Marathon Fishing Report 1/9/10

With the football season winding down, and The Giants already out of the playoffs, there could be nothing finer than a Sunday afternoon on the water.  With moderate winds around 15 knots out of the east we figured it would be a bit rough for Katy's 18' center console to head out too far so we decided to stick to some inshore patches.  We headed off about 3 miles from Vaca Cut to a piece of productive reef in 25' of water.  Heading out we were steering straight into the oncoming chop so we decided to throttle back to about 5 knots to not beat ourselves up and troll 2 spoons in the meantime.  After about a half hour ride we finally had a Cero mackerel hit our small spoon a few hundred feet from destination.  A singing drag and a fish in the box before we anchored up was our little bonus, plus we stayed dry during the ride out.  After anchoring and letting the chum flow for a few minutes Katy landed a fat lane snapper on her first bait back.  We had started using some old Spanish sardines out of the freezer for bait until the ballyhoo showed up in our chum slick.  Once the ballyhoo were with in range we quickly flipped some into the boat and started chunking them up and trading them in for a variety of tasty fish species.  In the next two hours we added Mangrove snappers, Yellowtail snappers, Spanish and more Cero mackerel and a 20" Mutton Snapper into the ice box.  Katy also had a few nice grouper, including one Red grouper that would have been a keeper if the grouper season was still open.  Remember, as of 2010, ALL grouper fishing is closed from Jan. 1st - April 30th.  Once back at the dock we filleted our catch and cleaned the boat with a perfect sunset in the background.  When all was said and done we had plenty of fish to give out to friends, put some extra in the fridge and make a delicious dish of Mutton Snapper Francaise for supper.  Remember, no matter how windy it is there is always a place to find fish around these islands.  There is no reason to sit in your hotel room and watch your vacation days slip by thinking it will be too rough, let us help you find some close spots and find some fish! ~ Capt. Bill

New Years bring the sailfish to the Keys!

1/07/11 - The sailfish are hot in the Florida Keys!  Daily reports of multiple hooks ups just outside the reef.  Many anglers are reporting seeing pods of 8 sails or more.  Jacks are providing great action on spinning rods.  Get your fully equipped offshore boat rental from Habour Point Marine.  Call us at 305-289-0599 or visit http://www.keysmako.com/ to see our entire fleet of fishing vessels.