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We had a full day today. One of 2 full days with the same group. As it was the first day this group has fished with me, We decided to just go reef fishing today with the hope of getting some good bottom fish for dinner.

I thought getting some live bait would be effective. There has not been much around yet, (we need some cooler weather). Any bait that has been around has been to the west quite a ways, but with a full day, we had the time to go looking for it.

The bait wasn’t “easy” but we managed to get enough for a day of fishing. I got a new cast net a few weeks ago, (I called my old one “Frankenstein” because it had been sewed up in so many places). The new net is bigger, 10ft, “Frankenstein” was only 8 ft. It is lighter as a concession to my back. So it sinks slower. Normally it would be used for shallow water, but Ballyhoo like to stay on the surface and so far, they have not been able to swim out from under the net so I’ll keep using it. I do have a heavier one if needed.

Barracuda caught and released fishing in Key West with Southbound Sportfishing

After getting our bait, we pulled the anchor and slow trolled down the reef. The reef fishing today was good, with steady action. We released some very nice barracudas. Because we were on the reef, we were fishing with 20lb spinning tackle so everything put up a great fight. We did lose one fish to a “ghost trap”. A “ghost trap” is a lobster trap that has lost its bouy. We could see the fish down deep, but the fishing line was wrapped around something and we could not pull it to the surface. Most probably wrapped around the remainder of the line on the trap. It was a shame because we think it was a nice “keeper” grouper. It would have been a great fish for dinner. Delicioud Mutton Snapper caught in Key West fishing with Southbound

The reef action was good. Besides the barracudas, we caught some nice Mutton snapper, a few Yellow Tail snapper and a couple of Cero Mackerel. All excellent table fare.

Some delicious Reef fish today caught in Key West Fishing with Southbound Sportfishing

I’m not sure what we will be doing tomorrow. More of the same if the folks would like or maybe we will go looking for a Sailfish. I will post the results tomorrow.