Fishing Reports

Captain Dave Navarro is a lifelong resident of Marathon, Owner of the World Class Angler in Marathon and captain of the charter boat, “Dave’s Dream.”

* 4cast updated each Thursday by 6:00 PM. Click the refresh button if the report date isn't current.

Sailfish Action along the coast has been fantastic. The last few weeks has been the best I have ever seen. We are catching sailfish everyday and on some occasions we are getting into double digits. The bite is the only thing that has not been consistent. The outgoing tide has been best but not a guarantee. The moon has a big part to. The full moon last week put the bite early and late and usually we are catching bait early so it is a long day until the bite. But when they do turn on it has been really good. Yesterday the fish bite around 3pm and it was a bite up and down the coast. I heard it turn on up to the north off the cut and within minutes it spread to the south off Fowey where I was fishing. We caught a double and was pinched on time and had to get the customers back, but the boats that stayed caught good numbers. Bait has been tough on occasions but if you work at it you should be able to find some. Jimmy Lewis on the Kite Hunter sells bait at Bug Light everday and is an option. You might want to call him by phone to order if you know which days you are fishing.
Other than Sailfish there have been some dolphin around on the edge with a couple of nice muttons being caught on the bottom rod. Kings have slowed.
Tight LInes
Capt. Q

                                                 for the Upper Keys and Florida Bay flats and back country.
                                                                3rd week of February Update
    The weather for the past week or so has been unbelievable... Temps up into the 80's! We've even had a few windless days.... I'll get right into the catch reports.. Charlie
Lacefield with three bonefish last Wednesday. including a double header! What a fire drill.. round and round the boat we went. Tagging and releasing both.. Brian and Nikki
Campbell caught four redfish on fly... Dave Hart fished with me for two days this week. Eight redfish on day one and 4 out of 6 bonefish hooked on Wednesday..Great wintertime
bonefishing! Keith Nelson bailed the seatrout for a half day...with lots of fish. I'm out on the water almost every day, so the reports are a bit short until July, but I'll have a few
more next week!

.... Practice your casting, you'll be a much luckier fisherman! Barry

Capt. Barry Hoffman

Capt. "Q" Quinton - The Cutting Edge Dec 28 2004

Sailfish Bonanza
Today the Sailfishing was fantastic. We had our first bite on our first bait in the water. The fish were eating live pilchards and Threadfins. At one time I spotted at least 10 fish feeding in 10 different areas. They were balling sardines and exploding everywhere. We ended the day with 10 sailfish, 10 kingfish and some bonito’s. The ocean was alive with action this whole week with Kingfish, Sailfish and Dolphin. Don’t miss out.

Capt. Barry Hoffman's fishing report
                                                 for the Upper Keys and Florida Bay flats and back country.
                                                                          6-1-2004
Finally after many weeks of winds that averaged 20 mph, the winds have backed off. The past few weeks have been excellent for fishing. Redfish, permit, bonefish and tarpon,
have all made a tremendous showing upon the flats. Fly anglers should be having the time of their life, with our weather conditions easing off. Redfish have been numbering in
schools from 10 to over 500 the past week, with fish reaching 12 or more pounds. The tarpon are moving very well in the lay up spots in the backcountry as well as the ocean
side shorelines. Bonefish, though usually smaller this time of the year, are still plentiful. Focus your search on the early morning or early evening hours. Keep a crab handy, we've
had shots at permit nearly every day while tarpon or bonefishing. A quick word on "flats etiquette". Before you run up to your favorite flat, or are trying a new one, take a few
minutes to look over the big picture. Look back into the direction of the sun and check that theres no one poling down the flat behind you. Remember, they were there first, and
will be where you are shortly. Common sense is usually all that you need. If you feel the smallest bit you may be too close, you probably are. Reports for the past week or so.....
Bob Christian and Jerry Damilier had a tough time throwing to bonefish and permit, but did catch a nice tarpon of about 60 pounds on light spin. I had a few anglers from Japan,
Motoriro Ebisudani and "Zin" Yoshihiko fly fished with me for a few days. We found plenty of tarpon and hooked a few. Mike Tibots fly fished with me for three days and caught
one tarpon about 50 pounds and one about 85. Jennifer Dennen fished with me for a few hours on Memorial Day and caught two nice redfish, about 12 and 6 pounds respectively.
Till next time.... Practice your casting, you'll be a much luckier fisherman!   Barry

Offshore conditions were downright miserable over the weekend, with unre

lenting stiff easterly breezes blowing from 18 to 25 knots. Thankfully for the 49 foot Wombat, owned by Jose Fernandez, we found a 50-pound wahoo and registered the largest single fish in the annual ECA (Engineering Contractors Association) tournament at Hawks Cay, on Duck Key in the Florida Keys.

Along with the wahoo, we found scattered schoolies with no real large concentrations of fish. When will the wind stop blowing???

May 14, 2004 - Miami Offshore Fishing Report - Courtesy of Cutting Edge Charters

This week the tuna have been the highlight fish. We are seeing a bunch each day and usually catching a couple. They are in 110 to 150 ft. this week. Other than that the Sailfish are still active with an occasional Dolphin. With the heavy east wind the fishing should only get better. Look for more Dolphin and Tuna then some big kings to show up.
Tight Lines
Q

Back country fishing has been very tough with excessively high winds. Anglers who do try crossing Florida Bay have been in for a tumultuous trip. The only bright spot appears to be tarpon fishing around the bridges. Also bone fishing continues to improve with warmer water temps. Sight fishing for them has been a real challenge.

Yesterday and today yielded lots of fish, and some nice ones. We had 38 Dolphin on the edge kitefishing, along with a couple of sailfish, 2 big black fins, a mutton snapper, a grouper, and lots of bonito/The action was all on the edge and north of Fowey light. Pilchards and threadfins were the best bait. The action should hold up this week. Tight lines

As water temperatures continue to rise, Tarpon activity is also heating up. High winds have been a problem however, seeming to keep tarpon from feeding. There have been good reports from Flamingo of fat snook beginning their spawn. This fish have been found at the creek mouths and along the beaches.

Bonefish activity should also be on the rise. With bonefish spawning now, there are fewer fish actually on the flats, but when found they were feeding well.

This week brought some new excitement to the area, Dolphin starting showing up in good numbers under hawk birds. The fish have been nice size and in around 300ft. Yesterday we had several 20 pounders and some nice big schoolies. We ended up with around 40 fish. Today the weather hampered us and we only had 5 but they were all nice size. We only fished around 2 hours. A few sailfish were also seen today. It looks like the prime of the season is about to be here. Next will be the black fin tuna then we will have it all.
tight lines and no tangles
Q

February 20, 2004 - Miami Offshore Fishing Report - Courtesy of Cutting Edge Charters

Today started off quick, easy bait catching and a nice run to the South off the beacon. At first the action seemed as if it might not be that good. But, as a few minutes passed the assumption quickly changed. A single fish on the right short made for an exciting sailfish bite. A good job by our anglers made short work of the first fish. Soon the action continued with a small sail eating the left short, missing it and swimming to the right to eat our right short, bingo fish on. This fish was small and quickly released. As the fight was on though a fish bit the deep line. A nice 15 pound Mutton Snapper. As a few minutes passed and the baits were returned to there spots. A couple of kingfish kept us busy till the next bite. And a bite it was, There was a sailfish behind every bait and chasing freebies all over the place. A long Triple followed and the day was made. Five Sailfish, a couple of kings, 2 muttons, a bunch of Bonito's and another day was done. The action today was best south of the beacon and north of the monument can.
Tight Lines
Capt. Q

February 11, 2004 - Miami Offshore Fishing Report - Courtesy of Cutting Edge Charters

Today the fishing was great, some amberjacks on the wrecks a huge mutton snapper and some dolphin. The sailfish bite was around 2 and we were 4 out 8. Not the best average but our great charter clients were setting the hooks and missed a few before they warmed up. After the first couple of misses they were great. The action was south of the light in 120 ft. Tomorrow should be another exciting day. If you would like to fish with us next week give me a call soon.
Thanks tight lines
q