Middle Keys

April 29h, 2009

Fishing report for 4-29-09 from D. M. Navarro @ the World Class Angler in Marathon.

It’s Tarpon Time! They are everywhere and eating heavily throughout the day & evenings according to all of the reports that I have received as well as witnessed in the past few days. The flats are covered up with them as well as most all of the area bridge channels. Darn, what a great time to have a tournament!

Now that I’ve mentioned it, there just happens to be a couple of them coming up real soon.

Thursday April 30th is the start of the oldest tarpon tournament in the area; the 43rd Annual Marathon International, which runs for three evenings of fishing. The kick off is 2pm on Thursday @ the store with late sign up available. This event is open to everyone and usually hosts a wide field of anglers challenging the ‘Silver King.’ (We’ve been known to have a little fun in this event over the years as well!!!) In fact for the Ladies, they have their very own event that starts Saturday May 9th. It is the 33rd Annual Ladies Tarpon Tournament. Both events feature the ‘Committee Boat’, which has to be seen to believe. For any information on either event, call 743-6139 or just stop by the store @ 3740 Overseas Highway.

If you are going to be fishing in the tournaments or not, you should take advantage of the tarpon fishing right now. It is hot! Live mullet, live pinfish, live shrimp, live crabs and many types of plugs are all working for these hungry fish. The tournaments use 12 or 30 pound line classes to catch the fish but if you are on your own, 20 to 30 is the normal line class used on wither spin or conventional tackle. Use at least a 6-foot leader of 60-pound test up to 125-pound test and have your way. Remember, the big tarpon don’t come to the boat, the boat comes to them.

The offshore report has been interesting this past week with the high winds, which did not allow to many to partake in fishing in the area. For those that did numerous fish were reported with a mix of sizes. Most have spoken about quite a few real big fish. What has been common is fish in the 8 to 15 pound range. Most have been a bit offshore of the reef but there has been some large fish taken inside of 400 feet as well, but not too consistent. The key has been the seas.

The reef report has been fairly good with a decent bite on the yellowtail and nice muttons. Here again, the winds have determined the ability to fish. A few big grouper were hooked but won the battle with the angler. When the waters have been so gin clear that the use of a fluorocarbon leader has been almost a must. It has been common for anglers to have balls of fish right behind the boat yet can not get any of them to hit a thing. This can be frustrating at times although with the right mix of techniques, you should be able to work out your differences.

Inside along the inner edge of Hawk Channel, some nice catches of snapper have been put together as well as a few traveling cobia. The snapper bite has continued into the bridge channels as well. Many of the tarpon fishermen using live pinfish, shrimp & even crabs have found more than a few snapper. A few big black grouper have been taken along here as well.

Bay fishing has been the choice of most smaller boaters using the islands, shoals and banks for some relief. Decent snapper catches along with a few grouper were reported using live shrimp and pinfish. Cut fresh ballyhoo has also been a good bet. Not too much word on cobia this week due to the lack of anglers venturing out to the good grounds that are not protected from the winds we have had. Mackerel reports have really slimmed down lately but I am not sure if it is just a lack of fish or anglers in the right place to find them, which is in the more open areas of the bay.

Captain Dave Navarro is a lifelong resident of Marathon, Owner of the World Class Angler at our new location at 3740 Overseas Highway in Marathon and captain of the charter boat, “Dave’s Dream”