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Marathon, Florida Keys
Capt. Bob Brown
January 28, 2001
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Kings Rule!!
The King Mackerel action in the Marathon and middle Keys area has been scorching hot lately. Nice sized Kings up to 40lb. have been coming in from the reef edge in anywhere from 50-200ft. of water. Several traditional hotspots have had an abundance of Kings and only a short period of time has been required to catch a limit of Kings for a charter party. Live bait fishermen trying to catch Grouper and Snapper in the deep reef area have had a hard time getting the baits to the bottom without the Kings biting off the hooks. Best baits for scoring on the King Macks are trolling Ballyhoo mostly using a deep planing device or downrigger. Also, slow trolling live bait such as Pilchards or Ballyhoo with a 12 oz. weight down about 40-50 ft. produces many Kingfish attacks. Make sure you use a wire leader and a stinger hook is a must. I use a treble hook for a stinger and a regular hook to hook the baitfish in the nose. Bucktail jigs tipped with shrimp and flashy silver spoons also work well for Kings. An erratic and fast retrieve is the ticket when casting for them.
The Sailfish action has been fair this past week as green, dirty water moved into the Sailfish target area earlier in the week. The hard Northwest wind pushed some dirty water out into the 200+ ft level and caused the hot areas to cool down a bit. There were still a few sails caught during this time, but many fewer than we have been getting. Now that the wind has turned back to the east, look for the action to heat back up again as blue water gets pushed in from offshore. A good color change condition should start to form the next couple of days and the bite could bust loose again with large numbers of Sails.
Tarpon time just around the corner!
Our favorite inshore gamefish, the Tarpon, should be starting to increase in numbers here in the middle Keys in the next few weeks. I've already seen some Tarpon at the 7Mile bridge in the past couple of weeks, and as February wears on, look for more and more of the large migratory fish to show up at the Keys bridges. Just before the last cold front, Tarpon guide Jeff Napp, who docks next to me, caught several Tarpon after dark at the 7 mile bridge. One even was over 80 lb! Nothing can match the great Tarpon action here off of Marathon once it heats up! Now is the time to set up your Tarpon trips! For more info on Tarpon fishing in the middle Keys, check out our website!
Good luck in all of your fishing adventures!
Capt. Bob Brown, Jr.
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