Lower Keys Fishing Report

April 20th, 2009

Lower Keys Fishing Report

It was a busy week here in the Lower Keys. We had the World Sailfish Tournament going on out of Key West. This tournament brings down the best sailfish anglers from all over to compete for big cash. As usual the tournament was a huge success and went smoothly. Congratulations to the Get Lit team who caught 22 fish in three days for the win. The tournament distributed 1.13 million in prize money this year and to date the tournament has contributed 1.8million to charity. Make your plans to take part next year.

A good sailfish bite ran through most of the week. The fish are passing through and when conditions are right you can spot the fish tailing to the west. Toss live baits in front of cruising fish and you will be off to the races. If you see a few fish then there are likely more in the area. When the winds are strong out of the east it is time to get out and catch a few.

Dolphin fishing was fair last week. There were some nice fish caught and some boats caught the numbers but all in all it was a little inconsistent. This is the time of year that the big dolphin start showing up so any day could produce a trophy fish. Each week the dolphin fishing should get better and better. Troll rigged ballyhoo along color changes or weed lines. If you find something floating it will likely be a gold mine of fish. Frigate birds were marking a lot of big fish this past week so keep an eye out for the birds working.

Reef fishing was good towards the end of the week. The yellowtail bite was very good. We did not find many flag tails but a limit was pretty easy to come by. Float a piece of cut bait back in the chum slick and expect a quick bite. We were using 20lb fluorocarbon and a 1/8oz jig head with ballyhoo and bonito chunks. The bottom bite was fair but most of the fish were on the small size. Put a legal yellowtail down on the bottom just in case there is a big grouper around. There are some cobia moving down the reef line so have a rod ready to throw if one happens by. If they are going to show up it will likely be shortly after you get set up.

The two things that were a little slow this past week were the flats and the gulf fishing. We made a trip out into the gulf and found good action with a variety of fish. The cobia fishing was not what I was expecting. It could have been that we were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Water temperatures dropped a good bit and slowed down the tarpon bite. The permit have started to move off to spawn leaving tarpon on the forefront of shallow water anglers’ minds. As things continue to warm up the tarpon fishing should heat up. Good luck and good fishing.