Key West Fishing Reports

Fishing Report - March 2nd 2010

Over the weekend, our charter captains took advantage of the murky waters along the Atlantic reef to fish for sharks.  We used chunks of Yellowtail Snapper, Bonita, and Amberjack as cut bait to draw a score of Blacktips to our anglers' lines. Bill Wallace, Captain of the Outcast, led his clients to hook sixteen of eighteen Blacktips. I guided a group to the reef aboard the Coolcast to catch their limit of Yellowtail Snappers (forty) in addition to catching seven Blacktips. Tony Miller, skipper of our Coolwater, guided his anglers to catch twenty out of twenty-three Blacktip Reef Sharks, ranging in size from fifty to one hundred and twenty-five pounds. The big prize on the Coolwater shark fishing excursion was a mounted Hammerhead Shark that tipped the scales at three hundred and seventy-five pounds. Tony butterflied a Bonita for his client to use as bait to catch this eight-foot monster. Our captains like to hit the reef area when the waters are stirred up and murky because it attracts sharks to hunt for Yellowtails. These Sharks have an advantage over sight fish in muddied water because they use their sixth sense to hunt prey by sensing vibrations in the water.

After this windy front passes, we should see excellent fishing on the Atlantic side of Key West. The Gulf Stream is currently close to the reef, attracting deepwater fish like Sailfish and Blackfin Tuna to the area.

Good anglin',

Capt. Damon Santelli