Today at the Seven Mile marina

I went down to the Seven Mile Marina early today because I needed to make some
Dallas Darts. The best performing Dallas Darts are made within 20 feet of water, just the way it works. When I showed up everyone in the marina that had a boat was getting ready to head out on charters. They all take off to fish while I work on my lures. 30 minutes later they all come back to the dock. Despite the forecast, a pretty wicked storm brewed just offshore of Marathon. Everyone took a three hour chill pill for the storm to dissipate then hit the road again for a fishing redeux. Maybe it is just me but it was kinda comical.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Silly Weather

Now that this silly front has moved out of the way we can get back to the true meaning of life, fishing. The fish are chewing too so it will be fun. Some of the guys that came down and got stymied by the weather should be able to get out and do some catching. Alex, if your adults can't put you on fish let me know dude.

So what is biting? Dang near everything. Even though the bridge fishing for tarpon is slowing down, they are still getting a few shots. Snapper fishing is off the hook good, best I have seen in years. It will be interesting to see what the offshore fish do after this weather. The bigger dolphin have been way offshore, but the crazy north west wind we had for a while may have pushed some bait off the reef to bring them in close.

I have to make a few dozen Dallas Darts for a couple guys today and then I will start beating the bushes to get a few trips. The end of next month looks pretty good booking wise, but it has been much slower than normal this month.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Another Day in the Keys

I went down to the seven mile marina this morning and ran into a guy looking for a half day charter. I turned him on to a few boats to fill his needs plus a weather forecast to plan his trip. While I sat there drinking some coffee, a crew that reads my blog shows up with a bottle of 15 year old single malt Scotch looking for a few tips. Sweet! Alex and his adults got some advice and know where to come if they need more. The weather for the next couple of days is tough, but come Thursday or Friday they should be able to kick some butt.

After Alex and his adults left I noticed a bald eagle on the big power pole just South of the marina. This was the third Bald Eagle I have seen in the Keys in the pass ten years. I am kind of a bird freak so that was pretty cool to see.

Fishing wise, not many people went out due to the squall line that may have been a problem. We got some rain but the 50 knot winds didn't happen. For the next few days every day is looking better.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Hot Snapper Action

The Mutton, Mangrove and Yellowtail snapper bite is about as good as I ever have heard for the Marathon area. Nice muttons are being caught from 100 feet out to the 200 foot wrecks pretty consistently. The Mangroves are up on the reef as are the Yellowtails. Night fishing is especially hot for the mangroves but the day bite has be pretty good as well.

Finding people that want to go fishing has been the hard part. Most of the captains and guides are busy for one week and have nothing the next. Since it has been slow I have been making my Dallas Darts which are now available at the Tackle Box at Mile Mark 48 on the ocean side. I do have a few trips coming up but nothing booked like past years. This is good for the vacationers because you can pick from a bunch of good captains and guides for last minute trips.

The tarpon bite at the bridge has been slowing down but I have heard good reports of bonefish and permit on the flats to our west. If you are trailering a boat down you might want to try the Harbor Key and Content Key areas. The Permit have been feeding on crabs on the outgoing tide. That report comes from Shallow Minded Charters.

Offshore the bite is still happening but it is way offshore. With the winds from this little front it is much more of a challenge for the smaller boats.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum Marathon Get Together

The first Marathon Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum Get Together appears to be a big success. Lots of forum members had a good time and got to meet local and not so local members. It was held at Rum Bums mile marker 47.5 and appeared to go off without a hitch. Captain Spider was there with the casting contest that the kids loved. Spider has a way with kids and a good joke.

I have talked to Johnny at pips and recommended that they do a forum special of some kind for the forum regulars. With the power of the internet it is not a bad thing for all proprietors to think of having some goodies for all the guys that peruse the internet in search of a better fishing experience.

Personally, I had a great time meeting people I have read but never met. It was something I would like to see more often. Everyone seemed to have a great time which is what life is all about.

Fishing wise I was at the dock selling my lures. Gator and Bobby got to go offshore. Bobby came home with some nice wahoo, triple tail and dolphin. Gator had a limit of good sized dolphin, nothing over 15 pounds, but plenty of heavy swingers and light gaffers. Jeff had a trip too, but I missed seeing his catch.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

The Fish Keep Biting

Now that the moon has passed the fish have kicked it back up to high gear. Even during the last moon the bite never got bad, just a little slower with most people still having very good catches.

Dolphin offshore are plentiful. There are a lot of smaller fish you will run into, but if you keep hunting you should find respectable school fish and a few gaffer size dolphin. Most of the larger dolphin and tuna have been near the wall about 28 miles to the South. I heard reports of one yellowfin tuna and several blackfins over 20 pounds plus good number of dolphin over 25 pounds.

My last offshore trip was Wednesday when we got into school sized fish in 650 feet of water about ten miles off the reef. We saw some larger fish but didn't bring any to the boat. Lots of billfish are being seen with a fair number of sailfish hook ups being reported.

The reef is still hot for yellow tail snapper. Mangrove snapper reports are still a little spotty but getting better. Tarpon fishing is still good and the bonefish reports are great.

I have been under the weather for a couple days so I haven't much else to add. There will be a Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum get together Wednesday at Rumbums this week at 6 O'clock.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

The Full Moon has Kicked in

Had my second trip with Joe, Jordan and they brought along Grant and Donovan. We tried for Mangrove snapper first thing. We got a few but they were biting so slow we went back to the Yellowtail spot. Even the yellowtail snapper bit slower than normal. We limited out but it took three hours and three blocks of chum.

The ballyhoo didn't cooperate so the Cero Mackerel bite was slow. Jordan did get seven with live shrimp but the size was smaller than yesterday.

Pete on the Native Sun had an offshore trip, but returned to the reef early because the bite was so slow. Looks like a couple more days of spotty fishing until the moon starts to wane.

Tarpon fishing is still pretty good at the seven mile bridge and I have been getting good reports of bonefish on the nearby flats. So there is still plenty of fishing even with the bright moon.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Near Summer Ceros

Joe Hobbs and his son Jordan have been fishing with me for years out of Captain Pips. Jordan is about 12 now and has become quite a fisherman. The last time he was down he wanted to catch some Cero Mackerel. Conditions were not that good last time so I made it up to him today. Jordan caught 10 Cero mackerel with the smallest about 6 pounds and the largest about 12 pounds. All but the first were hooked by Jordan and fought to the boat with no help only encouragement. All were caught on live balleyhoo I netted. The balleyhoo were so thick I had to get Jordan's dad Joe to help me lift the first cast in the boat.

While Jordan had a thrill watching the mackerel strike and the sing of the drag, dad Joe stuck to filling their limit of Yellowtail snapper. On the whole it was a slower than normal day, but at the end we had nearly a wheel barrow load of fish.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo but this Motorola camera phone sucks.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Waiting for School to Let Out

This was a very slow week for most guides and captains in the Keys. Gator and Bobby both got a couple of trips and did well whether trolling or on the reef. There are still plenty of larger dolphin offshore and plenty of legal school fish. The reef is still very hot for yellowtail snapper with a few legal grouper and mutton snapper to round out the day. Tarpon are still biting at the bridge though mullet are getting tougher to find.

I have a number of trips coming up next week. With nothing going on this week I made up a bunch of my Dart lures. Now I am running out of skirts. The black and pearl and Pink and white skirts in the Boone octopus ten pack are not to be found in Marathon for a reasonable price.

Monday is my next fishing day so I am just going to enjoy the weekend and get ready to kick some fish butt then.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Odds and Ends

The photo sucks but I will try to get a better one of the darts.


Since Memorial Day weekend it has turned to deadsville in Marathon. Now that the kids are getting out of school we should be getting some more almost locals down for some fishing vacations. To occupy my time and hopefully make a little change, I have started making my fishing lures again.

Some of you have used my Dallas Darts before. If you feel like it leave a comment on how you feel about them. If you haven't used them, the darts are small bullet head type lures that can be trolled at almost any speed and catch fish. They have caught Tuna, Dolphin, Mackerel, Wahoo, Sailfish, White Marlin, Blue Marlin just about everything that eats flying fish. They work so well that when I take a fun trip offshore I don't bother taking any other bait. With schoolie dolphin I can just jig the lures and catch all I want without messing the boat up cutting chunk baits.

I don't know how well they work outside of the Keys, but down here they are pretty effective. There is a small group of captains in Marathon that start drooling when they find out I have made another batch. Since a client called up a few months ago and ordered three dozen, I thought I might need to get off my butt and make some more. So I am going back into production.

Fishing wise everything is getting back to normal. The west wind had slowed down the offshore bite but the blue water critters are starting to feed again. Tarpon are still chewing, 'tails are chewing, the mangs are ready for the spawn and the muttons should fire up pretty soon. Nothing better than catching in the Keys in the early summer. So plan on getting your butt down here to do a little catching soon.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas