Offhsore bite good.... Tarpon hot at the 7 mile bridge!!
Capt. Bob Brown
May 8, 2011
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
The offshore fishing in the middle Keys has been excellent for Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) for the past few weeks with some larger fish starting to show up regularly in catches hitting the docks in Marathon and at the 7 mile marina. Some nice Blackfin tuna have been hugging the reef edge lately in the 150-250 ft plateau along with plenty of smaller Mahi's and a few large fish pushing flying fish around on days with southerly winds. The main vain of schools of fish has been located from 13-20 miles offshore and on days when there is no weed lines to fish around, bird activity as been the ticket to finding the schools of Mahi. Larger bull and cow dolphin have been found under frigate birds lately so have a larger bait ready to pitch when you see the frigate bird down on the water. Trolling billy baits, jigs, and rigged ballyoo has been the way to score dolphin, and some baits trolled deeper or deep diver plugs have been producing a nice wahoo or two offshore of the 600ft level. Swordfish have been slower than in recent months due to the windier conditions, but the winds have laid down the past two days and I expect some good reports from the swordfish grounds to be coming in very soon.
The opening of Grouper season has seen some very nice black, gag and red grouper hitting the dock at the 7 mile marina this week. Some in the 30lb class!! Snapper remains a bit slow, but should heat up when we get some current on the reef.
Tarpon fishing at the famous 7 mile bridge and bahia honda bridges has been fantastic, but a bit of a slow up at Bahia Honda this week has been reported by some of the top guides who fish there regularly during the day. My response to that is, get out there earlier, mostly in the dark. When the water gets very clear from calm conditions with light tides, then it is time to fish around dawn and dusk and in the dark. Leave the daylight to the grouper and dolphin and tarpon fish in the dark!! However, with that said, the bite at the 7 mile bridge has been excellent in daylight hours using mullet as bait and several captains in the past few days report catching 4-5 tarpon on a trip while jumping off 4-5 more. Plenty good action on a short trip. Ideal time to go is about 5AM or 5PM and get yourself a good hour of in the dark fishing... Tarpon fishing should remain excellent in the Keys through June so if you were thinking on getting down here for some tarpon action, don't hesitate, get your plans made!!!
Bayside shark and snapper action has been excellent as well, so the keys are hitting on all cylinders right now so take some time away from all that work and get on down here for some great fishing! If you want more info on fishing the Keys and in the Marathon area, check out our web site. Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
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