Marathon Area Fishing
Report
Brought to you by Captain Dave Shugar
If
you would like to fish with Capt. Dave Shugar
www.sweetenufcharters.com
Call: 305/610-4778 or email:
sweetenufcharters@aol.com
Marathon Fishing Report Update:
March 18,2009
Warming waters
have sparked the bite on the reef. The yellowtail bite has
started again and as long as we don’t get any more cold fronts
that are not too severe the fishing along the reef should only
get better. The yellowtails, this time of year, start
their annual gorging to fatten themselves up for the spawn,
which should start in May. Yellowtails are not pelagic
fish but they do migrate up and down the reef looking for a
large food source. They will feed hard for a few months in
preparation of the spawn and then once spawned they will return
where they came from. I have seen this when I used to
commercial fish for them out of Conch Key on the Twin Tails.
I have seen many different schools of fish behind the boat.
Most yellowtail schools will be around the same size fish, but
when they are looking for food the different schools of fish
will gather in one spot, if enough food is present. We
used to prep a spot by chumming and fishing even though we were
not catching. Sometimes this would go on for a month if
needed. But, eventually they will gather and many schools
will stay separate and will feed at different times. It is
not uncommon to catch one-pound fish for a while and then all of
a sudden three and four-pound fish will push the smaller ones
out of the way and take over the front of the chum line.
When I commercial fished we would go though a thousand pounds of
chum by 12:00 or 1:00. We were very happy if we could
trade a pound of chum for a pound of yellowtail. So if you
have the time to make your own spot I would definitely do it.
You will be amazed how easy it can be.
Going offshore you don’t have to go far. The
dolphins have been around 150-300 feet but I had the best luck
in 230 feet. I didn’t catch any big ones but I talked to few of
my friends and they were able to find some up to 40 pounds
already. I have been basically doing my dolphin troll and then
ending the day on some wrecks finishing the day off with some
AJ’s and Muttons. I like to troll two naked ballyhoo’s out of
the riggers and if there isn’t a lot of grass I will put another
ballyhoo on one of my flats with a purple chugger in front of
it. If there is a lot of grass I will put two feathers (purple)
close, in by the prop wash for my flat lines. Even though there
are all those bubbles the fish don’t seem to have a problem
finding it. As a matter of fact the short baits tend to get hit
more often than not. Fishing is all about your preferences,
some people like green, some like pink, put out what you like
and you will catch dolphin. Too many people get caught up with
colors, brands, and who’s been using what from whatever
company. It doesn’t need to be that complicated. You could put
out plastic straws in front of your hook and it will catch
fish. In Hawaii they used mop heads to catch blue and black
marlin. When fishing for dolphin just use what you like and
everything will work out just fine.
The hump was on fire, small but many blackfins.
There where black fins so far west of the hump that I actually
went from one school to the next and found myself two miles west
of the hump. After catching a bunch of smaller ones I went back
to the hump and tried the jigs and found out that there were a
few larger fish mixed in with all the small ones. If you were
picky you could catch quite a few larger fish just by letting
your jig down further. We also caught a huge amberjack while we
were there. One drift, four anglers and by then it was time to
go in.
The sword fishing has been fair with some nice
fish being caught, if you’re willing to rough the seas. Some
fish were as big as 300 pounds and some guys got as many as 10
bites in a day. The deep dropping has been great for the
rosefish and barrels, but I haven’t heard too much about the
snowy’s. The queens should be starting to show back up in
April.
Good luck everyone and be safe.
Marathon Fishing Report Update:
March 11,2009
Well it’s a
little cool for March, but the wind is about right. East
and south East winds at 15-20 mph. Looking at the forecast
the winds are not going to let up much either. But, hey
this will mean more fish for the brave fisherman. This
weather should start are annual dolphin run.
Looking for
dolphin right now you will not have to go very far but if
you don’t find the fish in close I would venture further out
but I wouldn’t go past 600 feet. There has been some
dolphin in close since the Gulf Stream is really close in.
Mostly schoolies but a few larger fish in the 20’s have been
showing up. It’s still a little early but the compared to
the previous years the dolphin are trickling in better this
year. They usually will start trickling in now and by the
end of March we will find a week or two where the big
dolphin will start pouring through. Find the birds and you
find the dolphin as the old saying goes. Wahoo should be
lurking around too, so I would recommend using some large
live baits with wire or troll high-speed with some large
lures, preferably dark colors and pink.
If your
looking for the tuna well, they have been getting much
better around the humps. The size of the tuna has gone up
with some fish in the 20’s. The 409 hump had some nice big
fish early this week as so did the marathon hump. Live
baiting has been the key and the jigging has taken their
fair share of tuna too. It has seemed that the shark
population has gone down but still; they pose a threat to
our fresh sashimi and our 20-dollar jigs.
Important notification: There has been a closure
on bottom fishing East of the Marathon Hump to West of the
409. I don’t have the exact coordinates but they closed
this area to help promote the population of many different
deep-water bottom fish. Now since they closed it to bottom
fishing you can still troll around and jig for tuna in those
areas. Usually when they close an area we will never be
allowed to fish there again. This really sucks because that
area has many different humps, which I used to fish for
queen snapper and snowy grouper, tilefish and many others
too. Oh well, I will just have to find a new spot outside
this area. That was the area which I caught all those queen
snapper last year. There are plenty of humps all over the
place but only a few of them will hold queen snappers.
The
yellowtail has been slow but they are now starting to
cooperate. As the water warms up the yellowtail bite will
get better. The grouper fishing out in front of Marathon
has been slow but they too have been biting better. The
Thunderbolt and other large wrecks in close like the Span
have been covered with grouper from what my dive buddies
said. We are just waiting for the bite to turn on, and when
it does it will be game on. The muttons have been slow here
in marathon but we are still getting a few each day we are
targeting them. Remember to always change your baits,
sometimes the muttons are lazy and a split-tailed ballyhoo
or mullet will entice the fish eat. I try and have a few
different baits live and dead to see which one is getting
the bites.
With all
the bad weather we will have this season, now is the time to
check and go through your safety gear. Check your fire
extinguishers for the right charge and make sure your first
aid kit is in good shape and look at your flares to make
sure they are up to date too. If they are expired keep them
onboard as extras. But, go get some new ones. Most of you
who read my reports have smaller boats and you all heard of
the tragedy that happened last week. So please keep all of
your safety gear up to date. If you are new to boating or
just don’t know what you need, the FWC or Coast Guard will
come to your boat and go over it with you to make sure that
you have everything you need. Be safe and go get some fish.
Marathon Fishing Report Update:
March 04,2009
Thank God it’s almost March, because I
am ready for some hot dolphin action. The sail fishing has
been really slow with only a few fish being caught. The
best way to catch sails right now is to have a large tower and
find the fish in the shallows. There are a few fish along
the reef’s edge but if you have a tower your best bet is to
sight fish them in 20-40 foot. The best way to target
these fish is to look around the edge of the solid reef and
where it breaks up with the sandy spots. It is really easy
to find them when there are bait showers but I didn’t see any
this week. I have been fishing a lot of tournaments and
the key has been the shallow water. Well, if you think
about it, where is all the bait? Most of the bait resides
in the shallows and now that we are having more and more
southerly and easterly winds the fish have mostly pushed up in
the shallows. As I am writing this the leader is Capt
Marty Lewis on the Main Attraction with three fish and a few
other boats with two and a few with one. More than half the
boats have no fish. This is a challenging tournament
because there are fewer fish around and plenty of pressure.
Hats off to Capt Marty, he has always been in the money or at
least giving it all he’s got. I am sorry, but you just
can’t do what he does as often as he does unless you know what
you are doing. So if you’re looking to catch some sails,
good luck, and look for them in the shallows.
The
dolphin fishing is starting to pick up. There were lots of them
in 150 feet of water and on weed lines further out. Try and
fish some structure such as weed lines and debris and since the
Gulf Stream is pushed in there should be dolphin along the outer
reef edge. This is also time to start high speed trolling for
the wahoo from 10-350 feet of water. I like to use two heavy
rods with drails and large lures on my flats and big smokers or
very large jet-heads on the riggers. If you are set up right
you can troll five drails, but only if you have swivel rod
holders. These rod holders lock your rod in place but allow
them to swing back and forth as you make a turn. It’s awkward,
but very effective,
The
sword fishing has been ok, with a few nice fish being caught,
but many stories of the big one that got away. That’s funny,
don’t the big ones always get away. While you are out there the
humps are starting to get some bigger tuna and the sharks don’t
seem as bad as they have been.
Wreck fishing is hot right now and live bait is
catching more fish with the exception of the kingfish making
mince meat of most of your gear. I have caught African pompano,
muttons, blacks, and many other bottom dwellers as well. I love
to use small grunts and pinfish to target the groupers and
muttons. Down to the west of the light the kingfish has going
off.
Good luck out there and please call me for a charter
and please call a month in advance because I have been filling
up with charters. Please check out my web site as I have
updated the site
Marathon Fishing Report Update: February 25, 2009
Marathon Offshore Report—A little bit of this, a little bit
of that, but nothing consistent from one day to the next.
The wrecks have been stacked with amberjacks and more
grouper activity; it’s the grouper bite that got my
attention though. We were able to wrestle a few from the
rocks but I haven’t gotten any big ones yet. At least the
black grouper have started to bite, a little late but better
than not at all. I like to use 80-pound gear for the
groupers but that can be tough for some clients, so I also
have a 60-pound gear at the ready with 80-pound leader. It
is really important to get the fish out of the bottom fast
because otherwise he will go home and you’ll never get him
to come back out to play. Well, now that I am thinking
about it, if you have a grouper on and he gets back to his
house, it’s best to give him some slack. Two things could
happen: 1) he will get deeper into the hole and you’ll
never budge him; or 2) he will think he’s free and swim out.
BUT if he does, you better lift hard and keep reeling fast,
don’t give him any slack. You usually only get one shot at
that. My grouper rig consists of enough weight to hold the
bottom with a simple long leader rig which changes depending
on what kind of structure I am fishing. On the reef I
prefer shorter leaders (6 feet) so there is a less likely
chance that your bait will swim into and under a ledge.
Then be sure to wind up about five feet to keep the bait
from swimming into a rock. When I am fishing wrecks I tend
to use a 12-foot leader and sometimes shorter if there is a
lot of debris around it or if I am just a little close to
the wreck. When anchoring up on a wreck your boat placement
is very crucial. If you don’t get it right, keep resetting
it until you do. I like to start up current from the wreck
about 50-80 feet away from it. I do this at first in hopes
of luring the fish out from the structure so you’re not in
it when you hook the fish. The further away you can get the
bites the better because that gives you more space to work
with if you hook a big one.
There
was pretty decent dolphin bite this week out in 400-600
feet. I was able to find some in 135 feet while we were
sailfish with live threadfin herring and little blue
runners. The hot zone for the sails, well, I actually didn’t
find one, but I know they are there. The wind died and with
it the sailfish bite died off too out beyond the reef’s
edge. The tunas are still small from what I’ve heard except
a few in the 10-12 pound range out at the hump. There was a
little bit of a swordfish bite out there when the winds
calmed down. I have been doing very well with the wahoo
along the outer edge. Some really big kings have been
cruising around if you care to test your tackle. I like to
use tinker mackerel or speedos if I can get them; but big
blue runners or threadfin herring will work too. The bigger
the bait, the bigger the fish you can catch. Because kings
are slashers they can eat pretty big baits. Itt just takes
them a few passes with their razor sharp teeth moving around
30 mph; they can inflict some severe damage to larger baits
and your gear. To target these monsters I would recommend
using no less than #6 wire and no more than #7 wire.
Good luck out there
and don’t forget about being safe while you’re out there.
Do Not drink and operate a boat, you just might ruin your
vacation and your life or someone else’s.
Marathon Fishing Report Update: February 18, 2009
We went
fishing for sails on the 8th and there were none
to be had. Caught a few dolphin around eight pounds in 110
feet of water. We slow trolled from the 200-foot barge out
in front of the light all the way to Marker 20. We got
nothing but four dolphin. We picked up and moved to the
west end of long key bridge and found more current but no
fish. I decided to go dropping. We caught eight Amberjacks
that were all 24 inches long. No keepers but loads of fun
for my clients Brian and Dawn. There was a four to five foot
dark brown shark that swam around the boat, which we tried
to hook up. I cut up a slab of Jack Cravalle and slung it
over the side. He kept circling it until it was out of
sight. Finally, we got a bite and we were off to the races.
The fish stripped off 200 yards of line on a two minute run.
We were able to get him close to the boat and then another
200 yard run. We got half of that in and another 200 yard
run. Thank god for the Fin Nor Offshore Spinning Reels. Lots
of line, but 2/3 of the line was out. Twenty minutes later
the fish shined just under the boat, about 60 feet down. It
didn't look like a shark. Another run, which was short lived
and finally we got him boat side, guess what: a 45 pound
kingfish. Wow, high fives all around like we just won the
Key West SKA tournament. The fish was five feet long and
the meat was firm like a jack, I’ve never seen a king that
big with green meat and firm too. It’s going to be great in
the smoker. After that we ran home. Listening to the radio,
I didn't hear that much was caught other than some dolphin
up the road and some snappers on the reef. Maybe tomorrow
will be better. I got to do it all over again. Sailfish, oh
where did you go?
On the 9; On the 9th we didn't mess around. We
shot up to Tennessee Light and right off the bat we hooked a
sailfish in 165 feet of water, which thought he was a
superstar. He jumped around for ten minutes strait, until he
tail-whipped the leader. Then we foul hooked a blackfin tuna
around 20 pounds in 200 feet of water. After all the chaos
settled down I managed to get two baits back out while
trying to untwist the spun lines. Another sailfish hooked up
in 175 feet of water, and the chaos started all over again.
We hooked another sailfish, one other line out and two other
rods out with 150 yards of line in the water trying to get
un-spun. We got the fish in for a photo within 8 minutes. We
got the lines out again and got harassed by sharks for two
hours strait. We gave up on the sail fishing and caught
about ten AJ's deep dropping in 250 feet of water. We went
home and had sushi, sashimi, and tuna salad (Japanese
style), which was fixed by my favorite sushi chef. Fresh
tuna, yummmmmmmmmmmmm.
We went to Washerwomen and caught all the bait we
needed really fast. I like to get 25 baits hair hooked
first, and then I throw the net and load up. I do this
because they last longer in the well than the ones you net.
We went straight out to 150 feet and worked slowly down
sea. Good thing we did, because we hooked up with the first
sail around 10:00 and got the release after about ten
minutes. The fish first came up on the live bait teaser,
which is only eight feet past our motors. We hooked this
fish in 140 feet of water. I pulled the teaser away from
him and he fell back on the first bait on the right flat. I
generally keep that bait five to eight feet behind the
teaser. This fish was a nice sixty-pound fish. Then we
trolled for about a half hour more when all the baits
including the teaser started to jump frantically out of the
water. There were five fish back there, two on the teaser
and one on each of the flats, and one on the left rigger.
This all happened in 120 feet of water; One on, two on,
three on, my first triple of the year, which turned into a
double after three minutes. One fish went northeast and the
other one went west. I had one fish on a Fin Nor Offshore
6500 spinner, which had 400 yards of twenty, and one on a
BG60. We had to go after the one on the BG60 because it
holds less line. We were getting close to that fish when I
got mugged by two private boats. One of them ran over the
fish, which was stretched out. Then the other boat ran right
on top of the line and both boats were pitching freebees. I
got on the radio to tell them the situation but they just
kept doing what they do best, mug the guy who is trying to
make a living. I called repetitively over the radio that I
have a fish stretched out 200 yards and one of the boats
finally moved once we got the other fish and I charged him.
I was in ramming mode. I was able to do this because my
angler was reeling like there was no tomorrow. I charged
this one boat trying to make him move off of my fish or
line. I couldn't tell where it was. Finally, I scared him
off and we got the release of the other one. So we went
three for four. Never saw another fish after that. We went
to the span and caught some cuda's and got some bottom fish
eaten on us and then we went home. I think tomorrow will be
good too if it’s not blowing over 25 mph. Didn't get any
photos with my camera but they said once they get home they
will send them to me. It’s tough to operate a boat, leader a
fish, and take photos of them without autopilot. Hopefully I
can convince my family to pitch in and I get one for my
birthday, just after the end of the season.
Happy hunting and be courteous to your fellow
fisherman and boaters.
Marathon Fishing Report Update: February 11, 2009
We have had windy weather so far
this winter. It is not so bad on those of us who live here since
we can just wait a few days for things to improve….but for those
on vacation it is tough. I have had plenty of cold and windy
charters and more than enough cancellations. This week has been
no exception. I managed to get out on the water 3 days this
week. Only 3 of 5 charters were willing to go and the rewards
were great. The water temperature at the dock at Murray Marine
was 61 degrees and by the time I hit the outside of the reef at
Western Dry Rocks it was about 72.3. The current is ripping to
the east along most of the reef.
Offshore has been steady for Dolphin since late September. I
have caught a Dolphin on almost every charter even if we were
not looking for them. Take 2/8/09 for instance….The wind was
about 18 from NNE and the waves on the reef around 4-5 feet. The
current was keeping us sideways and it was cold. With two lines
on the bottom and a dead Ballyhoo drifting out in the current we
caught a 35 pound Kingfish and a 9 pound Dolphin in an hour and
twenty minutes. It was pretty rough so we packed it up and
headed for calmer water. I received a few reports of some
multiple hookups of Sailfish and plenty of Dolphin. The Kingfish
have become a nuisance unless you like that sort of thing. They
are fun to catch but I prefer to release them if at all
possible. Almost anything at any depth will find a King right
now. I have not trolled in a few weeks and did not get much in
the way of Bonito while anchored up. If things calm down I may
look for some larger Dolphin a little further offshore.
On the reef it has been great fishing if you want to brave the
conditions. Wind and current are both strong and running
opposite each other. Water is clear along the reef to the west
and a little cloudier as you move east. I have been getting some
decent Grouper and Mutton Snapper on dead squid along with other
misc ref fish like Porgies, Margate, African Pompano, Kingfish,
Sharks. Keep the chum flowing and keep changing the type of bait
to keep things moving. I have been spending about 45 minutes in
a spot before I pick up and move to another and that seems to
keep the bite going more so than waiting out the lulls.
As soon as the wind moves around and lightens up I will be back
into the Gulf. I was having good results on wrecks and
rock-piles with Kingfish showing up in good size and numbers
along with some Cobias. Plenty of Grouper and Snapper are on the
bottom.
Marathon Fishing Report Update: January 30, 2009
Well, I fished up in
Islamorada this week practicing for the two tournaments, which
we were entered in. We didn’t win, but my clients picked up
the tournament gig near the end of the last day. I didn’t
expect to win, but mainly to get these guys an idea of how to
win a tournament. Everyone on the boat did well and they only
will get better with more and more practice. Fishing
tournaments is a whole different way to fish than people are
used to. Getting the right bait, and hoping you’re in the
right spot at the right time, when the fish turn on. Sailfish
are funny, but what I mean is that you can be in the right
place and still not get any bites. But all of a sudden,
you’ll be covered up by sailfish, and at the same time
everyone else who is situated in a feeding area are hooked up
too. Its fast and furious and fishing 12-pound line the
littlest things such as a nick in the line from a faulty clip
will become your worst nightmare.
The
sail fishing down here has been great for me, I had out some
clients on Friday and in four hours we raised eight fish and
releasing three. We had some issues with the bait getting
fouled as the fish ate the kite baits. We had a blast as I
was saying before, we sat there for two hours without a bite
and in two hours we had caught three fish and pulled the hooks
on five others. The bite was a little west of the Span and
down to the Bahia Honda Bridge. We fished the kites and I
haven’t done that in almost eight years. Its fun to go fly a
kite and even more fun catching fish while you are flying the
kite.
The
yellowtail have been slow, but I heard that some guys were
getting them good out in front of Bahia Honda in 60 feet of
water. The muttons have been biting from the reef’s edge to
the wrecks out into 250 feet. The sharks are still a problem
and there is just no getting around the predator problems. I
guess, I would try and use heavier tackle and wench them right
up to the boat. I talked to a few guys that have been fishing
at night and they told me it was great, but cold. To cold for
me, I tell you that right now. If I was cold during the day,
there is no way you’re getting me to go out there at night
when the sun has set.
I
still don’t recommend going to the hump, but if you must
expect to catch some small tunas and some AJ’s and sharks.
There was a great weed line with some dolphin on it in 700
feet and a few others out beyond that. If you willing to
rough the seas the fish are waiting out in 700-900 feet of
water. There has been some dolphin action around 200-450 feet
too. But there are more out beyond 700 feet. The water is
cold which will make the fish far an in-between but if you put
some time into it you will find them.
Good luck and I will see you out there, and by the
way the kingfish are starting to get thick, as the water
temperature is perfect. I would troll big live baits around
wrecks and the drop-off for some great slob kingfish action.
I know their just kingfish, but they are whole lot fun to
catch. You release sailfish for fun; you might as well do the
same thing on the big kings because they don’t even smoke that
great anyways.
Marathon Fishing Report Update: January 14, 2009
Wow who turned on the light switch? Every year is the same,
right after the Christmas holiday they come from all over and
end up here in the Keys. I have been slammed since December
26th. Don’t get me wrong, I love to work and the fact that I
am working every day makes me very happy, but the transition
of being slow to full bore can throw you for a loop right in
the beginning.
Dolphin are here today gone tomorrow. One day you can catch
all you want and the next day they become scarce. Well, this
time of the year the dolphin are hauling butt to the west,
with no chance on keeping them behind the boat with usual
methods. This time of year you must keep up with them and
keep them interested by giving them some freebees. Even this
method sometimes doesn’t work. What I have been doing is
keeping the boat in gear in a westerly direction and we have
been able to pick at them until they get out in front of
boat. Then what I have been doing is using the spinning rods
with a ballyhoo hooked through the nose and trolling back to
the fish. With the spinning rods it makes quick work of these
hungry dolphin. The reason why I use the spinning rods is
because the fish tend to be from 8-15 pounds and when using a
whole ballyhoo the fish tend to grab the bait and tear it up
on the rigged hoos on the conventional rods. Since you are
going to have to drop back to them anyways I have my
customers use the spinning rods with the bail open and their
index finger on the line to hold the bait from free spooling
back. When they get a bite they let go of the line with their
finger and count to five and then reel, usually by this time
the dolphin have the bait down their throat. I only do this
when there are working birds present. We ended up with a
better hook up ratio doing it this way. The drop back is very
crucial. The dolphins have been thick out beyond 600 feet and
on the reef while sail fishing. Usually if you find the
sailfish the dolphin are not far behind. The dolphin have
been under birds mostly, so the next time you see some birds
working try this method, I am sure you will love it.
The sail fishing has stayed pretty consistent up and down the
reef with the better bites around Tennessee Light to Duck Key
and 5 miles west of Sombrero Light to Big Pine. A few fish
have been caught out in front of Marathon about three to five
miles east of the light too. I haven’t been sail fishing
since last week but after talking to my buddies this has been
where the bites have been good. Remember to always have out
some sort of teaser, whether it is a pre-made dredge with
fresh ballyhoo on it or a plastic resemblance of fish or a
live bait teaser. Making the impression that there is a good
size school of fish behind your boat will increase the amount
of sailfish that visit your spread.
Way offshore the fish have been few and far in-between. The
dolphins are out there but once you get beyond 15 miles the
fish start getting scarce. The hump has been inundated with
really small blackfins and plenty of amberjacks and sharks.
It really isn’t worth the trip to the hump in my mind but by
all means you never know when a school of larger blackfins
will show up. I have been out there twice this week and the
fish are bait size, which isn’t bad but to go all the way out
there just to get small ones doesn’t work for me. If you
catch a few of these small ones they make great bait for deep
dropping and I like to use them live or dead for the
amberjacks and sharks that have inundated the hump. The deep
dropping has been really slow, I caught a few tilefish and a
couple of queens and that’s about it for the deep dropping.
The sword fishing has been hit or miss lately. Some guys have
been pretty successful with the sword fishing and others like
myself have just been there on the wrong day. I have been
fishing for swords in the daytime now for over two years, and
this was the first time I didn’t even get a bite. You see it
happens to all of us eventually. But on the way in from
swording we found plenty of dolphin to keep my customers
happy. Have a great week and get out there and think big.
Marathon Fishing Report Update: January 07, 2009
Offshore Report—Bottom fishing has been the key, nice muttons
and AJ’s have been biting very well. Although the predators
have been thick, I have had many fish this week taken from my
clients, mainly sharks, but I had a few muttons bitten in half
or just behind the head by some really large barracudas.
Never the less the action has been quite consistent. The
conditions on most of the days weren’t quite comfortable, but
the bite is on! Plenty of kingfish out around the wrecks and
the 100-foot drop off.
I did one day of sail fishing and we raised three fish and got
two to eat, but we ended up with none. The fish on the right
side of the boat went lefts and the fish on the left side of
the boat went right cutting one off and only to have the one
still hooked up pull free. Oh well, that’s fishing. The Gulf
Stream is way far out in front of Marathon so if you want to
get into some numbers I would recommend heading as far east as
you can go. There was a hot bite to the west off of Bahia
Honda, and Big Pine. There has been a few fish out front, but
not quite as good as east or west of Marathon. Just because
you live, and keep your boat in Marathon doesn’t mean you
can’t travel 20 miles east when in the summer time you
sometimes travel thirty miles south to find dolphin. Finding
the Gulf Stream closer to the Sailfish depths is key. The
Gulf Stream in front of Marathon has been out past the edge of
the continental shelf. That’s over 25 miles and at one time
it was 38 miles out. Up in Islamorada, the Gulf Stream has
been as close as five miles from shore. When looking to find
sailfish, don’t be afraid of traveling a bit out of your area,
you might like what you see.
The swordfish bite
went off over the weekend, but died abruptly on Tuesday. Here
one day, gone tomorrow. While we were out there we did a
little deep dropping which has been kind of slow. It seems
that each hump we went to the fish didn’t want to bite, they
marked well on the finder. We caught some fish like Tiles,
barrel fish, rose fish, and Queen snapper. We didn’t catch a
lot, but we came home with enough fillets. The amberjacks and
almacos have been pretty consistent out there while we have
been dropping. The Marathon Hump, I don’t even want to go
there. It makes a great bait stop on the way out to the
swordfish grounds. The tunas have been really small and just
the right size for a swordfish snack. Allot of people only
use squid, but these fish are as much of a scavenger as a
catfish. They will eat almost anything. I have used
ladyfish, bluefish, mullet and tunas. Mackerel works well
too, but I like change it up. Squid works and I use squid,
but not on every drop. I caught my largest one, which weight
300 pounds on a dolphin slab.
The water has been
turning yellow for a few guys out there. The yellowtails
picked back up even though we are having up the rope
conditions. Bridle your boat; it makes a world of
difference. The mangroves on the patches have been biting as
with the small muttons and hogfish. The sea conditions
haven’t made it easy but at least the fish have started to
feed again. Cero mackerel and cobias on the patches with some
sails mixed in, really has made inshore fishing stand out this
week.
Dolphin, dolphin, dolphin. Scattered to the wind the dolphin
have been popping up outside of the reef, out in six hundred
feet, at the humps, and beyond. There is just no telling
where these fish will show up. The water temp has been really
cold (72 degrees), and the fish seem a little lethargic. They
are eating but it has been hard to get most of a small school
like in the summer. My temp gauge hasn’t fluctuated more than
a degree for most of the week, and I feel that it might get
colder.
Keep it safe
and I will see you out there!
Marathon Fishing Report Update: December 31, 2009
It’s been a blustery week with the winds being relentless;
never the less we were fishing. I hope everyone had a great
holiday and hope you didn’t eat too much. I had a great one,
bouncing from one place to the next. Even though I am Jewish
I understand Christmas and I love celebrating it with my
friends. It all started at the Conch Café’ on Christmas Eve
and then I was at two more houses on Christmas Day. I hope
everyone had a great time like I did, being with the people
you love is what makes it special for me.
Ok, back to
the report. The winds were just a gust at the beginning of
this week. We decided to troll for wahoo and it paid off! .
We caught five wahoo from 32 pounds to 28 pounds and one about
15 pounds on a private boat called the Loan Shark out of Lower
Matacumbe. She’s a brand new 36-foot Yellowfin with triple 300
Mercury’s and a beautiful tower. That boat flew averaging 40
kts and when we needed to get in we were doing 50 kts no
problem with still a little left over.
The sailfish
are still chewing their butt off, boats flying many flags.
The bite has been inside of 130 feet with lots of fish being
caught in the shallows when the water was clear enough to
see. More and more ballyhoo are pouring through the bridges
from the Bay into the ocean every day. This is crucial for
the sailfish bite. When this happens the ballyhoo get pushed
out to the edge of the reef where the sailfish make easy prey
of them.
The yellowtail
bite has been down right awful here in Marathon. I talked to
a bunch of captains who said they are catching some, but not
enough. The muttons on the other hand have been doing well,
small but great numbers of fish out from 120-180 feet. For
those of you, who don’t have any wrecks to fish out in that
depth, just go out to that depth and drift live bait on the
bottom. After a while move the boat about a half-mile and do
it again. You will find fish migrating from wreck to wreck
and who knows, you just might find one of these wrecks that
all of us charter boats are fishing. I find that by using a
long leader while doing this makes a world of difference. I
don’t mean just five or ten feet; make your leaders 15-25 feet
long. Use live pinfish and small grunts and de-boned or
split-tailed ballyhoo. While you are doing this have some
baits on the surface for sails and dolphin and one down about
half way to the bottom for some kingfish. They are around in
full force.
Friday fishing
was gulfside - we went out to the bay and caught lots of
mackerel on live pilchards. If you don’t have any live
pilchards, shrimp will work. You can also use spoons and
rapalas if the weeds aren’t too bad. Just head out about 7-10
miles North of Marathon and put some chum out, they will find
you. We also caught about twenty mangroves, which were
averaging two pounds apiece. Good luck and have fun. I’ll
see you out there.
Marathon Fishing Report Update: December 24, 2009
Dolphin and sails, that’s what’s going on out there. There are
plenty of fish to go around, and with lots to spare. The
sailfish bite is still great up to the East. The majority of
the fish have been in the shallow water from 20-60 feet chasing
bait up and down the reef. If you do not have a tower you can
chum after finding a bait spray. Dump of fifty pilchards or
more and pitch out a few on a hook. If your chum-baits run up
under the boat keep hitting the throttle to puss the bait back
to where your flat-lines are. Wait for the shower again and
repeat the process. It can be frustrating, but usually when you
see the bait showers there are more than one fish most of the
time. Try and figure which way the sails are pushing the bait
and set up right in front of them. You may get cut off a lot
from the kings and macks, but it’s totally worth it when you get
the fish to ball-up the pilchards behind the boat.
Well, we went
sword fishing this week, and it was tough and rough. We had
some great conditions except for the eight-foot crashing waves
that had to be moving at thirty miles an hour. We hade one
drift and got our bonita slab beat up by a sword slashing at the
bait. We dropped a dolphin slab the next time and still no
fish. We finally broke down and used the universal bait,
(squid) and boy did it look pretty in the water. We dropped it
twice still with no bite. I’ve had some days like this before,
doesn’t mean that I have to like it. Well it wasn’t a total
bust going out there. We found a nice weed line at the Gulf
Stream’s edge. We hooked a Wahoo just to have it pull the hook
after a ten minute fight. I don’t think that it was a very
large one, but sometimes you can never tell till they get to the
boat. We also could have filled the box with ten-pound
schoolies. They were stacked coming down the line heading
east. We also caught plenty of bonitas on it as well. After
catching all the bait there we headed out for some daytime
swordfish action. But before we got there in 900 feet of water
we found a frigate bird dipping. We caught two dolphin out of
three but the second fish actually got away after jumping out of
the cooler and back into the water as if he didn’t have a
shotgun blast of a wound from the gaff. That was a first. If
anyone sees a twenty-five pounder with a gunshot wound in the
head, its mine and I want it back. Just kidding, but I actually
caught a dolphin one time that had a hole right through its
side. It had healed up and everything. You could stick your
index finger right through the hole.
I heard that the
yellowtail has been slow but go out back; the mackerel are going
off the chain. I saw fifteen boats in a half-mile radius and as
I was passing them everyone was hooked up. Bluefish, mackerel
and mangroves are chewing very well out in the Gulf right now.
The cobia fishing was a little slow, but we managed three
keepers, nothing-big 20-30 pounds. If you just want to have
some fun if you head out off of big pine and when you get into
twenty or more feet of water the bonitas and king fish are
blitzing as well.
Good luck out
there and catch some fish while they are chewing. If you need
some advise or want to learn how to rig for anything, give me a
call and I will help you out the best I can. Till next week –
Capt. Dave
Marathon Fishing Report Update: December 17, 2009
High winds
sometimes mean high rewards. The offshore bite hasn’t been
letting up one bit. Even though the seas have been high, the
bite has stayed phenomenal. If you’re waiting for the seas to
calm down, you are missing some of the best fishing all year. Of
course, you know your limitations, but if you can get out there
you won’t regret it. The sailfish are biting great if you can
keep your baits away from the dolphin and tuna. Yeah, I said it;
the dolphin and tuna are ravaging our baits like a pack of wild
dogs. I was successful on keeping the dolphin and tuna down to a
minimal by not going past 125 feet of water.
I took Cal
Sutphin and Capt. Matt Bellinger out to shoot the Reeling In The
Keys TV show. Cal called me up last week to set up the date for
the show. We were having great conditions to shoot a sailfish
series; North and North East winds all week. On the day we shot
the show it switched and the winds were coming out of the South
East. The morning of the shoot I was a little nervous, because
the wind had suddenly changed and the water near shore had
murked up over night. I had a hell of a time trying to catch
bait; so brought a twenty-four chin-weighted ballyhoo for the
spreader-bar teaser. I was worried we weren’t going to find any
live bait because of the water conditions and I would be forced
to dead-bait troll. I had every right to worry; I had to produce
for the TV show.
We shot out
to the closest ballyhoo spot, which was Washer Women Shoal and
the surf was up. We had six-foot rollers breaking on the shoal.
That spot wasn’t going to produce if we would have stayed there.
So, I ventured out in front of Key Colony Beach on a rock pile
where I have been catching ballyhoo on a consistent basis. We
stayed there for thirty five minutes with not one ballyhoo
insight. Now, I was really starting to get worried. We left
there to hit another spot off of Coco Plum and fished it for
thirty minutes or so with still no ballyhoo in our well. I made
up my mind to run all the way up to a great spot East of
Tennessee Light which produced, but after all the other spots we
fished and used up most of the chum. (We only had one and a half
blocks of chum to catch the bait for the show.) We started
catching bait and my nerves started to calm. I got a throw at
some hoo’s as I threw into the wind. I was able to capture two
dozen, plus the other baits which we hair-hooked, we had enough
to fish for the rest of the day. From the bait spot we shot
strait South into the seas, which were now peaking at 6-8 feet.
We took it slow so not to beat up the camera equipment, and the
hosts of the show. It wasn’t twenty minutes before three
sailfish swam into the spread. Capt Matt and Cal both hooked up
with some decent sized sails. After about ten minutes Capt
Matt’s fish pulled the hook. We cleared everything out of the
way and we charged after Cal’s fish, which was tail-walking out
of control. His fish was running so fast that his line was
headed East while the fish jumped South with a huge belly in the
line. This is why we use such light drags while sailfishing, the
fish are so fast and when they change directions, the belly in
the line increases the pull on the fish which can cause the line
or the leader to break. After bringing Cal’s fish boat-side we
popped the leader and the fish swam off, confused but happy.
Fifteen
minutes later, after we got the teaser and the baits back in the
water, we had another double-header on. Only one fish got hooked
and Capt. Matt, who has never caught one himself, had a second
chance. His fish was an absolute superstar. That fish jumped,
tail-walked, and pirouetted, as line peeled off the reel. Capt
Matt released his first sailfish in about twenty minutes. Now we
weren’t trying to get numbers, we wanted to put on a nice show
for the camera; and besides not to many people like catching a
sailfish in 30 seconds. Having the captain barrel down the
jumping fish even before he has gotten to show you what he is
made of, unless your fishing in competition….. Tournaments are
another story all together. We got our baits back into the water
and thirty minutes later two more fish swam into the spread and
my buddy Andy had his turn, which became short lived as the
sailfish pulled the hook after about five minutes. We had our
last bit of live bait out when dolphin came in like a pack of
dogs, chewing everything in sight, including the teaser. We had
a mess, three lines tangled and the fourth that got missed by
all the dolphin. We got one dolphin to the boat and a ball of
monofilament. The reason why the forth line didn’t get eaten was
because during all the chaos a kingfish had chomped the hook
off. With no more live bait we headed home to Castaways where I
birth my boat and had a few cocktails and reminisced about the
great trip.
This trip
couldn’t have been any better. I got to fish with a couple of my
good friends while making a new friendship with Capt. Matt
Bellinger. Capt Matt writes for the paper from up in Islamorada.
He has fished for years down here and has caught many angler’s
their first sailfish, but has never caught one for himself until
now. That’s amazing. Have a great week fishing, if this weather
ever stops blowing.
Capt. Dave
Marathon Fishing Report Update: December 10, 2009
Offshore
Report—I’m back from popular demand. There was some confusion
with the transfer of The Weekly Fisherman to its new owner
Elizabeth who was one of its creators back in the day.
Getting
right into it, the sail fishing has been pretty consistent out
in front of Marathon with some dolphin and blackfin tuna thrown
into the mix as well. The sailfish bite gets better the further
East that you go. The best bite has been around Tennessee Light
and has been for quite some time now. The depth of water which
the fish have been pouring through has changed from day to day,
so keep trying different depths if you’re not getting into the
fish. The fish have been mostly from 100 feet to 130 feet with
lots of small ones. During the tournaments we all hope to get
the small ones but that usually never happens.
The dolphin
action has been fair up and down the reef with some fish up in
the 20-pound class. Most of the action has been from 150 feet
out to 220 feet with some variations of depth depending on which
way the wind was blowing from. Most of the dolphins have been
under birds, mainly frigates and terns. The dolphins have been
cruising around under these birds like a pack of dogs
terrorizing our sailfish baits. If you are just trying to get
dolphin, troll like you would during the summer, but don’t go
beyond 300 feet of water; there really isn’t much beyond that.
Have some cut bait ready or live pilchards if you want to get
all the fish out of the school. If you go out early in the
morning, just as the sun is starting to peak over the horizon,
you can chum up enough pilchards out in front of the beach at
Sombrero and in the channel leading to Sisters Creek.
The deep
dropping has been very inconsistent with sharks posing a problem
most of the time. The queen snapper have been biting again if
you can get them past the bulls and the hammerheads. The snowy
grouper bit pretty good this week according to Capt. Dave Jenson
on the private boat Early Bite. He was also the captain who told
me about the queens biting and some tile fish too. Capt. Dave
told me that some of the days which he went dropping, they just
wouldn’t bite either. Those days the current had slacked off and
we all know when that happens it can be pretty dismal out there.
I went dropping for some barrel fish and rosefish. The current
was slow, but just enough to make a decent drift. We caught all
the rose fish we wanted plus two barrels, which are still
spawning out there. They have been spawning since September
along with all the other deepwater fish.
The yellow
tail bite was not good in the deep water on Friday, but I really
haven’t been doing much of that. I spent a couple of hours of
feeding the yellowtails to the sharks before we decided to go
out back and find some cobia on the Bay wrecks. It’s really good
from twenty miles out and further. There have been some good
days of mutton fishing with the fish weighing in at twenty
pounds or better.
The sword
fishing was really good last week when we went 2 for 5, but they
all were two small to keep. I saw Capt. Billy Turnbuilt coming
in on Friday with a 200+ pounder in his small Boston Whaler. It
is a site to see a 20 odd foot boat with a fish spread from port
to starboard and the tail that spread four foot, hanging
outboard of the boat. Great job Capt. Billy, that’s a nice
catch.
It’s great
to be back writing for The Weekly Fisherman, and thank you all
who called or wrote me to ask where my report was. I take this
writing very seriously and I do what I can for all of you who
don’t get the opportunity to get out there every day to know
where the fish have been, and if you are out there when I am,
give me a call on either CH 6 or CH 74. Have a great week and I
will see you out there.
Till then,
