KEY WEST FISHING REPORT - May 18th 2010

On Tuesday, I led a group aboard the Coolcast to try some deep sea fishing at an area called the Wall, a tremendous undersea cliff where the depth drops from one thousand to two thousand feet. These fishing grounds are about twenty five miles away from Key West Harbor. We trolled under a large floating tree with ballyhoo and caught close to two dozen Mahi Mahi; the biggest prize weighed over forty lbs. With the downriggers, we also hooked three Wahoos; the biggest weighed twenty five lbs. Wahoo can often be caught hovering beneath floating debris during the summertime.

Both Mutton Snapper and Yellowtail Snapper are about to hit their peak spawning season at the reef off Key West. Although these Snapper are most active around the full moon, they typically swarm the reef for the next couple months. I find that minnows or cut bait work well on the Yellowtail Snapper, while Mutton Snapper bite on Threadfin Herring. These snapper excursions to the reef usually occur at night.

Rest assured that the horrible tragedy of the oil leak off the shores of Louisiana has not reached the waters near Key West, Florida.

Good anglin',

Capt. Damon Santelli