Snapper are biting in Marathon

[drichitt]

Had a nice day out on the Ocean side today. Had a narrow window after a thunder storm rolled through to get out and back before some forecasted winds were to hit. I haven't fished the Keys for 5 years but I really like fishing the Ocean and know the various patch reefs spread throughout Hawks Channel are good spots to look. Today was no exception as we rolled over an area called East Turtle Shoal/Reef. The HDS lit up as we saw the bottom go from 28' up to 15'. No need being too picky so I positioned ourselves up wind/current and dropped the wreck anchor. I picked up one of those Mighty Mite wreck anchors 5 years ago and have never regretted it. Skip is just too far away to call with GPS # for a lost anchor.

Today was our first day of fishing so I had not had a chance to finish rigging everything but did get my wife set-up to fish the way she likes to. We got the chum block in the bag and over the side. Dawn likes to use a lightly weighted hook and drift a live shrimp back in the chum slick. It didn't take her long to start hauling in some nice Mangrove and Yellowtail snapper. The Mangroves were pretty nice with most in the 14-16" range. The Yellowtail were a bit small and averaged around 12" which is keeper sized. Dawn caught a few nicer ones so those went in the cooler. We like fishing the reefs in the deeper water for the larger yellowtail. I did catch a nice 2' Cero Mackerel. Caught him right in the lip which it the only reason I caught him. We had plenty of cut-offs and I am sure these toothy critters were to blame. We caught plenty but only kept enough for a few dinners for us and a neighbor.

Reef fishing is a blast but planning to chase some Dophin soon. Last report about the Gulf stream is showing it less than 15 miles off of Marathon.




These guys showed up the minute we turned the corner into our canal. And yup The Hunter is happy not being in single degree temps