Fishing Reports

“Where are the Dolphin?”

I’ve talked with fishermen from Cancun to the Bahamas, and my best answer for Keys anglers is to “go deep”. And when I say “deep” you can read that as “go far South”.

Right now the Gulf Stream has been holding well outside the “Wall” and if I was considering targeting Dolphin I’d plan on making a run 5-20 miles South of the Wall to target them. There has been little current in front of the Keys lately, and as we all know, water movement is critical when targeting any pelagic species.

Yes, you will encounter occasional pockets of fish moving around between the edge of the reef and the wall. These will be “bonus” fish that you can run across as you work your way South. If you’re looking to really target dolphin…go deep. Once you find them you can get them to eat anything that’s in your spread, so that becomes the easy part. The hard part is when you’ve been running South and you keep asking yourself, “Have I gone far enough?”. If you’re not seeing bait (flying fish) as you run along, or if you stop to check out a weedline and it doesn’t have any bait (minnows) under it…you haven’t gone far enough.

So the answer to the dolphin question is…Go Deep.

If you decide that you don’t want to run out THAT far, there’s still plenty of fish to catch closer in. The nearshore wrecks have been holding AJs, African Pompano, Grouper and Snapper, and with the lack of current we’ve had it’s easier to just drift the wrecks than it is to anchor on them.

Another option is Deep Dropping for Snowies and Tiles. I have to say, I’ve received more reports and have seen more pictures of 40 plus pound Snowy Grouper than I can recall in years passed. You may even finds yourself having to “bump” the boat ahead to get a little drift going as you soak baits on the bottom.

We will have a little more wind this weekend than what we’ve had in the last couple of weeks, so with any hope that will provide some wind driven current.

The bite on the reef has been good, but it has been hot! We’ll see some relief this weekend as the breeze picks up. With the increase in the wind speed you can expect some wind driven current to get you chum line flowing. Target the 55 foot depth on the outgoing tide to maximize your chum flow getting to the fish and getting them up and eating. 55’ to 90’ has been the productive depths for Snapper. If you move off into deeper water you’ll add Grouper and Muttons to your catch.

Tarpon has been the “go to” species for almost guaranteed catching. Without a doubt, this has been a great year for targeting Tarpon. Any of the bridges, passes, channels and harbors will be holding Tarpon.

And before I forget….Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! This would be a great chance to get the kids out for some quality time with Dad!

2009 Key West Fishing Tournament Overall for Team Conchy Joe's:

2009 proved to be another good Key West Fishing Tournament year for Team Conchy Joe's. Capt Rob Harris ended the year being recognized with the trophy for Overall Guide Achievement and Capt Dave Esky with Guide Achievement trophies in the Light General Divison for Most Winners (42) and Most Releases (95).

Team Conchy Joe anglers did well in last years tournament too, taking 4 of the available 6 Master Angler Awards.

Capt Dave's anglers, Joie Love and Michael Wolff, took top honors for Out-of-County (male and female) Master Angler while Capt Rob's anglers, Jeff Glidewell and Brandon Shellito, held on for Men's In-County Master Angler (Jeff) and Junior In-County Master Angler (Brandon).

With more than 70 Division Winners between us, it'll take up too much room for me to list them here. Check out the KWFT Homepage for more details.