Marathon area fishing

[Bradc]

Plan on renting a house in Marathon for the month of April and was wondering what to expect as far as fishing. I'm thinking about trailering a boat , either a 17 ft skiff for skinny water or my 25CC for the bigger water. Any thought or ideas are very much appreciated. Also , what will I need as far as liscences or permits to fish down there ? Thanks alot.

[Alley Cat]

I stayed at and fished Marathon last April and the fishing was great!

Myself and three retired friends are going again next year (last two weeks of April and first two weeks of May) We rent a house right on a canal on the Ocean side. It is nice to be able to get right in the boat and go.

This past spring we had a 25' Grady and it worked out fine. Next spring we will have the Grady and a 19' Twin Vee.

You can expect the fishing to be excellent, lots of species, Yellowtail, Mangroves, Mutton Snappers along with Yellow Jacks, Grouper, Mahia Mahia, Porgies and many more.

We get season out of state license for $50. good for the whole year ends up cheaper then permits for shorter periods.

Contact me by PM

[obxnative]

I agree with Alley Cat on the license. Fishing area depends on how hard the wind is blowing & direction. My laat trip, I spent all but one day on the bay side. Just put out some chum & something will show up to eat, snapper, cobia, trout, spanish mackerel, you never know. If you are going to fish the ocean, take a sabinki rig while fish on the bay side and catch some fresh ballyhoo or you can throw a cat net. Get a local chart that shows some of the wrecks.

[Perchguy]

I rented a house on an ocean side canal in Marathon early April last year and had a blast. Did most of my fishing ocean side. We rented a 22' Whaler and that got us out there most days. Best fishing was chumming on the outside edge of the reef, straight out from Marathon. Fished in about 60' of water and used shrimp for bait. About 4 dozed live shrimp from Captain Hooks right by Vaca cut will last for a morning of fishing. Lots of chum is the key. I was putting out 2 blocks at a time. I also thawed a block the night before, mixed it with oatmeal and some water, and let it soak for awhile. I would then ladle a bunch of this over the side as soon as I anchored and then continued to add this to the chum slick through the day. I was putting a half shrimp on the hook and drifting it back into the chum slight with a free spool until a fish grabs it and runs. Caught a mixture of Yellowtails, Mangrove snapper, Jacks, and Mackeral. If you cant make it out the outside edge of the reef, I fished some patch reefs on the inside with success. I headed straight toward Sombrero light and found some humps up to about 20 feet. If you get a chart (which you should), they are easy locate with GPS. Same deal there, anchor and chum chum chum. Time of day seems to be less important than trying to fish when the current is running instead of right at high tide or at low tide. I tried going through Vaca cut and fishing gulf side on the windy days with poor results. I know the fishing is good there, but I struck out. Last year the gulf water was usually cold and I think that didn't help. When you go through Vaca cut, be careful of the current which is quite strong. If you have boated in rivers much, it is no problem, but if you are a lake fisherman, it may surprise you how fast the water flows. I heard that the best fishing is about 10 miles north of Vaca cut around Sprigger bank. Didn't want to make the long of a run with the kids so tried fishing closer but didn't find much other than pinfish. If anyone has any advice on gulf side fishing in April out of Vaca cut, I would love to hear it as I will be back again this April.

[Alley Cat]

A few photos from last April last one is on cast net use.