Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s report! Been a fun week here in the upper keys this week, with a lot of action going on. The weather has been a little up and down, and we had a front come through Wednesday, so the temperatures have dropped a bit and the winds have picked up. Looks like Saturday is going to be a bit on the windy side with winds forecast 15-20 out of the East, but Sunday looks really nice as of now. Fishing this week has been pretty solid with Sails, Kings, and plenty of tunas around. The snappers were biting really good early in the week on the reef, and may slow down a bit for a day or two, but should be good again come this weekend once things warm back up a little. The bottom bite was decent for some, and slow for the majority. The groupers are biting, but the season is closed, so everything has to be released. These guys are aggressive during the spawn, so it is important to vent them properly to ensure they make it back down and get to finish what they started. We finally had a few cobia show up on some rays once the water cleared up and the winds laid down, but with this front everything is dirty again so we will have to wait until things clean up a bit to be able to sight fish again. The patch reefs should be good the next couple days with the water being dirty, and the temperatures having dropped. The bigger muttons and groupers will definitely move in toward the shallower patches as they feed on the shrimp coming out of the bay. It is pretty amazing what you can catch just outside of Hawk’s channel this time of year. It is a lot of action, and nice when the winds pick up to be able to catch quality fish so close to shore. You smaller boaters may need to keep an eye on the weather for Saturday, but if the forecast remains Sunday will be your day. Well, that is it for this week! Stay tuned for next week’s report as I will fill you in on what’s happening down here in our little piece of paradise!
Tight Lines,
Capt. James Chappell
