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Marathon, Florida Keys
Capt. Bob Brown
November 18, 2007
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sailfish Heating Up!
Sailfish season is here once again and the bite has started to heat up off the upper Keys. It should continue to improve all over the Keys waters as the cooler weather settles in for the winter season. As water temps cool, the sails move into the baitfish rich waters of the middle Keys and tend to hang out for the winter. We catch Sailfish all year long in the middle Keys but prime time is December through April. December through February are considered peak months but we had great action last season all the way through April so if your plans to come to the Keys are more towards spring, you will still have a good shot at catching Sailfish.
A few Dolphin have been in the mix when targeting Sailfish. While fishing the Sailfish Cup tournament this past week out of Miami beach, we caught several nice Mahi's while kite fishing. Sailfishing was good in that area as well with the winning boats (not us this time....) catching 14 fish in the two day event.
Reef Bite Right
The reef fishing off of Marathon for Grouper and Snapper has been excellent lately with large Yellowtail Snapper being the main squeeze on the reef. Nice black grouper have also been hitting the docks along with some large mutton snapper. Yellowtail action has been best in 80-90ft of water chumming with a west bound current. Some King mackerel are starting to show up along with some Cero Mackerel on the shallower patch reefs.
Bay Biting
Spanish Mackerel have been hot in Florida Bay north of Marathon from 7-15 miles out. Find the grassy bottom area in about 9-13ft of water and start chumming. Jigs tipped with shrimp, spoons, and other artificials work good on the ferocious critters. Some nice Goliath grouper have been out on the wrecks and in holes in the bay along with some large mangrove snapper and Bluefish.
Tarpon Are Around
Tarpon fishing can be hit or miss this time of year with mostly smaller resident fish available to target. The other night a friend of mine caught 7 Tarpon from 30-50lb fishing near the 7 mile bridge after dark on plugs. That is a good sign that the tarpon season will be hot this year! Best to target them in the dark in the winter months and use smaller live baits such as pinfish, crabs or shrimp. Or plugs and jigs work good in the dark. If you are interested in more info on Tarpon fishing in the middle Florida Keys, check out our web site. Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
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