already booked for it and we are hopeing for great fishing like last yr. The Mayors Cup is the next one on the list, i am still open for that one. If your interested give me a call! Until next time!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe McGivern

www.southflfishing.com 305 588 8030
_________________

Swordfishing has been crazy the past week. Over the weekend we had two swordfish tourney's.In just one of the tourney's there were only 78 boats fishing, and over 100 fish were caught. The winning fish went 303lbs, but second and third were right behind.
We went 1-6 boating about a 100lber. It was a tough night for us.

Now let me tell ya'll about the best night of swording i have had this yr. We letft the dock at 7pm with a well full of runners. On the way out we caught 3 bonito's that we were able to keep alive in the tuna tubes. I sent out the first bait, and as i was dropping the second bait in the water the first balloon started screamin. We got cliff in the harness and the fight began. 50 minutes later i pulled over a nice 67" fish going about 175lbs.



I quickly started sending out the baits. As i got to the 5th bait, the 400ft rod bent over and we were hooked up again. 20 minutes later we relesed a 55" fish. As i was resetting out the lines we cleared we hooked a double header and released both fish again. We ended the night going 9-10 and releasing all but the 67".



The bite the past 10 days has just been crazy. Now getting away from the swords a bit. The reef still has been very slow, the kings, Aj's and bonita are few and far between. There have been some sailfish showing up after this North wind we had over the week, but we still need to be patient for a few more weeks. Come mid Nov we should start seeing a decent amount of fish come through. Dolphin fishing has been decent, if you can find the birds and some floaters. As of right now i would stick with swordfishing.


I still have some openings toward the weekend and early into next week. Give me a call and lets get out there and get in on some of this action!



Tightlines,

Capt Joe M

It's been a while since I have had a chance to write a report for you guys! Fishing has been on and off both on the reef and offshore. Sometimes you come back a hero and sometimes you come back with out catching a thing. We have fished most of our trips offshore this summer and fall. Swordfishing has definetly been great. We have caught fish most of our trips, and have had quite a few nights where we have caught 4 or more fish. Swordfishing has definetly been hit or miss the past few months. Some nights they bite like crazy and some nights they just dont bite at all.


Reef fishing has been hit and miss also. The amberjacks are all over the wrecks, along with some grouper and snapper. We have been dropping butterfly jigs on the wrecks and have been having great success. The kingfishing has been pretty good early in the mornings and late in the afternoons.

With the first coldfont coming in this week the fishing on the reef should pick up. A few more weeks and a couple more coldfronts, the sailfish should be starting to show up. The wahoo bite in the Bahamas has definetly been hot. They have been catching fish from Orange Cay all the way up to Bimini. We have made a couple of trips over there recently and have just cruched the wahoo. Nothing big but the fish have been between 20 and 40lbs with a few fish just over 50. Remember the wahoo tourney are jsut about to begin, give me a call if your interested. Also sailfish Tourney season is right around the corner. I am open for the Ft lauderdale and Miami Billfish Tourneys still, but i dont expect these dates to stay open for long!



With the winter season coming up on us soon, i am already starting to book up days. So send your e-mails and make your phone calls because before your know it the season will be over!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe

Here are some pictures of fish from this past season!













_________________
Captain Joe McGivern Sportfishing
South Florida Fishing Charters
308-588-8030

Well i have to say that last month the swordfishing was slow for most of us. I fish quite a few nights and went a few without boating a fish. Over the weekend i had the chance to fish with a Father and son group from Coast Rica.


Christian Hamp and his son Freddy flew in just to fish with me for 3 nights in a row. Christian has been trying all his life to catch all of the billfish of the world. When he called about his trip he told me he really wanted to catch a swordfish as that was one of 2 species of billfish left he had to catch. I told him the fishing has been really slow, but he wanted to give it a shot anyways.


We met at the dock at 6pm and off to catch bait at the can. We pulled up to the can and loaded up on runners and speedos. We pushed our way out in some nice 4-5ft seas. I started to send the baits out. As i started sending down the 4th jug it gets nailed and we are tight. After about 10 minutes we pull the hook. I quickly sent the baits back out and as i was dropping down the tip rod the long jug goes off and we are tight again. After 57 minutes Christian has a stout 230 lb fish next to the boat. Freddy sinks the harpoon right through the gill plate and we boat the fish.


Christian was extatic that not only did he just catch his first sword, but it was a nice fat fish! We fished the next 2 nights and only released 1 sword and pulled off 3 others on live bait. All in all it was a slow 3 nights of fishing. August is my favorite month for swordfishing. I have caught most of my largest fish in august. Already i am hearing that the bite is picking up and quite a few fish over 200 lbs have already been caught.


The swordlords tourney is coming up this weekend along with the Islamorada swordfish tourney. There should be some really nice fish weighed in these tourneys. I still have about 10 nights open this month so give me a call and lets get out there and catch some fish!


Tightlines,

Capt Joe

Well the Swordfishing still remains great. We had the pleasure of fishing the summer swordfish slam. Of course the weather wasnt cooperating. We caught plenty of runners and speedo's and headed offshore. We set up just after 7 pm. It was raining the whole time we were fishing.


At 8pm without getting abite we proceded to check the baits. Much to out suprise we had 3 out of the 8 baits that we were fishing slashed. We quickly re-set and as my mate was sending out the first balloon it got nailed. After a 20 minute fight we boated a 57" fish.



We reset the baits again about 2 hours later we released a small pup about 20lbs or so. We quickly re-set the baits and missed a fish on the 200 ft balloon. About a hour later the tip rod gets nailed and we have a nice fish on. Somehow the fish wraps itself in both of my swordlights and around the 2 motors. With some quick reactions and good thinking we were able to get everything out and boated the 55"fish. We would have released her but she was foul hooked in the stomach and would have never made it.


At 2am we re-set the lines and missed another fish on the tip rod. My mate Marsad, decided to take a swim since he was already soaked from the rain. We ended the night going 3-5 on swords and had 2 missing livies and 3 slashed baits.


All in all it was a great night and a great tourney. Congrats to all the winners and we will see ya in a couple of months. There are a few more swordfish tourneys coming up if anyone is interested. I am open for the Islamorada Swordfish Tourney a great tourney out of the Cheeca Lodge in the Keys.Until next time.


Tightlines,


Capt Joe M