Key West Fishing Report
Key West fishing report here at dream Catcher Charters for the end of February is a pretty good one, even in spite of the colder temperatures that we experienced last week with what we hope is our last cold front. Before that last front, we were into some pretty good fishing and now things are warming back up again with noticeable rises in water temperature and our desired East to southeast winds which can really turn things around for us and our Fishing here in Key West.
The forecast for the next few weeks looks pretty windy starting on Tuesday the 3rd of March. The Ides of March may settle in early by Wednesday of this week according to the LRF. We call it the L.R.F. (Long Range Forecast). Here in the Florida Keys fishing region we are expecting higher than normal but typical for this season winds 20 to 25 mph every day all the way through the 10 day forecast period. This will certainly make some arenas in our Fishing more desirable than others. Let’s take a look at the fishing reports.
Check Out This Article
March Fishing Key West
Scroll Down To Find Your Favorite Type Of Key West Fishing.
Backcountry Fishing Reports
As we all know, winter can provide some pretty large fluctuations in air temperatures, which directly affects the shallows here in Key West faster than the rest of our bodies of water due to the shorter water column. Fortunately for us, the fluctuations were far enough apart to where one part of the week it would be water temps in the low 70s and other parts of the week in the mid to low 60s. This gave us a double edged sword of winter and tropical, summer conditions, and species to choose from. Highlight of the month was probably our tarpon fishing before this last front where our guides here at Dream Catcher Charters were able to hook many tarpon when the conditions lined up, providing our winter clients with a surprise we don’t traditionally get. In the cooler temps we noticed a great fishery of Pompano trout jacks and when the waters were warmer, the barracudas in the shallows were on fire.
Traditionally, the Fishing responses well in the backcountry when the Easter lease start howling in March. There are a lot of really good things that can happen.. the water temps come up and the fish respond very well however it can be a little choppy on the surface with occasionally 1 foot seas in the backcountry. Still backcountry fishing will be the most popular fishing in Key West for the entire month of March. People just don’t wanna get their butts kicked offshore. Tarpon typically respond very well to the higher easterly winds. Scroll down to read our tarpon fishing report.
Flats Fishing Report
Key West Flats fishing was pretty good during the warm spell. We had shots at early season bonefishing on the flats with a couple of them caught with a good cast. Barracudas were frisky as well in the shallows. We had shots at them fly fishing and sight fishing for them on light tackle spin fishing gear.
For the die hard flats fisherman that doesn’t mind casting in high winds. This can be in perfect opportunity to catch that large barn door size permit in the month of March. We get our largest fish on the flats in March. Permit are typically a very spooky fish, but with the higher winds. Their guard is down. They can’t hear as well and cannot see as well but yet they are still hungry. They will eat a crab in a minute. It will be windy, but there will be permit on the flats. If you’re fly fishing, bring your best cast.
Deep Sea Fishing
Deep sea fishing in the blue waters has certainly been finicky. Some days are great where we knocked it out of the park and then other days were struggling for a bite due to a wind switch or a current change, mostly due to lack of current. When the Gulfstream got in close a week or so ago, the mahi came with it oddly enough most of the mahi were caught in the dirty green water, not in the crystal Blue Water where the current was ripping from West to east at over 3 kn. On board our deep sea fishing boat, the INXS we had some solid days of fishing. In a few of our trips last week between the cold spells we were able to land a few mahi mahi in the teens and one bull over 20lbs. The kingfish were also around with a strong cero mackerel bite adding to the light tackle fun..
The forecast for deep sea fishing in the first two weeks of March will be consistently rough. The Easterly winds traditionally bring down tailing Sailfish just out past the reef. The Gulfstream can be super close making a color change edge that you can draw a line on. Along this color changed there can be tuna mahi Sailfish possible wahoo. A great opportunity for live bait, kite, fishing and even trolling. However, if you think you get seasick, this is not the trip for you. It will be rough. We expect the seas to be anywhere between four and 7 feet maybe higher with the 25 kn East winds. Making Key West deep sea fishing very challenging.
Reef Fishing
The reef fishing was pretty darn good on board our 36 Ft Yellowfin center console we call the “Too Intense”. We did not have to run far to find some decent mutton snapper fishing as well as yellowtail snappers. Grouper are out of season this month but we certainly caught several to toss back. All in all winter reef fishing is pretty good every year. On one of the reef fishing charters we were able to score on some cobia for our clients making a nice mixed back of filets for them to pack home.
Just like deep sea fishing reef fishing forecast will have the same expectations, wind, wise, and a closer together chop that will make it very challenging. Reef fishing does have a lot of flexibility to find calmer places to fish that produce some good dinners depending on its clients and their expectations. Often when it is blowing like it will for the next two weeks, we will run to our shorter shallow spots that offer some good snapper fishing and a good day on the water. Remember, grouper season doesn’t open until May 1.
Tarpon Fishing Report
A few of the days last week were super impressive with tarpon fishing. its not to often we get a good push of tarpon this time of the year but it happened. One of the days we had 100s maybe 1000 tarpon jammed up in our channel just outside our marina. They did not eat well but we managed to get into them on several other locations. Once the last front hit a few days ago that certainly changed things. Tarpon took a break.
Because there were so many tarpon around in the last few weeks. I suspect the Ides of March will have Tarpon in the forecast. Warmer Waters, hungry fish and lots of bait around are all great ingredients. Good news Tarpon Fishing is part of our backcountry fishing and it should be pretty calm and very fishable even in the higher winds. Traditionally we start catching pretty good numbers of tarpon middle March. We think it’s going to happen sooner this year definitely worth checking out.
All In Wonder Day Of Fishing
Our signature fishing charter the “All In Wonder” was a pretty big hit last week and this month with Capt. Abi running a few trips out to the Marquesas Keys on her Yellowfin 24 Classic Bay Boat. The results were pretty epic with cobia, mutton snappers, lane snappers and yellowtail. Capt. Steven was out there as well in his Yellowfin 24 CE with similar results. The water was still a bit dirty, but there were some pockets of clean water where artificial lures were advantageous in catching fish.
As we mentioned, the All In Wonder fishing charter usually includes a trip out to the Marquesas Keys fishing. During the month of March, we do not guarantee that, due to the high winds and the crossing necessary to get there in small boats. If we do not go out to the Marquesas keys, we always adjust the rate for Fishing and make do closer to Key West with the same idea of doing as many different types of fishing as possible in one day.
In Closing
March fishing signifies spring break in our tourist activity warmer air temperatures and much higher steady winds in our weather forecast. Dream Catcher Charters has been around since 1994 and in that time we have noticed that our inshore fishing charters are much more popular in the month of March than any other type of fishing. It’s always a good idea to give us a call directly or text us to find out what we think will happen in the LRF. Things are always changing and forecast fluctuate.
When booking a fishing charter always book direct with your local fishing guide or your local referral company.
Call Us Direct 305-292-7212
Text Us 786-847-3808
Email Us info@dreamcatchercharters.com