Two of my friends and I are renting a house in Key West the first week in May. I found a house on a canal with a boat dock so I could pull my boat down there and keep it in the water. My plan is to fish all day everyday that we are down there. I have never been to the Keys before and was hoping that I could get some information before I head down there.
I am from North Carolina and have grown up fishing out of Morehead City. I spent 6 months living on Corn Island, Nicaragua working as a mate on a charter boat and guiding for bonefish on the flats. I have a 20 foot Jones Brothers (flat bottom skiff) that I am bringing to Key West. I have a lot of questions and don't expect answers to all of them, but I would like to be prepared as much as possible before I leave so that I can get the most out of my vacation (it will probably be the last one I take for a long time).
If the weather permits I would like to spend roughly equal time fishing offshore, reef fishing, and inshore/flats fishing. I would like to target dolphin, sailfish, and possibly blackfin tuna offshore and was wondering if May was a good time to target these species and if so how far offshore would I need to go to catch them. As I mentioned, my boat is a 20 foot Jones Brothers flat bottom skiff with a 90 horsepower motor, and I was hoping that I will be able to get out far enough to fish for those species if it isn't too windy. My next question is what color islanders and sea witches are the best down there that time of year?
Also, what kind of live bait is available, and in what general location could I find bait either with a cast net or a sabiki? I would like to troll, but I also wouldn't mind doing some live baiting or bottom fish with some light lines out. How far would I need to go to find some good reefs for bottom fishing and where can I get information on the locations/coordinates of reefs and wrecks?
As far as inshore fishing...what are the most effective techniques (i.e. live bait, dead bait, artificials) for targeting tarpon during early May? Are they in the flats or in the deeper channels and bays? Is night time fishng around the bridges for tarpon good in May? Where is the best place (general locations) to target jacks and cobia, or are they even available during early May?
I know that those are a ton of questions and I plan on doing as much research between now and my departure as I possibly can, but I just thought that some of you guys might be able to give me some insight. I am not looking for specific locations, but more general locations just so I can get an idea of how I am going to need to rig my gear. It is probably obvious that I am extremely excited about going to Key West to fish. I have wanted to fish there ever since I was a little kid and now that I am finally going to get the opportunity I want to be well prepared to make the most of it. Also, if anyone on here knows any good websites or books on fishing the Keys or Key West I would really appreciate if you could pass them along to me. Thanks again for any tips and information that anyone is willing to share with me.
KW has many options, may can be a good time for sailfish but usually the best days are when they tail (Bad time to be in a 20ft boat) There should be pleanty of smaller dolphin around from 5-20 miles out look for debris and good weedlines. good chance of getting a blackflin tuna bite.... bottom fishing can be really good from the edge of the reef to 250ft. there are some artificial reefs around that hold AJ's and muttons. if you look on the edge of the reef 60-80ft you can find a good edge put out chum and use chunk ballyhoos or live pinfish or threads.
Pinfish-find on grassflats not far from shore 4-6ft water, use chum and small hair hook with split shot
ballyhoo-will come up on the reef line but usually easier to catch on small grass beds a mile or two on the inside of the reef 10-30ft. good grass beds can hold cigar minnow great for tuna...use small hair hook for ballyhoo and sibki for cigars.
Threads- look for birds diving close to shore use chum and sibki.
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