Lower Keys Fishing Report

April 28th, 2009

Lower Keys Fishing Report

This was a bit of a crazy week for me. The winds came up over the weekend and kept most boats off the water. We spent a few days hiding from the wind at Bahia Honda state park bridge fishing for big tarpon. There were a few tarpon at the bridge but the sunken boat outweighed the fishing.

Bahia Honda can be a dangerous place to fish under great conditions but throw in a strong wind and things can get down right dangerous. As we tied up to the bridge my customers noticed something bobbing just above the surface a few pilings down. We moved over to find a boat just under the surface with nobody around. After calling FWC it turned out that nobody knew who the boat belonged to. Tow Boat US came out and recovered the boat while the Coast Guard began searching. I will keep my fingers crossed that the people on the boat made it out ok.

Offshore fishing was a little bumpy by the end of the week but the fishing was fairly good. The current slowed up making for tough sail fishing but the dolphin bite picked up. There were some nice fish moving through if you could stomach the seas. Look for the biggest fish to be found under the birds. It sometime takes a while to get a bait in front of the fish so be patient and remember the hooks are behind the boat, don’t run over the fish.

Reef fishing was very good when conditions allowed you to get out to the reef. The yellowtail bite was very good but the sharks were tough. It was a good bite but most of the big fish got picked off before we got them to the boat. The grouper bite was a little bit slower but we managed a few nice fish.

The current slowed up giving us a shot at fishing some of the local deep water wrecks. AJ’s were so thick that you could hardly get a bait to the bottom. Amberjack are not much for table fare but a lot of fun to pull on. I always hesitate to mention the amberjack showing up on the wrecks because there are a few commercial fishermen that wipe them out every time they show up. They get a buck or so a pound for depleting a fishery. It reminds me a lot of the gillnetters that almost wiped out the gulf coast redfish. Not only are they hurting our local fishery but often there is no regard for other boats fishing the area. Put a few fish back and enjoy your time on the water; there will be more fish to catch if we send a few home.

Flats fishing was a little tough. Live baiting tarpon was a good bet with the fish willing to eat. Sight fishing tarpon was a little tough due to high winds and low light. Capt. Bob of Double Haul Charters found some bonefish that were willing to eat a fly. Once the winds lay down a bit the tarpon should bite should take off. Good luck and good fishing.