Updated Key West Fishing Report

KEY WEST - Welcome to hurricane season everyone. No sooner did the calendar roll into June and our first tropical wave turned into Tropical Storm Alberto.

The best and the worst come out of any weather system for us here in the Keys. Many folks cancel their plans to go fishing, while others are still out there giving it their best shot. The fishing before and after a system rolls through can be the most productive time. Don’t discount any other time to fish in the Keys, but stormy weather definitely can turn on the bite.

Prior to our stormy weekend things were running pretty much as normal around the Lower Keys. Captain Chris Johnson on SeaSquared Charters out of Marathon Key had some success on the reefs and wrecks around his home waters of Marathon this week. Johnson’s charter, the Reber family from Naples, FL were keeping busy reeling in all kinds of great fish. Cobia, snapper and some shark fishing kept the entire family busy and the grand finale being Jeff Reber’s 150- pound Goliath grouper. Reber’s son, Chris, also landed and released a smaller Goliath grouper on the same trip.
Weekend Key West weather made fishing conditions tougher in the lower Keys. Captain Chris Floyd on the Breakaway out of Sunset Marina in Key West braved the weather on Saturday to try and get in a few hours of fishing. Floyd was fishing for yellowtail snapper and remarked that the fishing was quite good. “We’ve been using the sandball method to get the bite, but you may also use bonito chunks to get the fish to the surface,” he said.

Snapper fishing heats up this time of year on the reefs and outer bar off the Lower Keys. With current running east at nearly 3 knots, there has finally been some flow to get action in the deeper water. Floyd remarked that he’d missed out on a few days of fishing because of the weather but was headed out in the evenings this week to go after the muttons again while they are spawning.

Captain Craig Eubanks on the Mr. Z out of A&B Marina described the fishing to be fabulous yesterday, basically their first day out after the tropical weather subsided. Seas were rough in the morning making some boats turn back to the dock early. Those who stuck it out were rewarded with great dolphin fishing. “The ocean is stirred up and no one has been out in a few days,” Eubanks said describing his morning to be very productive for dolphin up to 24- pounds. There were plenty of teenage dolphin around in the morning but apparently the afternoon hours were a bit tougher because all the good fish had been picked over already.

Captain Jim Williams on the Miss Kasey, also out of Charter Boat Row in Key West had the catch of the day with a 47- pound dolphin. Eubanks and Williams were fishing close by down to the west of Key West.

Eubanks also mentioned that the big moon tides have contributed to forming a nice color change in 200- feet of water. There is certainly plenty of scattered weed offshore as well. “We don’t mind pulling scattered weeds off the line as long as there’s fish around,” Eubanks added.
I asked him how the summer months were shaping up for fishing and Eubanks was confident that the dolphin fishing will be consistent. June through September anglers will have the opportunity to fish not only for dolphin, but wahoo, sailfish and marlin also lurk in our offshore waters too.

Eubanks has one other trick up his sleeve for summer fishing. When the current slows down and the water warms up, he heads to even deeper water for snowy grouper, tilefish and rosefish to keep his anglers busy. Eubanks uses electric reels for these types of fish and says it’s a change up to conventional fishing and gives the anglers a new experience. “The fish are not huge by any means, but they are all eatable and legal.”

You can contact Captain Craig Eubanks at 305-296-0910.

The 17th Annual Gator Club Dolphin Derby scheduled for June 23 – 25. Anglers will be competing for more than $35,000 in cash, prizes and trophies. The tournament headquarters are at Oceanside Marina and anyone wishing to obtain more information on the tournament should contact John Stuempfig at 305-296-7511.