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Spring 2009 Fishing Report
Spring has finally arrived and so has the wind. The wind has been blowing for a week straight, the boats have been tied the docks lately. The boats that have gone out reported a mixed catch. The gulf stream has been within 3 miles of the reef in Key Largo bringing in dolphin and tuna to the edge of the reef. Dolphin season is just around the corner and they have been showing up with regularity.
Reports of wahoo in the Key Largo area have been hitting the news, they are being caught mostly on live bait (speedos) but high speed trolling between 150 and 300 feet have been productive. Sailfishing has slowed but they are still around and should be heading north any day now.
The Key Largo reef has been active with mutton snapper in 120-150 feet of water. Kingfish from the edge of the reef out to 200 feet have been the go to fish. Yellowtail fishing has been hot when the current and water clarity has been right. The wrecks off of key largo have been producing large amberjack and grouper the past few weeks. Hopefully the wind will start lying down so that we can get out there and start catching fish.
Spring Backcountry Report
Winter is over here in the Upper Keys, the absolutely freezing temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s are gone. Springtime in the Upper Keys is a time of transition from our cold winter days to our hot days of summer. This means you can find a book on local fish, pick one and have a good chance of catching it. With the temperatures rising’ the backcountry flats will be increasing with activity. As we get into April mullet will start showing up in force, along with these awesome baits come the larger redfish, snook, and tarpon. April is the last month of snook season until September. We only get five months out of twelve to keep these spectacular eating fish. If you are interested in having some snook for dinner (snook are not sold anywhere) book your date’s fast springtime is our peak season and the calendar is filling up fast.
Ocean side
Upper keys ocean side springtime fishing is all about the BIG 3. Bonefish, permit, tarpon. April marks the beginning of our annual tarpon migration, cruising the flats, channels, and local bridges these silver kings range from 40lbs-200lbs. Feeding on mullet, pinfish, shrimp, crabs, and the well placed fly. Tarpon are one of the most exciting game fish anywhere. Along the Oceanside shorelines, anglers can expect numerous shots at permit and bonefish. This is the time of year when we see our monster bones (11-13lbs). Usually singles or in pairs these bruisers provide the fight of a lifetime. While in pursuit of the big 3 anglers will have opportunities to cast to barracuda, and sharks. Taking top water plugs early in the morning these toothy critters provide excellent surface action. While sight fishing in shallow water do not forget to bring a GOOD pair of sunglasses, polarized a must. Tight lines Capt. Mike
Previous Upper Keys Fishing Reports
Well fishing has really picked up this week in the Florida Keys! Some of the bigger dolphin are out there now, along with lots of good sized school fish! We caught two fish yesterday; both were well over the 30 pounds! What was really exciting was my anglers were able to sight cast to the fish and both fish were caught on 12 pound test line off of Key Largo! The day before produced one fish in that weight class but also lots of school fish in the 10 pound class.
The fish have been hard to entice though. There is still alot of bait out there and the fish all seem to have full bellies. We caught a sailfish last week while trolling for dolphin and have seen alot of free jumping billfish. We had a blue marlin grab a schoolie dolphin and it always pays to put one out while you’re working a school of smaller fish.
On the rips and sea mounts the tuna bite is still good, the amberjacks have slowed down on the Key Largo hills, but that only helps the fact that now you can target the yellow-eye and blackfin snapper! We C-R-U-S-H-E-D them yesterday! They are great to eat and we were catching them
three at a time. The reef fishing has been excellent at night and will get even better on the full moon.
Inshore, the tarpon are the game, their here now in a big way. They average 50 to 100 pounds. They're probably the hardest fish to land in the ocean. They are aggressive feeders, but difficult to put in the boat! It's a release fishery and they have no ''bill" to hold on too! Snook fishing is great and you are aloud to eat these tasty critters!
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Spring and summer fishing starts early this year in the Florida Keys Wednesday, Spring
The winds of spring have been blowing. Days are getting longer, the waters are warming up and the summer fish are starting to bite. Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) are showing up offshore. Bigger dolphin are swimming against the Gulfstream. Birds moving in any other direction will be smaller dolphin or tuna. The dolphin are here in very good numbers and the tuna are hitting at the Islamorada Hump.
Swordfish…..my favorite and one of our specialties!! They are here year round but spring and summer offer a great opportunity as the winds are calm and fishing for them gets easier. We are batting 100% this year with at least one fish every time we have gone. Squid rigged with cylume light sticks are the ticket, the brighter the night the deeper the bite as baits need to be set deeper.
Tarpon are showing up around the Oceanside side flats. These fish are big, mean and spend more time out of the water than in the water. The back country bite for snook and trout has been red hot early in the morning and in the evening near the creek mouths.
Snapper fishing at the reef has been outstanding on the deeper ledges with large yellowtail up to 5 pounds being the most consistent. There have been a lot of mangrove snapper showing up and the spawn will start any time now. Night fishing has been the best bite for snapper but daytime catches have been consistent.
Our summer fishery is underway here in the Florida Keys, book now and don’t miss out on the action. Key Largo is just over and hour from Miami and minutes from Islamorada.
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200 pound swordfish landed by 13 year old on Saturday March 3
Aaron Martinez landed the fish of his lifetime Saturday night. The monster swordfish was caught drifting squid in 1500 foot of water 30 miles Southeast of Key Largo. The fish hit within 15 minutes of setting lines. Captain Ron rigged whole large squid on 50 pound tackle about 9:00pm at Floyd's Wall. Each bait was carefully set to predetermined depths attached to a balloon lit with a light stick. One balloon started moving swiftly away from the others shortly after all lines were set. Captain Marc grabbed the rod, reeled up the slack line and set the hook. He quickly handed it off to Aaron and the fight was on.
Aaron was quickly strapped into the belt and harness and fought the fish standup on a Penn 50 two speed reel. It took 5 minutes for the fish to even realize it was hooked but once it got angry the fight was on. For almost two hours, Aaron battled with the fish. The fish changed tactics several times, jumping several times to try and spit the hook and sounding deep on other occassions. The massive fish finally came along side just before 11:00pm and Captain Ron and Captain Marc both put gaffs in the swordfish.
Once aboard the swordfish still had enough strength to throw a fit. Ron and Marc held onto the gaffed fish for ten minutes before it was finally subdued and packed in ice. The fish measured exactly 9 foot from bill to tail with a 39" girth. Great job Aaron!!
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Cold Fronts spark the sailfish and grouper bite, Thursday February 22nd
The water has cooled over the last couple of weeks after some of the strongest cold fronts of the year hit early in February. This has caused several fisheries to pick up tremendously. Sailfish and grouper have been seen the best bite over the last two weeks.
Captain Ron has been fishing the Dauntless for grouper with great success using deep diving plugs over the patch reefs of Key Largo and Islamorada. This technique helps to bring the fish out of the structure and pull them away from there holes with the boat. Grouper are one of the toughest customers out there when it comes to rocking you up. There is nothing more frustrating than having a 20 to 50 pound grouper hit your bait and take it back under a coral head or rocks where there is no hope of getting him back out.
With Ron’s technique of trolling for the grouper with plugs, the fish are drawn farther away from there structure as the chase the trolled lure and when they do get a hook in them the boat pulls them farther away and there is no chance the grouper will get back to his hole. A 50 pound plus fish was lost last week even with the trolling technique but this one hung up on a lobster trap line. A picture of a beautiful 35 pound black grouper will be on the website shortly. Dozens of black grouper have been brought to the dock the last couple of weeks.
Sailfishing has taken off again here in the Florida Keys. We had several double headers with two sailfish on at the same time this month. The fish have been hitting live ballyhoo and pilchards slow trolled just outside the reef line in 90 to 250 foot of water. The thrill of seeing a 7 foot plus sailfish hit a live bait behind the boat then dancing for everyone’s pleasure before coming along side for a few pictures is hard to describe. If you haven’t caught a billfish, get down here soon and get out with us. The season will be over before you know it.
Spanish mackerel and blacktip sharks have been red hot in the Gulf of Mexico. Limits of ten fish per person on the mackerel is very common and the blacktip sharks have been averaging 100 pounds a piece and put on a show that a sailfish would be proud of. Blacktips are out of the water more than they are in the water after being hooked. Blacktips are especially vulnerable to a butter-flied Spanish mackerel floating under a balloon. In addition to mackerel and blacktip sharks in the bay, cobia and mangrove snapper have been filling the cooler.
The season is booking quickly, call or book online now to get a day. Don’t wait until the last minute and miss out. If you are looking to share a day with another couple, check out the splits page for postings or send me an email and I will be happy to post a request for you. |
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| Warm weather continues in the Florida Keys, Friday February 2nd
The last 6 weeks has been extremely warm for this time of year. We may set a new record high today with temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s. The warm weather has caused to sailfish bite to slow down tremendously and we have been targeting other species such as tuna, kingfish, cero mackerel, grouper, snapper and sharks.
Tuna fishing has been outstanding when the weather has allowed the 17 mile ride offshore to the Islamorada Hump. Both trolling and live bait fishing with pilchards have produced very good numbers and size on the blackfin tuna. Wahoo have also been in the area of the hump also in numbers. We went 2 for 4 on 30 pound fluorocarbon a couple of weeks ago when all four lines were hit by wahoo.
King mackerel fishing has been producing some very nice fish just outside of the reek the last few weeks. Many fish over 20 pounds and up to 35 pounds have been taken using live pilchards and ballyhoo. The cero mackerel have been very abundant both on the Oceanside and bayside. On several occasions the wind has been blowing over 20 knots and anglers have decided to go bayside to stay out of the large swells. These trips have produced very large numbers of cero mackerel up to 10 pounds and some great shark fishing. Ron Howell released a 250 pound bull shark and two spinner sharks well over 100 pounds his last trip out there on Monday.
It is a great time of year for fishing in the Florida Keys with many options available. On a full day we often change things up by doing some offshore and reef fishing. Dauntless Charters is located in Key Largo, Florida just minutes north of Islamorada and an hour south of the Miami airport. If you are planning a trip to Key West, stop for a day or two and check out the Upper Keys. The fishing and diving here are the best in all the Florida Keys |
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Sailfish, snapper, grouper, tuna, mackerel all biting well!
Thursday, January 11
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.
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. |
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Sailfishing in the Florida Keys consists of live bait fishing just beyond the reef in 100 to 300 foot of water. The most popular bait is live ballyhoo. We use four baits, two on the outrigger and two on flat lines on 20 pound spinning tackle. Sailfish will strike at the bait with their bills to wound the bait and then come back around to swallow it down. It is important to allow just the right amount of time for the sailfish to swallow the bait before setting the hook. Once the hook is set, the fight is on. Sailfish are often out of the water more than they are in the water and put on a spectacular display with jump after jump screaming line off of the 20 pound spinning tackle. Multiple hook ups are common and we almost always have to chase the fish with the boat.
After 15 to 60 minutes, the sailfish tires and comes along side the boat. We reach down and get the bill and unhook him holding the fish along side for a few pictures before turning it loose to fight another day. Every year the sailfishing gets better and better due to the 100% catch and release fishery here in the Keys. Baitfish are also more prevalent than ever with the net ban over a decade ago stopping the over harvesting of ballyhoo and other important baitfish species. If you ever wanted to have the thrill of a lifetime by catching and amazing billfish on light tackle, this winter in the Florida Keys would be your best bet.
Our busiest season is upon us and I highly recommend booking as early as possible as many of the Holiday dates are already booked. If you are ready to book or wish to check on availability, just click HERE for the online booking system. If you have any questions or would like to contact Dauntless Charters, just click HERE. We are only an hour from the Miami airport, less than three hours from Naples, located at Mile Marker 94.5 on US 1 in the Florida Keys just minutes North of Islamorada in Key Largo. |
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