Reef Bite On Fire In Marathon
Capt. Bob Brown
February 11, 2010
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
The cool weather fronts we have had recently have the Snapper and Grouper avoiding the cooler waters of Florida Bay, and have been making thier way out to the Atlantic side patch reefs where the fishing has been fantastic! Large Mangrove Snapper have dominated some areas along with Cero Mackerel and King Mackerel. Groupers of all varieties have been prominent as well with many "would be" keeper sized fish being released due to the present closed season on them. Amberjacks, Cobia, Mutton Snapper, Sharks, Barracuda, and some other suprise fish like Blackfin Tuna have been hanging around the deeper wrecks and deeper reef areas over 100ft of water.
Sailfish have been around the 100-250ft depth range along with lots of large King Mackerel up to 40lb. The area off of Delta Shoal near Sombrero light was particularly hot this week for big King Mackerel with a few sails and Mahi-Mahi mixed in as well on the south wind days. Cool fronts are ruling the fishing landscape right now with a front coming in about every 4th day as we have had the winds going around the clock the past few weeks about as fast as the hours on the clock!
Offshore fishing has been good for Blackfin Tuna at the west hump and there have been some scattered Dolphin (Mahi) around debris on the way out and back from the humps. Some nice Wahoo have been taken way offshore by some adventurous anglers but recent breezy conditions have kept most boats nearer to shore.
Florida bay has been up and down lately since the big cold snap in January that dropped the water temps down 30 degrees and pushed lots of the bay inhabitants out onto the Atlantic side to avoid the cooler waters. Recent trips to the bayside by charters out of the 7 mile marina here in Marathon have produced some decent Mangrove Snapper and lots of Spanish Mackerel to go with some Bluefish and some Jacks and other less desireable critters. If you would like more info on fishing in the Marathon and middle Keys area, check out our web site. Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
Capt Bob Brown, Jr.
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