Middle Keys Fishing Reports

[PhishingPhanatic]

Nice grovers

[cudaman]

Very nice haul.

[permitchaser]

went with Joey to Long Key Joey hook to BT's fifty pounders those thing jump like poons lol,macks were there but very finiky,snappers were bitting with shrimp we didn't had time to buy its was fun ,love the keys it was a mission to take gruntkin back to miami,im used to it gio does same thing he didn't have to work.next time we go joey i make you sing a contract

[Green Tide]

Tried it again on Friday. didn't get the same quantity but the fish were larger. They bite on both tides. It was fairly windy but we stayed with it. met 2 guys from mia they caught some too. my wife caught 2 of the larger fish on a 10 dollar reel with 14 lb test, what a fight that was. one of the fish she caught had some 30 lb test coming out of its butt, i looked for the hook size but never saw it while cleaning it. we had fresh ballyhoo and pin fish cut bait
had a great time, the moon was full so you could see well without lighting. it did get pretty cool again but we were prepared this time.
gonna go try again tonight so ill boast (i mean post) again if we do any good.
hope you get a chance to make it down while they are biting .
oh yea, caught this small eel so i used him and got 2 shark runs but they never swallowed it. how far is the first run they make before eating

[masterbater]

were the guys you met from miami on the young side say early twentys \

[Green Tide]

no they were like 50 & 70 why were you down here?

[Green Tide]

Well we went back out in the wind yesterday afternoon. just as we were getting on the bridge i realized we didn't get any ballyhoo so all we had was some live pinfish to use. my wife decided to go get some hoos so i went on to claim a spot and get set up. the tide was going out as we got there when it was coming in on our last few visits. so i start setting up and get a couple of larger pole ready for some pinfish. snagged a nice 4-5 incher and put it down on my 4/0 where i had my hook straightened a couple of days ago. with it down i got my ld 245 out and put a fresh leader on it picked out another pinfish and while casting it out i noticed the first bait getting nervous. i quickly grabbed that pole and sure enough the fish grabbed it and started his way under the bridge , although i slowed him he still got me hung up. i let up jus a little and he comes out and i get him out front of the piling then shoots for the other side. this time i am like not this time buddy. as this is going on my wife pulls up in the truck. i grab my phone and call her as she is getting on the bridge. she doesnt answer
i finally get her attention and she answers and agrees to go back to the truck to ge the bridge net that i know is covered up with crap. meanwhile i have this nice grouper hanging with his head out.
she makes it out to me and does a great job netting the fish. whew.
not much happened as the sun went down but we ended up with a couple more nice 13-14inchers. the tide is ripping and wife wants to leave early again.
gonna look for some more bait today if anyone has heard of any large schools close in.




need help on the id of this smaller fish if anyone knows , it is only 4-5 inches long.

[Jordan]

Maybe a graysby? Or straberry grouper?

[PhishingPhanatic]

That little one is a Rock Hind, they are pretty common down there. Nice job on the black, how long was it?

[nmpfly]

Hey Green tide, where are you staying in the keys and what are their rates per day?? I'm asking because I was thinking of taking a couple of days off with my son and go down. and if it would be close to a bridge even better. Less driving the better.

[Green Tide]

nmpfly
try the siesta in marathon, when you call frank will most likely be the one to answer the phone. if you have cash he will give you a discount. the price is like 70 a night.
the rooms on the back are very private so i don't even unload my tackle out of my truck .
we have also stayed at the anchor in marathon, key lantern in islamorada is only 39 bucks on a week night. it is decent but don't leave your stuff outside. these places are within about 5 miles of the same distance from ch 2. i don't usually fish any farther north than there.
i will tell you more if you need it.

[nmpfly]

Thank you for the info. I'm going to try and make it out there some time tonite!

[L8RBRA]

Anyone heading to channel 2 this weekend? I'll be around.

[nmpfly]

I'm trying to make it down there this weekend, but heading to Ch5 or Tom Harbor. I would try Long Key but I haven't heard any reports from there in afew weeks. Last weekend I didn't have much luck on Ch 2.

[PeirRat1985]

I am going up their Saturday into Sunday I hope I can get decent shark bait. I need to catch a tiger or a t head so I can die a happy man

[bolo]

I am going up their Saturday into Sunday I hope I can get decent shark bait. I need to catch a tiger or a t head so I can die a happy man

I highly doubt you will catch a Tiger Shark off the Keys bridge.

[PhishingPhanatic]

I am going up their Saturday into Sunday I hope I can get decent shark bait. I need to catch a tiger or a t head so I can die a happy man

I highly doubt you will catch a Tiger Shark off the Keys bridge.

It has happened, someone got one on 7 Mile earlier this year.

[bolo]

I am going up their Saturday into Sunday I hope I can get decent shark bait. I need to catch a tiger or a t head so I can die a happy man

I highly doubt you will catch a Tiger Shark off the Keys bridge.

It has happened, someone got one on 7 Mile earlier this year.

That is a first. Congrats to the guy who caught it.

[PhishingPhanatic]

They used to be more common, I have seen old pictures of some big tigers caught from both Ch 2 and Bahia Honda. There are tons of them at the Islamorada and Marathon Humps, so it stands to reason that they would come in closer to shore at some points, sea turtles are one of their favorite foods.

[bolo]

I guess we know what bait to use.

[Lomax aka ZEBCO]

It has happened, someone got one on 7 Mile earlier this year.

I have seen several off 7 mile in the past,.. the part you can't get to.

[permitchaser]

That is a first. Congrats to the guy who caught it. [/quote]



Lui caught one a few years ago,not sure if was on 7 milles tho.

[Swordslayer71]

After fishing the keys from may-sept every year for the past 5 years I finally caught my first tiger, and within a week of a buddy of mine catching his too. Granted we were on a boat, but the point is that we'll just say we were VERY shallow( 7 ft), and VERY close to dry land(could hit it with a well thrown baseball). His was in the 7ft class and mine was around 12ft. They are notoriously a deepwater species, but they are there, and shallow in some places. We were targeting blacktips/spinners, and we got a weird real heavy bite, that stayed deep with no jumps. Never saw the fish until it was boatside(vis was maybe a ft. real cloudy), saw the stripes and had a hear attack. Came to the boat in 15 minutes, I touched it and it went bezerk and we had to fight it another 45 minutes before releasing it.

[Frogfish101]

Pics? where at were you fishing?

[bolo]

Pictures?

[Swordslayer71]

This isn't a current report, happened mid-july, I was just adding to the fact that tigers from land in the keys is a feasible goal. The only picture I have is blurry, I wasn't sure what it was but was expecting the usual blacktip/spinner which we take pictures with at the boat, so I was focused on a tailrope more than a camera.