back from florida leys

[tominator]

i was in the florida keys (marathon to be exact), i was there from friday the 22 and left last friday morning. arrived in islamorada about 12:30 friday morning and got a rest after the 1200 mile, 22 hour drive down with the boat too. woke up around 5am to 76degree weather, it was great! got out later that day just to learn the channels and waterways for the next mornin. saturday morning woke up and loaded the boat, got on the water and made my way past the 7 mile bridge, the waves were 2-5footers past the reef, so my dad and i just trolled the reef with no luck later that day gave the reef up and motored onto a shallow flat in about 3ft of water and started casting fake shrimp, had a bite off and realized it was a cuda. made a few wire leaders and started casting topwater plugs and catchin the hell outa em not a bad start to the trip. the next morning it was still 3-5 footers offshore and we said screw it, got to 130ft of water and started trolling a simple 3rod spread because it was pretty rought for the 20' center console. we trolled a green machine, 1 fake naked bally, and another fake bally with a skirt, simple like i said.oh yea and dad and i flipped a coin to get the first fish(dad won by the way) got one hit and miss on the naked then about 30minutes later something was messing with the gm, couldnt see anything back there and figured it was a king or something like that. the rod started screamin and dad said i could get the fish as soon as i picked up the rod, it started jumping like mad IT WAS A SAIL!!!! , after a nice show we leadered and released it in good condition. trolled 3 more hours without a nibble, went to a random spot on the reef while heading to coffins patch. the fish finder was showing fish below so i started jigging a blu/wh spoon and got nailed by a jack, pretty sure it was a horse eye but it was another species of fish i havent caught. drifted the reef with little bottom fish. the next morning went trolling with no hits the we knew about until i pulled up the lures and they all had slashes frm sails im pretty sure. the rest of the trip was great but we just didnt feel like getting beat up in the offshore slop. also i caught a 5ft nurse shark and 8footer, and a 4ft lemon. and ive got a question about some hookups i had, the other days we stayed just a mile out from the bridge, caught some blue runners and put one out for live bait. the question is a had a hit on the livey and put the drag down, it screamed for about 10seconds and broke the leader, what kind of fish was it ya think

[flatbottom]

congrats on your vaca in the Keys. Nice time of year to get away and fish the warm south

[Logan9581]

the question is a had a hit on the livey and put the drag down, it screamed for about 10seconds and broke the leader, what kind of fish was it ya think

Nice report!

That was probably a cuda. There are tarpon there too though but a tarpon should have jumped.

[B.C.]

King Mackrel maybe. Weh had a lot of them cut us off 2 years ago when we were there. Where do you keep your boat there? We have a condo in marathon but the marina is gone from the last storm, we will be heading down in Feb.

[tominator]

i stayed at kingsail resort, not a bad place, with a heated pool and boat docks right out back and boat ramp there too. its not a marina but has everything you need besides bait and advice. oh yea and a place around back to keep your boat trailer.it sounds luxary but its not too fancy.

[Ozimo2]

the question is a had a hit on the livey and put the drag down, it screamed for about 10seconds and broke the leader, what kind of fish was it ya think

There are a lot of little Kings around (3-8lbs) this time of year. But it could have been nearly anything from a bull shark, cero or king mackerel, or even a 'cuda......

[tominator]

well ive caught kings less than 3' and cuda abou that size too and let me say it was a much bigger fish than that. also it was a spinning outfit consisting of 80lb braid, 6000 sustain reel, heavy ugly stick boat rod.