Key West Fishing Reports
Updated fishing reports from the Lower Florida Keys & Key West
May 25, 2007 at 2:03 pm · Filed under Florida Fishing Weekly
KEY WEST - Weather plays an important role in the life of any fishing guide. Waking up to the Weather Channel becomes more important than the local Miami news.
By this time in late May the weather is usually settled into a nice pattern of warmth and sunshine with our token afternoon shower. Not this week.
You guessed it. The high pressure to our north and the low pressure down south have created a wind tunnel right over the Florida Keys. It does not make for good fishing conditions at all, but for some guides and charter captains the show must go on and the results are not bad.
The Butler family from St. Pete Beach caught a break earlier in the week while fishing aboard the Outer Limits with Captain Bennett Taylor. John Butler, his wife Rhonda and son Kevin had a great day of dolphin fishing this week.
Taylor was mostly working a rip west of Key West south to 650- feet. Taylor managed to pick off plenty of dolphin in the 15- to 20- pound range. The Butler family also caught a 20- pound wahoo while trolling and released a sailfish. When the day was done the family had landed a total of 25 dolphin, the largest weighing 34- pounds.
But Taylor’s luck with dolphin fishing does not end there. Even during some of the less than perfect weather days this week Taylor has pulled off some amazing fishing.
His latest catch consisted of 14 large dolphin and an estimate 40- pound wahoo.
“You just don’t catch fish like this anymore unless you have a good day,” Taylor remarked.
Taylor was fishing to the east near Pelican Shoal in 550- feet of water. His winning tactic this time was the high flying frigate bird.
Following frigate birds and watching their reaction can be the best dolphin fishing tactic, especially if there are no weed lines forming offshore. According to Taylor, dolphin will work from east to west and the frigate birds will do the same, following the fish’s every move.
“If we are in the right depth following a frigate I can often see the fish coming and sweep the baits in front of them,” Taylor said.
On this particular day the dolphin were high and happy, busting flying fish on the surface.
The one fun part about dolphin fishing is that the lull of trolling and looking for birds, weed lines and rips can quickly turn to chaos when all the baits get hit at once.
Dolphin travel in schools. Most schools will have a bull dolphin which will be one of the larger fish, a few cow dolphin which can be of equally good size, and some smaller juvenile dolphin. Most often the smaller dolphin will hit your baits first leaving you reeling like mad and trying to minimize the bloodbath that has encompassed the cockpit of your boat.
In the midst of all the mayhem, have a pitch rod ready with a live pinfish or a rigged ballyhoo. There may be a larger bull dolphin waiting in the wake of your boat just looking for something to eat.
For more information on fishing with Captain Bennett Taylor, visit his website at www.keywestcharterboat.com.
Captain Chris Lembo on Incognito reported landing an estimated 200- pound blue marlin this week. The blue was in hot pursuit of a juvenile dolphin which had taken refuge under Lembo’s boat. Lembo pulled in all his gear and watched the blue carefully circle his boat three times before tossing a rigged ballyhoo to the fish and hooking up.
Lembo’s angler put the wood to this blue marlin and had him boat side for a quick photo within 20- minutes. The charter went on to release three sailfish.
Lembo noted that the water outside the reef was crystal clear with nearly 80- feet of visibility. I imagine all these high winds will change that.
“Hopefully we’ll get some current back and the water will get dirty,” Lembo said.
The most peculiar thing that Lembo reported seeing in the offshore waters was a school of large tarpon in 2000- feet. The school was headed south towards Cuba.
For more information on Captain Chris Lembo, visit his website at www.incognitolighttackle.com.
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May 23, 2007 at 7:22 pm · Filed under Key West Sport Fishing, Key West Deep Sea Fishing
Well the sun is supposed to be shining down on us by now. Instead we’ve got a front lingering over the Keys causing havoc in the form of 25 to 35 mph winds. Yuck.
Despite the wind ripping out of the north east, dolphin fishing offshore has been pretty hot. Mahi-Mahi up to 35- pounds are being caught off Key West, plus the occasional wahoo and sailfish. The dolphin are still in close so take advantage of it before the summer heat strikes and they move farther offshore.
Tuna fishing behind the shrimp boats is a long haul for most captains. Last report was 80 miles in the Gulf one way! The good news is many of the boats are holding more blackfin tuna than bonito. Don’t forget to fish the bottom here too, mutton snapper like to linger under a shrimp boat that just tossed it’s by catch.
Tarpon fishing has not been easy. The fish are here but difficult to feed with a fly. The harbor guys are having more luck with hooking up using chum and by-catch to entice the bite.
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May 15, 2007 at 2:00 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
KEY WEST - Mid May holds a lot of potential for great fishing action in the Lower Keys. Nearly every fish in our versatile palette of species is available someplace. Whether it is in shallow water or deep, anglers can find their quarry here.
This week even the Key West area had a tinge of smoke in the air. Wafts of burning cinder came and went with our variable winds. Navigating during the early morning hours was more difficult with these smoky conditions and sight fishing was also more difficult.
Tarpon are still moving in and out of the Lower Keys in large numbers. Captain Mike Bartlett out of Garrison Bight Marina in Key West gave me a few precious hours on the bow of his skiff this week. Bartlett took me to a few ocean side flats in the Lakes Passage for a quick lesson in tarpon fishing.
I do not fish for tarpon all that much but know the basics on leading the fish and putting the bait or fly where it needs to be. On this particular day these fish were just not eating for me.
“Many times you learn through the course of the day what these fish are going to react to; strip fast, strip slow,” Bartlett said. “Putting the fly in front of the fish is what it’s all about,” he added.
Each day is different. The following afternoon Bartlett took his wife Sandy fishing and she put three tarpon in the air. Go figure.
Bonefish have really started to show up on the flats this week. Several guides have reported good numbers of bonefish in the backcountry near Marvin Key and the Barracuda Keys. Others have just been fishing west of Key West and have had similar luck in the shallows.
Targeting bonefish during tarpon season can yield many advantages. One is that you will most likely have plenty of spots to yourself. With tarpon fishing being the main attraction on the flats through June, bonefishing is a great option for anglers not wanting to get in the thick of boats to get their grip on a tarpon.
Another great option for self-guided anglers is to fish the shallows for bonefish and permit during the day and try tarpon at night under Bahia Honda Bridge or in Key West Harbor.
Night fishing for tarpon can be an absolute blast with a spinning outfit or fly rod. Conditions should be fairly calm. Calm enough to hear tarpon busting the surface of the water.
A sinking plug on light tackle is about the most fun you can have during a session of tarpon fishing at night. Bagley’s Finger Mullet or a Rebel Windcheater plug work great.
Captain Mike Bartlett offers night tarpon trips out of Key West. For more information contact him at 305-797-2452.
The offshore waters have produced a mixed bag of fish this week.
Captain Jake Perry on Mean Green out of Murray Marina reports some activity in close for schoolie dolphin. Although Perry had made the trek out 18 miles to the Wall, he found much of the action in closer to Sand Key and the reef.
Perry found some hearty blackfin tuna busting on a bait ball a few days ago and picked off three nice fish out of the school. Perry also reported working the reef edge for grouper. His anglers landed nine red grouper up to 20- pounds plus one black grouper and a king mackerel.
Captain Alex Canalejo on Showtime has spent his week inshore fishing for sailfish. Canalejo has been fishing the waters directly south of Key West and to the east near Pelican Shoal. He’s been using a kite for sailfish but says he’s had some great bites from blackfin tuna and has landed several in the 30- pound range.
May also marks the best time to fish for mutton snapper in the Florida Keys. Mutton Snapper spawn on the deeper sand bars outside the reef during the full moon in May and June.
Although these fish spawn during different times of the year throughout the Caribbean, now is the time to fish for them in the Lower Keys. Since mutton snapper are both nocturnal and diurnal feeders, it is not uncommon to catch good numbers of them during both the evening and daylight hours.
Canalejo predicts the mutton snapper fishing to be better on this next full moon on May 31st.
“It’s got to be good this next moon, or if the water is real dirty we’ll even catch them during the daytime,” Canalejo said.
For more information on fishing with Captain Alex Canalejo contact him at 305-797-5146.
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May 15, 2007 at 2:00 pm · Filed under Florida Fishing Weekly
KEY WEST - Mid May holds a lot of potential for great fishing action in the Lower Keys. Nearly every fish in our versatile palette of species is available someplace. Whether it is in shallow water or deep, anglers can find their quarry here.
This week even the Key West area had a tinge of smoke in the air. Wafts of burning cinder came and went with our variable winds. Navigating during the early morning hours was more difficult with these smoky conditions and sight fishing was also more difficult.
Tarpon are still moving in and out of the Lower Keys in large numbers. Captain Mike Bartlett out of Garrison Bight Marina in Key West gave me a few precious hours on the bow of his skiff this week. Bartlett took me to a few ocean side flats in the Lakes Passage for a quick lesson in tarpon fishing.
I do not fish for tarpon all that much but know the basics on leading the fish and putting the bait or fly where it needs to be. On this particular day these fish were just not eating for me.
“Many times you learn through the course of the day what these fish are going to react to; strip fast, strip slow,” Bartlett said. “Putting the fly in front of the fish is what it’s all about,” he added.
Each day is different. The following afternoon Bartlett took his wife Sandy fishing and she put three tarpon in the air. Go figure.
Bonefish have really started to show up on the flats this week. Several guides have reported good numbers of bonefish in the backcountry near Marvin Key and the Barracuda Keys. Others have just been fishing west of Key West and have had similar luck in the shallows.
Targeting bonefish during tarpon season can yield many advantages. One is that you will most likely have plenty of spots to yourself. With tarpon fishing being the main attraction on the flats through June, bonefishing is a great option for anglers not wanting to get in the thick of boats to get their grip on a tarpon.
Another great option for self-guided anglers is to fish the shallows for bonefish and permit during the day and try tarpon at night under Bahia Honda Bridge or in Key West Harbor.
Night fishing for tarpon can be an absolute blast with a spinning outfit or fly rod. Conditions should be fairly calm. Calm enough to hear tarpon busting the surface of the water.
A sinking plug on light tackle is about the most fun you can have during a session of tarpon fishing at night. Bagley’s Finger Mullet or a Rebel Windcheater plug work great.
Captain Mike Bartlett offers night tarpon trips out of Key West. For more information contact him at 305-797-2452.
The offshore waters have produced a mixed bag of fish this week.
Captain Jake Perry on Mean Green out of Murray Marina reports some activity in close for schoolie dolphin. Although Perry had made the trek out 18 miles to the Wall, he found much of the action in closer to Sand Key and the reef.
Perry found some hearty blackfin tuna busting on a bait ball a few days ago and picked off three nice fish out of the school. Perry also reported working the reef edge for grouper. His anglers landed nine red grouper up to 20- pounds plus one black grouper and a king mackerel.
Captain Alex Canalejo on Showtime has spent his week inshore fishing for sailfish. Canalejo has been fishing the waters directly south of Key West and to the east near Pelican Shoal. He’s been using a kite for sailfish but says he’s had some great bites from blackfin tuna and has landed several in the 30- pound range.
May also marks the best time to fish for mutton snapper in the Florida Keys. Mutton Snapper spawn on the deeper sand bars outside the reef during the full moon in May and June.
Although these fish spawn during different times of the year throughout the Caribbean, now is the time to fish for them in the Lower Keys. Since mutton snapper are both nocturnal and diurnal feeders, it is not uncommon to catch good numbers of them during both the evening and daylight hours.
Canalejo predicts the mutton snapper fishing to be better on this next full moon on May 31st.
“It’s got to be good this next moon, or if the water is real dirty we’ll even catch them during the daytime,” Canalejo said.
For more information on fishing with Captain Alex Canalejo contact him at 305-797-5146.
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May 14, 2007 at 8:42 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing, Key West Sport Fishing
Calm seas and smoke fill the skies over the Lower Keys. It’s hard to believe so many wildfires are burning throughout Florida. All we can do is hope for some rain in the forecast this week (which there is a 40% chance of here).
Offshore waters are producing some dolphin but many of the charter boats are heading way offshore to find the big boys. Wahoo and tuna are being caught west of Key West on some of the deeper structures while kingfish are around the reef.
May and June mark the spawn of mutton snapper in South Florida. The Keys are a great place to take advantage of this. Larger mutton snapper hug the outer bar to spawn and supposedly the best fishing is during the full moon. Many captains and guides swear it can be done day or night but sometimes the best action is just before and just after sunset.
Tarpon have made a big push into the Lower Keys from the Marquesas to Big Pine. They can be found cruising the outer edges of flats on the ocean, and there have been some spotted in the backcountry. Live crabs and pinfish will get you the bite and flies range from natural color toads to black and purple for early morning rolling fish.
Bonefishing has improved and there have been several nice schools of fish plus some pairs and singles spotted in the backcountry. Permit will start making their come back to the flats this month, there have been some nice fish taken on the flats this week already in the 16- pound range.
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May 7, 2007 at 5:40 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing, Key West Flats Fishing
The moment you have been waiting for has finally arrived… a few days ago. A strong push of tarpon have moved into our Key West waters bringing much joy to the flats fishing community. A few warm and sunny days gave way to hundreds of tarpon on the move in search of something to eat.
Today the weather turned nasty though and a slight temperature drop and stronger winds may hinder the tarpon activity for a day or so. None the less, they are here and the oceanside basins, channels and deeper flats are filling up with tarpon… and with boats.
Fly fishing for tarpon? Try black and purple in the early morning hours and then switch up to a chartreuse or natural color toad. Keep in mind that these fish are pretty lazy and putting the fly close to their mouth is the key.
Bonefish are showing up in good numbers west of Key West and in the backcountry flats around Sugarloaf Key and the Contents. Many times if you can show these fish a fly they are going to eat it.
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May 3, 2007 at 2:31 pm · Filed under Key West Sport Fishing, Key West Deep Sea Fishing
Live bait and sailfishing go hand and hand this week in the Lower Keys. We’ve got fish in 100 to 400 feet of water with some tailing conditions. The live bait wins the fish!
There are some cobia on the color change and blackfin tuna and king mackerel along the reef. Bottom fishing for snapper and grouper has improved tremendously with the change in current and fluctuation of the Gulf Stream.
For those tarpon gurus, it’s still tough fishing here in the Lower Keys for tarpon. The harbor has plenty of them, so many fish you could walk over them. But they have not made a big move to the flats yet. Several guides are doing fine with catching one or two each day but no great numbers of fish have been reported yet.
Permit and bonefish are still plentiful in the backcountry and west of Key West. While permit do spawn offshore this time of year there are some on the flats that range from 10 to 17- pounds.
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April 24, 2007 at 2:49 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
You can usually estimate the time in April when the permit vacate the flats and head for deeper water to spawn. By late April it is apparent that the permit we’ll see on the flats are just juveniles topping a weight of 12 pounds at most.
Key West has experienced a rush of feeding permit this week. While tarpon fishing has been unusually slow, many guides have decided to cut their losses and go permit fishing west of Key West for a chance of pace. For many of them it has paid off. Several reports of permit ranging from 15- to 20- pounds were caught this week on live crabs and flies.
Offshore fishing has continuted to be productive. Larger dolphin are fluctuating in and out of the area, there are a few tuna on the Atlantic side and even some reports of a small marlin.
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April 23, 2007 at 2:05 pm · Filed under Key West Sport Fishing, Key West Deep Sea Fishing, Florida Fishing Weekly
KEY WEST - Key West was the host to the 5th Annual World Sailfish Championship this week. For a change high winds were not a factor in this years tournament. In fact the conditions were less than perfect for sailfishing. A calm sea and no current are two things that make pursuing sailfish very difficult.
Despite the flat calm conditions and westerly winds which are usually the kiss of death for our fishing, a record number of sailfish were released. The final tally of documented releases was 538 fish which meant that nearly ninety two percent of the boats caught fish.
Being in the right place was luck of the draw and for the winning team, Get Lit; it was not only luck but a history of tournament fishing that led them to yet another victory.
Captain Ray Rosher and his team pulled off another victory during their three days of fishing in Key West waters. Team Get Lit released a total of 14 sailfish releases during the three days of fishing. Close on their heels was the Steel Magnolia with 13 sailfish releases.
Rosher, captain of Get Lit, along with owner Christopher ‘’Kitt'’ Toomey, and anglers Jon Cooper, Peter Miller, Claudio Martinez and Kelly Mayo returned to Miami with winnings totaling $100,000 and first prize in this year’s tournament.
Carl Masiello, owner of the Spanish Gardens Motel in Key West fished aboard the 33- foot Contender Beautiful Bonds II with owners Nick and Suzie Trivisonno and local guide Captain Tony Murphy. Murphy, who runs charters on his own Contender, Key Limey, is a well-known light tackle guide out of Murray Marina.
Masiello explained that their tactics during the first day kept them close to Key West. Apparently the day prior Masiello and Murphy were out catching some additional baits and caught a glimpse of two sailfish jumping.
“That was a good sign,” Masiello said.
Finding a spot to fish between Marathon and Key West along the ‘sailfish highway’ sounds like an easy feat but factor in 110 boats and the power of the VHF radio and you’ll find that boats seemed to be congregated in specific areas hoping that their bait gets taken.
Suzie Trivisonno had lady luck on her side during this tournament. As an accomplished angler she is not new to tournament fishing. The first day Trivisonno released one fish out of four that they hooked.
The second day she released another sailfish. By that time it was apparent that they should gun for the women’s division on day three.
“The last day it was all up to Suzie,” Masiello said.
Trivisonno finished with four sailfish releases taking third place in the Women’s Division. The top lady angler with 8 releases went to Yalennie Vinas on Persistance and second place was awarded to Angie Wolf on Win-N-Angel. Wolf released 5 sailfish and also was recognized for tagging the most fish.
The World Sailfish event is a great tournament that benefits many charities. For more information about the tournament and for complete results visit their website at www.worldsailfish.com.
Besides a record number of sailfish releases the Key West offshore waters have had some other notable catches this week.
Captain Steve Magee on the Ramerezi out of Charter Boat Row in Key West nearly had an offshore slam this week. His anglers landed a blue marlin estimated at 150- pounds and a white marlin that was 60- pounds. The blue marlin was taken on 30- pound test on a dead bait. Magee was fishing an area called Middle Crack in 835 feet of water.
Magee also noted that several large dolphin were also being caught in the same area.
Reef and wreck fishing has improved. Mutton snapper should be gearing up to spawn in May and June. Permit are still occupying the wrecks and patch reefs in the Atlantic and Gulf but surprisingly there are still large permit being caught on the flats too.
The tarpon may need a little more time to warm up here in the Lower Keys. So far this year there have been only a handful of days where the shallow water tarpon fishing has been good. We’ve got a south east breeze now which will hopefully warm the water up for good and bring the tarpon in to feed.
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April 22, 2007 at 11:50 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing, Key West Flats Fishing
Yesterday the weather was a treat compared to what we’ve been expereincing on and off with blustery winds and churned up water. It was calm with a slight breeze from the north east. Tarpon tend to shun away when there is any bit of north in the wind but several guides did manage to hook a few fish.
Our tarpon season has been off. Although there are tarpon in the area their behavior is not the same is it has been in recent years. Late March usually marks the time when these fish are laid up in the basins. They tend not to want to move too far until the water temperature is over 75 degrees, some say 78 is the magic number.
Each cool front we get blows these fish off the mark and therefore we’ve been struggling with trying to find them and get them to bite.
Yesterday shed some hope on the situation. Tarpon have to migrate, they’ve done it forever. We just catch a small portion of the stream of fish heading up the Keys and up the coast of Florida.
What does this mean? Possibly an incredible summer of big tarpon.
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