Key Largo and The Upper Florida Keys

Capt. Marc Blackburn
May 14, 2007
Key Largo - Saltwater Fishing Report

Dolphin and tarpon fishing are heating up in the Florida Keys and Key Largo!

Well fishing has really picked up this week in the Florida Keys! Some of the bigger dolphin are out there now, along with lots of good sized school fish! We caught two fish yesterday; both were well over the 30 pounds! What was really exciting was my anglers were able to sight cast to the fish and both fish were caught on 12 pound test line off of Key Largo! The day before produced one fish in that weight class but also lots of school fish in the 10 pound class.

The fish have been hard to entice though. There is still a lot of bait out there and the fish all seem to have full bellies. We caught a sailfish last week while trolling for dolphin and have seen alot of free jumping billfish. We had a blue marlin grab a schoolie dolphin and it always pays to put one out while you’re working a school of smaller fish.

On the rips and sea mounts the tuna bite is still good, the amberjacks have slowed down on the Key Largo hills, but that only helps the fact that now you can target the yellow-eye and blackfin snapper! We C-R-U-S-H-E-D them yesterday! They are great to eat and we were catching them three at a time. The reef fishing has been excellent at night and will get even better on the full moon.

Inshore, the tarpon are the game, their here now in a big way. They average 50 to 100 pounds. They're probably the hardest fish to land in the ocean. They are aggressive feeders, but difficult to put in the boat! It's a release fishery and they have no ''bill" to hold on too! Snook fishing is great and you are aloud to eat these tasty critters!

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