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Offshore is the way to go in the Keys
Capt. Bob Brown
February 18, 2009
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
With King and Spanish Mackerel dominating the reef areas of the Keys recently, lots of anglers have turned to offshore fishing to get some good table fare in recent days. With the water temps being much cooler than normal, the reef fishing for snapper and grouper, especially yellowtail snapper has been tough lately as they lay in waiting for the waters to warm up again. This has allowed the Mackerel to move in and take over the reef. It has been a super big Mack attack all up and down the line, and it is super fun for all. Most Keys fishermen prefer to eat grouper or snapper to mackerel and since the bite has been off, why not turn to the warm waters of the gulfstream for some Tuna, Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi), Wahoo and Swordfish. All top of the line table fare. Calm weather prevailed this past weekend and lots of boats were offshore and found it to thier liking catching some good numbers of Dolphin. They have been spread all over the place from the 100ft level off the reef edge, on out to 30 miles out where swordfish anglers were treated to some good numbers of Mahis that wandered by while they were dropping for swords. Swordfish were caught this week as well with some over the 200lb mark hitting the docks. Most fish were less than 150lb however on the swordfish scene. Blackfin tuna action was hot at the offshore humps with some 30lb fish being caught while live baiting or deep jigging. This bite should continue as long as the weather holds. Looks like we have a series of cold fronts coming again, so I figure this trend to continue through February.
The florida bay action has been hot on spanish mackerel north of Vaca key and mangrove snapper around the banks near East and west bahia honda keys. Gulf wrecks have been producing some large Kings, Cobia, Goliath Grouper, and Sharks. Big Mangrove snapper have been on the wrecks about 10 miles north of town also. As long as we don't get another extended or extreme cold period, the bite in the calm waters of Florida Bay should continue to be good. If you would like more info on fishing in the middle Florida Keys, check out our web site. Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
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