Not from our area, but thought I would share...

[RCS]

For spring break a group of us decided to head down to the Keys for the week and do some fishing. We couldn't have asked for better weather...sunny skies and the water was calm and crystal clear all week. Unfortunately, we had some boat problems early in the week that we never completely fixed, but we were able to get out and do some fishing, sticking close to home around the nearby bridges and back in the mangroves. We were able to jump 2 tarpon, but both managed to come off (one pulled the hook, the other made a last sprint to a crab trap)...also caught lots of mangrove snapper (they're everywhere), cudas, juvenile grouper, some small yellowtails, sharks, mackerel, lane snapper, and a few others. Our last day to fish, the guy whose house we had rented took us out on his boat and we fished a few patch reefs and ledges for snapper and mackerel. Having grown up in this area where a run out to 40+ feet is the norm to START fishing for grouper/snapper, it was unbelievable to be in 10 feet (max) of water catching nice sized fish. We'd start a chum slick and almost immediately there would be ballyhoo's and mangrove snapper feeding right behind the boat. We caught our limit of nice sized mangrove and lane snappers, lots of hardtails, and the highlight of the trip for me, 2 juvenile cubera snappers (6 & 7lbs). I'll try and find some other pictures from the week, but here are a few from the last day:

[red_yakker]

Sounds like fun

[Salty Gator]

Nice work fellas

[Carlabear]

Thanks for sharing. I am going to Marathon the end of may for a week with some friends.

[Jumptrout51]

[DixieReb]

Nice fishes! I wish the weather was that nice up here, it's been crappy just about every day I've been off this month.

[Scoop Sea]

Hey RCS: What key did ya'll stay on? It looks like your rental was on a canal. We are heading down in August and would like to rent a house on a canal that we can run in/out from. If you or anyone else has any suggestions/recommendations that would be great. Thanks.

[Barhopr]

http://www.floridakeys.com/houseboats/

The 55 footer is the way to go.