Islamorada Fishing Charters Florida Keys — Local services in Islamorada

August 11, 2023 was my 3rd time chartering for tarpon fishing with Captain Rick Kilgore of Islamorada Fishing Charters. On my previous two trips I went during the Spring Season. On each trip I caught tarpon. On the spring trips, I got multiple tarpon from 95-110 pounds. On the Aug. 11th trip, I caught a 40 pound tarpon using light tackle. My friend also caught a 35-40 pound tarpon which he lost alongside the boat. My friend hooked into two other tarpon on our August fishing trip with Capt. Rick. Summer is a great time to tarpon fish.

The reasons I only book with Capt. Rick are the following:

1. he really knows the Keys waters — where to catch the best live bait and where to fish. As importantly if we are fishing late and it is dark, he knows the waters well in terms of navigating them to avoid shoals, etc.

2. i have fished for all kinds of fish with many different captains. Capt. Rick is by far the most diligent in doing everything possible to increase your chances to catch fish. On one trip, it was very slow with no fish strikes at the live bait. He said, “let’s stay out longer as the darker light will increase tarpon activity. We stayed at no extra cost to us and it was amazing as I caught two large tarpon in that hour and my son caught one, and we also had other strikes during that hour. Capt. Rick is always changing up our fishing tactics. He’s super patient as well as he explains to us what to do.

3. Capt. Rick is just a great guy. He’s very friendly and just makes the fishing trip a very worthwhile experience.

If you want to fish in the Keys, I recommend Islamorada Fishing Charters with Capt. Rick with the highest...

Capt. Rick was excellent and I will definitely fish with him again. He produced fish at every spot we went to. I told him before we came to the keys what I wanted to do and he executed that plan. We were hooked up to a sailfish in the morning on the reef line. Along with a king fish, cero mackerel and a bonito. A sea turtle swam right up to the boat. In the afternoon we headed out and deep dropped for Vermillion Snapper and Porgy. Tried for some big muttons and were hooked up to something but they got away.

Rick worked hard all day to produce fish. He had fresh live baits and a mixture of frozen squid and chum also. I've fished South and Central America, Mexico, Caribbean and Bermuda. Rick is a professional and very particular about his tackle. He's also still able to have a conversation and a good time.

He suggested taking our fresh cleaned fish to Dillon's sports bar/restaurant just up the road where they will cook it for you. I want to go back to the keys just to eat fish there again. Someone met us as we walked in the door and took our bag of fish straight to the kitchen. The grilled fish and coconut crusted fish was literally the best I've ever eaten. My Dad and son came with me on this trip and they both kept talking about how good it was.

I was concerned because Rick didn't have recent reviews and his website is dated. All the reviews he did have were glowing though which is why I decided to give him a shot. I'm...

We had a blast with Captain Rick! He was very knowledgeable of the area and catered the day to us. We requested to go offshore and target Tuna and he delivered, landing 8 beautiful black fin Tuna along with a sizeable Mahi. It was a great day on the water for our whole family, including our 12 year old. We highly recommend Captain Rick and look forward to booking with him again...