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Weekly Florida Keys Fishing Update from Capt. Dave Schugar and Sweet E'Nuf Charters
Posts Tagged ‘grouper fishing’
Monday, December 21st, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — Happy holidays everyone. It is usually pretty quiet down here the week before Christmas and it seems that this year is following normal trends. With a fresh blanket of snow in the northeast we seem to be pretty cozy down here in paradise.
The sailfish action has been steady with 2-4 fish as a daily average. Most of the fish were found tucking up along the edge of the reef. Putting the time in with slow trolling live baits has produced some nice action with kings and dolphin while waiting to be attacked by wolf packs of sails. During the midday the bite has slowed down and I would recommend dropping down on wrecks and the edge of the reef for some mutton and grouper action until later in the day when the sails pick back up again. There have been some sprays from bait showers inside the reef from 20-40 feet of water and using your tower you will see if they are from mackerels or sails. There has been a great push of mackerels in the shallows.
The mackerel fishing has picked up considerably since last week. Hoards of Spanish and cero mackerel have been feasting on the abundant bait from inside of Hawks Channel out to the patches. Trolling spoons or medium size crank baits works really well to help locate a big school. Once you have located a big school you anchor up and chum. While you’re chumming you can use shrimp, which seems to be the best bait for them, small pilchards, chunks and strips to have fun with these guys on light tackle. You can even use your fly rod, which is pretty cool as the mackerel scream line off of your flimsy noodle of a rod. The current allotment is 15 per person, but you can’t freeze this fish, so only keep as many as your going to eat fresh or put in the smoker, because they do make some of the best smoked fish when done right. My buddy Chris Kilmas has probably the best smoke fish I have ever tried. I have been smoking fish for a long time and he blows past me with his smoked fish. He will be smoking some mackerel I gave him this past weekend, I can’t wait till it gets done.
This time of the year we get heavy north winds which tends to keep people from fishing. This isn’t always necessary if you knew about the great fishing we have in Hawks Channel and on the patches. You might have to move around a bit until you find a good spot when you do, man-o-man it can be some exciting fishing, never knowing what will swim by the boat next. Big sharks, cobia, grouper, kingfish, mackerel, all kinds of snappers, and some pretty big, use hawks channel as a super highway. Finding rock piles scattered through the channel the fish use these as feeding stations, kinda like our rest stops on the turnpike. You never want to fish on top of the rock pile but instead anchor along side of it. If you don’t produce anything after a half-hour move to another rock pile until you find one with fish on it. Sometimes the fish will come to you if you chum long enough.
We need everyone to get involved and band together, because we need to get lobbyists to fight for our cause. There is a two-part amendment, which is going to be devastating to our economy if passed. ‘If approved, the closure will affect federal waters in the South Atlantic region from approximately 240 feet deep seaward and prohibit fishing for or possession of speckled hind, and warsaw grouper, as well as snowy grouper, blueline tilefish, yellowedge grouper, misty grouper, queen snapper, and silk snapper. The deepwater closure excludes golden tilefish, a species generally found over mud bottom and not likely to co-occur over the hard bottom habitat preferred by speckled hind and warsaw grouper. The closure is based on the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee’s recommendation that an Allowable Biological Catch of zero (0) landings be implemented for both speckled hind and warsaw grouper. Currently, fishermen are allowed to keep 1 fish per vessel per trip and sale is prohibited for these two species. The amendment will prohibit all fishing for, possession, and retaining speckled hind and warsaw grouper.’ They are doing this to protect the deep-water reefs not because of over fishing. This is an outrage because they have no idea that there is even a problem, it is just another elaborate scheme that the tree huggers and their lobbyists are trying to do to keep us from making a living from a great renewable resource. Please help us by joining together so we too can get a lobbyist to fight for us. Email me at sweetenufcharter@aol.com and join the fight.
Tags: blueline tilefish fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, cobia fishing, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, golden tilefish fishing, grouper fishing, Hawks Channel, kingfish fishing, mackerel fishing, Marathon fishing, misty grouper fishing, mutton snapper fishing, queen snapper fishing, sail fish fishing, sailfish fishing, sharks, silk snapper fishing, snapper fishing, snowy grouper fishing, speckled hind fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, warsaw grouper fishing, yellowedge grouper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, December 14th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — Hogfish, it’s what’s for dinner. Hogfish has to be one of the best fish we have down here in the Keys and they are all over the place right now. I have been taking my friends out to the patches and we have been shooting our dinner. Hogfish have to be the easiest fish to shoot; they turn sideways to make it easier to shoot them when confronted. Not very smart for as fish go, but it sure is nice of them. You can find hogfish on reefs, and grass beds. I usually will find them on the outskirts of the patches. These fish can change colors in an instant to blend into the bottom. It is really neat to see these fish change colors and they really do blend in amazingly. Most of the hogfish you will find in shallow water, but if you dive in the deeper reefs they can be abundant out there too. I will usually find bigger ones out in the deeper water, some up to five pounds or better. I donated the fish to the Monkey for a fish fry this week. My buddy Bobby Butler made some fried hogfish poorboys that were out of this world. He took the fillets and marinated them for a couple of hours in Coco Lopez, which is sweetened, condensed coconut milk. Then he breaded them with rice krispies and put coleslaw on a sub roll and man it was amazing. Thanks Bobby.
The sailfish action was a little slow this week but there was some great wahoo fishing. High speed trolling has been working well from 150-250 feet of water. Most people were using drails and plastics, but I talked to one of my friends up the road a bit and they were having some great luck with live speedos. They caught lots of kingfish and five wahoo from 20-40 pounds. One of my friends caught a few wahoo this week using ballyhoo with cone lures in front. The sailfish action was slow but a couple of days they turned on pretty good in the shallows. Following the bait sprays was the key this week. Finding the frigates diving was also a good indication of some action too. Live bait has been pretty easy to come by right now. There are lots of cigars here in Marathon, which is unusual, and plenty of pilchards on the flats from 79th street up to Valhalla. The ballyhoo can be found just about everywhere, but if you want the green backs they are back in the bay and they are all over the place as well.
The reef is still on fire with yellowtail, jacks, kings, muttons and groupers. Anchoring up can be so much fun this time of year. You can do all sorts of fishing while you’re anchored up on your yellowtail spot. I like to yellowtail fish first and while we are catching yellowtails I put down a couple of bottom rods with one large bait for grouper and a small bait for muttons. After we have enough yellowtails I will switch over and king fish either from a kite or just flat lining from the back of the boat. Big kings will circle your yellowtails and putting one up in the kite off the side of the boat will usually yield some big smoker kings. Most people don’t like to eat kingfish, but I will tell you from my own personal experience, they make great smoked fish dip. Besides, they really are a great sport fish, which is usually overlooked because of their poor food quality. I have caught many kingfish over 50 pounds and they are like fighting a large wahoo. They will make blistering runs and my favorite part is when they strike the bait on the surface, either exploding on the bait or coming fifteen feet out of the water with the bait in their mouth. Wintertime fishing is one of my favorite times of the year because you just never know what you’re going to get. You could catch dolphin, sailfish, wahoo, tuna, white marlin, grouper, muttons, yellowtail and other assorted snappers. There are sharks, and barracudas, and numerous kinds of jacks, which will test your will and your tackle.
Way out has been a virtually barren except for some sword fishing off the shelf and lots of big tuna at the humps. The tunas have been thick but so are the sharks. You just never know when the sharks will be bad, but most days this time of the year they seem to swarm the humps and the reefs. We dove the other day and the first three spots had a big bull shark swimming on them. We only stayed in those areas for a short time, because they bull sharks were starting to investigate us, so not to tempt fate we moved. The jigs and live bait were the only way to get the big tunas to bite. If you trolled you only caught bait size tunas. Fishing further in front of the hump can help keep the sharks from getting your tuna, but you really are at their mercy.
Good luck, it looks like the rain missed us this week, and I looking forward to the next front, hopefully it will spark up the sailfish bite.
Tags: amberjack fishing, ballyhoo fishing, barracuda fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, florida humps fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, fried hogfish poorboy, grouper fishing, hogfish cooking tips, hogfish fishing, king fish fishing, kingfish fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, sailfish fishing, sharks, snapper fishing, spearfishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, tuna fishing, wahoo fishing, white marlin fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — It sure is good to be writing for the Weekly Fisherman again. This paper has been loved by all; it is back, thank you Elizabeth and Jessica.
The sailfish bite is hot now. Earlier in the week the bite was good, but not as good as it is now. We just went 5 for 8 on Wednesday, and caught a few each day earlier in the week. There has been some bait showers along the edge of the reef and up inside of 40 feet of water. I found packs of sails in 130-165 feet of water. I mainly have been slow trolling ballyhoo since there aren’t too many birds giving up the sailfish’s locations. I prefer to troll with four baits and sometime with one down for muttons and kings. Using enough weight to keep close to the bottom. If the current is too strong I will keep the down rod about 60 feet down for some king action. Using large blue runners or speedos, you can get some really big ones. You can also get lucky sometimes and catch a nice wahoo.
The reef has been red hot with plenty of yellowtail to be had. The really big yellowtails have been chewing, but the sharks have been just down right scary. I watched two sharks bite each other as they were fighting over a yellowtail. While your fishing on the reef the cero mackerel are showing up good as well. I have been doing a lot of diving lately and I have been seeing plenty of black grouper. I see as many as 10 small ones from 20 inches or so. It’s really tough to get an exact size on them while your down but I never shoot them unless they look really big. This free diving is a hoot, I just started and I am addicted. On the patches I have been shooting some hogfish and mangroves, and an occasional large grouper. So if your looking to have some fun on rough days, the patches have been loaded with fish. With the temps dropping the fish are on the move, and they have been moving to the reef and inside as well.
The sword fishing from what I hear has been good, with some really exceptional catches. I head today that there was a 500+ pounder caught on the Key Colony dock by one of the private boats. Don’t quote me; it’s just what I heard. The guys up the road who have been doing a lot of swording tell me there have been lots of action, but most of the fish from 100-150 pounds. The deep dropping has been a little slow, but the barrel fish are always biting it seems. The queen snapper never showed up this year. I only heard of the a few caught on different occasions. My buddy John Foster destroyed them over in the Bahamas but he only went over there once.
Just for you guys who fish the bay the cobia have been biting and showing up in small schools. We limited out the other day and also got our share of some nice mangroves too. The mackerel have showed up, but they are not really thick yet. If you work hard you can limit out with them too. Just remember to only take fish which you can use; let’s not waste our resources. Have a great week and I will see you out there.
Tags: ballyhoo fishing, barrel fish fishing, black grouper fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, cobia fishing, deep drop fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, hogfish fishing, Key Colony fishing, kingfish fishing, mackerel fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, reef fishing, sail fish fishing, sailfish fishing, sharks, spearfishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish fishing, wahoo fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, October 26th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — Fall has been falling short of last year’s phenomenal fishing. We really never got a dolphin run this fall like we usually do. This year has definitely changed for the worse. Not only has the economy hit us charter boat captains hard, the fish seem to be on strike as well. Compared to last fall, this fall has fallen short of normal. Water temperatures have been on the cooler side as was the air temperatures as well. The offshore fishing has slowed to a halt.
With the offshore fishing slow, we have been fishing the reef and wrecks to show our clients a fun filled day of catching. The muttons have been biting well, no size to them but plenty of fish from the 6-10 pounds. One day this week we caught over twenty muttons on a half-day charter. It was blowing over twenty kts. So, we stayed close to shore, fishing Hawks Channel and the patches, which have been full of snappers. The yellowtail snapper have been chewing really well, with some large fish being caught. While fishing for yellowtail snapper we have been catching a few muttons on the bottom as well with a grouper here and there. Always bring some live bait while your fishing on the reef to catch some of the bigger fish off of the bottom. Live bait such as ballyhoo, pinfish, grunts, and even small legal lane snappers work great for the groupers and muttons. Remember when fishing for muttons, a lighter leader is best, but if a grouper eats your bait you will most likely loose him. I will try using a heavy leader first to get the groupers, and as the day goes on, I will drop the leader size.
Wreck fishing has been on fire with amberjacks swarming over most of the wrecks. There are a few African pompanos and muttons being caught. I have been using mostly pinfish and small grunts to target all of these fish. I will use a split-tailed ballyhoo also, it will sometimes be the secret bait which most people overlook. When fishing the wrecks for most of the bottom dwellers I prefer to use a 15-20 foot leader from 40-60 pound floro carbon leader. One other important thing you must get down with dropping long leaders to the bottom is that you have to have the boat moving forward while dropping the bait down to the bottom. This will allow the line to scope out a bit and will prevent tangles while dropping down 150-250 feet of water. This past couple of weeks I have caught, cobia, muttons, amberjacks, jack crevales, grouper, African pompano, mangrove snapper, white margates, yellow jacks, and barracudas. I really have been doing well on the deeper wrecks from 180-250 feet of water.
Deep dropping this past week was a little slow with a few tilefish and barrel fish being caught. I have heard a few people got into a few queen snappers but for the most part the deep dropping has been slow except for the tilefish and an occasional snowy. The sword fishing has been great although the weather has been dictating the days, which we are able to fish for them. I went one for three at the beginning of last week. It wasn’t really big one but a keeper never the less. Sword fishing has been taking most of the attention of a lot of people these days, getting a big one can really change your outlook of the offshore fishing. Fall through the winter the sword fishing should be great as the fish from the North East migrate south to warmer waters. We are in a great place down here in the Keys to catch these fish only 30 miles from shore. If you have never though about it, you should, it is some great fishing and can produce a lot of meat for you meat hunters.
Have a great week and hope to see you down here, stay warm until you get down here.
Tags: African pompano fishing, amberjack fishing, ballyhoo fishing, barracuda fishing, barrel fish fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, cobia fishing, deep drop fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, Hawks Channel, live bait fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, queen snapper fishing, reef fishing, snowy grouper fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tilefish fishing, wreck fishing, yellow jack fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, September 21st, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — The season has been slow lately, but I did get out a couple of times this week. One day we went offshore for tuna and dolphin. The tuna fishing was so good we only fished for two hours and got ten fish from 20-30 pounds. Live baiting was the key, with only a couple of other boats out there the fish seemed to never go down. The current was only about one knot, which meant we could have some long drifts. Watching the tunas busting and sky rocketing on the freebies was absolutely awesome, it reminded me of a Guy Harvey T-shirt. Fresh sashimi was on my mind once we hit the dock.
After the tuna frenzy on the hump we shot out to the edge of the wall looking for some dolphin, and it didn’t take long to find the first of many schools of dolphin. They weren’t too picky. I have caught lots of sardines lately and they scarfed them up like Scooby snacks. There were lots of fish from 3-8 pounds and we did manage to get a few in the twenties too. There was scattered grass all over out there, just enough to keep an eye on the baits while we were trolling so that we weren’t dragging grass skirts on our naked ballyhoos.
A few days later we went sword fishing and on the first drop we landed a 150-pound pumpkin. We made three other drifts only to get our baits all beat up, but since we got one on the first drop we were satisfied with what we got. The fish were a little shallower than usual, we kept getting bites around 1500 feet. Usually we get bites as soon as we get down there at 1890 to 1780 feet. The new rig I am using has two hooks on it like a chicken rig with long leaders. It seems to be working well for all the captains who are using it. When we got back to the dock we took some photos and when I cut into it, there were two dozen freshly eaten squids in it’s stomach. The squids were in such great shape we bagged them up for later use. Once I cut into the fish we realized that this fish was a pumpkin. What we mean “pumpkin” is that the meat has an orangeish color and it is far superior to the ones, which have white meat. I believe it is the result of lots of food and the fish have been fattening up. Fish don’t really have fat around their bodies like we do, they have a fat sack in their gut which will swell as they store energy as fat for their long trips up and down the east coast of North and South America. They also store fat in the form of oil in their meat as well. This high concentration of oil in the meat will cause the meat to turn orange in color. Thus, someone named it after a pumpkin’s color.
From what I here the reef has been very productive, many guys who did get out didn’t have any trouble catching, yellowtail, mutton, AJ’s, and a few grouper. There has been some great current and it has caused the big yellowtails to turn on. One of my friends got his limit of four to five pound fish, which if you didn’t know, that is absolutely as good as yellow tailing can get. We really don’t get fish in any numbers bigger than that, so excellent job Don.
So if you are looking to visit during the next couple of months, take advantage of the fishing as you are with the hotel rates for this time of year. You will almost cut your hotel accommodations in half during this time of the year. Click on over to the helpful links page and get hooked up with some of the best facilities down here for the money. You can stay at one of our big resorts and get pampered as well, but it will cost you a bunch more, and in these troubled times I am sure everyone could use a discount. Good luck and if you don’t charter me out, I will see you out there.
Tags: amberjack fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, live bait fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, reef fishing, sardine fishing, sashimi, squid, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tuna fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, September 14th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — The statement that I hear all the time that confirms the notion that fishing can lead to great enjoyment is, “A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work” Just imagine coming back from a fishing trip with a cooler full of fish. The people who have been fishing have indeed been filling their coolers.
The dolphin bite has been great, with many fish in the 20-pound class and bigger. There haven’t been very many small dolphins, which isn’t a bad thing, but this concerns me though. This time of year we should have seen thousands of schoolies all summer long. From what I have seen and what I have been told by other captains is that this year there has been a shortage of schoolies. You see the problem is that the schoolies that we see this year will become the 20-40 pound slammers that we will catch next dolphin season. It just might be that they may have migrated closer to the other side of the Gulf stream, we will just never know, or maybe if we have a bad dolphin season next year then maybe we have some concerns about our future stock of migratory fish.
This week the dolphin were scattered under birds from 900-1100 feet of water which would put them from 22-30 miles from shore. There were some reports of some dolphin activity inside of 700 feet, but too much. There were very few small fish with some reaching fifty pounds. The tuna bite has been hot when the current was running, but in the middle of the week the current just died to nothing.
With the current slowing down, deep dropping has been really easy with lighter weights being able to hold the bottom. This would be the time to hand crank for a chance to break an IGFA record. The deep dropping has been good. Snowys, tilefish and many more deep species are the common catch out in the deep. While you are out there deep dropping, keep a bait ready to pitch to a dolphin that might just swim right up to your boat.
Sword fishing has been really good with many fish being caught up in the 200-pound class. With the light current, dropping down 2000 feet has not been a challenge. The favorite baits for sword fishing has been fresh tuna and dolphin plugs. Although the universal bait “squid” always works too. The new gimmick has been adding a squid skirt over the bait, and depending who you talk to the color of the squid changes. The most common colors have been, glow-in-the-dark green, and dark colors, such as black and red or purple and pink. Looks like sword fishing has continued to evolve, as this is the one reason why people love to fish. Changing times, fish getting smarter, or it may just all be in the complex mind of all of us fisherman.
The reef has been ok, with yellowtails and a few mangroves thrown into the mix. Muttons have been around as with plenty of AJ’s. The better mutton bite has been in the 145-180 foot wrecks and live bottom. Searching the edge of the reef can lead to a few muttons and as well as some grouper too. Get your grouper now before they shut it down. Well actually, it will not affect recreational fisherman, except for the fact that you will only be able to keep one black or gag grouper and two of any other species. But for us charter boats, we will not be allowed to keep any grouper from January 1st through April. Unfortunately, they have made this new law for all of the states in the southeastern region. This will include South Carolina down to Florida. This new law has a few flaws, because they wanted to protect the grouper spawn, but here in Florida the spawn doesn’t occur until April through all of May and some late bloomers in June.
Come on down, the weather is great, a few showers, but what’s with a shower here or there, got to get the fish blood off of you somehow.
Tags: amberjack fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, deep drop fishing, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, mutton snapper fishing, reef fishing, snowy grouper fishing, squid, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tilefish fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — The rainy season has come with higher winds, which seems to have stirred up the dolphin bite. Most of the week the dolphin were not present except for a few sightings on debris. Towards the end of the week the winds have picked up to 15-20 kts and those willing to brave the eight-foot seas have prevailed. Unfortunately, I was not booked when the dolphin bite turned on but heard of some great catches. This time of the year most of us are wanting to go fishing, we just have to find some clients, and in this day and age people are hurting financially so clients have been hard to come by. The dolphin were found pouring through in 800-900 feet of water. Some of the guys got double digits slammers and some gaffers. The wahoo are still out there under weed lines and around large pieces of debris. So if you want big dolphin head on out, hold on it is going to be wild ride.
The muttons have been biting a bit, still a little slow for the moon phase and the time of the year. Marathon has a great mutton fishery but it is usually a month behind the rest of the Keys. I don’t know why, but it seems to be later spawn than the rest of the Keys. While you are mutton fishing you can catch numerous other species such as African Pompano, AJ’s, groupers, Yellow Jacks, Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, and even gigantic Yellow tail. The sharks have troubled a lot of us here in Marathon, but not to badly around the other islands. There is no depletion of sharks here in Marathon. As a matter of fact they do save some charters when people want to catch big fish. When the sharks are bad, I will fish for them, but when people want some good eating I will usually head further to the west out in front of Big Pine for some great mutton action.
The yellowtail is still swarming, with varying conditions. Using a bridle for your anchor line can help you catch more yellowtails. Setting up right for free lining for yellowtail can make a world of difference. When the yellowtails start to get finicky, I will limit the amount of lines in the water. Sometimes the yellowtail will dictate on how many lines they will tolerate while they are feeding. These fish can make you pull your hair out sometimes as they eat your chum and when you drift your line back it like Moses parting the Red Sea as your line parts the yellowtail. When this happens you will have to use lighter leader, longer leaders, and less lines in the water. Sometimes, when they are finicky like this, you can use really small baits, just big enough to stay on the tip of the hook. So small that if you try to push the bait passed the barb it will fall off. When yellowtail gets full they will still eat itty-bitty pieces of chum.
Nighttime reef fishing doesn’t get any better. Well, actually it will, as the moon gets smaller. These fish love the darkness as they feed ravenously on the bait found on the reef during the summertime. You can go almost anywhere from 25-45 feet of water and catch your limit. Try to fish away from anyone else. The worst thing you can do is fish next to someone who has already started a chum slick. My suggestion would be to find some good bottom with some fish on it a least a mile away from anyone. Now some nights it is tough to get away from people but the further away from the next fisherman the better because all the fish near your chum slick will be drawn to your boat. If you are close to another boat the fish will be split between the boats.
Good Luck, I will See You Out There!!
Tags: African pompano fishing, amberjack fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, red snapper fishing, reef fishing, sharks, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, wahoo fishing, yellow jack fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — As hot as it has been here more and more anglers are fishing at night. There has been lots of action for anglers on the reef for mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, muttons and groupers. The bite is great from 10:00PM to 2:00AM as the moon slowly comes up the bite will dwindle the higher the moonrises. When fishing for these snappers you will see that the fish will hold back beyond the light from your boat. Try to keep the light from shining into the water and try to keep the intensity of the light down as well. You should find many other boats out there as well, so use caution while running in the dark and make sure that you can be seen as well. Test all your lights before you get out there and make sure all of your flares and emergency kits are up to date. There has been plenty of bait around, so you don’t need to bring too much with you.
The dolphin bite has been on simmer lately, but all of a sudden Sunday and Monday were phenomenal dolphin days. Many fish reported with some reaching over fifty pounds. We caught a couple of slammers after reef fishing. The dolphin have been far out but there seems to be plenty of them under birds and trolling blind too. The area, which you need to start looking for these beautiful creatures start almost 18 miles out. There really hasn’t been much dolphin inside of this area but there were a few cases where we saw some fish but many. I wouldn’t waste your time running from birds to more birds with only skipjacks and bonitas inside of 18 miles.
The sword fishing and the deep dropping bite are ok, not great but just ok. The current has been really tough to deal with, but what I have heard since I haven’t been lately that the fish have been biting only on a few drifts. Making many drifts for swords can take a toll on your patience. I have been hearing lots of captains having a hard time hooking the fish, not that they are not getting the bites. Sometimes the swordfish will attack a bait and not eat it. Sometimes you think a swordfish has eaten the bait onto have him wrapped up in the leader and then the hook pulling. It’s not an easy way to fish with 2000 feet of line out and getting small bites, which can transform into a 400-pound fish. Sword fishing has been one of my favorite ways to fish because not everyone can do it. It takes talent and experience to recognize what’s going on down there almost 2000 feet down. One day you can do everything right and still you don’t get one, it’s definately the hardest way to fish because it has so many variables and if something can go wrong it will.
Have a great week and I will see you out there.
Tags: Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, night fishing, reef fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, July 13th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — Man it’s been hot out there, with the lack of wind the only way to stay cool is to keep trolling or stay inside in the AC. The offshore bite has dwindled a bit. The dolphin have been sporadic and very inconsistent. Most of the fish have been on birds and debris. I have seen some nice big dolphin in the 25-35 pound range along with some big schoolies on debris. As for going out there and catching some of these fish is almost like flipping a coin. I have been out there this week where I could not find any either. I listen to the radio very carefully to see what’s going on while I am out there and many captains and locals have been having a hard time finding the dolphin. The only advise I can give you is to just keep trying and hopefully you will be lucky enough to come across some dolphin while your out there.
Although the dolphin bite has been off, the tuna bite is going off. There are many boats at the humps because the dolphin fishing is slow. You can wear out your angler’s arms pretty fast at the hump either by, jigging, trolling, or live baiting. It doesn’t matter how you’re fishing for them you can catch all the tuna your heart desires. Just remember that you can catch all you want, but only keep what you can use or give to friends.
The sword fishing is still on fire, with many boats getting multiple fish everyday. Of course, some days are better then others, but generally the bite is red hot. With the full moon the nighttime bite should be smoking. Fishing at night requires some discipline and a nap during the day. Being aware of the ships that frequently travel right through the swordfish grounds, it’s not necessary to have radar, but I do think it is wise to use one if you got it. Sometimes the ships are all lit up and it can be hard to tell which way he is going because the navigational lights get hidden by all the deck lights.
Reef fishing is hotter than the weather and will continue for some time yet. I have been slaughtering the yellowtails, muttons, and getting a few groupers too. We got some yellowtails on a few days that were 27 inches and most of them from 18-20 inches as an average. I have many yellowtail spots that are just over run by people. I have given up on those spots now, because I have found some new ones, which no one else is fishing. It is good to have plenty of people fishing a yellowtail spot, but to have twenty people all in one spot is a little much. I have been catching my big yellowtails on whole split-tailed ballyhoos on a 1/4oz Z-Jigs, which is now been repackaged by Calcutta, who is owned by Henrys, and who supplies all the tackle shops. I learned this trick a few years ago when I was commercial fishing. We have caught lots of muttons this way and got smoked by who knows what more times than I can remember. I have been using 15-pound test with 20 pound pink Yozuri floro-carbon leader. I also love the Stren floro-carbon as well.
Nighttime reef fishing is hot, yet cooler temperatures. I went out the other night and was averaging 2-5 pound mangrove snappers, mahogany snappers, and lots of yellowtail too. I highly recommend getting out there especially as we are getting closer to the new moon. One rule of thumb on nighttime snapper fishing is the darker it is the better the fishing. You also do not want to have too much light shining from your boat into the water. The snappers will shy away from the light. I prefer to use a soft florescent bulb that only shines inside my boat, not letting too much light extend out into the water. Bait is all over the place, I would bring some bait but catch some fresh pilchards and goggle eyes with sabiki’s and cast nets. You can get the gogs just off the bottom or right at the chum bag. They react differently in different areas, so change the depth of the sabiki’s and change the motion of your jigging as well. Sometimes keeping the sabiki still you can trigger the bite also.
Get out there and enjoy our great fishery, but be responsible all the way around.
Tags: Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, night fishing, reef fishing, snapper fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tuna fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
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