By Captain Rob Harris––

Everyone recognizes February as being the month for Valentines and Sweethearts. Some believe that Valentine’s Day is a purely commercial push to sell greeting cards. Whichever direction you lean on the issue, I say, “Embrace the Moment”! Get your special someone a card that says, “We’re Headed to the Keys”! With daily temperatures hovering in the 70’s you can warm your bones while you warm your heart.

Last month I alluded to Cobia and Swordfish in the Keys, so we’ll start there. With all the cold air north of us pushing the water temperatures down, Cobia have no choice but to head south for the winter. This month will find great numbers of Cobia holding on both sides of the island chain. To give you a better idea of just how many Cobia I’m talking about, February will see Cobia moving across the flats in the backcountry and will be near targetable levels for anglers that will be fishing for Trout and Redfish. They will be caught by bridge fishermen and shore anglers alike, fishing from shore spots such as Mallory Square in Key West.

That’s a good indicator of just how many Cobia will be in the area. Should you head out to the wrecks that dot the Gulf side of the Keys, you may have as many as 50 Cobia coming to the boat as soon as you arrive, so make sure you have a bait/lure ready to go as you come off plane. If you are on the Atlantic side of the Keys, make sure to investigate every channel marker that you “think” you saw a shadow near. I always make a point to stay in my tower when I’m headed offshore this time of year so that I can see the schools of Cobia that are cruising the patch reefs on the way out or that are close to the color change on the edge of the reef. So you’ve pushed your boat over the edge of the reef, now what do you fish for? The beauty of the Keys is that you’ve got lots of options! Sailfish, Tuna and Wahoo are at the top of most anglers’ lists for good reason. They will be found close to the edge of the reef and you can target them by a variety of methods. Sailfish will mostly be targeted with live baits such as Threadfin Herring, Goggle Eyes or Mullet. All of these baits are readily available throughout the Keys. Effective methods for presenting these baits are slow trolling, drifting or flying from kites.

As with any fishery, you’re going to catch more than just sails when live baiting. King, Cero and Spanish mackerel are out there in huge numbers this month, so be prepared for some bite-offs. Adding a trace of wire will solve the bite-off problem but may also make your bait less attractive to Sailfish.

Are big game billfish more what you’ve been looking for? No problem, we’ve got that covered too! The secret is out concerning Swordfish in the Keys and while it’s a year-round fishery for us, winter brings the biggest numbers of Swords to the Keys. February can bring some challenging conditions when it comes to Swordfishing, so it’s best to come prepared and as soon as the window opens up hit the water. Daytime Swordfishing has taken off and opened up opportunities for anglers not comfortable being out 20 miles in the dark. I still prefer fishing the “Darkside” myself.

If the weather doesn’t want to cooperate for swordfishing and you still want to bring some fish back for dinner there’s always the noteworthy snapper family that will fit the bill! Mangrove, Yellowtail and Mutton Snapper will be easy to find even on the windiest of days. The edge of the reef in 60’-120’ will be the most popular hunting grounds, but I’d like to offer you another option, Patch Reefs. Patch Reefs can be day savers when the wind wants to blow 25kts and you only have a couple of days to come down and do some catching. Most fishermen drive right over these highly productive patches without giving them a chance. It’s almost akin to “leaving fish to find fish”.

The patch reefs that I’m referring to are those dark patches that you see as you head south toward the edge of the reef. These areas also show on your chart as sandy/soft bottom. Try to focus more on the larger oddly shaped patches with higher relief. Anchor up current of them and present your baits to the leading edge. Remember that the Mutton Snapper will be holding off the structure on the sandy/soft bottom. I always place a weighted bait off my gunnel rod holder, this way I can set it down and focus on fishing directly behind the boat until that line goes off. Spanish and Cero Mackerel will probably find you once you anchor up and start chumming the patches, but if they don’t, they are easy to locate! Mackerel fishing over the reef will provide hours of entertainment (and dinner) for those who decide to target them. For those not targeting them, they can provide hours of frustration this month! As you are motoring out over the reef you’ll likely see large flocks of birds wheeling and diving on bait doing its best not to get eaten by what’s below. Schools of Mackerel will be roving the reef, blasting baits as they go. Even when the birds aren’t marking them for you, you’ll see them skyrocketing out of the water and flushing baitfish as they go. A trace of wire on a small casting plug will do the trick once you close in on the school or you troll small spoons to cover ground. Last month’s Kingfish Tournament proved that Key West is home to large Kings. Considering that a 67 pounder won the event and it wasn’t the only one to hit the 60lb mark, it’s easy to say there are big Kings lurking in the Keys. If you like chasing these silver speedsters, you’ve got plenty of time to head down and go catching. We will have them through the month of March, but February is the peak time to come down and catch that king of a lifetime. There is something for everyone in the Keys in February. Swordfish, Cobia, Sailfish, Trout, Reds. The list goes on and on. If your “sweetheart” normally baulks at fishing, you can fall back on the neverending list of activities ashore. Luckily for me, my sweetheart likes to fish as much as I do. For the rest of you, just mention the weather and Catch’em Up!

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Captain Rob Harris of Got TA Go Charters can be reached by phone at (305) 587-9228 or by E-Mail: rw_harris@msn.com.