Well the grey snapper spawn is starting to kick off again. The fish have left the canals and channels and headed out to the reef. Went out friday and saturday nights about 7 miles southwest of Key West and had a blast. We caught several nice grey snapper in the 5-7 pound range, alot of yellowtail snapper and several mutton snapper one of which weighed in at 17 pounds. We had a few small rockhind grouper but the big ones eluded us. And of course there were the cut-offs and the ones that take you in the rocks. All in all the fish are biting great here on the bottom and I hear the sportfishers cant keep their lines in the water for the schoolies. Plenty of Sails are being caught as well. If you’re planning a trip to the Keys anytime soon you will be sure to have a great day or night on the water. Sorry I dont have any pictures. I have a new camera and everytime I try to copy a picture from the chip my computer shuts down. Soon as I get it fixed I will start posting more pictures.
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day…Teach a man to fish and he will stay out drinking on the boat all day”
><(((FISH)))">~~Vinnie…GO COCKS
In-laws have a condo at 7 mile bridge in Marathon. You only have to go about 7 miles or so to troll around the reefs.Lots of great fishing there and you can still see land. Carry some snorkeling gear, that is funfor middle of day between trolls.
Just down there in Marathon 2nd week in June. Lots of peanuts, couple of kings and some snapper. Big ones were about 30 miles south. Still had a great time. Guess I gotta try and plan my weeks better. You get to Duval, a nice quiet place, Rum Runners House, Sailor Jerry’s and coke, gotta love it. Keep us posted. I might be headed there around October for about a year. Of course I’m bringing the boat. Hope it all pans out…
A bad day fishin, is better than a good day workin…
Well the grey snapper spawn is starting to kick off again. The fish have left the canals and channels and headed out to the reef. Went out friday and saturday nights about 7 miles southwest of Key West and had a blast. We caught several nice grey snapper in the 5-7 pound range, alot of yellowtail snapper and several mutton snapper one of which weighed in at 17 pounds. We had a few small rockhind grouper but the big ones eluded us. And of course there were the cut-offs and the ones that take you in the rocks. All in all the fish are biting great here on the bottom and I hear the sportfishers cant keep their lines in the water for the schoolies. Plenty of Sails are being caught as well. If you’re planning a trip to the Keys anytime soon you will be sure to have a great day or night on the water. Sorry I dont have any pictures. I have a new camera and everytime I try to copy a picture from the chip my computer shuts down. Soon as I get it fixed I will start posting more pictures.
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day…Teach a man to fish and he will stay out drinking on the boat all day”
><(((FISH)))">~~Vinnie…GO COCKS
Sounds good to me. We’ll be in Islamorada on the 11th for the week and plan to do alot a reef fishing if the weather permits day and nights. How long does the spawn last?
Right now the mahi are everywhere…most are being caught in 160-240 feet…bout 7-10 miles from land…The mangrove (grey snapper) spawn will last right into september…best caught at night in 35-100 feet on the bottom with a small jig head with a small piece of cut ballyhoo or squid…dont forget the chum…no chum …no fish…the Mutton snapper spawn starts soon…bring your medium tackle for them and the grouper. Good luck and yea…dont forget the scuba or snorkeling gear…hog snapper are easily speared in 15 feet of water with the bigger ones being in deeper water…up to 20 lbs or so.
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day…Teach a man to fish and he will stay out drinking on the boat all day”
><(((FISH)))">~~Vinnie…GO COCKS
We were down in Islamodara the 2nd week of June. We tried the Humps with all the other tourists and quickly realized no bites were to be had. Did a little recon with the guys at Bud n Mary’s…they pointed us out about 25 miles in 1800ft of water. We picked at the dolphin. Everything was caught around debris, with the exception of a few gaffers about 2-3 miles past the Humps on some sort of ledge. Birds were going crazy. No significant size to anything we caught, but good enough for 2 dinners.
Hope you guys have better luck. Maybe the fish have pushed in a bit. For us, though, 25 miles out is still a pleasure cruise vs the 50-60 we have to run here.
I will once again be going to Marathon, from Aug 9 thru 16, for the Lobster season, this will be the familys’ 15th year doing the crazy bug-hunt. I heard from a friend who was at Bahia Honda for the last two weeks that the lobster are big and plentiful. What have you heard or seen? I like to fish Sombrero at night, the snapper are always big when they get there. Thanks for keeping the Keys alive in my mind.
I have seen plenty of lobster around the coral heads around Bahia Honda. In fact one of the spots that I will be visiting on opening day is close to the old bridge. Last year I went to the bridge in Pine Channel or Newfound Harbor. It’s the channel that seperates Big Pine Key from Little Torch Key. On opening day there were 8 of us and we all limited out with 6 each. They werent huge lobster but they all were an inch over the limit. They seem to taste better to me than the larger ones anyway. This year I am also going to dive the coral heads offshore. I’ve seen some huge ones in 35 feet of water…a little to deep for me to freedive with a net and tickle stick. Good luck on the tails. If you have scuba gear you’ll have the best luck in deeper water, just look for the rocks and they’ll be under them.
Last year we also went out at night with lights the same way you guys go flounder gigging. Just pole around the shallows in just about any channel and you will find the lobster walking along the bottom. Many times they are in the areas where someones prop has created a cut across the grass into the white sand. The lobster seem to like using these cuts as roadways. They will travel along in a single file line and you can sneak up on them from behind and pick them off one at a time using a bully net. A bully net resembles a dipnet used for crabbing except the net is on a 90 degree angle to the pole. This way you can hold the pole in a vertical position and lower it right down over the top of the lobster and they never see it coming. It’s challenging and takes a while to get used to manuvering the boat with a pole but it beats sleeping. Good luck!
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day…Teach a man to fish and he will stay out drinking on the boat all day”
><(((FISH)))">~~Vinnie…GO COCKS