Yearly Archives: 2013

After a period of almost continous high winds we have been enjoying much better weather this week. The Sailfish bite is very steady with lots of multiple hookups. We have been producing a couple of caught Sails on recent half days along with Dolphin and Tuna. Live Ballyhoo have been the bait of choice. Looking ahead over the next several weeks, I anticipate the Sailfish action to continue to improve because of the amount of Ballyhoo which are congregating on the reef edge.

We have been plagued during the last week with windy conditions. On days when we’ve been able to get out the fishing has been reasonably good. The fish don’t mind rough seas and in fact often bite better when there is a chop on the surface. The Sailfish action has temporarily slowed down although I’m sure it will improve again after our latest cold front. In place of the Sails, we’ve been catching more Dolphin and both Skipjack and Blackfin Tuna. We haven’t done much reef fishing lately but when we have, the Yellowtail Snapper have been consistent.

We have been enjoying an excellent run of Sailfish over the last week. Six to eight bites a day has been the norm. Rather than live baiting as we normally do, we have had good success trolling fresh dead swimming Ballyhoo in combination with various natural bait teasers. We’ve been raising a lot of fish to the teasers and getting a lot of flat line bites, great visuals and good fun. In addition to the Sails we’ve been catching Blackfin Tuna, Skipjack Tuna and the occasional Dolphin.

Fishing action in Key West over the last week has been transitioning from the summer orientation of off shore trolling to a focus on the reef edge and the waters ajacent to the reef. Sailfish numbers are increasing. We are catching them both by trolling with dead bait and by deploying live bait. The Sailfish pictured in this report was caught by Robert Lessler on 15 pound test from an anchored boat. Fishing the reef remains productive for Yellowtail Snapper with a few Muttons and Cero Mackerel in the mix. Our first real cold front of the season is arriving today. Look for much improved fishing as the weather cools down.

Key West is a great fishing location about 9 months of the year but late summer and early fall are pretty much off season. It is an ideal time to get away and enjoy a completely different fishing experience. For the third year in a row I traveled to Canada to participate in the the worlds best Giant Bluefin Tuna fishing. Fishing for these behemoths is the ultimate heavy tackle fishing experience. All of the fish pictured weighed over 600 pounds.

Fishing has improved since our last report was filed. Plenty of Dolphin remain in the area including fish of over 20 pounds. We have caught two White Marlin in back to back days this week as well as jumping off a Sailfish. Large numbers of Little Tunny can be found from the edge of the reef out to 500′ with the occasionsal Blackfin and Wahoo mixed in. On the reef edge there has been a steady bite of Mangrove, Yellowtail, and Mutton snappers along with Cero and King Mackerel. Various Shark species are also plentiful. A rare Great White shark was also observed by a number of boats.

Dolphin fishing has been unreliable over the last 10 days. On some days we’ve found birds, weed and debris but nothing except small throwback fish. Other days there has been no weed and very few birds to work so we’ve had to rely on getting a bite “out of the blue”. We fished a two day Dolphin tournament and inspite of looking far and wide, caught nothing of any size. The next day we caught a 35lb Bull Dolphin which would have been among the largest in the Tournament- go figure. We have also caught a couple of Billfish in the last several trips, most notably a Blue Marlin of approximately 175 pounds, that’s him in the picture below featuring the big splash. We also caught a Sailfish a day earlier to go along with schoolie Dolphin.

The best of the Dolphin fishing has moved well offshore and is associated with where we can find mats of Sargassum weed or pieces of floating debris. On a number of days recently we have found ourselves more than 30 miles offshore. Successful Dolphin fishing from here on will require full days so we have the time to get out to the fish. For 1/2 day trips we can fish the reef for Snapper or troll inshore for Kings, Bonita, Wahoo and the occasional Sail.

The offshore fishing action remains very steady. We are putting a catch together every day. Dolphin, Wahoo and Tuna with the occasional Billfish bite comprise most of the action. Deep water wrecks are holding Amberjack and Mutton Snapper.

The full moon for May is upon us. Dolphin action offshore is steady, plenty of school fish with a few larger ones each day to round out the catch. We continue to get a few Sailfish bites offshore along with Wahoo. In along the reef there have been decent concentrations of spawning snapper