The winter cold fronts have been moving in regularly and water temperatures have cooled slightly causing the bite to pick up for sailfish, snapper, grouper, tuna and mackerel. Our winter fishing is in full swing with a lot of options depending on weather and sea conditions.
The sailfish bite has been best when a cold front is on the way or here. The drop in pressure, increased seas and cold weather seem to spark their feeding. The sailfish have been working together to ball up huge schools of baitfish just outside the reef. This is an amazing site to see hundreds or thousands of baitfish, usually ballyhoo, jumping out of the water with several bills and sails working through the boiling water. We move quickly to get into the feeding frenzy and toss a live ballyhoo into the mix and the fun begins with a 30 to 80 pound billfish hooked on 20 pound tackle.
Snapper and grouper fishing have been improving daily as the weather cools. Larger grouper move to Atlantic waters from the Gulf of Mexico this time of year and the migration is underway. Live bait, ballyhoo, pinfish, and pilchards, along with cut bait are proving successful on these tough customers. Yellowtail snapper have been increasing in size with Captain Bryan catching two huge flags over 8 pounds on live ballyhoo bottom fishing last week.
King, cero, and Spanish mackerel are all here in full force now. These toothy critters will really scream some drag as they run with the bait. Florida Bay has been producing limits of cero and Spanish mackerel of 10 per person. While the king mackerel have also been limiting out on the reef while sailfishing with 2 per person.
The blackfin tuna bite has been very strong at the Islamorada Hump when weather has permitted the 16 mile run offshore. The tuna have been averaging 8 pounds with several exceeding 20 pounds. These footballs put up a tremendous fight on 20 pound spinning tackle. Catches exceeding 20 tuna in a couple of hours of trolling has been the norm when seas are less than 5 foot and we are able to make the run to the Gulf Stream.
Give us a call and book your trip early as the busy season is upon us and dates will book up quickly. We are located just about an hour South of Miami in Key Largo, just minutes North of Islamorada.
