This morning we have taken the time to do maintenance on our boats and gear before our afternoon trips. Keeping our boats in tip-top shape is very important as we want to maximize the time you spend with us by having the tidiest boats, top of line gear and best captain/crew. Trust that you will have the best opportunity at catching fish on half days and full days with us.
As we start rigging for the afternoon trips, the forecast is saying another small cold front is coming to the area today bringing temperatures back into the 60s. I expect the sailfish fishing to really start to turn on as we have had a nice north current the past few days. Along with with cold weather and wind, we are getting the kites ready and ordering live Goggle Eyes from our local bait suppliers. If you want to go kite fishing, now is the time to book your trips and let me know.
The past 2 weeks have been filled with some great fishing. There has not been any consistent patterns though. The recent full moon sort of slowed the Sportfishing bite a bit, but the night drift fishing action has been really good for snappers including yellowtail and muttons. We are seeing more muttons than usual now as we are getting a late season shrimp run due to the moon and slew of cold fronts. Our anglers who have been fishing shrimp have been seeing the best action.
Heading offshore the bite on the kingfish, blackfin tuna and bonita has been your best bet. Anywhere from 70 to 140 feet has been holding them. Looking for the small birds has been putting us on the bait and then the fish. Live bait as well as trolled bonita strips has been working great. It all depends on what the conditions give us as to what techniques we use. That is the beauty of South Florida Deep Sea Fishing, each day is different and mother nature always paints a new picture. Rely on your Captains experience to get the best shot at game fish when aboard with us.
There have been some wahoo around as well. Sean is already fishing for them. Rigging live “bullets” which are small bonita has been producing. Check out the live bait rigging video we did on Youtube about how we rig them. Trolling live bonita is a sure fire way to entice a game fish such as a wahoo, shark, big sailfish, big mahi and much more. We start doing this more and more as the spring approaches.
Further offshore, the swordfish have been snapping! On one of our trips we caught 2 nice fish and have more bites. The fleet has all been getting bites and some of the fish are monsters. One of our friends down south got one over 500 pounds! Our daytime sword fishing trips have been producing better than the night trips. Fishing during the day also gives you an opportunity to sight fish mahi mahi on the way out to the grounds and even a potentially a marlin if we see one on the surface.
And that leads me to the Spring Season around the corner. The Spring is absolutely are best time of the year. Not only do we get calmer seas and beautiful weather, but we also turn the clocks so you get an extra hour on your evening trips. Now is the time to start booking your late afternoon Blackfin Tuna trips. If you haven’t done this yet, you need to give it a try. Not only do Blackfins offer sushi quality meat, they are real brutes on the reel. We fish them with either live pitchards or trolling small blue feathers way behind the boat. We are already getting them, so I expect March through June to be even better than last year, and last year was AMAZING! Just check this one out.
On the Lois Ann, we are running 3 trips daily and consistently getting into some nice snappers. As mentioned the muttons are around. Using a small jig head and a live or dead shrimp has been working best. For only $45, come on aboard and test your skill. Remember all ages and experience levels are always welcome. We have a captain and mate on board to help you at all times. Most of the time we want you to catch fish more than you do!
There have also been a lot of kingfish and bonita on our daytime drift fishing trips with Captain Jimmy.
That’s the report for now. We are just about ready to back out there for our 1:00pm trip. I heard this morning there have already been some sailfish caught and lots of mahi mahi under the birds and in the blue water. Bring your sunscreen and hats, as it is sunny and beautiful the rest of the week. We have had a lot of large groups lately. This time of the year, the spring break crowd is in town and we are booking fast. We are the only boat in the area that can take more than 6 people on one single boat, so please give us a call as soon as you know your dates.
Tight Lines,
Captain David