Fall Fishing Report

Cobia

So far we have had a fairly mild fall down here in Key West, with the temperature in the mid to upper 70’s most days.  We have a few mild cold fronts, but the water temp inshore still hasn’t dipped under 72 degrees.  The island itself is slow right now, but we’re getting ready for the holiday rush.  The fishing has been solid all around, with plenty of options offshore and around the reef, as well as a lot of variety in the backcountry.  Typically, this time of year when I’m on the center console, I like fishing with live baits like pilchards, ballyhoo, herring and other baitfish.  Whether I’m offshore looking for sailfish and tunas or inshore fishing for muttons and red groupers, I like using live baits. 

Sailfish

Variety

Mahi fishing was spotty in the fall and we had a few sailfish and wahoo around in late October/early November. The offshore fishing dropped off for a couple weeks after that and just started picking up again this past weekend. The tunas started biting around the wrecks and a few sailfish showed up again. Besides the tunas, the offshore wrecks have been holding a variety of fish like cobia, mutton snappers, rainbow runners and other fish. Some of the fish have been caught on the bottom and others chummed in on the surface. On the breezy days we have been fishing on some of the inshore reefs and shallow rock piles. They can be good this time of year with muttons, red groupers, kings and a variety of other fish.

Bonefish

The fishing on the flats has been really good recently, the barracudas have started to show up and they have been aggressive the last couple weeks. The cuda fishing should stay pretty good as we head further into winter. The water temperature has been in the mid 70’s so we’re still seeing plenty of bonefish and permit on the flats. This time of year you can find some heavy bones around. We are even still seeing some schools of juvenile tarpon and they were eating pretty well the other day. Most likely the tarpon will be harder to come by as it gets colder, but you still have plenty of options down here in the winter.

Barracuda

Hurricane Season Fishing Report

Tarpon

The fishing over the past few months has been great here in the Lower Florida Keys.  Overall, the weather has been mild and so far this year we have dodged the hurricanes.  The offshore fishing has been decent recently, we had a good mahi bite through July, but it died out as the dog days of summer set in.  The blackfin tunas started showing up around the last full moon, there were a lot of small fish, but some bigger ones were mixed in.  The pilchards have also started to show up along the south side of the Keys.  Both the pilchards and the tunas are promising signs for the upcoming fall and winter live bait season.

Red Grouper

During the summer months, the full day trips were the most successful.  Having the ability to run way to the west and fish the deeper reefs really paid off.  The mutton Snapper bite on the bottom was excellent and there were plenty of nice black groupers, red groupers, big porgies, amberjacks and other fish.  Blackfin tunas, kingfish, mahi mahi and bonitas were also caught on the surface or in the middle of the water column.  Usually on these trips, we’re using a combinations of live baits, dead baits and different artificial jigs and lures. 

Mutton Snapper

Fishing in the backcountry has been awesome the past few months.  We have had a lot of small tarpon hanging around the mangroves and in the bait schools. Targeting them with a 9wt fly rod or light spinning gear has been really fun.  Those fish should be staying put until the cold fronts start and then they become harder to find.  This is also a great time of year to target bonefish and there have been plenty of them around.  Not only do we have good numbers of bonefish down here, but late summer and early fall offer great conditions for targeting them with typically sunny skies and light winds.  It’s awesome to see big schools of bonefish waking across the flats during the low tides.

Bonefish

December Fishing Report

Dolphin in December

Tuna

Mutton Snapper

     Winter fishing is in full affect around Key West.  For the last month we have been doing a lot of live bait fishing offshore and around the reef.  Pilchards and ballyhoo have been the bait of choice for the most part and they have been pretty easy to come by so far this year.  The tuna bite on the offshore wrecks has been excellent the past couple weeks now.  We have been able to catch them anytime during the day, but the bite around the evening has been the best.  Mixed in with the tunas have been bonitas, rainbow runners, kingfish and amberjacks.  Also, when we had nice, clean blue water, the dolphin and wahoo were around.  The mutton snappers have been on the bottom around the wrecks too.  The sailfishing has not been great, there have been a few fish around, but we haven’t seen any large numbers of fish yet this season.  The conditions are right for the sailfish to show up though.      

     Kingfish and cero mackerels are thick around on the reef.  We have been catching a lot of them as were yellowtailing, especially when the ballyhoo show up in the chum slick.  The yellowtail snapper bite has been consistent and the fish have been nice size.  Chunks of bonita and live pilchards have been working best bait for them.  There have also been some big mutton snappers on the shallow patch reefs.  This is the time of year to catch big muttons in shallow, as they move into the cooler water in the winter.  Pilchards and bonita strips will work on the muttons, but live ballyhoo are the preferred bait.

     For the most part, Barracudas are the main fish we target in the backcountry in the winter.  They prefer the cooler temperatures and they actually get more aggressive when it gets colder.  They are an awesome fish to target on light tackle or with a fly rod.  They will attack the lure or fly violently and they fight incredibly well.  It is no easy task catching a barracuda in shallow water.  Days when its super windy and hard to get out on the flats, we drift the basins for trout, snapper, ladyfish and jacks.  We have also been fishing the backcountry channels with live pilchards and you catch a variety of fish on live bait, from snappers and jacks to barracudas and mackerel.  Shark fishing in the backcountry is another fun activity when the wind is blowing.   

Barracuda