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Key West Fishing Report - Offshore
Capt. Ralph Delph
January 23, 2001
Key West - Saltwater Fishing Report
It seems that everyone is complaining about how cold it has been, however I find my glass half full rather than half empty. As long as the cool weather persists, the winter species will persist. With the passage of the last cold front, the fishing has cooled off as well, but as soon as the winds moderate, I expect the kingfishing to explode. Just before the frontal passage, large kings were stacking up in the gulf and responding to all baits offered. Mary Filiault and Reberta Arostegui had a hay day on world records on the fly rod when they posted a total of nine new entries.
The water temperature along the reef has been around 71 degrees and the water has been quite clear, though showing a lot of green. The Gulfstream has moved in close to the reef, to the west of Cosgrove light and is moving this way. When it gets to Sand Key light, expect the pelagic species to be here with it. That means a return of sailfish, wahoo and blackfin tuna. The last two weeks have seen some great sailfish days with some anglers getting up to six shots a day on fly. The blackfin tuna action has slowed with the last front but expect it to get hot again in the upcoming week. The bottom fishing has been great with good catches of large mutton and red snappers as well as red and scamp grouper, however with the current picking up, as the Gulfstream moves in close to the reef, you will have to work extra hard to bag the bottom dwellers.
The reef has been yielding some good catches of yellowtail and cero mackerel and with the water becoming more turbid, you can expect the action to get even better. Dropping one of the live yellowtail to the bottom while you are fishing may yield a nice black grouper. Jack Crevalle have been under the birds inside the reef and in Hawks Channel, some pushing the 25# class. Surface skipping lures have been working well, when retrieved very fast.
A few smaller cobia have been taken from the gulf this past week and the cooler weather should push more to the south. This coming week should prove to be good to great fishing for cobia and smoker kings in the green waters of the gulf.
Unfortunately, those plying the shallow water have had only barracuda and sharks to hold their interest and with this blast of cooler weather and water, expect things to get even tougher.
That’s it for now. Tight lines and good fishing
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