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.