The Webb family - Brad, Kathy, Ty, Brandon and Bryce - spend late December and early January in Florida every year. This year they decided to try the Islands of Marathon and stayed at Tranquility Bay Resort, which they loved.
I took them to the reef in search of a tasty Florida Keys dinner. They caught big mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, delicious hogfish and porgy. Enough fillets to have several dinners at local Marathon restaurants.
They also caught a mess of king and Spanish mackerel, which I smoked and shipped back to Canada for them.
As a memento of their fishing adventure with SeaSquared Charters, Brad ordered one of our custom canvases framed in lobster trap art. They plan to display it in their family room bar.
Marathon Florida Keys Fishing Report: fishing at the Seven Mile Bridge
Posted on January 1, 2011 by Editor
Capt. Chris Johnson, SeaSquared Charters, Marathon Florida Keys
One of the beauties of fishing in the Middle Florida Keys is the awesome choice of venues we have, all within easy reach of our marina.
John Connell and his group, from Oconomowoc WI, had hoped to do some shark fishing during their Florida Keys vacation, but the waters were a little chilly for that to be productive. So, I switched to Plan B and headed to the waters near the Seven Mile Bridge.
We lost count, but the guys must have caught 250 fish. They kept their limit of delicious mangrove snapper ranging from 14 to 16 inches. So, no toothy critters but plenty of good-eating fillets! And, lots of camaraderie on a sunny day with the world-famous Seven Mile Bridge as the backdrop. Sounds like vacation to me.
The crew included John Connell, Jason Stangler and John Trezesniewski. ..
Marathon Florida Keys Weekly Fishing Report – Jan 26, 2011
Marathon Florida Keys Weekly Fishing Report – Jan 26, 2011 – Kingfish reign supreme
Posted on January 26, 2011 by Editor
Captain Chris Johnson, SeaSquared Charters, Marathon Florida Keys, January 26, 2011
Prepare to be prepared!
Last week we touted the weather for settling into a normal seasonal pattern. I guess we can toss that hype out the window!
With the constantly changing weather conditions of late, anglers need to have Plans A, B and C ready at all times.
Sailfish
Sailfishing has been described as slow to good, depending on who you talk to. It looks like there will be a push of blue water in the Middle Keys, which should produce better results in the coming days.
Kingfish
The one constant throughout the Keys right now is the kingfish bite. There are plenty of kings in the 20- to 25-pound range eating a variety of live baits, such as pilchards, blue runners and ballyhoo.
Cobia
There have also been quite a few good reports of cobia on the color change. The largest one I heard of was a 73-pounder taken in Islamorada. You can look forward to this action continuing through February and into March.
Snapper on the reef
The reef bite for all variety of snapper remains very good. The yellowtails are being caught in the 35- to 60-foot depths, while the mangroves are more prevalent in the 20- to 30-foot range. The muttons are mixed throughout the water column not excluding the wrecks and artificial reefs out to 250 feet.
African pompano
We are also starting to see a fair showing of African pompano and larger, 40-pound-plus size amberjack on the wrecks.
Variety on the channel humps
The channel humps and inside patches are producing the usual assortment of snapper and other panfish, such as hogfish and porgy. Good numbers of cero and Spanish mackerel and rather large kings are in the same areas.
Mangroves and Spanish mackerel in the bay
Bayside and around the bridges, fishing for mangrove snapper continues to yield high-quality catches, and there’s an excellent Spanish mackerel bite six to eight miles out in the bay.
On the SeaSquared
Two thirtieth birthdays brought three buddies to the Florida Keys for some great fishing!
Grant Goodwin and John Drymon, from Batesville AR, and their friend, Chris Lewis from Chico CA, spent two days fishing with Capt. Diego Cordova of Flat Out Charters in Marathon. They caught mangrove snapper, mackerel and ladyfish.
The trio spent their third day of fishing with me on the SeaSquared and they were looking to set their harms to hurting. We hit the reef and the guys caught five large king mackerel ranging from 15 to 30 pounds. It is all headed for the smoker.
Until next time … tight lines!
I took a half day off for some fun fishing with my lovely wife, Christy, friends Liz and Paul Dake, and SeaSquared regular, Jim Sollecito.
We went to one of my not-so-secluded secret snapper spots at the Seven Mile Bridge and really loaded up. We kept our legal limit of good size mangrove snapper, but boated over 210 fish. For fun, Jim kept track of how many snapper he could catch on a single SeaSquared jig, and that magical number was 78 before a mackerel decided to have a lead lunch and the lure was lost.
After I filleted our catch, we all headed to Porky’s Bayside BarBQue, where a healthy feast fit for Kings was consumed. Plans are in the making for another outing in February.
John and Teri Jordan returned for another fishing charter with SeaSquared and this time brought their daughter Jeana and future son-in-law Ryan. They combined their fishing with a weekend in Key West scouting venues for the couple's wedding next year.
So, Ryan was a newbie to the SeaSquared, and John never let him forget it! John and Teri are both very good anglers, so it's a challenge for anyone to keep up with them, including me!
We started out on the reef and then did some dropping on the wrecks for mutton snapper. Jeana fought one mutton for quite a bit before it was eaten by a Goliath grouper. In the end, the crew put together a great catch of mutton, mangrove, yellowtail and lane snapper, hogfish and porgy. Plenty to enjoy back home in Illinois!
We hope Ryan enjoyed his induction into the Jordan SeaSquared fishing hall of fame and hope to see him and Jeana again soon!
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