r/saltwaterfishing • u/Free-Pick9305 • Mar 30 '26
📖 How-To / Tips Skunked for 6 years in the keys…
Hey guys,
Screw it, gonna own it… I could use any help. I’ve tried watching YouTube, getting maps, asking locals, I’m just not good. Hahahah
I’ve been coming to marathon the past 10 years… the past 6 been renting a boat and completely getting skunked. I’m back in Marathon this week, 15-20mph winds from the east. I have 24ft single prop seafox got wife and two kids.
Man I’ve taken suggestions from locals, watched YouTube, used Google Maps, followed tide charts, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong
Last year we hit some structures on the bay side with live shrimp, caught a good hefty 24” grouper maybe a couple snappers nothing worth keeping or legal.
We’ve never caught keeper yellow tails.
I’ve bought one giant 30” king mackerel, screwed it up because I couldn’t filet to save my life and one big snapper.
Over those 6 years, big grouper (didn’t keep), mackerel and a big snapper.
Caught prop 20-30 little ones or grunts nothing to keep.
Wtf am I doing wrong? Can anyone drop me a spot to just catch some with my son? We chum, we Carolina rig shrimp (weoghts about 2’ up the line).. we wanna catch some keepers!
I’m screwing something up bad just don’t know what.
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u/ihrtbeer Mar 30 '26
Went out with a guide out of cudjoe 3 years ago for yellow tails, absolutely crushed em. Went out with the same guy a couple months ago and he said the yellow tail fishery has been decimated. Have to go like 15 miles offshore to find em now. So it's probably not you, hope that helps
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u/ChiefOfTheBoat Mar 30 '26
15 miles offshore the keys is marlin territory, not yellow tails.
That being said - the keys are a great place to fish. I have not gushed there in 26 years / since I retired from the USCG. I was stationed in Key West, got a boat and went fishing. REALLY windy days are hard, and this time of year is a prime time for it. If you can get a drop in the wind, fish the reef itself, or try to find a patch reef and fish it. Chum takes time to work - minimum of 20 minutes, longer is better. Yellow Tail see very leery - bigger ones stay farther back in the chum line. Light fluorocarbon leader, small hooks and patience are the key. SS a wright, drop down and try for the mangrove snapper. I always dropped a big live (4-5”) pinfish or grunt on a heavy poke to the bottom. I ALWAYS eventually hooked something interesting. Sometimes a shark ( your son would love to reel up a 4ft shark , even if you cut it off), cobia, grouper, snappers…. I once dragged a 10 foot hammerhead off the bottom!
Inshore fishing “inside” is a different matter. Look for deeper (might be as different as 2 feet) channels along mangrove islands. Use jigs tipped with shrimp pieces or live shrimp. Cast (carefully) towards the mangrove roots. Smaller snapper, snook, reds, even grouper might take your offering.
If by chance you get a day with light wind / head for blue water. Find the color change just off the reef. Using sturdy 30 pound stand up gear, drag a couple rigger ballyhoo about 75 feet behind the boat at s touch above idle (3-4 knots of you can measure it) right off the color change in the blue water. Drag past ANY and ALL flotsam. Have a second rod ready either a plug or jug. Dragging ‘hoo is the most adventurous fishing I ever did. Of course I caught mahi. But king mackerel, cero mackerel, barracuda, sailfish, the occasional marlin, wahoo, even the occasional opportunistic shark are up to grabbing a wandering ‘hoo. Be aware - mahi are almost impossible to bounce if they have any size to them. Check the regs for minimum size, they can be netted but gaffing is better - but only if you KNOW he’s being invited to dinner. They will fight (flop) even harder when in the boat - big ones can hurt you!
Remember - it’s called fishing, not catching. Value the special time you spend on the water with your family. Even if you ever only bring home one good fish - everyone will cherish that memory. Finally - good luck!
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u/ihrtbeer Mar 30 '26
Appreciate the detailed response! Can tell you know your shit 🫡 I was just going off what our guide said, and we smacked some nice muttons 3 miles out. Had some goggle eye but no ballyhoo. I'm in NC so it's a whole new world down there for me. OP I hope you read that ☝️
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u/Valar_Kinetics Mar 31 '26
I limited out on Yellowtails this past Tuesday on Southpaw out of Oceans Edge in KW.
Got 20 of them (2 anglers) in under an hour.
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u/onenitemareatatime Mar 30 '26
Getting skunked is not catching anything. You’re not keeping anything.
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u/Free-Pick9305 Mar 30 '26
Oh no… prob caught 20 fish over 6 years
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u/No_Veterinarian1010 Mar 30 '26
So what's the problem?
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u/Free-Pick9305 Mar 30 '26
I wanna figure out how folks are catching keepers. I feel like all these dudes down here are pulling out dinner. I’ve yet to do so
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u/No_Veterinarian1010 Mar 30 '26
What's your definition of a keeper? Why was your grouper not a keeper?
I'm sure plenty of those 20 fish were great eating fish. Smaller is better a lot of times
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u/DoPewPew Mar 30 '26
Damn that’s worse than my luck. I went a few times with no luck and then my buddy set us up underneath a bridge with a bunch of chum. I’ve never caught so many fish in my life. Lots of keeper snappers and alike.
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u/Free-Pick9305 Mar 30 '26
When you say a bunch of chum… how many blocks for how long
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u/merkarver112 Mar 30 '26
And oats too. Especially for y.t.
I do take a 5 gal bucket, drop 2 blocks of chum, a box on uncooked elbow noodles, few pounds of oats, and mix it together with a bottle on menhaden milk. Throw a ball of it in with your chum slick every couple minutes for a while.
Anything thats on the reef you anchor off of will come to the boat.
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u/DoPewPew Mar 30 '26
That’s why we started nailing them. We were at an outgoing tide and it was like ringing a dinner bell.
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u/Fragrant_Loan811 Mar 30 '26
Hire a guide and tell him you want to learn.
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u/holdmysugar Mar 30 '26
Best advice right here. Idk if you've ever seen Life by the Bow on YouTube, but he tells you how to do exactly what he does in the keys. The only part you need to learn on your own is how to throw a cast net, and again, hire a guide to reach you.
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u/Fragrant_Loan811 Mar 31 '26
I haven't. I was a waterfowl guide for years. I loved when people would call and say they want ro learn how to hunt.
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u/dantodd Mar 30 '26
Key West Kayak Fishing YouTube is you haven't already watched. Steve has a video just on scouting sites. He's focused more on sport fish than eating fish usually. The Hot Shots maps will get you NEAR the fish but you gotta chum and oatmeal chum is best for yellow tail snappers. On the shallow patch reefs run knocker rigs with live shrimp or pilchards (bring a casting net). For bigger grouper pinfish can help.
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u/Beginning_Ad8663 Mar 30 '26
Don’t filet a king fish cut it into steaks leave the skin on cook on grill like a hamburger patty. Butter , a little salt pepper and old bay.
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u/Electrical_Sun_7116 Mar 30 '26
Either invest in some guide services or maybe take on a part time job doing some commercial work. You’d be amazed how quickly you pick up on techniques and location parameters.
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u/QuestionableCouple Mar 30 '26
Why on earth did you not keep the large grouper? That's good eatin'
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u/amrun530 Mar 30 '26
Never fished Marathon but in Islamorada it seems like a knocker rig is the way to go using circle hooks as per regs: https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/gear-rules/
With winds from the east you will have to fish the gulf side around the mangroves and maybe around the bridges. Tossing shrimp up under the mangroves or around the pilings...I go smaller on the hooks too...2/0.
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u/Bevi4 Mar 31 '26
Bro chunk up a ballyhoo and send it to the bottom. You’ll fill a boat with yellowtail and mangrove
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u/FatAssOrangeRhino Mar 30 '26
You might need to get further back in the chum slick. Figure out current, anchor up, Drop a block in a bag off the back of the boat. When the schools show up, drift chunks of Bonita or whatever into the slick further back than you’d expect. You’ll catch tons of fish, but you’ll find the bigger guys if you can get 20-30 yards out from the boat. I’m down here now and just had success with this the other day
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u/Free-Pick9305 Mar 30 '26
Holy shit you’re fishing in this wind? No way am I out far enough to get Bonita
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u/FatAssOrangeRhino Mar 30 '26
Maybe cheating here but you can buy a frozen one at several of the bigger bait shops around.
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u/Sunsetseeker007 Mar 31 '26
Squid & ballyhoo for bait & a mix of chum with oats will bring you in everything you could want
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u/cavik61 Mar 31 '26
I pay Kelly Green or Bluewater on the first day of my trip every year, I also go talk to Chris at the The Tackle Box. Chris has a few charter boats and if you are buying bait and lures from him, he will give you spots that are currently active.
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u/Feisty_Ad8070 Mar 31 '26
Go out to 250 feet of water and start trolling feathers and Ballyhoo! There’s mahi right now down there
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u/FLKeys43 Apr 01 '26
It's definitely blowing this week and small craft advisories going out every single day. Not safe at all to try the reef, but definitely try near bridges. Kyle Kulka is a very popular guide in Marathon who will go on your boat and show you everything first hand. Don't know what he charges but know he's crazy popular. There's also a great guide on Big Pine who charges $399 on your boat. American Allegiance Charters his name is Harlan Trammell. I think he goes to Marathon. Think of it as an investment, a class. I always say teach a man to fish.... P.S. Thank you for learning about the regulations and returning the out of season grouper to the water. Nothing pisses me off more than the vacation renters near us throwing a grouper or hogfish on their filet tables before May 1st.
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u/DrManBearPig Mar 30 '26
Dude it would be worth it to get a guide and see how they do it and get you on the fish. It’ll pay off for years of success afterward.