Key West Fishing Report - December 2006

KEY WEST – Blustery conditions may have made fishing conditions rough in our offshore waters this week but it certainly did not keep the fish from biting.
Reports of winds in excess of 30 knots made getting to the fishing grounds near the reef and offshore more difficult. Anglers and guides that braved these conditions were generously rewarded with some great fishing.
“The fishing has kind of been different,” explained Captain Mike Weinhofer. He was referring to the larger dolphin up on the reef chasing ballyhoo. This is so unusual because dolphin notoriously do not feed when there is a north wind.
Weinhofer was finding dolphin in 120 to 180 feet of water. These larger dolphin were of course mixed in with some smaller schoolies which provided some constant action for both Weinhofer on his light tackle boat Compass Rose and for many of the offshore trolling boats working the same area.
The sailfish bite has been more consistent this week and may be due to the rougher weather. Sailfish have been crashing bait on top of the reef off Key West and reports are they are in as little water as 25 feet out to 180 feet. Sailfish can be found between the reef and outer bar.
Another contender in the bite offshore is the wahoo. “The wahoo bite has been fairly consistent but not red hot,” said Weinhofer. He had spent a few days this week fishing for them with live speedos and slow trolling. Several wahoo were caught this week among the Key West fleet including a few in the 30- and 40- pound range.
Wahoo are one of the fastest pelagic species in our Florida Keys waters. They can travel at speeds up to 60 mph. This speed combined with their ability to dump line off a reel in a matter of seconds make the wahoo a very sought after game fish.
Although we have had a fair amount of black fin tuna in the area this fall they have finally started to school up on the Sub to the west of Key West. This area has a wreck we call the Sub and is in approximately 220 feet of water. Light tackle captains will anchor in a line just off the Sub and throw live bait to get the tuna up near the surface.
Both light tackle fisherman and fly fisherman enjoy this season of our Key West offshore fishing because of the tremendous possibilities. Fishing for black fin tuna can be very productive with a well full of live bait. Tossing out net fills of pilchards and in turn hooking one pilchard through the nostrils on a 1/0 to 2/0 hook with a 20 to 30 pound fluorocarbon leader will not only allow the bait to stay more alive but reducing the pound leader will increase the bite ratio. Tuna have big eyes and are sometimes hard to deceive even with a live bait. Reducing the leader to 20 pound test will get more bites but also more fish broken off if they are fought too long and wear through the lighter leader.
One drawback to the tuna bite right now is the numerous sharks present on the Sub and the End of the Bar.
Captain Tom Ault on the Time Out reported some steady action offshore with dolphin and king mackerel. “Kings were on the small side with a few decent ones mixed in,” Ault said. He’s been finding these fish in 120 to 200 feet.
King mackerel are notorious for short strikes on dead bait. Ault mentioned that even though they fish a single hook in their trolled baits, they may make the haywire twist longer so the hook is further back in the bait. Pre-rigged ballyhoo often have two hooks in each bait which is perfect when trolling for king mackerel.
Live bait fishing for kings is another story. A medium to large sized blue runner with a stinger hook in the tail section of the bait will help increase the hook up ratio with these razor toothed fish. A wire leader is always a must.
The 11th Annual Hog’s Breath King Mackerel Fishing Tournament is scheduled for January 26th through 28th. The tournament headquarters are at Murray Marina on Stock Island. For more information please visit Murray Marina’s website at www.murraymarine.com.