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Fishing Marathon's West Hump

The area around the Middle Keys presents other unusually rich opportunities for sport fishing and diving, as well. On the ocean side, anglers find the "Marathon West Hump," an underwater platform that attracts blue and white marlin, Mako shark, black fintuna and other prized gamefish. On the Gulf side, deep waters and a wide assortment of natural ledges, artificial reefs, and wrecks offer prime locations for the pursuit of mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel, and cobia.

Marathon's West Hump
By Capt. Andy WIng

Marathon's West Hump lies just over 20 miles...depending on which marina you're from...south east of the middle Keys and is one of the favorite fishing spots for charter boats and private boats alike. It is an underwater sea mount the comes up to within 480 feet from the surface and is located in waters that are at least twice that deep. The constant easterly flow of the Gulfstream against this "hump" creates a noticeable upwelling that draws baitfish...which draws larger fish...which draws huge fish and so on. The feeding activity in turn attracts large numbers of sea birds and is a sure fire way to find the hungry fish once you arrive.

Everything from Mako sharks to Blackfin Tuna to Amberjacks can be caught on the Hump and it is not too difficult to spend an entire day in that relatively small but productive area. Most fisherman fishing the Hump are trolling small feathers or ballyhoo ( fished at least 50 yards behind the boat if not much more) for Blackfin Tuna. These hard fighters are the main target out there and the real jumbos are caught not by trolling but by using live bait such as pilchards and drifting across the crown, or top, of the Hump while chumming with these sometimes hard to get baitfish.

Drifting across the Hump while deep dropping whole grunts or other live baits is a great way to tie into some of the hardest fighting fish in the ocean...the Amberjack. Commercial interests have severely depleted what used to be a constant, predictable fishing trip but there are plenty of big bruisers still out there and if you are lucky you might hook up with a Mako shark while bottom fishing for AJs.

This captain has caught Blue Marlin, White Marlin, Sailfish, Dolphin, Black and Yellowfin Tuna at Marathon's West Hump. You just never know what you might hook out there but can always sure that the Tuna and Bonita will always give you plenty of great light tackle action and everything else will just be icing on the cake.
fishfloridakeys.com/marathonhump.htm

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Marathon west hump GPS coordinates 24-25.528 ... 80-45.328

Apparently it's some kind of Underwater Mountain/Trench thing 20 miles off shore ranging from 1,180 ft to the peak where its 480 ft.

Since it is such a small area and normally there are a half dozen or more boats out there you have to wait your turn to troll back over the hump. The actual "hump" is a decent sized area and you will be able to tell where it is just by the "rougher" surface. However, the majority of your hookups will occur when trolling one specific direction (I cannot recall which way right now).

Mark a point on the GPS and chum, chum, chum. When drifting you're at the mercy of the wind, so make sure that you are not on the edge of the hump where the wind will blow you off quickly. When you get to the end of your slick, go back to the mark on the GPS and start over: chum, chum, chum. The first few drifts you will get to the end of the slick quick, but as time passes you're only going to cover more water as the wind and current spread the slick out. By the time the slick gets so long you will have figured out where the fish are. Just remember: chum, chum, chum.
www.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24496

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