Author: Flying Fish Charters
August 2018
Hey Everyone, sorry for the lack of reports recently, as we have been super busy here in Key West. Busy season is starting to wind down, so I will stay on top of the weekly reports. For the offshore fishing, there have still been some schoolie dolphin around offshore, but they have been harder to find recently. There has still been some decent action around the offshore wrecks with bonitas, amberjacks and other fish. It has been difficult getting out there recently, with the strong southeast winds we have been dealing with, but it looks like the wind is laying down over the next couple days.
The reef fishing has been great. This time of year the mangrove snappers head out to deeper water and spawn on the reefs. I like dropping live baits, like pinfish down to the bottom for the big mangroves. You can use jigs tipped with live bait or use long carolina rigs with a circle hook and live bait. Dead baits, like squid and threadfin herring will get bit, but the livies tend to work the best. Whether I’m using jigs or carolina rigs, I like to use 40lb Bullbuster braided line on my reels and 40lb Bullbutser fluorocarbon for my leaders. There have been other tasty fish around the reef too, like yellowtail snappers, mutton snappers, groupers and schools of big yellow jacks.
The fishing in the backcountry has been consistent these past few weeks. We are still finding schools of small tarpon chasing bait around. Usually the tarpon have had the bait balled up next to the mangroves. If your lucky, the small white birds will give he bait away, but otherwise you will have to find the baitfish on your own. There have also been good numbers of bonefish around on the flats, both on the ocean side and the gulf side. These fish can be difficult to see on the flats when they are in the turtle grass. Keep an eye out for small clouds of mud, the mud clouds are sometimes easier to see then the actual bonefish.
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