Key West, FL December Fishing??

[gtistiffler]

We are looking at taking a trip down to the Keys around Christmas time. Never been there and looking at taking my Carolina Skiff DLV218 to check out some reefs and fishing. Anyone have any info on what types of fishing, places to go, places to stay, etc? We want to stay maybe a little north to avoid the high hotel rates that time of year. Thanks. Keith.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

BOOK EARLY!!!!

On a whim last New Year's week, the wife and I drove down without reservations. Rooms on KW were $300+ on the north side of the island. We ended up staying at an odd little place in Marathon. It was cheap, and it had a ramp and dock, but it was sorta smelly, and could have been cleaner. lol. We said then it was a 'vacation' we'd laugh about in a couple years. Less then a year, and I'm already laughing. I would NOT recommend it to you.

There are tons of places to stay in the Keys. Just start googling, and making phone calls, but start now.

 

[ReelPlumber]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

We stayed at Grassy Key last year. The weather temps were nice but with the fronts pushing down from the north it stayed too windy to go offshore but you can always find a cove on the Florida bay side to get out of the wind and do some bottom or flats fishing. Our last day there were were able to get offshore but the winds had the water so churned up visability sucked.

 

[sasto]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

Yup, last year was a cold one down here.....Lobster season is in, grab some of them bugs and some yellowtail snapper. Chum bag and Squid tennicles on a # 6 hook and splitshot sinker will do for the snapper. Have fun

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

When I am in Marathon, I get a 5 gal. bucket, pocket size irrator takes two D cell batteries about 15 bucks, buy live shrimp and pilchers(Ithink that is what they call them) and go fishing. You can fish either side of the seven mile bridge, pick your days.

Key West is a hour away if you want to visit. Be carefull if you are drinking, there are to many cops on the road. My wife and I usually get a room for the nite in Key West and then drive back to Marathon the next day.

 

[capt sam]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

go to any bait and tackle shop down there and pick up a Top Spot chart, they're $20 and are fairly accurate for marked fishing areas. December can be tough depending on weather, bugs are in season but spots are pretty guarded. If it's calm enough and the gulfstream is in enough you may be able to get a sailfish or some wahoo offshore, inshore the snapper bite is always decent, Content Keys are usualy productive for permit and sharks.. I usually stay on Big Pine Key, it's about 45 minutes from KW.

 

[ufm82]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

If you just want something to tug the line and give you a great fight, go to the Seven Mile Bridge and anchor up underneath. Look for the key midway between Marathon and Bahia? (Not sure of names.) Fish to the south of the island. 6' to 8' of water. Toss pinfish or whitebait on 1/0 j hooks and catch jacks. They should be 2-3 lbs and will be fun on light tackle. Then take the jacks and fillet them- cut the fillet in half lengthwise. You'll get 4 12" steaks from each fish. Grab the 20lb spinning rods and toss those steaks out on an 8/0 Gammy circle hook with an 18" wire leader. (Don't buy crimped leaders at WalMart or BassPro- make your own with a good haywire twist or buy quality leaders.) Then toss those steaks out and let them flutter in the current. The bull sharks will grab those and the fight will be on! Put your anchor on a 20' section of rope and add a buoy to the end. You'll need to untie the anchor and chase the fish! The sharks we caught ran 5'-6' and upwards of 150 lbs. Typical fight took 30 minutes from strike to landing/unhooking. We did this for 2 days in December back in '08 and the wind prevented us from going anywhere else. Some may scoff at shark fishing but we had a blast and were completely worn out after two days of this abuse. 15 total between two of us and the action was non-stop.

Wind is the biggest issue down there in the winter. Temps were fine- just windy that murked up the water and made going offshore impossible.

UFM82

 

[capt sam]

Re: Key West, FL December Fishing??

well if you really want to do some shark fishing use barracuda, filet it down the sides leaving it connected at the tail and throw it in, using the same haywire leader and yeah you will have some fight.