Monthly Archives: August 2016

After a terrible month of May during which the annual Dolphin migration never really materialized, fishing during June has been very uneven. On longer days we have elected to go offshore but results have been inconsistent. Some days we’ve found a few Dolphin and return to the dock with 10-12 fish, although there has been little in the way of weed lines and very few birds. We have been getting a few billfish bites in addition to the Dolphin, mostly Sailfish but also the occasional Blue Marlin and White Marlin. other days it seems like an empty ocean and we have had to run far and wide to avoid being skunked. On shorter days we have fished the reef and produced some decent catches of flag Yellowtail and big Muttons. Other days with poor current conditions we have struggled to catch a few Yellowtail. Very inconsistent. All in all, the disappointing season continues.

In a normal year we think of April in Key West as being one of the finest fishing months. This is a month when seemingly everything is biting. Sailfish are typically abundant as they begin their spring migration along with Cobia and some of the largest Blackfin Tuna of the year. Dolphin also typically put in an appearance as the early fish arrive in our area. Along the reef edge King Mackerel are still common and Snapper and Grouper fishing continues strongly.

This year the month of April has frankly been a disappointment. The Sailfish migration has been slow to non existant and Tuna and Cobia have been scarce. We have relied on reef fishing to provide action for our clients. On many days we have done a little bit of everything from trolling to live baiting to bottom fishing in order to maximize our chances.