Sailfish Heating up in the middle Keys!
Capt. Bob Brown
November 15, 2010
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Sailfish bite is "ON" in the middle Keys and some good numbers of fish have been showing up along the reef edge this week. Most of the action has been going on right on the outer patch reefs as the Sails push up onto the reef in search of Ballyhoo and other baitfish. Birds working over the top of the baitfish have been giving away the location of the fish, and anglers wanting to battle a sailfish have been finding them under the birds. Live ballyoo or pilchards are the bait of choice when the fish are working in this fashion, so have some fresh live hoos on board for the best possible bite. Look for the baitfish to be 'showering' or 'spraying' as we say, or for the birds working. Charter boats working the area have been finding the sails in as shallow as 20ft of water as they move up on the reef chasing baitfish. Some boats have been catching multiple fish at once and some releases in double digits has been reported this week.
While waiting for the ballyhoo to come up in the chum line, local capts this week have been putting together good catches on the patch reefs of Mangrove Snapper, Grouper, Mackerel, and a variety of other good eating critters. Once you have your ballyhoo, then the hunt is on for sails and other large bluewater fish like Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) and blackfin Tuna that have been coming up on the reef for the feast also. Big mutton snapper have also been cruising under the schools of baitfish, so some nice surpises are to be had now with the current condition.
Some sailfish have been caught while regular live bait fishing in 90-120ft of water also, and some nice Mahi have been coming in from the 200-500ft range as well. Blackfin tuna have been plentiful offshore at the Marathon west hump, but plenty of shark activity has made it tough to land the Tuna in recent trips.
Bayside of Marathon has been excellent for Mangrove snapper, Spanish Mackerel, Jacks, Goliath Grouper, SHARKS, etc... Several charter operations out of Marathon are now running shark adventure charters (strictly catch and release) in the calm waters of FL Bay. Call us or check out our web site for more information.
Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
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