Lower Keys Dolphin/Trout 12-8/9

[swordslayer71]

Went out yesterday and fought through the rough seas in the morning catching schoolie dolphin in the 120-250 ft. range. We poked out into the 600's and found some larger fish but couldn't keep up with them, and the one nice fish that we did hook came unglued. We moved back in shallower once it calmed down and picked up some more schoolie/lifter sized dolphin and lost a blackfin near the boat. Real rough in the morning but calmed down in the afternoon.
Headed out this morning to look for some trout action in the backcountry. We found plenty of fish with some ladyfish,jacks, and bluefish mixed in. After an hour or so we headed out front to catch some yellowtail and check the stone crab traps. It was absolutely flat today and the water was crystal clear, a great day to be out. Tight lines.

[testerman28]

nice box of fish..

[TavernierGuy]

Very nice eats. Looked at the log book late last night. In Dec 2010 and 2011 the conditions are about the same. They stuck around until the first hard cold front. If your looking to fill the freezer for winter, now is the time.

[urbanRenewal]

Susan likes Specs. I just cant make the boat turn left heading out of the channel ;)

[Chewdog2121]

The weather seems almost identical to last year, and even the year before, only last year the cold didn't last much. I remember two years ago we had a cool November, warm December, and coooooold January/February. Gotta get out and capitalize myself.

Very nice eats. Looked at the log book late last night. In Dec 2010 and 2011 the conditions are about the same. They stuck around until the first hard cold front. If your looking to fill the freezer for winter, now is the time.

[sparse grey]

We'll help you out with the specks this week Tom. Nice going Hoover. How many traps & how are you doing with them?

[Northern]

Nice box of dolphin. It sure would be nice if they hung around until the end of the month.

I'm also curious how you did with your traps? Sounds like farther north, trapping has been very slow. Several trappers believe that it will take a good cold front to get them moving again.

[swordslayer71]

We put out 5 traps. They do alright, but we just recently had the bouys get cut on 3 of them, found 2 of them but are still missing one. We're going to move them and try some new areas. My boss has his traps out in the Big Pine area and gets about 20-40 claws per pull. sparsegrey I sent you a pm.