Marathon- Florida Keys Fishing Report: January 16, 2009

Courtesy of Marathon charter fishing boats, Best Bet Sportfishing and the Florida Keys Weekly Newspapers. 

SNOW, SWORDS & SAILS

I was watching television the other night and I discovered an extremely hilarious show on channel 27, the Weather Channel.  It showcased strangely dressed news reporters bundled up in ski hats and parka jackets, who kept saying these comedic one-liners like "blizzard watch," "yet another winter storm rears its ugly head," "downright frigid temperatures," and my favorite, "it's negative twenty with the wind chill."

I couldn't contain my laughter as I watched these men and women shiver in the cold and the big white radar blobs as they crept slowly over many of the Midwest and Northeastern states. The person behind this fantastic program surely deserves to be nominated for an Emmy. I haven't seen anything this entertaining on TV in years- or at least since last winter.

Okay, so maybe I'm laying it on a little thick. But that's only because I had the opportunity to fish (and have a great time with) a few groups this past week that had to leave the warmth and the sunshine behind and return to their homes in the snow-filled areas shown on the Weather Channel. I must say that the look on their faces before they left- which resembled a cross between a sad puppy dog and how Sparky's Landing Carolyn looks when Sparky Matt takes the rod from her- almost made me feel a bit bad for them.

Fortunately though, while they were here they got to experience some amazing January weather and some of the finest fishing the Florida Keys has to offer.  Hopefully this cold front we're experiencing now will move out quickly enough for our current visitors to get a sun tan and some quality fishing in before they have to leave.

This past Thursday and Friday I fished Jason and his wife from Colorado- and his wife's family from Ohio- on the Best Bet. Since more than a foot of snow was on the ground in the small town where Jason and his wife live outside Veil, and because a blizzard was expected to hit Ohio that weekend- I really wanted to put them on some fish to take their minds off the weather back home.

The fishing did not disappoint, and on both trips we were greeted with phenomenal catches of kingfish up to 25 pounds, mutton snapper on the reef between eight and 10 pounds, and solid numbers of large flag yellowtails.

On Saturday I fished a group from New Jersey who thoroughly enjoyed temperatures hovering in the 80s. Accompanied by my father, Mike Long, we found an even more impressive yellowtail bite (hooking up on every drift), and were even able to catch a few schoolie dolphin in the 150-foot range. We also had a shot at three sailfish in 25 feet of water.

Overall I was extremely pleased to see the yellowtail fishing heat back up this past week. I'm not sure what this cold front will do to the bite, but hopefully the fishing will remain steady through the weeks ahead.  The sailfishing continues to be phenomenal with many fish being taken in the shallows and beyond the edge of the deep reef.

Offshore Best Bet Captain Nick Borracino reports the blackfin tuna fishing has been steady out on the Marathon Humps. On a recent trip he was able to put his anglers on as many medium sized blackfins as they could ask for.

The calm conditions of the past week also allowed Best Bet II Captain Josh Gilmartin to take numerous swordfishing excursions with very consistent results. On each trip Josh was able to land at least one sword.

Over in the Gulf the big kings have started to move onto the wrecks and we've been catching fish upwards of 40 pounds. One of the best ways to target them is to fish a blue runner under a kite with #6 or #7 wire. If you don't have a kite, a balloon will work fine for keeping your bait in the mid-water depths where you'll find the kings.

Your BEST BET for the week ahead: Go Swordfishing.

Captain Josh Gilmartin of the Best Bet II is always looking for parties interested in pursuing these deep-dwelling, catch-of-a-lifetime species.

Be sure to visit TryCharterFishing.com to read next week's Florida Keys fishing report.