Today we began the day anchored up in the deep water(210′). We had an ideal light current condition which paid off with the capture of 3 African Pompano. These beautiful hard fighters are quite uncommon. We kept one to eat and released the other two. In the afternoon we moved inshore to the reef edge and caught Yellowtail, Cero and Yellowjack.
We went offshore yesterday and ran 25 miles south of Key West before finding anything to fish on. Finally a piece of debris with 5 or 6 eight to ten pound Dolphin on it. We worked further south, the furthest offshore we have been all summer and found a short weedline with another 4 or 5 gaffer Dolphin on it. Later we found a pallet which was also holding a few gaffers. We ran back in to 600′ and found Frigate birds working over Skipjack Tuna and finished the day by catching 4 Skipjack to add to the dozen Dolphin caught earlier.
We have had a mixed bag of fishing opportunities during the month of September. Offshore a few Dolphin remain. Most of these fish have been between 8 and 10 pounds with a few larger ones mixed in. We are also finding schools of Skipjack Tuna and Blackfin Tuna, generally inside of the wall. Deep dropping in the 600′ range has been productive for Snowy Grouper, Tile Fish and Rosefish. Further inshore there are King Mackerel up to 25 pounds hanging around wrecks and rough bottom in 150′ to 200′. We are also catching Mutton Snapper and Amberjacks in this depth. The reef has been hot and cold for Yellowtail depending on current. There have been plenty of large sharks around as well for those who want to tangle with them.
We have had some decent reef fishing over the last few days. On Thurs Aug 13th we started in 75′ along the bar west of Key West. The 2 lb Yellowtail bit very well and we caught 30 in short order. We also had several Barracuda and a Black Grouper in the 15lb range which was cut off behind the pec fins by a shark before we could boat him. Ballyhoo showed up in the chum slick so we added a couple dozen to the live well before moving to a 160′ ledge. Out in the deeper water we caught several Amberjack, a 25lb King Mack and 1 out of 3 Cobia. On Sat Aug 15th we again fished the reef in the morning before the squally weather which later became tropical storm Claudette forced us back to the dock. The Yellowtail were larger, averaging 3.5 lbs.
The offshore fishing had been disappointing over the past 10 days or so, but in the last several days has improved significantly. Large Dolphin have moved back into the area. Today we had 6 fish between 20 and 30 pounds to go along with a few schoolies and 4 or 5 gaffers. Reef fishing for Yellowtail Snapper remains pretty good on days with current on the reef edge.
We have had lots of calm hot weather the last several weeks and the offshore fishing had suffered as a result. Large dolphin were very hard to find and even schoolies had become less common. As a result we spent several days on the reef where the Yellowtail Snapper fishing has been good. Yesterday after a couple of days of breezier weather we ventured back offshore and were pleasantly surprised to find big Dolphin back in residence. We ended up with 6 fish from the low 20’s to the low 30’s as well as 8 or 10 from 6 to 10 pounds.
We continue to enjoy excellent Dolphin fishing which has been going on for the last 3 weeks. Good numbers of billfish, mostly Sails, although we did catch a White Marlin as well last week are also biting. Blackfin Tuna and Skipjack Tuna are also in the mix. Our largest Dolphin last week was 50 Lbs with many others in the 25Lb range.
Mid May is a great time to fish Key West, and this year is no exception. Inshore the Tarpon bite is on. Fishing a couple of hours at dawn and dusk has been producing multiple bites from these great gamefish. On the reef edge the Mutton Snapper bite has been off the charts as they school up during the full moon to spawn. We had 16 Muttons between 8 and 12 pounds in just 2 hours of fishing at sunset earlier in the week. Offshore the Dolphin are pouring through. Yesterday we had 10 fish over 20 pounds to go along with a bunch of gaffers and schoolies.In addition to the Dolphin there have been a few billfish offshore, mostly Sailfish with an occasional Blue Marlin in the mix.
The tailing action for Sailfish exploded over a three day period, the 8th, 9th, and 10th. With a massive color change in place for sometime, and strong E current, there have been an increasing number of fish along the change. We knew that with a shift of wind into the NE it would really light off. Thurs the 9th was that day, we recorded 8 Sailfish releases and a 50lb Cobia. We were in fish all day, sight casting to somewhere over 40, with about half that number biting. The days on either side of the 9th yielded 15 to 20 sightings. Today with calm conditions We fished a morning and caught 2 Sails out of the 4 we saw.
Excellent fishing along a pronounced color change has been the situation for the last 4 or 5 days. Plenty of Dolphin up to 40lbs and an increasing number of Sails are lurking along the edge. Today we caught one out of two Sails and 6 Dolphin from 8 to 15 lbs all before 11:00 AM. There are also a few Cobia tailing in the dirty water, We have been catching one or two from 20lb to 40lbs on most days. With another cold front coming this condition won’t last but we’ll enjoy it while it does.
