| Florida Keys Grouper |
 A great day was had by all aboard FirstLight. The Grille family from Minnesota fished hard and brought home some nice grouper. They have been fishing the Florida Keys for three years with me and they make it an annual event.We fished wrecks in Florida bay in 8-14 feet and had success with mangrove snapper and gag groupers on live bait. The ballyhoo were thick but just out of reach with the cast net. We ranged out to about 19 miles looking for an early season cobia but none showing. The current was slow but steady making for a slow pick and some moving around. Dolphins (i.e. Flipper !!!) were plentiful, and we fed them some pinfish. They are fun to watch for a few minutes, but often are bad news for fishermen. I think their sonar scares everything around and locks down the bite. The spanish mackerel were plentiful with their razor sharp teeth keeping a charter captain busy tying knots earning his pay. We didn't target them. We could taste the grouper already. After a wide open yellow tail on the 30th, today was a wash with no yellow tail or bottom bite on the ocean side. Glad I went bayside!!! With a front moving in tomorrow afternoon, the bite should be red hot in the morning. Going sailfishing and hoping for a pre-frontal bite, should be good. Standby for the report!
Tight lines,
Capt. Jay DeShay |