Key Largo and The Upper Florida Keys

Capt. Marc Blackburn
February 3, 2007
Key Largo - Saltwater Fishing Report

Warm weather continues in the Florida Keys

The last 6 weeks has been extremely warm for this time of year. We may set a new record high today with temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s. The warm weather has caused to sailfish bite to slow down tremendously and we have been targeting other species such as tuna, kingfish, cero mackerel, grouper, snapper and sharks.

Tuna fishing has been outstanding when the weather has allowed the 17 mile ride offshore to the Islamorada Hump. Both trolling and live bait fishing with pilchards have produced very good numbers and size on the blackfin tuna. Wahoo have also been in the area of the hump also in numbers. We went 2 for 4 on 30 pound fluorocarbon a couple of weeks ago when all four lines were hit by wahoo.

King mackerel fishing has been producing some very nice fish just outside of the reek the last few weeks. Many fish over 20 pounds and up to 35 pounds have been taken using live pilchards and ballyhoo. The cero mackerel have been very abundant both on the Oceanside and bayside. On several occasions the wind has been blowing over 20 knots and anglers have decided to go bayside to stay out of the large swells. These trips have produced very large numbers of cero mackerel up to 10 pounds and some great shark fishing. Ron Howell released a 250 pound bull shark and two spinner sharks well over 100 pounds his last trip out there on Monday.

The red grouper fishing has picked up very nicely the last couple of weeks with fish up to 15 pounds common. The mutton snapper bite also remains strong with fish up to 20 pounds. Yellowtail snapper fishing continues to produce very good numbers of fish both on the patch reefs and in the deeper waters just outside the edge.

It is a great time of year for fishing in the Florida Keys with many options available. On a full day we often change things up by doing some offshore and reef fishing. Dauntless Charters is located in Key Largo, Florida just minutes north of Islamorada and an hour south of the Miami airport. If you are planning a trip to Key West, stop for a day or two and check out the Upper Keys. The fishing and diving here are the best in all the Florida Keys.

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