Sailfish Continue to heat up in the middle Florida Keys!
Capt. Bob Brown
December 3, 2010
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Recent cool fronts have pushed lots of sailfish down the coast into the warmer waters of the middle Keys and the bite has been excellent! Large schools of baitfish hanging out on the edge of the reefs from Tennessee Light to American Shoal have been providing some hot action for sailfish as they move up onto the reef to feed. The locations of the sailfish are being highlighted by the working frigate birds that are dipping in the areas where the larger fish are pushing baitfish around on the surface. Sometimes packs of Sailfish along with some other predators like Dolphin (Mahi), Wahoo, Cobia, Barracuda, and even Blackfin Tuna have been working these schools of ballyhoo along the reef edge. Look for the circling frigate birds and when the dip down to the water, that is the place you want to be as there is definitely a large predator fish there working the school. Have some live baits handy to pitch out to the feeding Sailfish. Ballyhoo, Pilchards, and other local baits like blue runner or threadfin herring are good bets. When they are feeding on ballyhoo, they really want to eat ballyhoo. So you may have to save your other live baits for the deeper edge of the reef around the 90-130ft range where other sailfish might be that have not yet discovered the ballyhoo schools in the shallow waters on top of the reef.
Reef fishing has been fantastic around Marathon this week! Lots of nice Cero Mackerel are showing up on the patch reefs along with some nice Mangrove Snapper, Black, Red and Gag Grouper, and plenty of yellowtail snapper. All great eating and fun to catch! Some sharks are showing up too for you young tough people who want to battle jaws!!
Cobia are starting to show up in the gulf side and the mackerel bite north of Marathon in Florida Bay is red hot right now. Mangrove snapper fishing has been excellent in the calm waters of the bay also and can be a great day for those anglers who prefer to stay away from the larger waves that might exist in the Atlantic.
Some smaller tarpon are showing up at the bridges around Marathon and some snook are munching the lights out at the Long Key Bridge lately. Good weather and fishing is to be had this week in the middle Keys so come and get you some!!
Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
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