Marathon- Florida Keys Fishing Report: January 2, 2009
Courtesy of Marathon charter fishing boats, Best Bet Sportfishing and the Florida Keys Weekly Newspapers.
2008 FISHING YEAR IN REVIEW
2008 was a difficult financial year for many of us that live and work in the Florida Keys. A struggling economy, combined with high oil prices and a number of forecasted hurricanes, left hotel rooms vacant, restaurant tables unoccupied and many charter boats at the docks- not on the water.
But the lull in tourism was in no way a reflection of the fishing we experienced in 2008. Those that did make the trip down last year were rewarded with some of the most consistent, and often most phenomenal fishing that I've seen in a long time.
The 2008 fishing season began much the same way it ended with an excellent sailfish bite in the waters off Marathon and the Middle Keys. On any given trip it was not uncommon to catch and release more than a handful of sails on any given day.
The winter months also gave us tremendous catches of large kingfish that became the mainstay of the charter fishing industry. When the sails and other species weren't cooperating fishing for kingfish always managed to provide clients with a fun and exciting opportunity to keep their rods bent.
As we rolled into the spring months we were greeted with arguably the best yellowtail fishing I've seen in years. Reef fishing in general was productive for all snapper, grouper and jack species, and it more than made up for the difficulties that predators often presented while fishing for permit.
Spring also marked one of the best tarpon seasons that I have ever experienced in my entire life of living in the Keys. Night in and night out if was not unrealistic to have a shot at hooking up and fighting at least five to 10 big fish.
As late spring turned into early summer many of us were surprised to still be finding solid numbers of cobia in the Gulf and out front. I had trips well into June that produced a random cobia or two for my anglers.
The 2008 summer months marked the arrival of dolphin season. While the dolphin fishing wasn't the best that I have seen it, it was extremely consistent. The big fish weren't around in the quantities that they have been in the past, but there were plenty of gaffers and nice size fish to fill the freezers with. The yellowtail fishing also continued to be phenomenal throughout the summer and yielded good numbers of quality fish for those who headed to the reef with their blocks of chum.
As we moved into fall the charter fishing business started to slow down but the fishing did not. The dolphin stayed around later than usual and every time we thought the season was over a new school of fish would move in. Even as I write this we're still putting dolphin in the box while out searching for sails.
Fall also marked an exceptional snook fishing season with many slot snook being taken around the bridges and channels. Live pilchards seemed to be the bait of choice for those targeting them.
As 2008 came to an end the sailfishing again heated back up. Schools of ballyhoo swarmed the local waters in droves and in turn helped bring large numbers of sailfish to the area. Look for the exemplary sailfish bite to continue well into the New Year and now is a great time to get out and enjoy the action.
Overall, 2008 was a year that many will want to forget in terms of the economy, but will always want to remember when it came to the fishing.
As we welcome in the New Year I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful 2009. Hopefully the Keys tourism will improve and visitors will soon be back to fill up the hotels, restaurants and charter boats.
I expect the fishing in 2009 to be as good, if not better than it was the year before- and while we may be experiencing "change" in regards to the new political regime, one thing that never seems to change around here is the excellent fishing.
Your BEST BET for the week ahead: Enjoy the Wonderful Fishery of the Florida Keys.
Be sure to visit TryCharterFishing.com to read next week's Florida Keys fishing report.
