Florida Keys Fishing Report week of 7/16/2018
Provided by:
http://www.IslamoradaSportFishing.com
(this report may be reproduced in any media format as long as credit is given to:www.islamoradasportfishing.com)
 

Offshore:
Dolphin catches remain good, although the body of fish is still way offshore at over twenty miles. Of course, there are some Mahi being caught inshore, but not in big numbers. Captain Travis on his Indigenous charter boat out of Bud and Mary’s Marina has been making the long run and getting into plenty of Dolphin. On one recent trip catching a very large Bull Dolphin in the forties in weight. It has been very calm allowing the smaller boats to comfortably make the run offshore. Captain Juan Garcia has been taking his 24 foot bay boat out in search of the pelagics and getting Dolphin and then switching up and doing some deep dropping. Captain Juan has been finding deep water Snapper and Tilefish dropping baits in well over 200 feet of water. As usual there have been some Wahoo and Blackfin Tuna caught also.
Reefs:
Even with the clear water charters are having good success with the Yellowtail Snapper. Captain Rob on the Southern Comfort fished the reef last week and did a bang up job on the Yellowtail Snapper. Captain Don on the Kay K IV stayed on the reef a couple of trips last week and did well on the Yellowtail too. Beyond the reef in the 200 plus foot depths some charters report getting into good action on Vermillion Snapper. Captain Billy Chrisman on his V era Vita out of Whale Harbor Marina fished the reef and got Snapper and mackerel and also released a Sailfish.
Gulf and Bay:
It’s a broken record in this zone these days. In the boundary area where the bay meets the Gulf the Trout and Snapper bite is on and just great. The method for success is to drift and jig through the lush Turtle Grass bottom. It will be either Trout or Snapper to take the jig. In the same vicinity there are still plenty of willing Tarpon. Fish tide for Tarpon. Anchor or drift in the channels with live Mullet or Ladyfish and concentrate on the last of the falling or first of the incoming tide.
Flats, Backcountry and Flamingo:
In the Islamorada area the Tarpon still garner most of the attention. Morning or evening in the low light or in darkness the bite will be better. Live bait or chunk bait on the bottom in the channels or just of the shallow banks will be the target rich area. Captain Vinnie Biondoletti has been on the Tarpon in the evenings. Look for Permit [fish] in the channels and using a float hang a small live crab just a few feet below the surface. Look for good results on Snook and Redfish in the Flamingo and Cape Sable areas. The water is hot, so fish early and fish the moving tide for the best results. There have been some Tripletail caught in the bay around debris.

 

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