By: Capt. Bruce Andersen
There are always plenty to fish for in the Florida Keys in the spring. One fishery that really heats up and one of my favorite things to do is to take advantage of the red-hot yellowtail snapper bite. Every spring as the water temperatures on the reef warm up, the yellowtail bite comes alive as these fish begin to spawn.
One of the things about reef fishing in the Florida Keys is that it’s not just yellowtail that you’ll catch. Although yellowtail are the main target species you’ll also catch a variety of other snappers including mutton and mangrove snapper. A variety of grouper, yellow bar jack, pelagics like king and cero mackerel, and sometimes even tuna and sailfish and a whole lot more.
A great example would be a trip I had last April with my good customer Scott from North Carolina. Scott and his party come down every spring and they usually like to load up on a bunch of good eating fish to get cooked up at some of the local restaurants. On this trip, Scott had a few new friends with him that had never been saltwater fishing before and had never caught anything big. Scott asked me about the possibility of catching something really big on our trip this year, but he still wanted to catch some meat for the week. We headed out to the edge of the reef in about 80 feet of water, anchored and started chumming. The yellowtail snapper fishing didn’t disappoint. We had a huge school of yellowtail right behind the boat and were able to catch all the guys needed in a couple of hours. There had been a lot of action on the Reef so we decided to put some heavy tackle on the bottom to see if we could catch something big. It didn’t take long to get a bite and after about a half hour we had a 300-pound bull shark next to the boat. Some of these guys had never seen a shark so it was really exciting for them. Once we released the shark, we put the rod back down and immediately hooked something else. This time the fight seemed different. The fish was pretty much staying straight down. I had a feeling it wasn’t a shark. About 15 minutes later a 200-pound goliath grouper came up. I think the guys were even more excited about catching the grouper than the shark. After releasing the grouper, we headed home with smiling faces and a full fish box.
Every day is different and there is a whole variety of different things that can happen out there. The best way to increase your chances is to get out there as often as you can. Call me if you would like to experience how we get it done!
— www.captaineasycharters.com | You can reach Captain Bruce Andersen at
Capt. Easy Charters, MM 85, call 305.360.2120 or email at: captbrucekey@comcast.net