With tropical storm Elsa gone it’s time to get back out there and start fishing again. This was just 2 days before the storm. If you are ready to fish I’m ready to go. Let’s make some lasting memories on the water.
It’s snapper season here in Key West Florida. We are getting lots of nice Yellowtail snappers on the reef in about 70 feet of water. Our Mutton snapper a heating up as we close in on spawning season. Wreck and reef will be the way to go till mid to late May when the Mahi mahi start migrating through.
Hammerhead Shark Fishing |
Today was a day to remember. Everything went exactly according to plan. We started our day getting some nice Yellowtail snappers for lunch. As we’re catching our snapper we also caught Bar jacks and Speedos to put in the livewell. With both the cooler and livewell packed full we headed to a deep wreck in 170 feet. We had all the action we could handle. Landing monster Amber jacks one after the other. We even landed 2 big Black groupers. With time for one more drift Alex (a 16 year old boy) asked if we ever catch Goliath grouper? I said oh yeah!! We put our biggest bait on our biggest rod and boom fish on. With a lot of power, luck, and determination we had him.
Today we headed out about 4 miles and settled on one of my all time favorite shallow reef spots. We caught so many fish it was hard to keep up with these young boys. Just such a great day on the water ???? 
Today with the wind blowing 25 to 30 knots offshore we decided to stay inshore near Key West in the nice calm waters. We started our trip off in about 30 ft on a area of heavy reef. After catching five months and snappers and putting three in the cooler we decided to switch up do some shark fishing. Right away after setting up on our new spot we started catching big sharks one after another. In total we caught 5 sharks over 100lbs.
Today we started our day on The reef catching yellowtail snappers one after the other. We lost quite a few big yellow tails and a few other nice snappers on the reef to the sharks. We moved out to a deeper wreck and 180 hoping that the sharks would give us a break. Sadly the sharks were just as bad out deep as they were on the reef. All in all still a great day on the water and we came home with more than enough fish for dinner.
Last year I had fished the Meat Mayhem King fish tournament here in beautiful Key West all by my self. I called up a good buddy of mine Chuck and asked if he would join me for the touronaut this year. Chuck was in and we were a go. Chuck garbed a few buddies and we headed out in some really rough seas in search of a monster King so we could take home some prize money. We started off really hot catching a few nice Kings in the 30lb range and spent the rest of the day trying to improve but never could. It was a long and hard day on the water but all in all a great experience. I am looking forward to next year and getting my name on one of those huge checks. ????
Today I got to take Dave and his son Scott out fishing on a 6 hour charter. We skipped the reef and went straight out to the deep. We started on a wreck in 220 feet of water where we had constant steady action. Starting the day off with a few nice Porgy and Vermillion snappers. With a few nice fish in the box we set our sights on some big Mutton snappers and that’s exactly what we got. Dave got the first 2 big Muttons snappers both well over 10 lbs. Scott was next with a monster Mutton close to 15lbs. After we had lots of meat in the cool we picked up and moves to a wreck in 150 feet where we ended our day catching a few Barracudas for sport at the end of the day.
This morning we left Key West on a little half day trip at 8am. We headed to one of my favorite Yellowtail snapper spots and never had to move. We caught lots of Yellowtails along with so many awesome bonus fish. We caught Bonito, Barracuda, sharks and even a few big King mackerel. We had nonstop action catching fish after fish. You could not ask for a more perfect half day of fishing.
Today we fished all day long. We fished on the reef on the edge of the reef. We fished some deep wreck and even drifted a few really deep wrecks. Hooking and landing a few really nice fish at each spot we went. Sadly no spot stayed hot for very long so we bounced around a lot. By days end we had a cooler full of fish and we were all tired and ready to get back to the dock just as it was getting dark.
Today we had one hell of a day today fishing with Donald and his family. We left Key West on a full day 8 hour charter at 8 am and headed south west. We started fishing on the reef in about 60 feet where we caught some monster Yellowtail snapper and one big Mutton on light tackle. After the reef we moved out to a wreck in 130 feet where we had lots of success. We caught 2 big Blackfin tuna, Mutton snappers, Sharks, and even a big Black grouper. Today went exactly to plan and was one hell of a good time.
Today I got to take out my friend and long time customer Will. He brought a few of his buddies along with him this time. We had a great time catching fish all day. We hooked and lost a Sailfish and caught a few King Mackerel along with a monster Blackfin tuna. When the later part of the trip came around we stopped on one of my favorite wrecks in 120 feet just off the reef edge. I had hoped we would catch some nice Mutton snappers but the Black groupers had a deferent plan. We caught 5 monster Black groupers one after the other. All the fish were over 25 pounds. It was a crazy bite and so fun to be apart of. Sadly we had to let them all go but we had enough meat in the cooler anyway so it was all really just a bonus.
Today Scott his son and I headed out from Key west on a half day fishing charter. We headed straight to a wreck in 150 feet and never needed to move. We caught our first Black grouper of the new year. Witch we safely released. We also landed lots of Barracudas. Half way through the trip Scotts son Matt hooked a huge shark that took the both of them and about 30 minutes to land. In the midst of all this action was our coolest fish of the day. Scott hooked and landed a beautiful Cubera snapper in the 20lb range. Cubera are one of the toughest fish to not only hook but also to land.
Today my crew wanted to head out and do some Mahi Mahi fishing offshore. We left the dock early and headed south for deep water with a full head of steam. We made it 15 miles with out seeing much of anything at all. We had landed 2 small Skipjack tuna in our first 2 hours of fishing. Then seemingly out of nowhere the Blackfin tunas started going bonkers. We ran from spot to spot following the birds and tuna crashing and jumping clear out of the water. We started catching one after the other. Before we know it we had our limit and headed in with little room at all left in the box. We had set our sights on Mahi but ended up with more tuna than we knew what to do with. That’s Key West Florida fishing for you one day its one thing the next its something totally different. Fishing will keep you on your toes so you have to be ready for anything and everything.
Had some guys call me up early this morning looking to do a little spearfishing. I was all about so I hopped out of bed and headed to the dock. We loaded up and got off the dock around 10 am. My divers today were very skilled so we spent most of the day diving in 60 to 80 feet of water. We had some issues with water clarity but managed to shoot a few nice fish. For a late start and battling dirty water I was proud of my crew and the had work it takes to do those deep dives.
Today began with a bit of a rocky start. I set the boat up on my go to Yellowtail fishing spot. After about 5 minutes of fishing I knew 100% that given the conditions it was not going to work. I thought to myself no matter I’ll go out to a nearby wreck and fish there. The same thing happened again after about 5 minutes of being set on my second spot I knew for certain again that this was never going to work out. Well here goes time for plan C. I got the boat set on a wreck about 4 miles from my last 2 attempts and we began catching fish. We landed some nice yellowtail snapper and Amber jacks one after the other. After catching enough for dinner and our arms spent from catching Amber jacks we made one final move. We anchored the boat on a deep patch of reef in about 90 feet of water. We had non stop action catching grouper after grouper and even a few big Barracuda and shark as a bonus. After a slow start we finished about as strong as possible.
What a fun morning we had today. I always get to take the nicest people out fishing and honestly it never gets old. John and his wife were so much fun to have on the water. To make a great day even better the fishing was better than good so that just made the day even better. We started our day catching some Yellowtail snappers for dinner but the bite was not up to par. We soon switched gears and headed out to a deep wreck where we had much better luck. We caught 5 huge Barracuda along with a few nice Amber jacks. We added a few other random species to our catch list before heading in around noon to filet our snapper up for a fresh catch lunch.
