Team No Show - Flying Scud had the pleasure of spending the New Years fishing in the keys... Now we know where all the fish are this time of year.. that place is fricking loaded with fish.. Bait everywhere, live ballyhoos jumping out of the water everywhere you look... One of the best fishing trips I have ever been a part of. If you have not had the opportunity to fish the keys during this time of year I seriously recommend it for some non stop fishing action as good as it gets...
Trailering the boat from Norfolk to Cudjoe Key took about 22hours but is was well worth it. We set a species goal at 20 and had no problem reaching that quota... We caught sails, dolphin... the mahi down there all average gaffer size and quadruple hookups is the norm, wahoos, kings, cudas, snappers, groupers, plenty of mystery fish we never even got to see, sharks, bonitas, . I thought once I had my big poppa grouper as when he bit and I hooked him he went straight into the reef... I felt his weight and knew it was big... I finally managed to free him from the reef after a series of manevers to the front and sides of the boat, and it started coming up.. however when we finally got to see it we were staring at a dragon... the biggest darn moral eel you ever saw.. this thing was close to 6 feet long and could have weighed a 100lbs, this thing looked like it was straight from a nightmare... pretty dang cool...
The stream is about 5 miles from the house we stayed at and we could go offshore fishing in the morning, come back for lunch and drop the fish and then got back out for an afternoon of reef fishing.. This was the fishing I enjoyed the most... You find the edge of the reef, it goes from 60ft to 100ft ... set up anchor on the edge, throw out some chum blocks, and free spool bait back into the slick and hold on.. the beauty of this fishing is you just dont know what will show up next... AWESOME AWESOME Fishing on lighter tackle. THOSE YELLOWTAILS ARE SOME fighting dudes.. When we got a small yellow we would put him live on the bottom in hopes for the monster grouper... He never showed but all in all it was a great way to ring in 2009 and I hope to make this an annual trip.. I will post some pics as soon as I can... Happy New years to all!

Sounds absolutely wonderful. Looking forward to the pics. Thanks for sharing.

found this link which might explain the eel with the grouper... this is wild

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1204-moray.html

The Keys are on my short list of places to fish. I've fished the Lake Worth/ West Palm Beach area several times and absolutley love it down there. Too windy to fish offshore...hit the back country. Sunny, warm, and all kinds of fish...what more could you ask for!

Thanks for the report and look forward to the pics!

--Don

i am leaving in a few weeks for a month in the keys. i am trailering my 23 regulator. couple of questions if you don't mind.

1. did you use live bait on the sails? kite fish?
2. what equiptment did you take for reef fishing?

thanks

bobby

No problem.. No we just pulled your regular Bionic Hoos. We actually got the sail on a downrigger..... No kitefishing... For reef fishing you should have some nice spinners.. A shimano baitrunner or something equivalent should be fine. Probably want to have a good size spool and use around 30# flouro for the leaders.. those snappers wont hit really steady unless you use the flouro... I would also recommend making up some wire rigs for the kings... They will show up in the slick and bite you off.. At least one wire on top in the slick should be good. Also bring a chumbasket or bag for the front and the back. Sink one halfway down the anchor line and put one off the stern.. the one on the anchor line brings the grouper under the boat...

We actually had such a great time down there we will be heading back in a week for another week of fishing!!!!!
let me know if you have any questions

SSSSSSShhhh THIS IS NOT A TRUE STORY,THERE ARE NO FISH IN THE KEYS! (HAHAH) We take my boat for 2 weeks every june to Islamorada. I am leaving the day after the frostbite challenge to fish a sailfish tournament on a buddys boat down there. It is truly paradise and has to been seen first hand.
Todd

thanks for the info. i have been going down fo 20 plus but have actually not done much fishing. eating and drinking and relaxing. looking forward to having a month to explore

Sounds like a fun time. I've been to the Keys many times and love that type of fishing.

Great report!! Thanks, now you got me Jonesin for a new destination.

Hey Knot Wish'n just read where you'll be in Islamorada in June for two weeks. I will be trailering my 25' Sportcraft down May 31- June 6. I have been going down there for the four years around this time and we typically do alright, from inshore fish to offshore. We primarily target tarpon inshore and dolphin and amberjacks, aka. reef donkey while offshore. We are taking my 25' thiis year for the first time, we usually take a smaller boat, but this year we intend to target swordfish and those monster tiger sharks out at the Hump. If you will be down there during that first week send me a reply and I'll forward my cell # so we can chat. Tight Lines.............. FISHBONES

hey fishbones give me a call . we wont get down ther til june 21st this year. Last year sailfish,big dolphins !
Todd