IT'S HEATING UP

Report Date: May 6, 2011

Minus the shortage of bait in Miami over the past few weeks the fishing is really starting to heat up. In my twenty five years of fishing off the coast of Miami I have never seen bait this bad. They are doing construction on the pilot station( a very good bait spot) which I am afraid is the main factor of this shortage. With all the runoff leaking into our pristine waters the baits have to find another safe haven On a positive note when the baitfish are tough the offshore fishing is good.

I had a request to do an afternoon trip with a good customer and friend Anton Greaton. He wanted to target blackfin tuna. I told him there were not many around and our chances would be slim of catching any. He said that he was good luck and we went anyways. Our fishing trip started on a deep ship wreck in hopes of a cobia. Unfortunately the amberjacks were so thick the cobia didn’t have a chance. We made three drops and caught three big reef donkeys! After the wreck fishing, it was time to deploy the kite in hopes of the elusive blackfin tuna. About ten minutes into our first drift the flat line went off. Shortly after Tony reeled in a nice football sized tuna. The pressure was off. We then had a nice kingfish around twenty pounds all the way to the boat when the wire kinked and the fish went bye bye. The next drift, a sailfish hit the kite bait which made a few nice jumps but later pulled the hook. I then decided to move a little bit north. With about an hour of sunshine left it was lock and load. There were big kingfish everywhere. Skyrocketing on our kite baits and devouring our flat line cigar minnows. We managed to land a half dozen up to forty pounds. With the sun getting ready to set another sailfish came up, but missed the bait and kept going. With one last drift before it got dark we emptied both live wells and hoped for the best. I noticed some tunas eating our freebies and later the flatline screamed off. Fifteen minutes later I landed and Tony gaffed a nice 20lb blackfin to end the day.

  Eugene ,his son Patrick ,and friends Mark, Rick, and Wally came down to celebrate Patricks bachelor party. With the bait being tough in Miami I was forced to trailer up to Fort Lauderdale. I left super early in the morning to make sure I had enough bait for the trip. The weatherman was calling for 20% chance of showers and light wind. When the group got to the boat in the morning it was pouring down rain and blowing twenty. That didn’t stop the hard core crew from fishing that day. With a well full of live pilchards I decided to anchor the boat and let the fish come to us. Within five minutes we had a triple header king mackerel. Soon as the bait hit the water there was a fish on. After about an hour of fishing the boys caught four nice kings and Patrick caught a really big one.After the king bite ended, the bonitos got so solid we had to leave. A shipwreck in two hundred feet was our next call. We made three drops and caught three almaco jacks from 20-45lbs. When it was time to head in the clouds lifted and the winds died. We still managed to have a good time besides the crummy weather. Congratulations Patrick!

  As far as swordfish are concerned I only had one trip this month. It was a twelve hour day/night combo trip. That afternoon we made three drops with out a touch. The next drop we were checking the bait and noticed a little tension. By the time the sinker was removed I noticed there was a fish attached. It ended up being a 50lb. oilfish. The next and last drop was an instant bite. As soon as the sinker hit the bottom the fish was on. After about 15 minutes the fish was at the boat. It was 250 pound swordfish. The neon purple and white colors on this fish were truly remarkable. When it got dark we switched over to a night time spread. With in the first hour we hooked a nice sword . He pulled a bunch of line out but later pulled the hook. We had one more sword bite but lost it.

  The sailfish actions has been slow the past few weeks but will pick up soon. May has always been a good month for sails in the past. The dolphin are also late this year. There have been a few scattered but nothing consistent. May is the best month of the year for variety and action. Big dolphin, tuna, kingfish, cobia, amberjack, snapper, grouper, bonitos, sharks, swordfish, and much more are at peak this month. If you like to bend the rod now’s the time.

 

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