All posts by Capt. John

Captain of the F/V Island Lure. Offers Gulf of Mexico, Blue Water fishing charters in the Tampa, St. Petersburg Florida area. Specializing in Pelagic species including Barracuda, Cobia, Kingfish, Wahoo, Mackerel, Sailfish, Dorado/Mahi-Mahi. Not to mention Grouper, Snapper and our two specialties.... AmberJack and Big Shark fishing!
Recent Catches & Trip Reports

Hog Heaven!

On Today’s Fishing Charter, We had the Privilege of welcoming aboard some Students over at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL to Celebrate James’ 21st Birthday.  Talk about a Great birthday Gift!

We settled on making a Quick Trip to the Tommy John Broken Limb Bottom.  The Guys loaded up on Joltheads, Mangos, Gag Grouper and a Baker’s Dozen Hogfish! All on Hook and Line and all Packed into a Half Day Fishing Charter! Was refreshing to see that not only could these guys smart and eager but these guys could fish!  Enjoy the Photos.

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Recent Catches & Trip Reports

St. Petersburg Deep Sea Fishing Charters

Looking for a top notch Deep Sea Fishing Charter Company in St. Petersburg, FL? Well you found the areas most experienced fish finders the Gulf has to offer!

Welcome to Island Lure Fishing Adventures! 

We are conveniently located just off St. Pete beach Florida at Maximo Marina. Just Minutes from the Don CeSar on St. Pete beach, minutes from the Gulf of Mexico (where the Big Grouper and Big Snapper live) and we are also just a short drive from Tampa Florida, Clearwater and Sarasota.

ajmar132Why hire us as your Deep Sea Fishing Charter Company?

Well a couple of things set us apart from some of the other Fishing boats in the fleet. First off, we are not a “Grunt” hunt company. Meaning we do not settle for bringing our clients out to the local spots that hold 1-2 pound fish. Sure for $70 a person you might catch a Ton of them but who wants to settle for small, lousy bait fish? Your not gonna be proud to show those pictures to your friends and family! Not Us! We are NOT a 20 person party, headboat with 15 strangers and tangling lines. We operate 3 different boats to take advantage of different types of fishing. Regardless of which type of Charter Fishing Package you book with us, you will always be on your own Private Charter.

Our big fish promise. We will get you on the Biggest fish for the season we are fishing. Now of course you see a TON of MONSTER sized fish on this website (we have a habit of catching the biggest fish in the St. Pete / John’s Pass / Clearwater area) and thats our goal! To get you on the Biggest Fish your money is gonna buy! And we work harder than many of the charter boats at making sure you are Happy Happy Happy!

Our Fishing Boats are New with Safety First accommodations. We carry the latest technology and the latest SOLAS / Coast Guard approved safety equipment. We never skimp with cheap lifesaving gear. We may never ever use any of it but everything on our boats are first class.

A little bit about our Charter Captains, Crew and our Fleet of Deep Sea Fishing Boats..

We eat breath and sleep BIG fish. For over 20 years we have mapped and located some of the best Grouper and Snapper Fishing holes in the Gulf. Led by an experienced crew of Captains John Fidi, Tommy Butler and First mate Michael Watts, we have the local inside knowledge and the right equipment to get’r’done.

We appreciate the the fact that your search for Deep Sea fishing charters led you to our website and welcome the opportunity to have you on board catching your memories and some monster sized Grouper, Snapper, Amberjack and everything else our beautiful Gulf has to offer!

Thanks for Stopping By!

The Captains & Crew
Island Lure Deep Sea Fishing Adventures

 

 

Offshore Tampa/St. Pete Fish Reports

Red Snapper Charters in Full Throttle

Red Snapper & Grouper Fishing has been on FIRE this year. Today (Oct 21st 2013 ) we took six clients on a deep drop trip and limited out on Large Red Snapper before 11am. Was the charter over? No way! We then limited out on HUGE gag Grouper and Got them their Daily Bag limit of Amberjack. A Great Trip indeed!   Check our website and trip reports and remember if you want to book a Charter that catches QUALITY sized fish give us a call. Captains John Fidi and Tommy Butler will get you on the fish at IslandLure.com!

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Amberjack Fishing Charters Tampa/St. Pete FL Red Snapper Fishing St. Pete Clearwater, FL Red Snapper Fishing St. Pete Clearwater, FL Grouper Fishing CHarters Red Snapper Fishing St. Pete Clearwater, FL

Recent Catches & Trip Reports, Stiff Competition

Wild West Kingfish Leg 3 & Fishing Report

Kingfish have arrived with a Vengeance!

St. Petersburg, FL Oct 8 2013

Last weeks cold front and rain has really stirred up the water off St. Petersburg and Clearwater. BAIT is everywhere. Quality bait. Thread-fins are all over the beaches and piled up around the Skyway. Blue runners are also easily found in HUGE numbers in the shipping lanes and just west of the beaches. With that come the Kingfish & Spanish Mackerel.

During Last Weekends Wild West Kingfish Tournament We ran 2 boats. Our 39′ Contender “Stiff Competition” and our 37′ Spectre “Island Lure”. Both with Great success.  We ran a group of Veterans on the Spectre for the people over at AnglerArmory.com with Capt. Tommy Butler & Mate Michael Watts. Tommy took our American Vets out for a GREAT day of fishing. These guys not only had a blast, they also bagged 5 Kings, a dozen or so Spanish and a few Sharks also. (See photos Below)

As for Our Tournament team. We inched upto 5th Place in the 4 Event Series with 1 Leg to go. Its gonna be a stretch to Win this year (We where late to the scales to weigh our 10-13lbs fish during leg 1) but a top three finish is well within reach. We did weigh a 30.23 Lbs fish for 7th place. (See Below)

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We are offering a Special Charter trip through November. Kingfish & Mackerel Aboard Island Lure 1/2 Day for only $599.  Book it now and experience what we do day in and day out! Only 20 minutes to the fishing grounds and smoker Kings are almost certain! Click on Rates for More Information

 

Recent Catches & Trip Reports, Stiff Competition

The Suncoast Saltwater Shootout

 Another Great Event at the Suncoast Saltwater Shootout @ Marina Jacks Sarasota, FL

We made a 150 Mile run on the 39′ Contender “Stiff Competition” to some of our most secret fishing spots looking to catch a Trifecta of fish to win all three divisions of the Offshore Category.
How did we do? We loaded up on a dozen HUGE mutton snappers, weighed a 30lbs Kitty Mitchell (And had a bunch (6) of large Gags in the 20-25lbs class) and weighed a 107 pound Amberjack. Most years that would have been enough to sweep the event! Instead we ended up with 2nd Place Grouper, 4th Place Snapper and LOST 1st place Amberjack by 1/2 Pound!!  We can’t win them all but its most exciting to see everyone waiting for us to pull up to the docks knowing that if there is a boat with big fish on it, its most likely ours!

Check out the Pictures below and don’t forget to Call Island Lure to book your offshore charter.  As you may have noticed, Capt. John Fidi & Tommy Butler only specialize in HUGE Fish!

 

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Recent Catches & Trip Reports

A Day With Capt. Marciano from Wicked Tuna

Tampa FL – Island Lure Fishing Charters had a great trip yesterday aboard our 39 Contender “Stiff Competition” as Capt. Dave Marciano and his son Joe had our crew take them Bottom Fishing for some of Florida’s Finest Grouper.

Capt. Marciano had a Break from Filming Nat Geo’s Wicked Tuna TV Show and wanted to take his son Joe out for a relaxing day of fishing right before Joe went to college.  Although the Bite lately has been difficult, we used some of of our spots and landed a Boat full of keeper Gag & Red Grouper. And true to Island Lure’s form, we finished out the day putting Dave & Joe on one of our largest grouper species, the Goliath Grouper.

Capt. Marciano has seen his fair share of some HUGE Tuna in his day so we figured there is no better way to show Wicked Tuna’s Hard Merchandise Captain that the Gulf has some HUGE grouper too.

Contact Us To Book Your Charter and we too can get you on some of these GREAT Fish!

Marciano and Son Joe from Wicked Tuna - Hard Merchandise
L-R Joe Marciano, Hard Merchandise Capt. Dave Marciano, Island Lure’s Capt. John Fidi & Capt. Paul Rogers (Click for Larger Picture)
Capt. Dave Marciano from Wicked Tuna's - Hard Merchandise - Grouper On!
Capt. Dave Marciano from Wicked Tuna’s Hard Merchandise. “Fish On”
Joe Marciano from Hard Merchandise
Like father like son… Joe Marciano with his First Ever Red Grouper. He’s a veteran now!
Joe Marciano on Island Lure Fishing Charters - Tampa St. Petersburg FL
Capt. Tommy Butler with Joe Marciano’s First Gag Grouper! Many more followed!
The Day's Catch - Capt. Marciano, son Joe and the Crew of Stiff Competition of island Lure Fishing Adventures Tampa St. Pete Folorida
L-R Capt. Tommy Butler, Joe Marciano, Capt. Dave Marciano, Capt. John Fidi & Mike Watts
Kneeling- Capt. Paul Rogers. Fishing with Island Lure Fishing Adventures in Tampa St. Pete Florida

 

Island Lure Fishing Adventures Located in St. Petersburg offers the Tampa Area’s Best Deep Sea Fishing!

Recent Catches & Trip Reports

Desoto 2013 July 12-14th

Island Lure’s Pro Team Stiff Competition Takes 3rd Place Overall Offshore with 413.5 Points, 1st Place Largest Grouper (Warsaw 92lbs) and 1st Place Largest Gag Grouper (27 lbs).

Captains John Fidi, Paul Rogers and Tommy Butler delivered for the third consecutive time. What made this catch different was the fact that Team Stiff brought back 3 bottom Species and 3 Pelagic Species  consisting of 6 different species to make up their bag. Weighed was a Large Black Fin, Kingfish, Wahoo, Kitty Mitchel, Gag Grouper and Warsaw Grouper.

 

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