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Marathon, Florida Keys

Capt. Bob Brown
March 26, 2003
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report

Offshore - Cobia Rule!

Lots of seasonal Cobia showing up on the ocean side of the Keys and Marathon lately. Some good numbers of Cobia have been found and caught lately offshore of Marathon and west to American shoals. The fish have either been just tailing (or cruising the surface down sea) or have been found near large leatherback turtles, Manta Rays, and Whale Sharks. Another guide out of my marina found a large Whale shark today moving slowly west off of the 7 mile bridge in 115 ft of water and the shark was covered with more than a hundred cobia up to 70lb. The smaller ones were release and the party had their limit of fish from 35-60lb. We were in the area a couple days ago of a large manta ray that had 30 or so fish on it when another charter captain called us over to his location where we caught a large Cobia and lost several more before the Ray dove deep. These sightings have been common for the past couple weeks and lots of nice fish have been hitting the docks. A few Sailfish have been caught lately along with the Cobia along the color change that has been consistantly out there at around 200-300ft. The next big east wind should prove to have some great Sailfish action if the color change and current situation remain intact.

Dolphin fishing has been a bit spotty lately off of Marathon as a large area of cooler water has moved in offshore in 300ft. of water out as far as 20 miles. It is strange to see this kind of condition, and probably is due to the severely cold January in the Gulf region which cooled the water down to as low as 62 off of the Keys. The natural flow of the Gulfstream drags some of the gulf water along with it and may be causing this. The water in on the reef edge has been around 80 degres and the water offshore yesterday was about 73. This could change any day as the water is moving east and a good rate lately at around 2.5 knots. Look for Dolphin fishing to improve as the water warms or moves out of the area all together.

Tarpon Action Hot!

The Tarpon fishing at the famous 7 mile bridge has busted loose again after a bit of a slow period in the middle of March. Our anglers, Pete and Loretta Feeney of Newcastle, DE. fought 4 large Tarpon a couple mornings ago and missed a few others as the bite was on. Pete also had a large Hammerhead Shark attack one of his tarpon and it was in the 600lb range! Quite a site to see. Good thing the Tarpon escaped, but was running scared and put on quite a show close to the boat. Look for the Tarpon bite to improve even more in the coming weeks with Bahia Honda Bridge starting to heat up by early April. Good Tarpon action has also been reported at the Long Key bridge and at other bridges in the Islamorada area. If you would like more info on Tarpon fishing in the Marathon area check out our website.

Good luck in all of your fishing adventures!

Capt. Bob Brown, Jr.

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Light tackle sportfishing for Sailfish, Tarpon, and other sport fish in the middle Florida Keys. Since 1980 Capt Bob has been putting anglers on the big fish! Offshore, reef/wreck, Gulf wrecks, and Tarpon fishing. Live bait specialist, tournament winners!

Contact Info:

Sundance Sportfishing Adventures
PO Box 504345
Marathon, FL 33050
Phone: 800-282-1712
Alt. Phone: 305-289-1542
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