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Fair and 76 F at Marathon Airport, FL  Winds are East at 6.9 MPH (6 KT). The pressure is 1014.9 mb and the humidity is 67%. Last Updated on Mar 10 2010, 10:53 am EST. Current Radar Extended Forecast |
Sweet E'nuf Charters Weekly Florida Keys Fishing ReportWeekly Florida Keys Fishing Update from Capt. Dave Schugar and Sweet E'Nuf ChartersPetition to Fight Fisheries MismanagementMarch 9th, 2010Related to my post from earlier today about the Obama Administration’s push to shut down recreational fishing, here’s a petition to fight fisheries closures. If you enjoy recreational fishing, your hobby or profession is in danger of being shut down. More information over at ESPN. Offshore Fishing Report: Spring is Almost Here – Dolphin Run is Coming Fast!February 28th, 2010MARATHON, Florida Keys – It is starting to look like spring, as this week’s tides have been extremely low. The temperature has been a little cooler than normal, which hasn’t been good for our tourist population. This week’s full moon made the fishing a little interesting. The yellowtails on the reef are still sluggish, but the mangroves that have been on the patches have been day savers. Speaking of day savers the kingfish which are most often overlooked can give your light tackle a good run for it’s money. Drag screaming off of a reel gets every fisherman’s blood flowing. These toothy critters love this weather and as the water cleared up the bite was really on. Kingfish rely on their great eyesight to eat. They have very large eyes for their size. Kingfish have a torpedo shaped body, which allows them to have incredible acceleration to surprise its prey. One of the many reasons I love to fish for kings is their ability to launch themselves out of the water and land directly on your bait. Sometimes kingfish can jump twenty feet in the air when they attack bait on the surface. These supersonic jet –like predators can eat very large baits, as they will cut larger baits down to size as they shred apiece off on every pass. You can target these fish on deeper wrecks from 125-180 feet of water. If there are barracudas around the wreck the kings will stay further off the wreck so not to be eaten themselves. You can troll for them with live or dead bait along the edge of the reef or anchor up and chunk for them as well. When you’re anchored up try the kite with a large bait and some flatlines with live baits for the best results. They will readily eat a spoon or jig retrieved very fast. These fish are triggered to attack by fast moving action. Sail fishing has been a little on the boring side. The current still hasn’t been all that great and this eddy of no current was shortly interrupted for a few days as we did experience some current this week. The bite for sails has been slow all the way up to Miami. When we get some current we will see the action pick back up. There were a few dolphin caught along the reef this week, nothing of any size or numbers but a few is better than none. I heard from one of my friends that a large school of schoolies cam by their boat, but they were too small to keep. If I had to go offshore this upcoming week I would venture out to the humps where the action has been with tuna and amberjacks. The super large jacks have held up residence on the hump and so has many large sharks too. The jacks out there have been averaging 65-80 pounds with some 100 pounders being caught too. For the up coming week, it looks like we are going to experience cooler waters only in front of Marathon and as far out as 30 miles, but later in the week it will be pushed out by the warm water eddy and the warm water looks like it will push almost to the reef. When we loose the cooler water the Upper Keys will get it for a few days until it pushes around the corner to Miami. Look for warm water East or West till Thursday and then we should have some current and warm water for a few days until a new eddy of cold water will plague us once again. All of this cooler water is being pushed by the warm water out of the Gulf of Mexico and creating a Ying and a Yang mixture of cold and warm water along the Keys. This warm water is swirling the cold water up the coast and this is why we will be experiencing these changes of water temperatures. I am counting the days till the dolphin run, but I am predicting that it won’t be until the end of April or the beginning of May before we see any major runs, but I hope I am wrong. This was the trend last year, and the only way that we will see the dolphin return early is if we experience some global warming, hahahaha, just kidding, but seriously, we need the warm water for the dolphin to show up early. And everyone hated El Nino, but I think that’s why we had loads of dolphin from March to October. I had amazing Octobers in the past when the water stayed warm late in the season. Keep your eyes peeled for birds working anywhere near the warm water for dolphin. Good luck out there. Offshore Fishing Report: Cold Water Moves Into MarathonFebruary 21st, 2010MARATHON, Florida Keys — Cold and blusterous, seems to be a theme this year. There has been cold water plaguing us here in Marathon. This was caused by the Gulf Stream shooting into the Gulf of Mexico and forcing out cold water, which inevitably was forced along the Keys and it was the reason why the Gulf Stream or warmer water was so far out this week. If you think of a bucket that has been filled to the top with cold water, then add a hose with warm water; the water leaving the bucket first will be cold and then a mix of warm and cold water. This is what we are going to experience this coming week. There will be very large spikes of warm water all along the Keys. By heading either East or West you will find the warm water when heading out offshore. Listening to the weather report by NOAA you will be able to find out if your homeport is in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream. If it isn’t, you will either travel far offshore or up and down the road where the current and warmer water comes closer to shore. Fishing in these cold water is a waste of time and money. Find the warm water and you find the fish. Offshore has been awfully bleak. There has been a few dolphin around the edge of the warm and cold water. Off of Marathon this week it was 30 miles out and further. There is warm water heading our way for the rest of the week. The Gulf Steam aught to be no more than ten miles from shore if not closer. This warm water will only be here for two to five days before another body of cold water from the Gulf of Mexico is pushed around Key West and then up the Straits of Florida. Most people think we are fishing the Atlantic Ocean, but in fact we are not in the Atlantic but the Florida Straits. The reef has been fair with some yellowtail biting even though there hasn’t been any current in three weeks. The water has been dirty green and cold, not a great combo for a normally warm water-loving, cold blooded animal. The yellowtails are there and schooling in the chum, but they are not motivated to eat. I fished for yellowtails once this week and we got our limit but it took a while. The grouper action is hot just about everywhere. From 20 feet of water to 160 feet the blacks have been on a rampage, eating most baits. It is too bad we can’t even keep one a day. A few muttons have been taken on the reef from what my friend have told me, we didn’t see any though. The kingfish are pretty much all over the place; they seem to be digging the cold water. Cobias have been spotted in great number on the ocean side following rays and turtles. I wish I were out there to see it, I was told it was pretty impressive, with many fish in the 50-pound class and bigger. Sail fishing was a bit bleak in Marathon, but if you traveled twenty miles East or West the bite was decent. There has been cleaner and warmer water in these areas, which have been teeming with sails and dolphin. Set up on the edge of the reef from 80-130 feet for the sails. Many multiple hook ups are possible and don’t forget about the wahoo, they are still around. My buddy John Foster got a fifty pounder this week. By using a little wire on your sailfish rig you can capture some of the toothy critters, which are in the same areas as the sails. Six inches of number Four or Five wire will work just fine and the sailfish won’t even know it was there, especially if you’re using ballyhoo. Check the weather reports and fish in areas that look fishy don’t just choose an area out of a hat, and be precise with your rigging. By using all the tools and information available today the fisherman can be very productive these days, but when you fish blind sometime you get lucky and sometimes fall down. So use everything at your disposal from the Internet to the electronics on your boat, and be safe and good luck. New Pictures in the New Photo Gallery!February 15th, 2010Just a quick note that there are just over 30 new pictures in the brand new photo gallery. Click here to see them!  New pictures at the Sweet E'Nuf Charters Photo Gallery Offshore Fishing Report: Cold Weather Reaches the Keys, Sailfish Bite Still GoodFebruary 15th, 2010MARATHON, Florida Keys – Here we go again, the cold has started leaking into the Keys giving us 50-degree temperatures. Thinking back all the years I have lived here, I have never witnessed the degree of winter temperatures as we have seen the past two years. The notion of global warming just makes me mad as it has been very clear that what ever research that has been done, has been done wrong. You tell me, records are falling all over the northern hemisphere, as these guys are still defending their inaccurate work they call their research. I have had many calls for the early dolphin run that we used to get during March and April, but I really have to say that we won’t see it this year. Last year was the beginning of this cold trend, and the dolphin didn’t have a good run till the very end of April. But I do believe we will keep our excellent sailfish season into April and if you fish further offshore the sail fishing should continue to be good into May. This week was a bit rough, which limited the amount of people that should have been out there. Fishing in 4-6 foot seas on the reef and wrecks I was able to keep my clients thinking about their next bite instead of their stomachs. The wrecks were very active with muttons, groupers, and amberjacks. Using vertical jigs and live bait you were very likely to stay very busy with multiple double headers and line screaming off of the fifty pound spinners I use for dropping. I find that most people are more comfortable with spinners and you can let beginners who are enthusiastic about fishing get experience with a fishing combo that is user friendly. I had a charter this week where catching blue runners became a challenge for them, but after filling the well with blue runners they were able to try for the big ones on a little bit bigger tackle. After bouncing around out there we lost two anglers to seasickness, but the other two caught some slob amberjacks on a lighter combo. Women especially, find lighter tackle easier even though it might take longer to land a big fish, you need to have some common sense to understand that most women are not as strong as men and to use heavy tackle with strong drags is just not going to happen. So next time when you are out there dropping for amberjacks and other bottom fish, give the lady a spinner and make her day. The reef has been ok, yellowtails have been biting somewhat, but the lack of current has really affected the bite. They have been hitting softly and closer to the bottom due to the dirty water and lack of current. Yellowtails are funny sometimes, but it makes complete sense. If the water is dirty the yellowtail will not come up high in the water column for the one reason, they need to see the bottom. If they have a hard time seeing the bottom they will hold deeper in the water column. Sometimes when they are really hungry they will come up and go down, never staying on top. When your school of yellowtail won’t come up, you will loose more fish due to their ability to find something to wrap your line around since they are so close to the bottom. They can be smart by swimming towards the boat but diving deeper as they find something to hang you up on. The other reason when the yellowtails get hard to get to the boat when they are deeper in the water column is that the threat of being eaten by sharks and kingfish increases with every ten feet down in the water column. As the fish struggles on the line the kings and sharks are able to pick these fish out and eat them with ease. Even dolphin (flipper) will take their fair share of your fish while you’re out there yellow tailing. Sail fishing has been ok, with some captains getting 3-7 releases, and capturing some big kings in the 20-30 pound range. Lots of schooling kings from 8-12 pounds have been swarming around some of the wrecks in 130-180 feet of water. Using vertical jigs, live bait and dead bait has been working really well. You can also get out off the edge of the reef and troll with down riggers or weights and have a blast catching kingfish. They might not be very good to eat, but I do enjoy catching them. They are one of our sportfish that most people overlook. If you use the right tackle these toothy critters are sure to pull hard and test your tackle, especially if your using light tackle. Fishing foe kings in the Kite is so much fun. This is by far some of the most exciting way to kingfish as they skyrocket twenty feet into the air with the bait in their mouth. If you have ever bass fished using top-water plugs, the excitement you get when the fish busts your floating lure making a big splash and surprising you at the same time drives these fisherman to stick with it. The same thing with kite fishing for kings, the aerial attacks and the strike is the number one reason for fishing this way. Have a great week, and get out there and have some fun. Try something new this week, and try kite fishing for kings while we have the weather for it. Moving the Offshore Fishing ReportFebruary 9th, 2010MARATHON, Florida Keys — Hi everyone. I’m in the middle of moving the Offshore Fishing Report from the old layout to this new blog format. It’ll take a while to get all of the old posts moved over. In the mean time, enjoy the new layout, and feel free to make a comment now with any questions you might have. If you’re living in the Northeast, stay warm and be safe…and remember, whenever you’re ready for a break from 30 inches of snow, the warm, sunny Florida Keys and plenty of great fishing await! Give me a call any time at 305-610-4778 or drop me a line. Offshore Fishing Report: Amberjacks Biting on the WrecksFebruary 8th, 2010MARATHON, Florida Keys — As the North enters an ice age, we in the south can sit back and enjoy the slightly cooler weather while enjoying the phenomenal Keys fishing. We had a windy week with a couple of days where the wind died down, but unfortunately I was off for the nice days. I fished the wrecks all week and was able to produce a nice cooler of fish each of those days. The wrecks have been hit or miss, but when you do find one that is producing, stick with it. That was the case this week, as I hit six to seven different wrecks to finally find one that was producing. Most of what we caught was large to medium amberjacks from 30-50 pounds. On a spinner with 50 pound braid the fight is unforgettable for my clients. Whether you call them bulldogs of the deep or reef donkeys, amberjacks are a formidable opponent on light gear. Using only 40-pound leader the drag on my rods are set fairly light to allow the fish to run, and that’s why I love to fish this way. Anyone can drop down heavy tackle on a conventional reel, but what most people love about catching big fish is to watch the line scream off the reel. I do lose fish because my tackle is lighter than most, but that’s fishing, you can’t catch them all, and if we did, fishing would be too predictable and maybe become a little boring. In between the jack attacks we took our fair share of some nice size muttons in the 12-15 pound range. A few mystery fish which we couldn’t stop, which I thought they might have been big grouper, because they went strait for the wreck and stopped running once they got there. The reef has been hot, where most people are catching some pretty large mangroves, yellowtail, and muttons. I talked to my buddy Johnny who is an avid free diver and said the groupers are all over the place. John proceeded to tell me an astounding story about his latest dive. After shooting a couple of muttons, he shot another only to have it pull free from his spear when out of nowhere four groupers of all sizes came in to maul the wounded mutton. They watched in awe to the aggressive behavior these groupers were exhibiting. He told me it reminded him of a pride of lions attacking a gazelle on the African plains. To bad he didn’t have his video camera to document these obviously hungry groupers. Johnny had said that his whole group saw a hundred grouper though out the day which would mean that maybe the spawn is on. I am upset we can’t enjoy this fishery, mainly I can understand why they want to close the season, but completely shutting down the season is a little much. It would have been handled better if we had a restriction on how many we can keep during the spawn, but the total shut down is outrageous. Sail fishing was pretty normal this week with many fish caught and released. The ballyhoo had disappeared due to the dirty water. Finding them on the ocean side was real a challenge, but when this happens venture out to the bay and chum along some of the banks, three miles out and or in front of the Seven Mile Bridge. Be careful back there, there are many banks and you don’t want to end up on the bank or destroying the grass growing on them either. The bite was sporadic throughout the day but the bite is determined by the time and the amount of bait in the area. So look for bait, and find a nice drop off and get yourself a sail today. Offshore there have been some reports of dolphin and wahoo, so go back to the basics and pull some high speeders. Finding dolphin this time of year can be challenging, but you won’t have to go far, look for weed lines and rips inside of ten miles. I am sure the deep dropping was good, but I didn’t talk to anyone who went out in these conditions to test their boat and their sea legs. I can’t wait till I can get back out there, dinner is much better with queen snapper on the table verses mutton snapper, but mutton will do when there is no queen snapper to be had. Get out when you can, but make sure you are to date on all the new fishing regulations, and make sure your boat is equipped with all the required safety equipment too, the Coast Guard will appreciate that. Till next week, happy hunting. Offshore Fishing Report: Warm weather makes ocean-side fishing hotJanuary 25th, 2010MARATHON, Florida Keys — It is feeling more and more like the Keys with temperatures up in the 80’s, just where we like it. The warmer weather has warmed up the shallows, which can be essential for finding our bait for the day. Pilchards are showing back up and as well as the pinfish, so get out there and get your bait for some hot offshore fishing. The ocean side has bee red hot no matter which of the numerous species you like to target. Sail fishing has been as hot as it can get from the showers in the shallows to the packs of sails tailing down sea off the edge of the reef. I haven’t been sail fishing this week but, from what I gathered from my friends and other charter captains, it is good out there, really good. Using live bait will generally always be better than trolling dead bait, but one of my friend got three sails on dead bait, along with some dolphin and blackfin tuna. There are many different ways to fish for sails down here, so pick the best way you know how and go get some. When the wind blows you shouldn’t let it get you down, you can always anchor up on the reef. The reef has been producing some quality yellowtails from 45-60 feet of water. While your fishing for your yellowtails, put out a kite with a blue runner or a yellowtail for a chance of a smoker king or wahoo. When your chumming and you have a big school of fish behind your boat, there will be some other predatory fish lurking back there for an easy meal. If your chum is going the same direction as the wind, add a couple of big split shots your kite. This will allow your kite to veer to one side or the other. You don’t want your kite bait back in your yellowtail school for two reasons. The first reason is that it might scare your school of yellowtail, and by placing it amongst all the other fish it may get lost amongst the school of yellowtails. So if you get your kite to skirt to the outside of the school it will be an easy target by the predators. Most predators will attack a bait that gets separated from its school first. I also would recommend that you make your kite go to the side closer to the deeper water. When we have North winds you may not even need any split shots if the current is strong enough. Try out this method, it really works. If you never have used a kite and feel intimidated with it, hire me to run your boat for the day, I will teach you how to work the kite and many other methods, which all of us captains use down here. Wreck fishing has been really good; many different species are being caught in the deeper water. Amberjacks seem to be on all the wrecks, but if you are persistent you might get yourself some nice muttons that have been in the 10-18 pound range. Groupers have been biting well, but unfortunately we will have to release all of them due to the new grouper regulations. The bait has been easier to catch as the warm water returns to the shallows. Deep dropping is on fire, from snowy grouper to queen snappers. Some tilefish are being caught and of course the barrels have been biting as well. I like to use cut bait and squid when I am deep dropping, it gives them a choice, even fish like a choice. Swords are biting but if you are as unlucky like we were this last trip you can fight a sword for a couple hours only to have a shark eat it before you can get it in. I swear that it was a jumbo because he fought really hard the whole time, and usually when they fight hard on the bottom, it’s a big one. Large swordfish do one of two things when you hook one. They will fight hard and stay down for many hours or fire up to surface faster than you can reel in the line. We had numerous bites and hook ups, but the fish were just coming unglued on this trip. Well I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching. The more frustrating thing was that my friend Capt Will Wagner fishing right next to me landed two fish. My mother told me there would be days like this. Have a great week, and catch some fish!
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