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Key West Fishing Report - Offshore
Capt. Ralph Delph
February 15, 2003
Key West - Saltwater Fishing Report
With water temperatures along the edge of the reef hovering around the 71-degree mark, conditions could hardly be better. The Gulfstream continues to be far to the south, however, sailfish, wahoo, blackfin tuna, and kingfish action has been good, primarily in the area around the west end of The Bar. Live bait has been hard to come by and the trolling boats have been the primary benefactors of the situation. Large numbers of black grouper have made their presents known as they gather for their annual spawn. Mutton snappers have been scarce, however the large numbers of red snappers have more than made up for the lack of the former. Yellowtail have been sporadic with some anglers reporting good fishing and others reporting slow fishing.
Inshore, Spanish mackerel continues to be a plague to anyone casting jigs with mono leaders. The cobias have been in good numbers around the western wrecks in the area of the quick sands. Some fish have been running up into the 70# class, but smaller ones are the norm.
The gulf has been yielding some good catches of cobia and kingfish up to the 30# class and mangrove snapper fishing has been active around the wrecks and shoals. Permit have been reported around some of the wrecks. This is the time of year that permit will often exceed 30# with some topping the 40# mark.
Key West harbor is alive with tarpon. Some anglers have reported in excess of 15 tarpon per day. These fish are responding best to shrimp boat chum. Some of the fly boys are hitting the fish early in the morning and having good results. The big permit should be showing up soon, along with cobia.
Although the temperature has been around 68 degrees, the flats have been active with large permit and very large sharks. Bob Felisian took advantage when he landed a potential world record 256# lemon shark on fly. Tarpon have been in good supply on the west side of the Marquises, but seem to be a little timid to the fly. The fish around Pearl Basin and the Harbor have been more cooperative. The best action has been just after sunrise, before the boat traffic picks up.
That’s it for now. Tight lines and good fishing.
Capt. Ralph Delph
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