Florida Keys Fishing Report
Despite gloom & doom media reports, all is well in the Keys and the fishing is hot!

By Islamorada Sport Fishing
Posted Wednesday, June 2, 2010

 
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Islamorada Sport Fishing

(Note: Despite media reports of doom & gloom from the gulf oil spill in the keys,
Islamoradasportfishing.com has been in contact with numerous Keys fishing captains
and they report that all is well in the keys. There are actually customers canceling
trips to the keys because of the potential impact the oil spill might have in the
future. The Keys charter fishing fleet is already in dire straits because of the
economy, please support them so they will be able to continue providing their
valuable service. C'mon down, the fishing is great: Mahi, yellowtail and tarpon are
ON right now)

Offshore:
The Dolphin catches have been great with a mix of large and small fish. All of the
charter boats are coming in with plenty of Dolphin and most have one or more slammer
size fish in the 25 to 45 pound range. The fish have been found in all depths, with
most of the activity from 16 to 17 miles right out in front of Islamorada. The
Dolphin have been of course found under small black birds and in scattered grass.
There is less debris than there used to be, but do not pass by anything from small
blocks of wood to cardboard floating. With so many boats offshore in search of
Dolphin, there have been other species caught, such as a White Marlin on the Yabba
Dabba Do with Capt. Steve Leopold from Holiday Isle Marina. Capt Chris Scott on the
Dog House out of Whale Harbor caught a Swordfish mid week and Captain John on the
Suzanne and Captain John on the reef Runner both had good catches of Blackfin Tuna.

Reefs:
Fish the reef early (or late) in the low light for best results. The water has been
very clear for the most part, but with good current the Yellowtail Snapper bite
well. Capt. Robert Mathias on the Restless Too has been on the reef and doing great
on the Yellowtail and boated a 25 pound Black Grouper on one trip. There are Cero
Mackerel in the Yellowtail chum slick too. Bottom fishing just outside the rocky
edge of the reef will yield Mutton Snapper, Mangrove Snapper and Red, Black and Gag
Grouper also. The Permit are still schooled up on reef wrecks and that action
should continue through June.

Gulf and Bay:
Calm clean water in the Gulf makes for great fishing. There seem to be loads of
Sharks cruising the Gulf waters and as always add to the action. There are schools
of bait all over too, consisting of Ballyhoo and Pilchards. On the wrecks the
Permit are schooled up big time. Captain Lou Brubaker put his fare on a school of
Permit of 7 to 8 pounds each in size. The guy's had great fun casting Shrimp at the
Permit on 10 pound spin. Tarpon are in great supply on and near the "boundary
banks" of the Bay and Gulf and in the channels too. There are lots of guys fly
fishing for the Tarpon, so please give them a wide berth when running.

Flats, Backcountry and Flamingo:
It is pretty much a Tarpon show where ever you go in the backcountry. The Silver
Kings are all over the Bay eating anything that swims from Mullet and Crabs to
aquatic worms and bugs , and even dead bait on the bottom of a channel. Of course
there is a good bunch of Trout in most of those same locations. All it takes for
the Trout is a jig or live Shrimp on a troll rite casting and retrieving. Around
Islamorada the Tarpon are thick as Fleas on a, well you know.. Fish any of the
channels in the area and they will bite.

Florida Keys Fishing Report
Provided by:
IslamoradaSportFishing.com