Tarpon Time is Here!
Capt. Bob Brown
March 30, 2008
Marathon - Saltwater Fishing Report
The annual run of big migratory Tarpon is rolling into the local waters around Marathon and the other middle Keys and some big fish are showing up at all locations. Tarpon migrate into the keys in March, with April through June being the peak months to catch a large fish. There are always some Tarpon around in the keys, but the spring is the time to catch the larger fish and in good numbers. The other morning at the 7 mile bridge here in Marathon we hooked two large Tarpon but unfortunately both came unglued from the hook. But I did see some fish working around Key West bank and Pigeon Key. I have also seen some schools of Tarpon on the wrecks out in Florida bay so it is just a matter of time before good numbers of fish show up at Bahia Honda and the 7 mile bridges.
Dolphin are also showing up in better numbers the past few days with tons of small 'schoolie' sized fish infiltrating the offshore waters of Marathon on the Atlantic side. Some of the schools of Dolphin were undersized however yesterday with the larger more keeper sized fish out in 650ft on out to 30 miles offshore. The smaller fish were in 500ft and inshore from there so if you are looking for keepers, you may have to burn a bit more of that $4.00 per gallon fuel.
Some Blackfin Tuna were being caught yesterday at the Marathon west hump out in the Gulfstream, but because the weather was fairly calm, the boat traffic put the fish down for the middle part of the day. If you want to score well on decent sized Blackfin Tuna at the humps, you may want to go early or stay late. Mid day is ok when there are only a few boats out there but sometimes the boats run the fish over time and time again putting them down and slowing activity. If this happens look a mile or two around the hump and sometimes the fish that still want to feed will push into the current (SW) and move a mile or two. Trolling with squid lures works well along with Ballyhoo trolled way back. Jigging the hump with butterfly jigs has also produced well and live baiting with pilchards and ballyhoo works great once the fish are brought to the surface with plenty of chumming.
Reef fishing in the area has been good this week with the easterly current ripping along the reef edge. Yellowtail snapper have been cooperative and some nice Black Grouper have also been hitting the docks. Goliath Grouper seem to be moving in on all the reef areas now, something we have not seen until the past couple years. They are literally taking over the wrecks in Florida Bay, but they are also showing up in decent numbers on the Atlantic side patch reefs and deep reef edge. Hopefully we will see a rule change in the near future to allow a small take of the fish formerly known as the Jewfish to keep the numbers under control.
If you are looking for some great fishing in the Florida Keys, Marathon and the middle keys are a great bet. If you would like more info on fishing in the Keys, check out our web site. Good luck in all your fishing adventures!
Capt Bob Brown, Jr.
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