# Marathon



## miked913

Just got back from our annual pilgrimage to Marathon. There were 4 of us this year 2 couples, the other was member #SuzyJ. Spent 10 days there rented a center console sea fox 246 for 7 days. We had easy access to the Atlantic and the Gulf from our rental house. So the winds let us fish the Atlantic 4 times and the Gulf 3 times. We caught 100's of fish every day. Many species of snapper; yellowtail, mangrove, lane, mutton. Groupers that were out of season, 3 kinds of mackerel, bonito, porgies, grunts, sea trout, 4 species of sharks. I'm sure I'm forgetting some for sure. We ate fish atleast once a day every day, it's so good pretty much no matter what kind when you're eating it within hours of catching it. The weather was perfect there and was the perfect time to be gone from here with the coldest temperatures in 3 years in NE OH! I did bring an ice rod and caught some fish on it just because.

































































reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## bridgeman

Marathon is a place that'll rejuvenate your soul. Great pics


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## joekacz

miked913 said:


> Just got back from our annual pilgrimage to Marathon. There were 4 of us this year 2 couples, the other was member #SuzyJ. Spent 10 days there rented a center console sea fox 246 for 7 days. We had easy access to the Atlantic and the Gulf from our rental house. So the winds let us fish the Atlantic 4 times and the Gulf 3 times. We caught 100's of fish every day. Many species of snapper; yellowtail, mangrove, lane, mutton. Groupers that were out of season, 3 kinds of mackerel, bonito, potties, grunts, sea trout, 4 species of sharks. I'm sure I'm forgetting some for sure. We ate fish atleast once a day every day, it's so good pretty much no matter what kind when you're eating it within hours of catching it. The weather was perfect there and was the perfect time to be gone from here with the coldest temperatures in 3 years in NE OH! I did bring an ice rod and caught some fish on it just because.
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> reelylivinsportfishing.com


Doggone it Mike you went without me AGAIN! Boy looks like you had one heck of a trip. I certainly miss our Islamorada trips. Just talked to my friend down there and he said get on a plane and get down there cause the tarpon in the backcountry are firing up for the fly rods. Still recuperating from back surgery so hopefully next year. Very nice pics! Yum yum lip smacking good. Did you make it to Lazy Dayz?


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## miked913

Joe, I hope you're done healing soon! Yes we went to Lazy Days twice! That place is awesome!! The favorites are the St. Croix style and Lazy Days style, but we always try it a couple other ways too, they claim there are 95 different ways they'll cook your fish, I guess I'll keep going back until we try them all!
















reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## joekacz

miked913 said:


> Joe, I hope you're done healing soon! Yes we went to Lazy Days twice! That place is awesome!! The favorites are the St. Croix style and Lazy Days style, but we always try it a couple other ways too, they claim there are 95 different ways they'll cook your fish, I guess I'll keep going back until we try them all!
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> reelylivinsportfishing.com


Those pics are doing me in,unless you've been there then you wouldn't understand and we have both been there,but we usually go to the one in Islamorada,just closer.


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## miked913

The other thing that was really cool this trip was the manatees, while we have seen them in the past we saw some every day this trip, they love the fresh water from the hose. It seemed like they could hear when we were cleaning fish and would come over to get a drink.























reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## joekacz

miked913 said:


> The other thing that was really cool this trip was the manatees, while we have seen them in the past we saw some every day this trip, they love the fresh water from the hose. It seemed like they could hear when we were cleaning fish and would come over to get a drink.
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> reelylivinsportfishing.com


Very cool is right. When we stayed in Tavenier at the Futura Yacht Club there was a cow and calf in there all the time waiting for someone to run the hose cleaning boats or fish ect. Still can't believe how huge the adults are!


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## loves2fishinohio

Yeah that place is magical. Thanks for sharing.


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## TAG24

That is Awesome! Wife & I are heading down to Islamorada in a couple days. There's a Lazy Day's there as well. I can't hardly wait.


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## miked913

TAG24 said:


> That is Awesome! Wife & I are heading down to Islamorada in a couple days. There's a Lazy Day's there as well. I can't hardly wait.


We have been to both locations, while I dont believe you can tell a difference in the quality of the food, the view from the original islamorada location cant be beat! Definitely put going there high on your list of restaurants!

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## talltim

Great job on the fish , looks like a perfect trip, love the pictures.


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## tsquare

once you have been there- always ready to return -thanks for sharing Islamorada with us


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## Doboy

Ya,, THANKS from us too!

Some Awesome Pics, for sure.
I didn't know manatees were that far South. Last time I seen them was way up Silver Springs.

Marathon.
A Friend from our Erie campground has a nice place & boat right across the street from the airport. The Only thing that that he'll fish for is yellowtails,,, they go out about 8-15mi & catch them till their hands lock up,,,, & they throw everything back! 
He catches so many Erie eyes that they won't keep ANY 'salty' fish!
Kinda Makes me ill just to think about it,,,, specially after seeing YOUR PLATES! ;>)


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## TAG24

Doboy - that's surprising, "He catches so many Erie eyes that they won't keep ANY 'salty' fish!" I'm an Erie guy too, but I think saltwater fish are even better. When I go south I'm usually going for Tuna, Mahi & Wahoo sometimes Grouper & Snapper. I freeze it and bring it home in a soft cooler.


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## joekacz

TAG24 said:


> Doboy - that's surprising, "He catches so many Erie eyes that they won't keep ANY 'salty' fish!" I'm an Erie guy too, but I think saltwater fish are even better. When I go south I'm usually going for Tuna, Mahi & Wahoo sometimes Grouper & Snapper. I freeze it and bring it home in a soft cooler.


I'm with you on that Tag. Although I never brought any home,we eat our catch down there mostly at the Lazy Dayz. Flavor don't compare between fresh and salt water fish. Both are very good,depending on species. Yellowtail are very mild with little to no flavor but the backcountry fish like trout ,mangroves,red fish and snook are all GREAT table fare and personally like them better than walleye,especially when prepared by Chef Lupe at the Islamorada Lazy Dayz. IMHO


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## DirDeeDir

Beautiful Spanish!


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## Lewzer

What’s the white fish with the smooshed face?


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## Doboy

TAG24 said:


> Doboy - that's surprising, "He catches so many Erie eyes that they won't keep ANY 'salty' fish!" * I'm an Erie guy too, but I think saltwater fish are even better*. When I go south I'm usually going for Tuna, Mahi & Wahoo sometimes Grouper & Snapper. I freeze it and bring it home in a soft cooler.


I TOTALLY AGREE.
Years ago, A bunch of OGF guys & I went down to Emerald, & we ate everything we caught, just to see,,,, & Nothing, not one species was bad tasting. Matter of fact, if I remember right, Cheezman went offshore one day & they caught some Kings,,,,, THAT was the worst tasting fish on the table! After a few years, I found out that even the small, so called 'TRASH' fish are excellent eating,,, aka puffers, 'snakes', even the sea robins.
I remember Cheezman stating that everything 'SALT' is good,,, "I'm not throwing nothing back!" (including the Albies!)"


I was thinking of BEGGING that campground friend, for a weeks trip down,,, but after i found out that they ONLY fish for yellowtails,, & then throw everything back,,,,,,,, that's not for me. 
They will sit around the house and wait a whole week for good weather,,,,, & never even wet a line around shore!
I would go absolutely NUTS. I'd be fishing the inlets & bays 24-7,,,, till I could't stand up no more. I'd Hit the water first light, & be the last to bed,,,,, & if the moon is bright,, I'd be out wading & gigging~!

*Just another reason why I love to see you guys reporting about a good trip down,,,,, along WITH THE FISH PICS, & FOOD! 
'THE SALT IS IN MY VEINS'! ;>)
THANKS AGAIN,,, MIKED!*


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## miked913

Lewzer said:


> What’s the white fish with the smooshed face?


Those are porgies. They to are delicious!!

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## Lewzer

I looked up porgies and that’s not the pic I was referring to. Looking closer, I see it’s a shark I was referring to. Now that I see the eyeball on the side of the fish’s head, I can’t unsee a shark. 
I thought the nostrils were sunken eye sockets.


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## miked913

Lewzer said:


> I looked up porgies and that’s not the pic I was referring to. Looking closer, I see it’s a shark I was referring to. Now that I see the eyeball on the side of the fish’s head, I can’t unsee a shark.
> I thought the nostrils were sunken eye sockets.


Probably looking at the bonnet head shark then, sorry. 

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## Lewzer

No no. No need to be sorry. I’m the one who couldn’t see the shark🙄. 
That’s why I said it had a smooshed face when actually it was the underside of the head.


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## Whopper

Awesome account of your vacation. I'm so jealous

Thanks for sharing


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## loves2fishinohio

There are plenty of "trash" fish in saltwater that I don't care for. For example, black drum are a ton of fun to catch, but I don't care to eat them, and it's pretty common to find worms in their flesh when cleaning them. Someone mentioned kingfish - you gotta smoke those and/or make a dip out of them! I wouldn't try saltwater catfish again, no way.

But yeah, give me some grouper, snapper (any kind), Mahi, Amberjack, those are about the best-tasting fish that swim anywhere in my opinion.


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## joekacz

loves2fishinohio said:


> There are plenty of "trash" fish in saltwater that I don't care for. For example, black drum are a ton of fun to catch, but I don't care to eat them, and it's pretty common to find worms in their flesh when cleaning them. Someone mentioned kingfish - you gotta smoke those and/or make a dip out of them! I wouldn't try saltwater catfish again, no way.
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> But yeah, give me some grouper, snapper (any kind), Mahi, Amberjack, those are about the best-tasting fish that swim anywhere in my opinion.


Good selection but for my 2 cents I would add trout and red's to the list. And if you don't remove the red meat from the Mahi Mahi then it gets pretty strong. IMHO


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## miked913

Joe I agree! We caught quite a few trout this year and I grilled them same day we caught them and made fish tacos at the house, they were so good a couple days later we made them again! Also made fresh ceviche with some snapper and also fantastic!!
















reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## loves2fishinohio

joekacz said:


> Good selection but for my 2 cents I would add trout and red's to the list. And if you don't remove the red meat from the Mahi Mahi then it gets pretty strong. IMHO


I wouldn't consider speckled trout trash but the taste isn't worth the hassle it takes to clean them, too soft and mushy. I agree that big reds aren't worth keeping but back in the day when they didn't have slot limits and you could keep a 14" redfish, that made for some great eating, especially when blackened in a cast iron pan with spices. I don't like the big ones, they get worms just like black drum. Same family of fish.


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## joekacz

miked913 said:


> Joe I agree! We caught quite a few trout this year and I grilled them same day we caught them and made fish tacos at the house, they were so good a couple days later we made them again! Also made fresh ceviche with some snapper and also fantastic!!
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> reelylivinsportfishing.com


That's a good looking dish there Mike! Chef Lupe would bread our trout,mangroves and snook,if in season,and bake the Red's with lump crab on it or his house specialty Lazy Dayz way. A bowl of Conch chowder on the side with sweet potato fries,can't be beat.IMHO


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## ironman172

Slot reds, specs has been added to my keep list , past I'd always give them away,


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## loves2fishinohio

ironman172 said:


> Slot reds, specs has been added to my keep list , past I'd always give them away,


Redfish is pretty good if you get smaller ones. Make sure you get all the red out of it. Blackened with spices and covered in a sauce is the way to go.


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## joekacz

If you really think about it ,flavor is to the beholder. If I had to depend on crappie to be my table fish I would probably buy Gortons fish sticks. Never cared for the texture or no flavor but that's me. As for the redfish if I didn't have it cooked for me in the restruant I might not care for them either . Don't know if I could go through all that prep.


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## TAG24

We had a great time in Islamorada. We caught porgys, king mackerel, yellow tail. Could not get a tuna bite going as the weather changed that day, but caught and released 3 sails. We took some porgy and king mackerel to Lazy Days and I was very supersized how good the fresh king was blackened. Came home with about 25lbs of fillets in my soft cooler on the plane.


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## miked913

TAG24 said:


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> We had a great time in Islamorada. We caught porgys, king mackerel, yellow tail. Could not get a tuna bite going as the weather changed that day, but caught and released 3 sails. We took some porgy and king mackerel to Lazy Days and I was very supersized how good the fresh king was blackened. Came home with about 25lbs of fillets in my soft cooler on the plane.


Way to go! Great pics! Did you fish out of Bud and Mary's? 

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## joekacz

TAG24 said:


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> We had a great time in Islamorada. We caught porgys, king mackerel, yellow tail. Could not get a tuna bite going as the weather changed that day, but caught and released 3 sails. We took some porgy and king mackerel to Lazy Days and I was very supersized how good the fresh king was blackened. Came home with about 25lbs of fillets in my soft cooler on the plane.


Great Pic's!! Bet you had NE to East winds for them Sail's.Seems to be the best wind for them but everything else shuts down.Glad you had a great experience at the Lazy Dayz with your meal.


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## TAG24

Yes, I like Bud&Mary's. Fished with Capt. Wes on Expedition with the wife one day and solo with Capt. Joe on Fearless another day. And yes, NE winds on the day I went for tuna. Got the sails and a mess of yellow tails. It's hard to beat Lazy Days and it's right next to the marina. There's many other great places on that island and I can't wait to go back. But now it's almost time to get my Lake Erie boat back in action!


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## miked913

I was going back through some pics and thought this one from a bait shop down there was worth dredging up the post again. Lol









reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## Doboy

miked913 said:


> I was going back through some pics and thought this one from a bait shop down there was worth dredging up the post again. Lol
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LOL,,, That's funny. Does that place have a website?
We can all get together & send THEM a 1,000 WALLEYE, & 6# smallie pics!! LMBO,,,,*


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## miked913

Doboy said:


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> LOL,,, That's funny. Does that place have a website?
> We can all get together & send THEM a 1,000 WALLEYE, & 6# smallie pics!! LMBO,,,,*


Looks like just a FB account.



https://m.facebook.com/Big-Time-Bait-and-Tackle-185414962890/



Have at it! Lol
They were very helpful and friendly other than their hurtful sign! 

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## ironman172

Don't forget to mention muskie, they like hearing about them too


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## Doboy

miked913 said:


> Looks like just a FB account.
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> Have at it! Lol
> They were very helpful and friendly other than their hurtful sign!
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> reelylivinsportfishing.com




Facebook,, Bummer, I don't do 'facebook'. I Signed in, once,,,, Had some bad stuff happen there. GONEZO.

But I will check them out,,,, ;>)


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## Doboy

Do you guys DIVE,,,,, or snorkel?

My First love,,,, before I found REDHEAD CHICKS! lmbo,,, ;>)

Anyway,,,, way back, many spring breaks, I snorkeled from Alligator Alley, all the way down to Key West. (hop & Stop).
It's like the 'Love of salt' that won't go away, but 10 x better!
If you haven't,,,, You just got to give it a try around the Island inlets & reefs. Unforgettable.

lol,,,, I sure am enjoying your good times.
THANKS


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## miked913

Yes, we have always driven down just because of all the gear we take, fishing, snorkeling etc! I like the way a barracuda will show up out of nowhere and float motionless watching you, my wife not so much! This year hauled my stuff out to the bamboo banks, bay side off marathon, with in the 1st 10 min we saw 3 sharks in the 8' range and well I wussed out on that particular dive. We did find out that big lemon sharks really like hooked sea trout though, and while it's fun to hold on to your rod for those few seconds they're running off with your catch, it gets expensive pretty fast.

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## Doboy

Here's a couple of links that I used for information,,, back when I thought I was going down to Marathon with friends;

Artificial Reef Deployment Locator (arcgis.com)

Free Fishing Newsletter (fishingstage.com)

If you click around on this one, you should find fishing hot spots & dive structure maps.

Lake Surprise Fishing near North Key Largo, Florida | HookandBullet.com

Here's the new measuring tool link,,,,,, I just wish it also gave water depths around all of the listed structures;

ArcGIS - Florida's Unified Reef Map


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## miked913

Doboy said:


> Here's a couple of links that I used for information,,, back when I thought I was going down to Marathon with friends;
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> Artificial Reef Deployment Locator (arcgis.com)
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> Free Fishing Newsletter (fishingstage.com)
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> If you click around on this one, you should find fishing hot spots & dive structure maps.
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> Lake Surprise Fishing near North Key Largo, Florida | HookandBullet.com
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> Here's the new measuring tool link,,,,,, I just wish it also gave water depths around all of the listed structures;
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> ArcGIS - Florida's Unified Reef Map


My navionics app on my phone proved to be priceless down there, I had dozens of spots already picked out before we ever got there! 

reelylivinsportfishing.com


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## Carpn

It is an amazing place . I am hoping that my family trips will start alternating between Alaska and the Keys for upcoming years . 
Both are a good combination of sight seeing and serious fishing . 

I'm still trying to match the blackened snapper we ate in marathon. I have tried with walleye a few times . It's never even close to a good .


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## Doboy

Carpn said:


> It is an amazing place . I am hoping that my family trips will start alternating between Alaska and the Keys for upcoming years .
> Both are a good combination of sight seeing and* serious fishing* .
> 
> I'm still trying to match the blackened snapper we ate in marathon. I have tried with walleye a few times . It's never even close to a good .



Alaska. Ya,,, x2,,, I was there too, for a whole week,,,,, with 3 women & NO fishing gear! July melt, & red rivers. About killed me!
lol,,,, Back then, a bucket of KFC chicken was $40!
All I wanted to do is catch some of those 50# + Halibut. I did end up with a bag of Squaw Candy :<(


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