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Key West Fishing Report - Offshore
Capt. Ralph Delph
January 7, 2001
Key West - Saltwater Fishing Report
It seems like the weatherman can’t make up his mind on what to do with the weather. First cool then warm, then cold and then colder. The wind blew then blew harder. The water got cooler and is now, exactly where it should be this time of year. The water outside the reef is 72.3 degrees and an off color blue with a greenish tint. Although the Gulftream remains far offshore, there is a slight trickle to the east. After a very slow start of fishing for the New Year, things are beginning to look up. The offshore boats were complaining of little action outside the reef and most were looking to the reef to provide what little action there was to be had, where they were finding some mackerel, muttons and barracudas. Today has seen an upswing with some nice wahoo up to 60# being reported along with a good number of sailfish. The blackfin tuna and bonito action has held up over the deep-water wrecks, especially for those using pilchards for live chum. The kingfish action is very sporadic on the south side, however there have been a few fish taken on live bait in the 30# class. With winds out of the north and the temperature as cold as it has been, the big surprise is the number of dolphin in the 12 to15 pound class that continue to show up at the docks. Even though the bottom fishing has been fairly slow, those who are persistent have been rewarded with some very large mutton snapper up to nearly 20 pounds as well as some nice black grouper. After the moon passes its full stage, expect the bottom fishing to pick up as long as the current remains as slow as it has been. Large yellowtails remain active along the edge of the reef for those willing to use enough chum to hold them there.
The Quicksands remain fairly clear and the western wrecks are holding good numbers of jacks and ciro mackerel. The cobia have not shown as of yet and time is running out for them in this area.
The gulf is a little cloudy near the keys and clear further north. This is ideal for kingfish and spanish mackerel and some boats have reported kingfish to 40 pounds on live bait. Most of the action has centered north and west of Ellis Rock. The spanish mackerel have been a little east of that. The birds will show you where the mackerel are. With the winds mostly out of the north, few boats have ventured very far north, so there has been no reports of cobia in the gulf as of yet.
The water on the flats has been around 65 degrees in the morning and around 70 degrees in the afternoon. This means slow action for those plying the shallow water. Only a few barracuda and sharks have been reported along the ocean side of the flats. This will probably be the norm until the water warms up again.
That’s it for now. Tight lines and good fishing.
Captain Ralph Delph
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