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Marathon, Florida Keys
Capt. Bob Brown
May 7, 2001
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Dolphin Scramble!
The offshore fishing off of Marathon and the middle Keys lately has been dominated by Dolphin. The breezy conditions have kept most private anglers off the water the past week or two, but charter boats have been venturing out and scoring big time on nice Dolphin. Most fish have been in the "schoolie" class of up to 15lb., but some nicer fish have been hitting the docks up to 45lb. this week! There has been some good weed lines in the 400-600 ft. range in the past two days full of schoolie Dolphin and a few larger fish coming through under frigate birds. A few nice Wahoo have also been reported coming in from around floating debris.
A few Sailfish have been caught lately off of Marathon. With most boats targeting Dolphin and rough seas limiting the movement of boats, the Sailfish bite actually is a bit of a mystery right now. It should still be happening with all this east wind. Look for tailing Sails if you are ventuing out the next few days in the 100-200ft. range.
Tarpon need a warm up!
The water temperature at the bridges here off of Marathon has been hovering around the 73-74 degree mark the past two weeks or so and the Tarpon have been hanging around and wating for the next heat wave. Some days the Tarpon action has been red hot especially at Bahia Honda bridge, but even there, they have had a slow morning or evening lately. The main reason is the cooler than normal water temp along with consistant winds from the NE at around 20+ knots. This breeze won't allow the water to heat up to it's normal 78-80 degree mark for early to mid May. Once the breeze calms down, the fishing should go through the roof again and the Tarpon should be biting! Even through the rough conditions, we have had some excellent catches. Yesterday morning, our anglers Bert, Matt, and John Copeland of Jupiter, FL. landed two large Tarpon in the 125-150lb. class. The larger fish put on quite a show and even caused some other boats some anchoring problems around the Seven Mile Bridge as we chased him around the pilings!
Good luck in all of your fishing adventures!
Capt. Bob Brown, Jr.
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