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Marathon, Florida Keys
Capt. Bob Brown
December 16, 2001
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
Dolphin Scramble
All the great warm weather we have been having here in the Florida Keys has kept some of the warm weather species hanging around in good numbers - especially the Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi). Recently we had Lake Erie Capt. Gary Hopp and wife Peg out for a trip of offshore fishing and found a nice weed line in 600ft. of water loaded with nice schoolie sized Dolphin. While having great fun catching schoolies on light tackle, all of a sudden some larger fish intruded on the scene and Peg was soon hooked up to a 35lb. Bull. Gary also hooked up a large fish but unfortunately the tackle was too light for his fish as it released itself. Peg fought the large fish until it was tired and gave way to Gary to haul it to the boat at the end. We also managed to catch another female Mahi around 20lb. to go with a bunch of nice schoolies. We left them biting and went on to to some wreck fishing where we landed one nice Black Grouper around 20lb for dinner before heading in. Stories like this have been common from the middle Keys in recent days as far as the Dolphin fihsng goes. Run offshore and look for the weed lines or floating debris. Troll with Ballyhoo or lures and have a few live baits on hand to cast to the larger fish if they show up. Lets hope this great Dolphin fishing last all winter!
Yellowtail on the Bite!
The reef fishing for Yellowtail Snapper has been excellent lately, but a few large sharks have made it a bit difficult to get the fish in the boat. The best depth for the big "flag" sized Tails has been the 60-90' range and several areas have been hot lately. Nice Mangrove Snapper have been coming in from the shallow patch reefs and from the humps in Hawk's Channel. A few nice Snapper have been coming in from the bridges, especially the 7 mile bridge, but has still been a bit spotty compared to how it should be this time of year.
Bayside Cobia Action
The Cobia action in Florida Bay and the gulf wrecks has been decent lately and should be on the increase as well as the waters cool in the northern Gulf of Mexico in the next couple months. Some wrecks have been holding some nice schools of Cobia along with some nice Grouper and a few nice Mangroves. Bunches of Jacks and Sharks along with an occasional Goliath Grouper also inhabit the gulfside wrecks and plenty of great action has been happening out there recently.
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