Florida....

Special offer for individual anglers..

March 28th 2010... £1199 pp. 7 nights accommodation and 5 fully guided fishing trip. Flights and transfers/car hire not included. It is intended that car hire is arranged between the group with nominated drivers.

Fishing The Keys

Expect excellent fishing for reef shark and smaller tarpon from November to February. There's always prolific shark fishing for lemon, bull, duskie, black tips and potentially really big tiger sharks.

The fantastic 100 to 200 pounds tarpon are on the scene from March through into June. These fish will test you to the limits; your guide will put you on fish, but landing them is another story. Even experienced tarpon anglers expect to lose at least 50% of takes; fish like this really are something special. Our Florida holidays are all operated in conjunction with John Rawle.

Flights

We can arrange scheduled flights from the UK to Miami with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic or American Airlines. Choose from standard economy, premium upgrades or business/first class. Generally, the earlier you book the better the price.

All our quoted prices include airport taxes and fees. The cheapest fares may require full payment of the flight cost at time of booking and are invariably non-refundable and non-changeable.

Self-Rent

This option is available in November, December, and from mid-June to the end of July. It is ideal for couples or anglers in groups of four to six people seeking a less intense experience, perhaps wishing to combine fishing with sightseeing and relaxation. You rent the complete house, for 7 or 14 nights.

Fish for smaller tarpon in the 10 to 50 pound class, prolific shark, and excellent backwater fishing for jacks, spanish mackerel, snapper, barracuda, king fish, lady fish, bone fish, trout, red fish, permit and stingrays.

Top guides can be pre-booked for any number of fishing sessions from 4 to 6 hours, on the days of your choice, with fishing itineraries tailored to your requirements. Three anglers per boat and guide is excellent value, but for a more serious approach with more action, then two anglers per boat would be better.

Tackle is always included on guided trips, but you may wish to take a medium spinning rod or a fly rod for a spot of shore fishing.

The Tarpon Capital of the World

In addition to the top drawer fishing, Islamorada really is the ideal anglers holiday destination with dozens of superb tackle stores, including the famous "Worldwide Fishing" along with numerous superb places to eat out. A week's fishing in Islamorada makes a great add on if making the traditional family pilgrimage to the famous central Florida based theme parks or many other tourist attractions that are found throughout "The Sunshine State".

It's hard to dispute Islamorada's self- proclaimed and much quoted title of being the "Sports Fishing Capital of the World". Located in the Florida Keys, approximately half way between Miami and Key West, Islamorada really is something of a haven for visiting anglers, whose biggest challenge is likely to be in deciding which of the countless species of fish to target.

Basically the fishing in "The Keys" can be split into two main categories. Firstly there is the shallow water, flats style fishing in the Gulf of Mexico where giant tarpon, bone fish, permit, red fish, snook and other species are fished, invariably using light tackle amidst the vast turtle grass flats and deeper interconnecting channels and bridges. There is also a magnificent shark fishery here, where visiting anglers are all but guaranteed of hooking into a hundred pound shark, again on light and sporting tackle. Sharks caught include lemon, nurse, black tip, bull or even a tiger or hammerheads, not to mention enormous, tackle busting stingrays.

Out in the deeper water found off the Atlantic coast, you will have the opportunity, obviously depending on season, of fishing for sailfish, blue marlin, tuna, dorado, amberjacks and many other popular species that frequent the reefs, banks and indigo blue water of the Gulf Stream.

Anglers World holidays have teamed up with famous UK charter skipper John Rawle who for more than a decade now has guided UK clients from his base in Islamorada in their pursuit of tarpon and sharks, in addition to the many other species. John's knowledge of the area, its fish and fishing, can only be described as encyclopaedic, and he can boast an almost 100% success rate in guiding his clients to catch a 100lb plus tarpon or shark.

Season

October through to early July is good. Prime time for the big tarpon is February to May inclusive.

Huge variety of species both Atlantic side and Gulf side (backwoods as they refer locally). The Gulf side provides shallow water sport in usually calm conditions. There's light tackle sport, amazing shark fishing in water only 4 to 6 feet deep and small tarpon (to 50 pounds). We target the huge tarpon, 100 to 200 pounders in March through into June, this is prime big tarpon time. John can fish two or three anglers per boat/guide and his accommodation is ideal for 2 to 6 anglers.

June to February (excluding the hurricane season of mid July to early October) it is possible to rent the house for groups up to 8. John is back in the UK but his guides can be booked on a half or full day's fishing (Ideal for anglers and partners). General backwoods and shark fishing trips are for 4 to 6 hours. Tarpon trips usually hit the top 4 hours of the tide and can be late at night or very early am. You fish when the feeding time peaks to get the best results.

This leaves time to rest, relax, eat and shop.

Car Rental

You will need a hire car for the drive down to The Keys, and to get around during your holiday. We offer excellent value all inclusive hire rates on late model vehicles, from mid-sized to 4x4s to sports cars, all air conditioned, with full insurance, unlimited mileage and options to max to a full tank
of gas.

Price example from £999pp - includes accommodation (excluding meals) and 5 fishing trips (Tarpon & Shark). Excludes car hire (for transfers) and flights to Miami. We can offer special inclusive packages. Ideal for groups of 2 to 6 persons. (House only rental in winter months).

The alternative is to take the shuttle coach from Miami to Johns House, cost around $75 for a return ticket, frequent service, but you will need a taxi to access shops/restaurants locally. Car hire is the best option.

Guided Fishing with John Rawle

Tarpon and shark. Access via Miami.

John's guided holidays are available from March to early June, with the option of 7, 10 or 14 nights with tailor made fishing itineraries.

Four guided trips are included in the 7-day holiday cost, but you may choose to book additional sessions at extra cost. Fully guided by John and his expert team, with all tackle and bait included. Tarpon fishing sessions are generally 4 to 5-hours, invariably late evening into night or early morning into daybreak. Shark sessions are morning or afternoon for 4 to 6-hours. The prime fishing areas are from five to twenty minutes from John's moorings in his fast boat.

"John Rawle is without doubt the expert, you listen carefully to what he says, put it into practice, and you catch. He 'broke me in' with a days shark fishing, we hooked into tail walking, highly acrobatic black tips and big lemons. My pal Bill hooked into a huge tiger shark, it pulled the boat for about 20 minutes then smashed the line as if it was cotton. But it's those huge, arm aching, back breaking fights with 100 pound plus tarpon that I will never forget. John has a strategy that works. I hooked into around 20 big tarpon, landing 9 to 170 pounds (John accurately guessed the weight). We fish late, through the night and early, depending on the tide... and we catch. Landing these big silver beasts is another thing! As John said to me half way through a 1 hour fight with my biggest fish " you really have to want to catch a big tarpon if you want to win the fight".

Des Taylor

Dave Lewis -  Florida

It had been two long years since I had last fished for tarpon and sharks with top British charter guide John Rawle, and as we drove south from Miami onto the Florida Keys, myself and the 6 other members of our group were full of excitement and anticipation at the prospect of fighting 100lb plus fish in shallow, tropical seas of Florida Bay.

During the summer and autumn John is based at Bradwell in Essex typically targeting bass, tope, smoothounds and rays, but for the past 12 years Isamorada has been his home and angling base from January through to early June. To say that John now has a thorough and intimate knowledge of the local angling scene would be a huge understatement. I've fished with several top American guides in Florida and I assure you John Rawle is as good as the best of them.

The weather during our trip ranged from glorious to wet and windy, but despite what admittedly at times were testing conditions, John pulled out all the stops and produced the goods. During the week's fishing all clients had the opportunity to fight several 100lb plus tarpon, a fish that will very quickly test both the angling skill and physical stamina of the angler holding the rod.

The best fish released at the boat during our week were estimated at 180lb plus, while most weighed comfortably over 100lb. I've fished for tarpon at numerous destinations but I will assure you there is no better place to do battle with "The Silver King" than the Florida Keys during the spring run.

The shark fishing was equally spectacular. Fishing the shallow backwaters of Florida Bay where depths rarely exceed 12ft, each of us caught and released numerous sharks. We caught as many as 15 in a typical afternoon session, and again most weighed comfortably in excess of 100lb. We caught mostly lemon sharks but also black tip, spinner, nurse, bonnet head and several fearsome bull sharks. The star fish was Derek Elliott's estimated 400-450lb lemon shark he caught on 30lb class tackle, a fish that had we killed it , which was never an option, would undoubtedly have smashed the existing all tackle record for the species that since 1988 has stood at 405lb.

So as to fully capitalise on his run of good luck "Del", as he is more usually called, and who is a seasoned veteran of many various group trips, took himself off to fish the small private beach adjacent to John's house and caught a 5lb Bone fish on light spinning tackle baited with a live prawn. I am reliably told from those within earshot that his excitement and "verbal celebration" could be heard from afar, and without a doubt this was the first time Americans had ever had cause to complain about a loud Brit shattering their peace and tranquillity!