Monthly Fishing Forecast

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MARCH

March is a transition month. The spring fishing starts up on mild days and yet we can still have strong cold fronts making for winter conditions. It can be frustrating for some; you just got to be ready to go to a plan “B” or “C.”

INSHORE FISHING:

“The big tarpon” start to show up in enough numbers that you can fish for them on a daily basis, as long as the water temperature is over 70 and better yet mid 70’s. We catch most of our largest tarpon in March (140 – 200 lbs.), which is a great counterpoint to the fact that we typically do not catch as many tarpon per day as during the peak tarpon season. However a couple years ago we caught 54 tarpon in the first ten days of March. Tarpon fishing is totally dependent on the immediate weather we have. If we get a warm spell, keeping the water in the 70’s, we will have excellent tarpon fishing. Once a cold front comes through, and drops the water temperature the tarpon will move out to deeper warmer water or just hunker down on the bottom in a slumber of slower metabolism due to the cooler water. This is when you go to plan “B” or “C.”

Permit and bonefish fishing is excellent this month on the flats. You can find big schools of permit on the edges of the flats and in the channels. This is an excellent time of year to fly fish for permit too. With the typical windy days, you can get closer to them for a more accurate cast, and they can be more aggressive too. The bonefish will be in mudding and tailing vigorously if the water stays above 70 degrees. Snook, redfish, and trout will all be very good in the backcountry too.

“Plan B” can be a couple different options. First preference for me would be to go sailfish fishing along the reef. While sailfish fishing we can catch other great pelagic fish like kingfish, wahoo, black fin tuna, cobia, and dolphin, or stop along the reef or one of the local wrecks for grouper and snapper. However, some anglers do not take well to the offshore seas, so plan “B – 2” might be fishing the patch reefs for snapper, grouper, hogfish, porgies, mackerel, barracudas, and small sharks. Or we could go fishing Gulf of Mexico for Spanish mackerel, snappers, groupers, cobia, bluefish, and big sharks.

Another option “Plan C” I’ve been enjoying more the last couple years, has been fishing for big sharks in the channels through the flats in crystal clear waters. One of the draws to tarpon fishing is that you can catch big fish pushing 200 lb., and not have to go offshore in rough seas. So when the tarpon are not cooperating, big sharks (up to 300lbs.) is an exciting option. Often we can see three or more of these brutes swimming around behind the boat searching for our baits in water as shallow as three feet deep. Talk about “edge of your seat” thrill. Sporty black tip sharks up to 125 lb. can charge in across the surface throwing water everywhere attacking a live bait on the surface suspended from a kite, followed by blistering runs and frantic spinning jumps clear out of the water. Even bull sharks up to 300lb. like to attack those live baits, but also take cut baits on the bottom. If we got the wind going with the current, I’ll put up the kite with live baits along with a couple cut baits on the bottom. The big lemon sharks, up to 300lb., typically go for the cut baits on the bottom, and it is fun watching them swimming around dialing in on the sent of the bait, sometimes 3 or more behind the boat simultaneously. Last year a father and his sons were fighting a 70 lb. lemon shark and just as we got it close to the boat a 500 lb. hammerhead shark charges across a 2’ shallow flat with half it’s back out of water and large tail thrashing water 15 – 20 feet side to side. The lemon shark spooks running from the boat 30 yards, and the hammerhead shark pounces on the lemon shark like a tiger on a pig. In a few big swirls in 5’ of water, it’s all over! You should have heard the screams by those young kids and their dad. They said they are definitely coming back.

First we catch a few big barracudas, which a lot of anglers really enjoy more than they anticipate. While slow trolling live baits on the surface, you get a pretty exciting bite from these barracudas. They fight well and often make a few good jumps, sometimes almost hitting the boat. We have actually caught mutton snapper doing this and once I had about a 50 lbs. jewfish blast one of our baits coming completely out of water and flipping upside down on the strike. That was a jaw dropper! Unfortunately it was a one time strike. It missed the bait completely, and never came back for a second hit. Boy, did I want to get another hit like that and catch that fish.

Then we head out back to go shark fishing. We butterfly fillet the barracudas down to their tail and hang them over the side one at a time for chum. We cut a couple strip baits from the fillets and put them in the chum line. I will also fish a couple live baits too which also makes for an exciting strike on the surface. A lot of times within 10 minutes you get a strike. If it’s a nice shark (80lbs. lemon, 50 lbs. black tip, or 50 lbs. bull shark) it will make a nice 100 yard or more run, and fight hard around the boat. If you hook one bigger than that, you got to chase them with the boat. Black tip sharks make spectacular spinning jumps and fight very hard for their size. A 100 pounder will kick your butt for 45 minutes or more. Once you get them up to the boat to release them, they will impress you with their tenacity in their last effort for freedom. I hold the leader and the dorsal so you can get a good picture with them while they are in the water. I use to lift them up the side of the boat with a gaff, but they just really hurt themselves by struggling so much and spinning around. Typically we catch them in 15 to 30 minute fights. It is not typically long drawn out battles because we are fishing in shallow water and can get right over them and apply maximum direct pressure.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

Sailfish are coming toward the end of the season, but that does not mean it will becoming slow. Actually we can have some of the year’s best fishing now, especially if there are “tailing sailfish” on the “powder line.” An unusual condition in the spring, where we “sight fish” for sailfish (and cobia) as they are surfing the waves from the East into a strong North current with a definitive “powder-blue current line” from the shallows that gets pushed out into the blue water. Here the sailfish surf the waves until they hit the “powder line” then the sailfish follow it. We search the line waiting to cast baits right to a sailfish or more as they come down the “powder line.” It is incredible. This is when some of the most sailfish are caught in a single day. Some charter boat greats have caught over 20 sailfish in a day, awesome!

Black fin tuna of 15 to 30 lbs. will start showing up on the local humps. Grouper and big muttons snapper are on the areas wrecks and reefs. Yellowtail snapper can always be found on the reef, and the big mangrove snappers (3 – 5 lbs.) will be migrating out from the bay through the bridges out to the patch reefs and finally to the outer reefs. I just started seeing them under my boat at the slip, so they are on the move. If we get some summer type days for a week or so, even some early dolphin will be coming through. Mostly small schoolies, but you could luck into a nice “gaffer” sized fish or even a “slammer.”

FEBRUARY

February is the middle of sailfish season here in Islamorada offshore, and the rougher it is – the better it can be, so do not get discouraged. The sailfish is the primary target this time of year, but we have a lot of other great offshore fish to fish for too. This time of year we catch wahoo, black fin tuna, kingfish, dolphin, and cobia offshore. On the reefs, wrecks, and the patch reefs the bottom fishing can be very good this time of year too. There are some hard fighting, good eating fish on the reef like mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, hogfish, porgies, black grouper, red grouper, and cero mackerel. Last month’s offshore forecast applies to this month’s forecast, so I will include that later if you missed it last month because it is quite detailed on the way we fish and for what we fish this time of year.

INSHORE FISHING:

In February as spring approaches, we can get some very nice warm days out there. This makes the first waves of big tarpon show up in the Everglades and even out along the bridges and channels. We all wait for the big tarpon to show, so if it is warm for a few days, we give it a shot. Every year I am catching our first tarpon in the third or fourth week of February. Tarpon has become my favorite sport fish. They are the largest sport fish here in the Florida Keys, that you can catch on a daily basis. Aside from the occasional blue marlin or if you go out to catch a swordfish, the tarpon is our biggest fish. They range from 30 to over 200 pounds, and average around 70 to 125 pounds.

Tarpon are also a huge challenge to hook and catch. Most people have heard about how hard it is to hook one, because they have a very boney mouth. They also are notorious for throwing the hook or breaking you off as they make their first jumps. We like to have the clients bow the rod to the fish as it jumps to keep it from spitting the hook or breaking the line.

Then they make their first long run with a few good jumps and “we’re off to the races!” We literally race after the tarpon with the boat, weaving through pilings and lobster trap floats, keeping close to the fish so as not to allow the line to get cut by an obstruction. This is very interesting twist to our tarpon fishing here in Islamorada, and it is one of the things I really love about tarpon fishing here. Once we get away from the bridge and any other obstructions, we fight it like any other fish: follow it and allow the angler to apply maximum pressure.

We try to get the tarpon up to the boat for a quick picture of it in the water along the side of the boat with the angler along the gunwale admiring his tarpon in the upper corner of the photo. This way we do not have to lift the tarpon up out of the water, which is illegal to do now. I have been doing this for years before the new law of last year. The main reason was so I would not hurt my back, and put me out of work. The purpose of the law was so as to not hurt the tarpon, which is most likely true because the bigger they are the harder it is to handle them gently for a good release after the picture. Bringing in a big fish most times gets dragged across the gunwale, taking a lot of protective slime off the fish. They also might drop into the boat after the picture, then slap around hurting themselves more and prolonging their time out of water because it is so hard to get a hold of them to get them back in the water. The law was initially formed because the scientists say it is very harmful to a big fish’s inners and its skeleton, but I have to disagree from my years of observation of thousands of fish after release. Sometimes I have followed tarpon for more than 30 minutes after a release, because I was using the boat to fend off a big hammerhead shark. Most of the time the tarpon will resuscitate within 15 minutes to a point that the shark can not get it. I know when the tarpon gets away, because it is very obvious when it does not, even if it takes 15 minutes for the shark to track down that tarpon and it is a mile or more away. Later I will go over some good pointers on releasing all fish.

These early spring conditions can also make the permit school up in big numbers on the edges of the flats. I’ve had numerous days where we have seen a few hundred permit in numerous schools. I’ve also had two different days where we have seen around a thousand permit moving along the flats. One of those days there was a school of more than 300 permit, and numerous schools from 50 to 100. These were all different schools because the were migrating to the north along the flats. At times I could see 3 schools at a time coming towards us.

Same goes for the bonefish. They can get into some big schools mudding along the deeper edges of the flats waiting to move up onto the crowns to feed and tail. I have seen schools of 100 bonefish, but that is rare. They are mostly 50 and less, and more common one to two dozen bonefish to a school of “mudders.” This is a great time to cast at and hook bonefish because they are aggressively feeding and in deeper water (2 to 5 feet) which makes them not as spooky – easier to get a bait to!

The same goes for redfish back in the back country of Flamingo, Everglades National Park. They will start to flood the flats as the water warms. They can sometimes move in schools of 50 or more fish, but most of the time they are spread out in small groups or pairs or singles. Snook fishing is also very good this month, whether it is cold or warm. When it is colder they will be in the deeper water and as it warms they will come out onto the flats and along the shorelines.

February is the last good month of Spanish mackerel fishing out just west of Florida Bay. That is once March comes they get sporadic, unless we get a cold spell for a few days. This is fun rod bending action, and you can catch big mangrove snappers in the chum line and even a cobia or nice size sharks too.

How I like to release fish:

First, do not remove the “protective slime.” Make sure your hands are wet before you grab the fish. Then, do not bear hug the fish against your dry clothing, hold it away from you a little.

Second, do not let it fall onto the deck. If you can not keep a good hold of its lip with your hand, use one of those lip holding devises. If the fish shakes violently, it will not fall to the deck. Also holding it over the water can be a good picture with you looking at it and your buddy taking a shot of it from behind your shoulder to the side. If it shakes from your grip it falls into the water, just keep the hook in its mouth. If it is barely hooked, you can re-hook it in a secure place of its mouth, if it is a real nice fish you definitely need a picture of. Just remove the hook after.

Third, If the fish is to big to handle in this manner, leave it in the water along side the boat. Get the boat moving forward at a good speed for the fish so that it is being ventilated while you are taking the pictures. It will also keep the whole fish up along the surface for a picture of its complete length and size. Do not bring a big fish into the boat and put it across two or three people’s laps. This is a big “de-sliming event.”

Fourth, get water moving over their gills. The easy way is with the boat moving forward, or anchored in current. Other wise the back and forth motion works most of the time and when you let go of them shake their tail which wakes them up and makes them dart off thinking something bit them, making them swim and ventilate more. For a tarpon, or long fish, I tap them hard near the base of the tail, which also makes them dart off.

Fifth, for the last 15 years I have been holding my fish upside down while reviving them (except billfish). This immobilizes the fish, almost putting them to sleep, putting them in a technical state of “tonic immobility.” This I learned back in the late 70’s while conducting TI experiments on lemon sharks for Dr. Samuel Gruber at the UM. I have applied this to releasing our fish. The fish will not struggle or fight against you, instead they will relax and their jaw will open wide open allowing maximum ventilation. While doing this I always move the fish left and right in a swimming motion. I think this help their blood circulation and also gets their gill plates opening from side to side. As they get more oxygen and revive, their fins will start to flick and they will start to swim and struggle. That is when I roll them over, and I keep the swimming motion (left and right). When they start to resist your swimming motion, that is when I let them go and give them a shake or strong taps at the base of the tail. You should see them dart off with real energy. It is very satisfying!

When reviving billfish, I hold the bill and the front stiff section of the dorsal keeping the fish upright. I will continue a swimming motion (left and right), until the fish starts to resist my efforts. That is when you push the fish down with your hand that was holding the dorsal. Try to tap the base of the tail or aft part of the fish as it goes down. It is important to push the billfish down to deeper cooler water. There is more oxygen in cooler water especially if it is calm.

Sometimes, I’ll lift a sailfish up by the bill and the sail and rest its mid section on the gunwale, without dragging it across the gunwale. I do not let the angler hug it or get it on his lap. I try to get the angler on the inboard side of the fish so I am up against the gunwale with the fish. After two quick shots I lift it straight up, so as not to slide the fish across the gunwale, and put it back in the water as the boat has been going forward the whole time. This way the fish is being ventilated immediately, and we can get some more picture with the angler watching his fish being released. I would not try this with a marlin of over a hundred pounds. Its weight would not be good on its gut, and I have not lifted fish over 60 pounds in a long time so I do not strain my back. Fish of this size should be left in the water for a picture.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

The following is exactly what I wrote for January’s forecast, and it applies to February. So hear it is if you missed it last month.

February is peak sailfish season, which runs from late November until late April, depending on the weather conditions. Most of the local Islamorada charter boats love pitching frisky ballyhoo or cigar minnows at sailfish that are chasing the schools of ballyhoo on the reef. They also sight fishing for cruising sailfish over the sand inside of the reef or on the reef itself. These sailfish are looking for a school of ballyhoo, and will often take a well cast, frisky bait. However, kite fishing with live bait is also very effective when the conditions dictate. I have seen more local boats fishing the kite in the last few years too. It really is a more popular technique from Miami north up to Palm Beach, mostly due to the fact that they do not have the schools of ballyhoo over a shallow barrier reef like we have down here in the Florida Keys.

I grew up sailfish fishing with the kite with my Dad since I was eight years old up off of Key Biscayne, and it has a special spot in my heart. I still have his oversized kite reel he built out of plywood and a long dowel. It cranks in over three feet per turn. I had to fiberglass it up a few years ago, because the spool started to split under the stretch of the mono. It’s a classic that usually draws a comment or two. It’s not the high tech electric reel setups of today, but it does not fail. Like a friend of mine lamented a couple of years ago. His electric reel failed while the kite was out in 20 knots of wind. He had a hell of a time getting the kite back in by hand, especially since it had Spectron as the main line.

A lot of guys fish two kites with three baits suspended from each kite. That is six baits out down wind. These kites are flown left and right by putting a large split shot on the corner you want it to fly to. It takes a bit of adjustment. Try to get them to fly low too, so there is less slack after the bite when the line is released from the clip. I’ve seen excellent crews fish a third kite down the middle. Combine these kite baits with chumming with live pilchards, and you got a fishing machine! While we are kite fishing for sailfish we can catch other pelagic fish like black fin tuna, kingfish, dolphin, cobia, and wahoo.

One of the bonuses to kite fishing is we can fish the bottom for big groupers and snappers simultaneously. Typically, we are drifting while kite fishing. Some guys use a big sea anchor to slow the drift and keep the bow into the sea. Others drift beam to with flat lines and bottom lines out on the windward side of the boat. There are some deeper reefs, drops, ledges, and wrecks that hold these fish. We will plan our drift and maneuver the boat so as to go over them to make a good pass with the bottom baits. A lot of these spots hold bait on top like runners which also attract sailfish and the other pelagic fish. Sometimes you can simultaneously hook up a snapper or grouper on the bottom and a sailfish on the surface.

Another popular way to kite fish, which a lot of local charter boats in Islamorada do, is to anchor on the edge of the reef. They are primarily chumming for reef fish like yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, big grouper, and cero mackerels. They then put out the kite to catch a sailfish, big kingfish, cobia, or whatever other pelagic comes up the chum line.

More detail on the techniques and description of sailfish fishing is in my web site under the link in the right column: SAILFISH

“Wahoo are found by mostly fast trolling with lures, plugs, or rigged ballyhoo behind big cigar leads just outside the reef line from 180 to 300 feet deep. If you know spots where they concentrate, you can fish for them with big speedos or blue runners by slow trolling. Wahoo up to 50 plus pounds are caught every year, but most of the wahoo are 25 to 35 lbs.”

“The patch reefs come alive this time of year too. You could make a living fishing these spots during the winter season. What a variety of fish you can catch there. The targets are decent size mutton snapper from 5 to 15 lbs. and keeper size groupers: blacks, gags, and red groupers. We also catch hog fish, mackerel (cero and Spanish), snappers (yellowtail, mangroves, and lane snappers), jacks, barracudas, and sharks for a fun rod bending experience. You can also get a nice cooler of fish fillets to take home or to a local restaurant for a smorgasbord of a meal. Usually they will prepare the fish three different ways.”

“Trolling for grouper is also a good way to catch them in the winter if the water is clear. Big lipped magnum plugs, bonita lures, heavy skirted lures, and rigged de-boned ballyhoos are favorite rigs. They are trolled with wire lines or heavy braided lines with either heavy cigar leads or big planners to get the bait down to where the grouper will dare to leave their lair to eat a bait trolled by.”

JANUARY

“Offshore Fishing” and our “sailfish season” is by far the highlight of Islamorada, Florida Keys fishing this month. January is typically the coldest month of the year, and these cold fronts push the sailfish down the reef following the schools of bait fish. While we are sailfish fishing, we catch a lot of other great sport fish that run along the reef which would be wahoo, black fin tuna, kingfish, dolphin, and cobia. The reef, wrecks, and the patch reefs are great this time of year too, and can be a fun filled day of rod bending and taking a cooler of fish home. There are some hard fighting, good eating fish on the reef like mutton snapper, cero mackerel, yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, hogfish, porgies, and the “big super stud” of the reef – the black grouper.

However, once again the grouper harvest has been prohibited by the “tyrants” at NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE (NMFS of NOAA). I’m still going to include it anyway so you all can see how it negatively impacts our fishing and business here in the Florida Keys. Some charter fishermen primarily focus on the winter bottom fishing for grouper and snapper. Their clients book them for a fun filled day of serious rod bending on the reefs, and to take some great eating fish home too. For many other charter boats, a big grouper or two is a great bonus while we are fishing the reefs and wrecks for a multitude of other sport fish down here in Islamorada. What makes this a “particularly offensive outrage,” is that this “blanket grouper prohibition” is designed specifically to protect the “gag grouper,” which has never been a prominent grouper down here. Even though that point was stressed at the public hearings and further concessions of limiting our catches were offered, the “NMFS TYRANTS” apparently just turned their backs on the citizens they are supposed to be working for. That’s right folks, just another encroachment on our freedoms and our “life, liberty, and pursuit of prosperity” (for our families!) by appointed bureaucrats! I’ve even seen publications stating other Florida university scientists contradicting the NMFS scientist’s data on gag grouper populations as being way underestimated due to their methods of estimating. What the hell is this? A regulatory crap shot with our livelihood and wellbeing. I find this especially heinous in the face of a serious economic down turn!

Anyway, as I started on the inshore fishing and the exciting “sight casting” to big barracudas on the flats, I remembered a funny story while I was a mate 20 years ago. It starts with: It’s one of my greatest memories as a young man – saving a “really hot chic!” I think veteran and novice anglers will enjoy this brief story. Since inshore fishing is considered at its most difficult due to the cold weather, I did not want the reader to miss a good laugh by glancing over that section, expecting the typical winter inshore forecast. Even though inshore fishing can be tough this month on those cold days, we know how to change tactics to catch fish. Sometimes we can have some action packed days as the fish stack in the deeper, warmer water in the creeks, channels, canals, motes, and basins. It’s just not the conditions for the classic sight fishing on the flats, unless you get a warm spell for a few days with 70 degree water which will bring the fish back up on the flats.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

January is getting into peak sailfish season, which runs from late November until late April, depending on the weather conditions. Most of the local Islamorada charter boats love pitching frisky ballyhoo or cigar minnows at sailfish that are chasing the schools of ballyhoo on the reef. They also sight fishing for cruising sailfish over the sand inside of the reef or on the reef itself. These sailfish are looking for a school of ballyhoo, and will often take a well cast, frisky bait. However, kite fishing with live bait is also very effective when the conditions dictate. I have seen more local boats fishing the kite in the last few years too. It really is a more popular technique from Miami north up to Palm Beach, mostly due to the fact that they do not have the schools of ballyhoo over a shallow barrier reef like we have down here in the Florida Keys.

More detail on the techniques and description of sailfish fishing is in my web site under the link in the right column: SAILFISH

Do not forget about the wahoo fishing and patch reef fishing I wrote about last month which is winter fishing in the FL Keys. I’ll even include “trolling for grouper” from last month, because before the “NMFS TYRANTS” outlawed grouper, it was a fun way to spend an hour or so if the sailfish fishing was slow and the charter did not want to fish for yellowtail snappers because they wanted to catch something “big!”

INSHORE FISHING

When it is too cold for bonefish, and permit on the flats, one of my favorite fish to sight cast too is the “great barracuda.” As we pole the edges of the flats looking for a bonefish or permit during borderline temperatures, we typically will see plenty of barracudas. The bigger barracudas in the 20 to 25 pound class are generally solitary fish or in pairs. They will be laid up on the white spots or hanging down current of sea fans, gorgonians, or Sargasso weed strings attached to the bottom. They can also be cruising down the edges of the flats too. We will also encounter schools of a dozen barracudas or more, but they are typically smaller in size, say 3 to 15 pounds.

Barracuda attack the lures with startling aggression, and can make a few strong runs with some good jumps sometimes over 6 feet high or 20 feet across the water – great action when things are slow on the flats. Tube lures are my favorite lure. They are erratic and resilient to many bites. Surface plugs are good too, but try to find the ones that are solid foam or wood. The hollow plastic ones will get punctured and ruined.

Casting to and hooking these fish is not a sure thing! You have to have an accurate cast. If you cast too close you’ll spook them. Too far away and they will never see it. As you are casting, do not let them see the shadow of the lure, or you casting at them. The first cast or two really has to count.

I like to cast beyond their area of detection (20 plus feet) then bring it into their field of view (10 – 15 feet) at a moderate speed. When they make a move at it, this is when you work it a little faster. If they don’t hit it then, go faster. If they don’t hit that, go faster yet and more erratic. I like to explain it as gears in a car, first through fourth. Start out in first. Sometimes they won’t give you a chance to get into second gear. Or they attack it right at the boat, just as you are reeling as fast as you can!

Hold your rod to the side though. Often they explode on a fast moving bait, and you would not want their follow through to come right at you. I’ve never had one come in the boat like this, but I did have one come in the boat while we were yellowtail snapper fishing off Cat Cay, Bahamas.

It’s one of my greatest memories as a young man – saving a “really hot chic!” I was the second mate on the “Knightlines,” and we were taking a break from slow blue fin tuna fishing off of Cat Cay, Bahamas. The yellowtails were chummed up, and I was unhooking fish and baiting hooks – BAM! There’s a big crash behind us. Wheeling around I find a four foot barracuda snaking wildly across the cockpit right towards the boss’s utterly “drop dead gorgeous” girl friend, dressed in a very tight string bikini, fully endowed. She is screaming hysterically as she gets cornered by this big barracuda. Now’s my chance!

I hop over the barracuda, pick her up, and hop back over the barracuda! From total panic to total elation, she whips around and jumps on top of me, scissoring my waste and hugging me. She buries my face in her bikini top and suntan oil screaming “thank you, thank you, thank you!” Shocked, I withdraw my face “first excited, then panicked” thinking of the boss’s disapproval. She kisses me several times on each cheek. Stoked, with a big grin I fearfully peek up to the bridge and see the boss and captain having a big laugh. What a relief. They probably are still laughing over the look on my face. Needless to say, she never got too close to me again, though I always saw a twinkle in her eye for the rest of that trip and dreamed of the possibilities!

Now the flats fishing scenarios for January are the same as for December, and this is what I wrote about pursuing all of our fish during the different types of conditions we have during the winter months.

We can still have some spring like days in between the cold fronts. These days are good for flats fishing for bonefish, permit, barracudas, and sharks on the ocean side flats. And back in the back country the redfish, snook, sea trout, jacks, and sharks will be on the flats too. But after a cold front we have to change our strategy, and fish deeper water where these fish will be seeking warmer water. The water temperature changes quickly on the shallow flats where the strong, cold wind cools the water fast, like a radiator. So all the flats fish will be in the channels, creeks, deeper basins, or deep water edges of these flats.

In these conditions bonefish will be mudding and cruising in areas three to five feet deep. We can pole the edges of the flats looking into the deeper areas for schools of bonefish mudding or schools cruising by, then pole out to intercept them with a cast. Some guides like to soak shrimp on three to five rods in areas where they are known to cruise by. This can be very effective in catching winter bonefish and a multitude of other flats fish for a rod bending fun day. Other guides like to throw handfuls of chop shrimp in the area then bind cast a shrimp tipped jig through the area. This is also a great way to catch cold water bonefish along with the other rod benders.

The redfish, snook, baby tarpon, sea trout, ladyfish, jacks, and sharks will congregate in the deep channels and creeks when the water gets chilled by a cold front. There can be some bang up fishing when the fish pack it in there. Sometimes it can be as fast as you can put a bait in the water. Pilchards, pinfish, and shrimp tipped jigs are used. Keep in mind that snook season is closed Dec. – Feb.

Sea trout, ladyfish, and jacks will school up in the mullet muds in numerous basins around Flamingo. This is always a fun rod bending time. Kids love to do this. Remember, trout season is closed until the first of the year.

The Spanish mackerel will be hot and heavy just west of the inter-coastal waterway within 5 miles out. Take a few blocks of chum, live shrimp, pompano jigs, pilchards, spoons, lures, and flies – they will eat it all once you got them chummed up behind the boat. Often you will get mangrove snapper chummed up to, along with the sharks, blue fish, and be ready for a cobia to show up too.

Also please take note of what I said last month on the weather conditions during the winter here in the Keys and dress accordingly.

Winter will have with strong cold fronts. Temperatures can drop in to the low fifties and the winds can be more than 25 knots for a couple days or more.

Offshore these winds are N.N.W. to E.N.E which are essentially an offshore wind and the chop will be 1 to 3 feet on the deep side of the reef (70’ to 200’) where we are sailfish fishing. When the wind pulls around to the E. to S.E. that is when it becomes an onshore wind and the seas build to 4’ to 6’ with a 20 knot wind. It is sporty, but still very fishable depending on your experience. These are the winds that drive the bait down the E. coast and up against the reef. Right behind the bait are the sailfish, “late-late season” dolphin, black fin tuna, kingfish, and wahoo. When it lays down to 10 knots out of the S.E., it is nice fishing the edge of the reef. Big grouper and mutton snapper fishing is very good on the wrecks and along the reef. Calmer conditions are needed to get the baits down on the wrecks. The fishing on the patch reefs starts to really turn on too.

Inshore, if we get one of these cold fronts with strong winds do not let it detour you. Getting to the fish in the back country is no real problem with the waves. We just run the lee side of the flats and islands to get to areas that are sheltered by the trees on the islands or mainland shoreline. I’ve been out there catching fish with 30 knot winds blowing over the tops of the trees and virtually no wind affecting us, while fishing!

If I decide to make a run for it, I will have a full ski mask and gloves on over my heavy foul weather gear. We have no protection from the wind in our skiffs and often we are running right into it at 30 to 40 knots. That is more than 55 knots of wind. I do not know what the wind chill factor is, but it is damn cold especially after running 45 minutes into the back country. Then you take a shot of spray a couple times – burr! Do not forget to dress appropriately is my point, because the fish are still biting. Capt. Rick Killgore (For all fish reports, click on All Florida Keys Fishing Reports)

DECEMBER

December is the month all the offshore fishermen are waiting for. “It is sailfish season!” Winter has arrived with strong cold fronts. Temperatures can drop in to the low fifties and the winds can be more than 25 knots for a couple days or more. Conversely, this is not the season the flats fishermen are looking forward to. If I decide to make a run for it, I will have a full ski mask and gloves on over my heavy foul weather gear. We have no protection from the wind in our skiffs and often we are running right into it at 30 to 40 knots. That is more than 55 knots of wind. I do not know what the wind chill factor is, but it is damn cold especially after running 45 minutes into the back country. Then you take a shot of spray a couple times – burr! Do not forget to dress appropriately is my point, because the fish are still biting.

About the foul weather conditions on the water, I’m going to paraphrase a little what I wrote last month:

In between the cold fronts we can have beautiful “spring like” days. If we get one of these cold fronts with strong winds do not let it detour you. Getting to the fish in the back country is no real problem with the waves. We just run the lee side of the flats and islands to get to areas that are sheltered by the trees on the islands or mainland shoreline. I’ve been out there catching fish with 30 knot winds blowing over the tops of the trees and virtually no wind affecting us, while fishing!

OFFSHORE FISHING:

This is it, sailfish season is here! This is when the sailfish are ambushing the ballyhoo on the reef into 20 feet of water. You can see over 500 ballyhoo fleeing across the water as sailfish are chasing them down, numerous times a day. They call it “showers” of ballyhoo, and it is a sight to see. We will run up to 300 yards with live ballyhoo, cigar minnows, or pilchards ready to throw at the slashing sailfish. Hopefully there are more than 6 sailfish in the melee where we have a good chance to get multiple hook-ups and rack up the releases.

This is a very exciting way to fish for sailfish, and everyone has to be on their toes to get it done. An accurate cast with a very fresh bait is often the rule. Sailfish will refuse a perfect cast with a tired bait, or a perfect bait cast off target. Then by the time you’re ready for the second cast, the sailfish might have sensed the boat. They’ll settle down a little, stop chasing the bait, and definitely refuse your bait. This is why you have to monopolize your chances while the sailfish are in the heat of the moment.

Believe me this is the “Heat of the Moment” in the boat too. There can be “overly excited directions” being vocalized by the “captain in the tower” to the mates and anglers in the cockpit, that can be heard over a hundred yards away. This can make for some great bar stool stories for years to come, and I’ve got some classics. One of my favorites is the “Reel Circles, not Squares!” story which happened while I was a mate for one of Islamorada’s great captains.

The Islamorada charter boats are experts in fishing the “ballyhoo showers” and can catch up to 20 sailfish in a day, and a few have even caught more than 20 sailfish. Now do not be intimidated by my extreme portrayal of “the heat of the moment” coaching by the captain to the team in the cockpit. Typically everyone is very professional, it’s just at times we got to yell over the wind and roar of the engines so all can hear exactly where the fish are to cast at. If it seems “a little over the top” let me give you a tip, refrain from making comparisons to Nick Saban down here in S. Florida. ;-)

If the sailfish are not pushing the ballyhoo schools, we will be slow trolling live baits or flying a fishing kite and drifting. While we are fishing for sailfish we can catch black fin tuna, kingfish, dolphin, cobia, wahoo, cero mackerel, and even big barracudas while we are slow trolling or kite fishing with live baits. What I like about kite fishing is we are fishing for sailfish and the other fish on the surface with the kite and flat lines, and fishing for snapper and grouper on the bottom with a bottom rod or a deep jig or both.

If the sailfish are showering the ballyhoo we will be slow trolling live baits so we can quickly charge over to the melee of sailfish without having to bring the kite in. The cero mackerel also shower the ballyhoo and are quite fun to catch while waiting for the next group of sailfish. They slash and boil on the live bait we are trolling on the surface. If we get in a good school of them we can cast lures on #10 spinners or fly rods and have some sporty fun. They can be over 10 lbs. and are great eating.

More detail on the techniques and description of sailfish fishing is in my web site under the link: SAILFISH

Wahoo show up strong in December. Wahoo are found by mostly fast trolling with lures, plugs, or rigged ballyhoo behind big cigar leads just outside the reef line from 180 to 300 feet deep. If you know spots where they concentrate, you can fish for them with big speedos or blue runners by slow trolling. Wahoo up to 50 plus pounds are caught every year, but most of the wahoo are 25 to 35 lbs.

Trolling for grouper is also a good way to catch them in the winter if the water is clear. Big lipped magnum plugs, bonita lures, heavy skirted lures, and rigged de-boned ballyhoos are favorite riggs. They are trolled with wire lines or heavy braided lines with either heavy cigar leads or big planners to get the bait down to where the grouper will dare to leave their lair to eat a bait trolled by.

The patch reefs come alive this time of year too. You could make a living fishing these spots during the winter season. What a variety of fish you can catch there. The targets are decent size mutton snapper from 5 to 15 lbs. and keeper size groupers: blacks, gags, and red groupers. We also catch hog fish, mackerel (cero and Spanish), snappers (yellowtail, mangroves, and lane snappers), jacks, barracudas, and sharks for a fun rod bending experience. You can also get a nice cooler of fish fillets to take home or to a local restaurant for a smorgasbord of a meal. Usually they will prepared the fish three different ways.

INSHORE FISHING

A great fish to sight cast to on the flats in the winter when the bonefish and permit are looking for warmer water are the barracuda. They often will be laid up on the white spots or hanging down current of sea fans, gorgonians, or Sargasso weed strings attached to the bottom. Cast a tube lure or a lure close by and crank it back fast. Hold on for a spectacular bite if you can fool them. Get ready for a couple short burning runs and a few nice jumps.

NOVEMBER

November is a great time to get out fishing here in Islamorada, both inshore and offshore. In between the early season cold fronts we have beautiful “spring like” days. If we get one of those early season cold fronts with strong winds and overcast “drizzly” rainy days, do not let it detour you. These conditions can turn certain species on. Getting to the fish in the back country is no problem. We just run the lee side of the flats and islands to get to areas that are sheltered by the trees on the islands or mainland shoreline. I’ve been out there catching fish with 30 knot winds blowing over the tops of the trees and virtually no wind affecting us.

Offshore these winds are N.N.W. to E.N.E which are essentially an offshore wind and the chop will be 1 to 3 feet on the deep side of the reef (70’ to 200’) where we are sailfish fishing. When the wind pulls around to the E. to S.E. that is when it becomes an onshore wind and the seas build to 4’ to 6’ with a 20 knot wind. It is sporty, but still very fishable depending on your experience. These are the winds that drive the bait down the E. coast and up against the reef. Right behind the bait are the “early season” sailfish, “late season” dolphin, black fin tuna, kingfish, and wahoo. When it lays down to 10 knots out of the S.E., it is nice fishing the edge of the reef. Big grouper and mutton snapper fishing is very good on the wrecks and along the reef. Calmer conditions are needed to get the baits down on the wrecks.

INSHORE FISHING

SNOOK:

The “fall” is my favorite time to fish for snook, and my favorite place is the back country of the Everglades National Park in the “dense mangrove creeks”, island motes, shorelines, and points. I have had days were we have caught more than 20 snook of all sizes. A good day is catching 8 to 10 snook, along with a few tarpon and mixed bag of other sporty fish like redfish, jacks, sea trout, jewfish, snapper, ladyfish, and maybe even a big shark which can account to catching more than 25 to 50 fish for the day.

Typically we use live bait to bang away at them and have a good “rod bending blast”. My favorite live baits are pilchards, finger mullet, shrimp, and pinfish. We look for terns or pelicans diving on pilchards and mullet then catch them with a cast net. We can also cast lures and flies at these snook, tarpon, and other fish if that is what you like to do. They will eat top water lures and flies which is always a blast. On those overcast days they can hit top water lures like it’s dawn, sometimes all day. However, I do not recommend this for the novice, the action often is not as good as using live bait and we will miss more fish on top water too. For top water I like Zara Spooks (large and Jr. size), Bagley’s finger mullet, and Storm’s Chug Bug. Good colors are red and white; white, silver or copper and black back; and chartreuse. Any plug that “walks the dog,” and is in the size range of the others will work. For flies I like a deer hair sliders or small poppers in the same colors as the plugs, but I do have yellow and brown back sliders too. A little red is always good to have in the fly at the throat or nose. They will eat all types of hard crank baits, soft baits, and jigs typically more readily than top water lures.

We can also fish for snook on the flats as we are fishing for redfish in the back country. Often they will be hanging in the white pot holes, and will attack top water flies or lures – sometimes two at a time! There can be nice snook up to 12 lbs. They can also be cruising the flats and are also quite spooky, but if you get your lure in front of them before they spook, they will eat it. And what a nice run they make in shallow water, sometimes up to 75 yards. Then they come up shaking their head and you pray: “don’t shake that hook, please just don’t shake that hook.”

TARPON:

The big tarpon have moved on, but the juveniles stay to grow. We catch lots of tarpon in the 5 – 30 lbs. range with the occasional 50 – 80 lbs. tarpon. Again, the Everglades National Park is one of my favorite places to fish for baby tarpon back in the mangrove creeks, island motes, shorelines, and points. Quite often you can see these tarpon rolling and busting on bait a hundred yards away. Typically we catch a few mixed in with the snook we a fishing for. If you just want to target tarpon, we could do that all day and really bang away at them.

We also fish around the bridges for baby tarpon, especially if we are going to do a little bonefish and permit fishing that day. This can be hot fishing. We can catch up to 6 or more tarpon in a half day. We’ll do about half a day each so the angler can experience both 1) the hunt for very challenging fish of the bonefish and permit, and 2) bend a rod at a bridge on tarpon, snook, jacks, barracudas, snapper, grouper, and cero mackerel with live bait. Typically we’ll fish the bridges after catching bait first thing in the morning. Almost every time we’re having so much fun fishing the bridges, the anglers do not want to leave. Then we’ll take an hour or two to fish the flats for bonefish and permit. I cannot do the reverse because it’s very hard to pole with my bait wells filled with 30 gallons of water and bait.

BONEFISH:

Some of the biggest bonefish are caught this time of year too, because there is a minor fall spawn. Our average bonefish is 8 – 10 lbs. with fish getting into the 13 lbs. range. Record size bones of 14 plus lbs. can be caught.

In November we can still find lots of “tailing and mudding bonefish” as long as the water temperature does not have a significant drop by a cold front. Do not get frustrated by overcast days, this is when we can chase tailing bonefish all day. The low light is like early morning which they like for tailing in very shallow water. We also focus on tailing bonefish in this low light because it is very hard to see them in the deeper water. If it is windy, this is an advantage if you are a good caster. It allows us to get closer to the bonefish with the bait or the fly. I have had excellent days with 20 knots out of the E. One memorable day a friend and I caught 6 bonefish on fly on the ocean side flats in 20 knot winds. If you really want to do something very exciting – that will put you on the edge of anticipation – try hunting these tailing bonefish with a fishing rod. (A couple of years ago, a client confessed that he had fished 5 days in the Bahamas and never saw a tailing bonefish, only cruising and mudding fish. What a shame.)

We have some high tides this time of year so we fish our shallowest flats to get into tailing fish. If it is overcast and we have to fish cruising and mudding bonefish, I look for areas that will have dark clouds in the background. This cuts the glare of diffused light from an overcast day allowing us to see the cruising fish. Also I look for areas that have lighter bottom or small white spots where you can see the bonefish crossing these light areas.

PERMIT: There is very good fishing for permit into November, as long as we have good weather with high sun and good visibility. We find them right on the edges of the flats in schools of 10 to 20 permit. We can see 50 permit in a day while we are bonefish fishing. If we strictly permit fish all day, we could see a 100 permit or more on a good day. These fish average 15 – 30 lbs., and the largest we have caught was 39 ½ lbs. Every year I see some very big permit in that +40 lbs. size. Any permit over 25 pounds is a big permit. I have caught quite a few permit on fly too, 5 here in Islamorada (9 total). If you want to catch a permit on fly, I can help you with the “nuances” of hooking a permit on fly.

Redfish: It is a good time of the year for “sight casting” to redfish. As the waters start to cool off, big schools of redfish are found up on the middle of the flats in north Florida Bay. Schools of 6 to 50 plus fish can be found and they average between 5 – 8 lbs, and we have caught them up to 12 lbs.

As we “sight cast” to these redfish on the flats, I like to use artificial lures like jigs, soft baits, or plugs. Bait can be used, like shrimp or a shrimp tipped jig, but I do not find it necessary. Redfish are very aggressive once they see your lure, and will quite often hit your lure more than once if you do not get the hooks in him the first time. Keep your eye on the fish and lure, and strike him when he eats it, not when you feel him. A redfish can eat your lure with out you feeling it, by lunging forward and creating a moment of slack line then spitting it out.

Barracudas: The big barracudas start to show up on the flats in November. As the run of fall mullet arrive on our ocean side flats, the big barracudas are right behind them, literally. When that big barracuda attacks your lure 20 feet from the boat as you’re cranking it in, it’s a real jaw dropper! In shallow water, they fight hard and jump well. These barracudas are 15 to 30 pounds. I always keep a barracuda rod rigged up while we are fishing the flats for bonefish and permit. When we see a barracuda, we are ready to cast at it if we want. If we come across a school of them we can rig another rod so both anglers can cast to them, sometimes getting a double header on.

Catching barracudas on live bait is a lot of fun too. It’s a surface bite – an attack! We do this mostly to catch bait for shark fishing, but often we spend a little more time because the clients are really enjoying the barracuda fishing.

sharks: Big lemon sharks, black tips, and bull sharks are plentiful this time of year. We usually fish for them by chumming with big barracudas, which are fun to catch on the way out on light tackle. Once we anchor and start chumming we can get up to six or more sharks (up to 300 lbs.) cruising around right behind the boat in the chum line looking for our baits. It does not take long for them to find it, and they will take you for a good fight. Their size, power, aggression, and snapping jaws at the boat when releasing them, is impressive.

I also like using a fishing kite and live baits, if we have enough wind. Watching a shark chase down a live bait on the surface is awesome – they often explode on it. We caught a 230 lbs. bull shark this year off the kite. That was exciting, and it attacked the boat three times. At first I thought it felt trapped up on the flat and we just happened to be in the way of it trying to get off the flat. But the third time, we were in a channel about 7′ deep. It was pulling on us at a perpendicular direction, like circling. Then it turned straight at us and charged, hitting us with its head or back and lifting the boat out of water a little! I got it on video! That’s how I can see the boat jump up, and everyone is yelling and laughing, “he hit the boat!… he hit the boat!” That will be one of the videos I put up this year in my web site.

While we are fishing the flats for bonefish, permit, or redfish, we can cast plugs or bait to a passing shark. They are fun to cast to and they fight very hard. Fooling them on a big plug can be exciting. We can catch big ones on 30 lbs. spin (from 50 to 200 lbs.), or small ones on 10lbs. spin.

SPANISH MACKEREL: Look for the first waves of Spanish mackerel to come down the gulf coast with the first cold fronts of the year. These fish are good family fun. The kids really have fun catching them.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

SAILFISH: With the first cold fronts of November the sailfish start to push down the coast, and catching a few sails or more is possible. Sailfish fishing on the edge of the reef just 3 ½ miles offshore with live baits is a very pleasant way to fish. If we are drifting and fishing with a kite, we can fish for sailfish on the surface with the kite and flat lines, and fish for snapper and grouper on the bottom with a bottom rod or a deep jig or both. Also we can catch black fin tuna, kingfish, dolphin, cobia, wahoo, cero mackerel, and even big barracudas while we are drifting or even slow trolling. If the sailfish are showering the ballyhoo we will be slow trolling live baits so we can quickly charge over to the melee of sailfish without having to bring the kite in. More detail on the techniques and description of sailfish fishing is in my web site under the link: SAILFISH

SNAPPERS and GROUPERS: Snapper and grouper fishing on the Atlantic wrecks and reefs starts to get very good in the fall. Big mutton snapper, and nice gag and black groupers move back into these areas now. As we get to the end of fall they will start to move into shallower spots along the reef and even into the patch reefs.

While we are sailfish fishing we can fish for big mutton snappers and grouper by dropping a live bait down to the bottom or deep jigging. If you want to just catch big muttons and grouper, we’ll drop baits down on specific wrecks can catch some nice fish.

KINGFISH, WAHOO, and CERO MACKEREL: This is the time of year that that fishing gets good for them too. We catch them while we are sailfish fishing along the edge of the reef. Kingfish can be constant action and fish up to 30 pounds. They are mostly 10 to 20 lbs., but great fighters. When you find the cero mackerel (a great eating fish), the action can be so good you can cast out lures and get surface strikes right around the boat. Most of the time we locate them by trolling live ballyhoo on top of the reef in quite shallow, and we still catch sailfish in there too. Wahoo are found by mostly fast trolling just outside the reef line with lure, plugs, or rigged ballyhoo. If you know spots where they concentrate, you can fish for them with big speedos or blue runners by slow trolling.

BLACK FIN TUNA: There can be good numbers of them out on the humps, with the typical good tuna being 10 to maybe 20 pounds. As winter approaches, they will start to run just outside the reef line along with the big bonitas. We will occasionally catch them on the deep wrecks too. These are great fighting fish and excellent table fare for taking to the local restaurants or even sushi bars for a discount on the meal.

DOLPHIN “the fish” (Mahi Mahi): There can be some dolphin in November with fish in the 10 to 20 pound range, coming down the reef line following the bait down the coast. It is more of an incidental catch this late in the fall while we are fishing for sailfish, but always a welcomed sport fish.

OCTOBER

INSHORE FISHING:

in October is the peak of the fall season for excellent back country fishing. The water starts to cool because of cooler and shorter days, giving a break to those hot days of August and September. Any cold fronts that come through will typically not be cold enough chase the fish off the flats, like in November if we get an early strong front. The crowns of the flats will see more bonefish and redfish throughout the day. Permit are back on the flats, and on those high fall tides they also will get up on the crowns of the flats depending on the size of the permit and depth of the water. Also keep an eye on the edges of the flats for their black sickle tail as you are bonefish fishing. Sharks and nice size barracudas will start to show up on the flats anticipating the fall mullet run and approaching cold fronts of winter. They make for some fun sight casting and fish fighting on the flats too.

The fall mullet run will be here now, so big tarpon fishing back in the main channels, canals, and river mouths can be great. Tarpon up to 150 pounds can be caught, and you can see them blasting mullet some times up to 300 yards away. Talk about exciting fishing. I love when big tarpon are blasting live mullet. There can be big snook and sharks in there too. Around the bridges there will also be some nice schools of baby tarpon 10 – 30 pounders with occasional 50 plus pounders around. This can be an action packed day too, often catching half dozen tarpon, missing just as many, and catching a bunch of other fish like jacks, snappers, mackerel, and even snook.

The snook fishing is now in full swing, back in the Everglades National Park. They are also around the bridges and main creeks between the Keys down A1A, but these guys are tougher to fool than those back in the park. Most likely, because there are more people fishing the bridges, but also probably because there are less fish and the water is clear most of the time. To maximize your catch rate, I prefer fishing live baits. The techniques and aspects of snook fishing I wrote about last month, so I’ll paraphrase that here if you missed it.

Be ready for some big fish. If you are fishing some tight creeks, tight drags and #12 to #15 test are best. A lot of guides use braided line, but I still use a hard finished monofilament. We do not loose many fish if you play your cards right, and I like to be able to easily see if the line is chaffed by the snags. Pilchards, shrimp, pinfish, and small finger mullet are the standard baits of choice. If you see them hitting bait on the surface, I like throwing top water plugs or flies to get a strike – real fun surface strikes! However, typically you will not hook as many snook on artificials as with bait. Even if you do not see them working bait on the surface, you can still get lots of shots on top water if you are persistent and confident.

Also while snook fishing there is a good variety of other fish we catch which can make for an action packed day. Baby tarpon most always will be around and readily take live baits. You got to be lucky because their jumps might take you right up into the mangrove branches breaking you off. Redfish can also be mixed in which can make for that “back county slam.” Jacks are hard hitting and hard fighting sport fish, and always get the blood pumping. Little goliath groupers up to 15 lb. are also tough brutes digging hard for those mangrove roots. Big sea trout might also show up, along with lady fish, and sometimes some decent “keeper” sized mangrove snapper. I’ve had some days where we have caught over 20 snook and up to 50 fish including tarpon and redfish.

In addition, shark fishing back in the flats is also a very fun adventure. There can be some very big sharks up to 250 lb, and often we can get a half dozen swimming around in the chum line in 3 – 5 feet of water right behind the boat. Hooking up two at a time is common. Catching big lemons, black tips, and bull sharks are what we are targeting. Catching the barracudas for chum and bait is also more fun than most people expect. They attack the bait ferociously and fight good, jumping occasionally. Kids really enjoy this day of fishing too.

Offshore fishing:

October is the middle period of fall fishing, and a transition to winter fishing. You can still have some calm September like conditions, but we might get a weak cold front sending cooler, long awaited, north winds. These conditions will push the fall bait down the coasts and they might arrive in the Keys, and the fall fish might respond. Also a weak front can also push dolphin back south, catching nice size fish in the 20 pound range.

The sailfish will start to show up a little more, especially after a cold front or two, but it will not really start to get reliable until mid to late November when the cold fronts start to come through every week or so. The Florida Keys and especially Islamorada area has a good little small sailfish season in late fall, so be ready for some sailfish in the 10 – 20 pound range. These sailfish have a hard time eating big baits, so try to get a bunch of pilchards or small ballyhoo. Light rods are the ticket for casting these light baits, 12 – 15 test is ideal where 20 pound spinners might be too heavy for a long cast especially into the wind. Kingfish will start to show up too, and they are always fun to catch while you are fishing the edge of the reef for sailfish. I like to put a bait or two down below the surface while I am fishing for sailfish for hopefully a big kingfish.

Some of the time the weather will be calm and like in September, so I amended some of what I wrote for the September forecast. The indented text is what I wrote for last month’s forecast, but it is applicable to October.

Dolphin are still around if we got those calm August type days or a good S.E wind especially a few days after a cold front comes through. Catching those “slammers” (dolphin over 25 lbs.), and the “gaffers” (12 – 20 lbs.) is not as likely as the spring. But if a front comes through it can push the dolphin back down our way, and when the wind goes to E., S.E., or S, the dolphin will start to ride the waves looking for bait like in the spring. There can be some nice catches of dolphin up to 20 pound range. This can be a hit or miss deal though. The conditions might be right, but the fish are not moving through. If the wind is calm finding debris and big carpets of Sargasso weed might have some bigger fish down deep under the smaller fish. During these calm conditions, most of the dolphin are “heavy lifters” (5 – 10 lbs.), “schoolies” (3 – 5 lbs.) and “shakers” (do I have too describe?), but keep a big live bait or two ready for that big dolphin or two that shows up. Small wahoo will also be down under these floating habitats too. If the wind picks up and if there are any bigger dolphin around, they will go back to tailing and chasing flying fish while surfing the waves going down sea. Look for the birds trying to snatch the fliers out of the air, and you will find the dolphin.

Be ready for the triple tail under the floating debris. This is an added bonus to a cooler of dolphin, because they taste like a snapper. Do not gaff them! You have to net them. It is illegal to gaff them because years ago it was a common practice to gaff them when they would not take a bait. If you get stopped by law enforcement, and there is a gaff hole in a triple tail you are going to have a lot of explaining to do.

During the calm days you can get out swordfish fishing on a consistent basis for night time and day time fishing. Swordfish fishing can be a nice interlude during the day while looking for dolphin. You must be out in the 1500 to 2000 feet of water during the day, which might take you out beyond where the dolphin are. But if you find yourself having to go out 25 to 30 miles offshore looking for dolphin, you might as well be rigged up for making a few drifts for swordfish. You can also fish till just before dark for dolphin and blue marlin, then switch over to swordfish on the surface as sunset approaches. A lot of guys feel there is a good bite right at dark, and many have hooked swordfish right at sunset before dark. They feel the best action is the first few hours after dark, so doing a half day of trolling and a half day of swordfish fishing is a good trip. Getting back at the dock around midnight does not mess with your internal clock that much, which is nice.

Wreck fishing just offshore of the reef line gets good for black and gag grouper, big mutton snapper, yellow jacks, almaco jacks, and even small amber jacks. Hitting a few wrecks then spending some time fishing the reef is a fun day of fishing. Sailfish might even start to show up, especially if a front or two move through, so always keep a surface bait or two out while you are fishing a wreck or the edge of the reef. Yellowtail snapper are also good if you have good current along with cero mackerel, kingfish, mutton snapper, and grouper that will come up into your chum line.

DIVING AND SPEAR FISHING:

October is also great on the reef, and we still have many days with gin clear water. The groupers are starting to migrate back to the wrecks and also to the reefs. So seeing more of them will be getting better every day as we get into fall. Big yellow jacks are a great target too. Typically a long shot is required, and boy do they fight well if you do not stone them right away. Of course there are hogfish, mangrove, and mutton snappers to spear too.

Yellow jacks are good eating of course, but a lot of people never heard of them. I like them better than dolphin. They have a clear white meat that is firm with finer grain and flakier than dolphin, and better tasting in my opinion. We cook it anyway you want: bake, broil, fry, or sauté.

In between dives I’ll anchor up on the reef and chum up some fish. We’ll catch some ballyhoo and use them for yellowtail, mangrove, and mutton snapper, cero and king mackerel, and grouper. At the end of the day after the second dive, we’ll slow troll live ballyhoo for cero mackerel, yellow jacks, kingfish, even nice dolphin, and hopefully a sailfish. We have also caught big yellowtails (3 – 4 lbs.) while trolling like this, and lost other fish to the reef after eating a live ballyhoo on the surface on the troll. I’d like to know what they were.

This makes for a fun all around day out on the reef. If you want to do a day of spear fishing, whether we’re scuba diving or free diving, we can mix it up a little by fishing on the reef. I’m doing these trips too. I have A.B. Biller spear guns and Hawaiian slings if you do not have that gear. All you need is your skin diving or scuba diving gear.

Capt. Rick Killgore

SEPTEMBER

INSHORE FISHING:

September is one of the back country fishermen’s favorite months. Snook season opens. We are waiting for exciting fishing back in the mangroves and putting sweet tasting snook fillets on our dinner plates. Be ready for some big fish. If you are fishing some tight creeks, tight drags and #12 to #15 test are best. A lot of guides use braided line, but I still use a hard finished monofilament. We do not loose many fish if you play your cards right, and I like to be able to easily see if the line is chaffed by the snags. Pilchards, shrimp, pinfish, and small finger mullet are the standard baits of choice. If you see them hitting bait on the surface, I like throwing top water plugs or flies to get a strike – real fun surface strikes! However, typically you will not hook as many snook on artificials as with bait. Even if you do not see them working bait on the surface, you can still get lots of shots on top water if you are persistent and confident.

Now keep in mind the fall mullet run can show up as early as late September. Right with them are the big tarpon (up to +100 pounds), and this is real fun fishing.

Of course, the bonefish and permit fishing will be getting into full fall stride as the water starts to cool. This will bring the bonefish back up onto the crowns of the flats, after those dog days of summer subside to the progressively shorter days of September. Take advantage of this fishing because it is going to be the last two months of consistent fishing for bonefish and permit, because once we get into November the greater chance of having a early cold front push these fish off the flats and into deep water for a day or two which can spoil a weekend for you weekend warriors.

Shark fishing back in the flats is also a very fun adventure. There can be some very big sharks up to 250 lb, and often we can get a half dozen swimming around in the chum line in 3 – 5 feet of water right behind the boat. Hooking up two at a time is common. Catching big lemons, black tips, and bull sharks are what we are targeting. Catching the barracudas for chum and bait is also more fun than most people expect. They attack the bait ferociously and fight good, jumping occasionally. Kids really enjoy this day of fishing too.

Offshore fishing:

September starts to get to the transitional period of fall fishing. You can still have some calm August like conditions, but we might get a weak cold front sending cooler, long awaited, north winds. These conditions will start to push the fall bait down the coasts and they might arrive in the Keys, and the fall fish might respond. Also an early front can also push dolphin back south, catching nice size fish in the 20 pound range. However, most of the time the weather will be calm and hot like August, so I amended some of what I wrote for the August forecast. The indented text is what I wrote for last month’s forecast, but it is applicable to September.

Dolphin are still around if we got those calm August type days or if a cold front comes through. Catching those “slammers” (dolphin over 25 lbs.), and the “gaffers” (12 – 20 lbs.) is not as likely as the spring. But if a front comes through, it can push the dolphin back down our way and there can be some nice catches of dolphin in the 20 pound range. This can be a hit or miss deal though. The conditions might be right, but the fish are not moving through. If the wind is calm and the surface water heats up, the dolphin stay deep. Finding debris and big carpets of Sargasso weed might have some bigger fish down deep under the smaller fish. During these calm conditions, most of the dolphin are “heavy lifters” (5 – 10 lbs.), “schoolies” (3 – 5 lbs.) and “shakers” (do I have too describe?), but keep a big live bait or two ready for that big dolphin or two that shows up. Small wahoo will also be down under these floating habitats too. If the wind picks up and if there are any bigger dolphin around, they will go back to tailing and chasing flying fish while surfing the waves going down sea. Look for the birds trying to snatch the fliers out of the air, and you will find the dolphin.

Black fin tuna are in good numbers on the local humps, but they are not as big as in the late spring. They average 5 – 15 pounds, and a big one would be 20 pounds. Stopping off to fish them early in the morning on the way out to dolphin fishing or later in the afternoon on the way in is the typical plan. Catching a few of these are great fun, especially if you have a load of pilchards. It is awesome! They start busting and jumping out of the water often within casting distance chasing the “freebee pilchards” that we throw overboard. Often we can hook double and triple headers. Just this past week we had two triple headers while I threw the fly and hooked 3 and caught 2 while my two friends were hooked up too. That is tricky especially when we just got three of us in the boat. We did this in the afternoon after spear fishing all day. A great way to finish off the day and load the cooler after spearing hogfish and spooking grouper.

Blue marlin can still be around. It’s the end of summer season, so it pays to be ready. If you are trolling, put out a rod or two rigged for blue marlin. If you get into the schoolies, throw a couple over live and slow troll around the school or use one to keep the school at the boat while you are catching them. If a blue marlin shows up, you will be ready. Give the blue a good drop back, but not enough to gut hook it. Typically wait for a hesitation, then a second run and after a count of three, throw it in strike and reel fast to come tight. The hesitation is when the billfish turns the bait around in its mouth to swallow it head first, when it starts swimming again and with a short count you will most likely hook it in the mouth. If you see the blue swallow the bait immediately on the take, do not wait for the hesitation, count to three and reel. If you pull the hook and the bait is still on the hook, sometimes the blue will come back and eat the bait, give it a little longer drop back after the hesitation or the inhalation of the bait. But be very cautious not to drop back too long.

If you count more than 5 seconds, you have a greater percentage of hooking the fish deep like in the gills, throat, or stomach. There is nothing worse than bringing in a hurt billfish for release, it takes the excitement right out of the significance of the catch. That is why most sailfish tournaments have gone to circle hooks, to keep overeager anglers from gut hooking or “gigging” as we used to call it criticizing that type of angling decades ago. This was seen as an inexperienced maneuver to do anything to catch a billfish, really looked down on then. But as money prizes got bigger, this practice became more accepted, so the use of circle hooks came into being in tournament. Good for them, “gigging” is despicable.

DIVING AND SPEAR FISHING in September is also great on the reef, and we still have many days with gin clear water. The groupers are starting to migrate back to the wrecks and also to the reefs. So seeing more of them will be getting better every day as we approach the fall. Big yellow jacks are a great target too. Typically a long shot is required, and boy do they fight well if you do not stone them right away. Of course there are hogfish, mangrove, and mutton snappers to spear too.

I shot about a 15 lb. yellow jack last weekend along with 4 nice hogfish. I had to chase the jack down the mono line and grab hold the throat latch. Pinning it to the reef to kill it with my knife – kicking and burying the knife into it’s spine to paralyze it. Now that is a thrill, at 90′, all alone, sucking compressed air, and looking over your shoulder. I was pumped with adrenaline!

AUGUST

August is one of my favorite months. I dream of crystal clear waters on the reef, drifting down to the drop off ledges, sipping compressed air, losing myself in the maze of fish and corals, hunting for hidden groupers and snappers with my spear gun in hand. Just the other day we had 110’ visibility. I’m not exaggerating, because I jumped in to look for a wreck I fish and see exactly what it is, a small sailboat. Now diving on days like this is spectacular, and August calm days bring lots of clear calm water. It is just what we need for finding those big lobsters under the ledges on the patch reefs.

This makes for a fun all around day out on the reef. If you want to do a day of spear fishing, whether we’re scuba diving or free diving, we can mix it up a little by fishing on the reef.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

Augusthas much calmer weather, so you can get out swordfish fishing on a consistent basis for night time and day time fishing. Swordfish fishing can be a nice interlude during the day while looking for dolphin. You must be out in the 1500 to 2000 feet of water during the day, which might take you out beyond where the dolphin are. But if you find yourself having to go out 25 to 30 miles offshore looking for dolphin, you might as well be rigged up for making a few drifts for swordfish. You can also fish till just before dark for dolphin and blue marlin, then switch over to swordfish on the surface as sunset approaches. A lot of guys feel there is a good bite right at dark, and many have hooked swordfish right at sunset before dark. They feel the best action is the first few hours after dark, so doing a half day of trolling and a half day of swordfish fishing is a good trip. Getting back at the dock around midnight does not mess with your internal clock that much, which is nice.

Also the wreck fishing just offshore of the reef line gets good for big muttons, yellow jacks, almaco jacks, and the grouper will start to show up anticipating the fall move into the wrecks. Hitting a few wrecks then spending some time fishing the reef is a fun day of fishing.

The mangrove snapper are out on the reef spawning into August, so it is one of the best months to catch big mangroves at night and during the day. Yellowtail snapper are also good if you have good current along with cero mackerel, kingfish, mutton snapper and grouper that will come up into your chum line.

Offshore fishing is pretty much the same as the July forecast, so here is a slightly abridged edition of what I wrote last month

DOLPHIN are still the go to fish for August offshore. Catching those “slammers” (dolphin over 25 lbs.), and the “gaffers” (12 – 20 lbs.) is tougher. As the wind calms and the surfaces water heats up the dolphin stay deep. Finding debris and big carpets of Sargasso weed might have some bigger fish down deep under the smaller fish. During these calm conditions, most of the dolphin are “heavy lifters” (5 – 10 lbs.), “schoolies” (3 – 5 lbs.) and “shakers” (do I have too describe?), but keep a big live bait or two ready for that big dolphin or two that shows up. Small wahoo will also be down under these floating habitats too. If the wind picks up and if there are any bigger dolphin around, they will go back to tailing and chasing flying fish while surfing the waves going down sea. Look for the birds trying to snatch the fliers out of the air, and you will find the dolphin.

BLUE MARLIN are around. It’s the middle of summer season, so it pays to be ready. If you are trolling, put out a rod or two rigged for blue marlin. If you get into the schoolies, throw a couple over live and slow troll around the school or use one to keep the school at the boat while you are catching them. If a blue marlin shows up, you will be ready. Give the blue a good drop back, but not enough to gut hook it. Typically wait for a hesitation, then a second run and after a count of three, that is when to throw it in strike and reel fast to come tight. The hesitation is when the billfish turns the bait around in its mouth to swallow it head first, when it starts swimming again and with a short count you will most likely hook it in the mouth. If you see the blue swallow the bait immediately on the take, do not wait for the hesitation, count to three and reel. If you pull the hook and the bait is still on the hook, sometimes the blue will come back and eat the bait, give it a little longer drop back after the hesitation or the inhalation of the bait. But be very cautious not to drop back too long.

INSHORE FISHING:

The flats around Islamorada can be good for bonefish and permit, and even a straggler tarpon cruising up the edge of the flats. If there is minimal wind, do your fishing early and late in the day for cooler water temperatures on the flats. It can get too hot for these fish, 92 degrees is around the threshold for tailing bonefish. Permit can tolerate a little warmer temperature, but not much. They will be on the edges of the flats too, accessing deeper cooler water with a couple kicks of the tail. But look for them tailing on the shallow edges if the current is rolling good. That big, black, sickle tail is a dead give away.

Redfish and snook fishing in the backcountry of Flamingo can be “red hot,” in more ways than one. I like to make sure there is going to be a breeze if I’m going there. The snook fishing can be good in the creeks, if we do not have a stretch of very hot, windless days heating up the water a lot. However, if it is raining in the glades and pushing cool fresh water out, that can counter that situation. Pilchards, shrimp, and small pinfish work great. Do not forget the bug spray. Even a head net can keep you from breathing them in – I just spit them out!

As you get closer to the end of August more anglers will be out in all the popular spots honing up for opening of snook season. So be courteous! Idle by if someone is fishing the shore of a big creek. If you’re going up a small creek, ask them if it’s ok to pass by. Or if someone is fishing the spot you want to fish, but it can hold another boat, ask them if it’s OK to fish but in a way not to encroach. It’s better to ask instead of assume. An ugly encounter just spoils the day for both boats, believe me. Even I’m still learning that as I mellow with age. However, my wife and some friends still say I got a lot to learn in that department.

JULY

Been thinking about a little vacation, and I just decided I’m going to stay here and enjoy all the things we take clients out to do. My wife and I will be fishing and diving for a week. I’m thinking about tarpon fishing with the fly rod, a little bonefish fishing, snook fishing, wreck fishing, reef fishing and spear fishing. That is what I’m looking forward to, spear fishing down the reef – nice cool water and hopefully some shots at some good fish: groupers, hogs, and muttons. But it is just nice to get in the water too, and make a dive. What comes our way is a bonus.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

In July, BLUE MARLIN are around. It’s the middle of summer season, so it pays to be ready. If you are trolling, put out a rod or two rigged for blue marlin. If you get into the schoolies, throw a couple over live and slow troll around the school or use one to keep the school at the boat while you are catching them. If a blue marlin shows up, you will be ready. Give the blue a good drop back, but not enough to gut hook it. Typically wait for a hesitation, then a second run and after a count of three, that is when to throw it in strike and reel fast to come tight. The hesitation is when the billfish turns the bait around in its mouth to swallow it head first, when it starts swimming again and with a short count you will most likely hook it in the mouth. If you see the blue swallow the bait immediately on the take, do not wait for the hesitation, count to three and reel. If you pull the hook and the bait is still on the hook, sometimes the blue will come back and eat the bait, give it a little longer drop back after the hesitation or the inhalation of the bait. But be very cautious not to drop back too long.

DOLPHIN are still the go to fish for July. Catching those “slammers” (dolphin over 25 lbs.), and the “gaffers” (12 – 20 lbs.) can get a little tougher. As the wind calms and the surfaces water heats up the dolphin stay deep. Finding debris and big carpets of Sargasso weed might have some bigger fish down deep under the smaller fish. During these calm conditions, most of the dolphin are “heavy lifters” (5 – 10 lbs.), “schoolies” (3 – 5 lbs.) and “shakers” (do I have too describe?), but keep a big live bait or two ready for that big dolphin or two that shows up. Small wahoo will also be down under these floating habitats too. If the wind picks up, the bigger dolphin will go back to tailing and chasing flying fish while surfing the waves going down sea. Look for the birds trying to snatch the fliers out of the air, and you will find the dolphin.

The mangrove snapper are out on the reef spawning, so July is one of the best months to catch big mangroves at night. The mutton snapper can be good on the wrecks too this time of year.

INSHORE FISHING:

The TARPON are still around. Some years are better than other as far as how many tarpon are around. A few years ago on July 14^th we release 10 tarpon that day, one of three double digit release days on tarpon we’ve had here in Islamorada. If you want to catch a tarpon, give me a call. This can also be a good time to catch a big one on fly. You will not see as many, but those you do cast at will be more interested in eating the fly.

Of course the bonefish, redfish, and snook (snook are closed for harvest) are still biting excellent on the flats and in the back country creeks, along with all the other rod bender critters like jacks, trout, ladyfish, little goliath grouper and big sharks.

The PERMIT are moving back to the flats after their spawn out on the wrecks. They tolerate hotter water than bonefish, so after bonefish fishing in the morning you can fish for permit in the late morning before you head back to the AC for lunch.

You can still find permit out on the wrecks too. This is when you can still hook double and maybe triple headers, and at least catch a couple or a few between the break offs in the wrecks or to the sharks.

SPEAR FISHING:

This is a great time of year for spear fishing. The winds start to calm, and water clears for a beautiful dive. Anyone wanting to do a spear fishing trip, I am doing these charters. This is free diving spear fishing for hog fish, groupers, snappers, black margates, yellow jacks, and cero mackerels.

JUNE

We wait all year long for tarpon season, now we can not wait until it is over. My hands hurt from all the line cuts, mullet spine infections, and fatigue from lifting heavy cast nets, handling big fish and hauling anchors. These are long days of full day trips (8.5 hours), and then going out for your “sunset tarpon trip” (4.5 hours). When you account for preparing for fishing and then washing down tackle and boat at end of the day, it is almost a 16 hour day for me on the boat. At the end of the week on my one day off, every muscle, every tendon, every joint, and every bone ache from tarpon.

Every year I wonder, can I keep going… and going, and going? “You betchya,” after days like yesterday. We had 14 tarpon crashing our mullets some four and five times before getting hooked up. We hooked up 7 tarpon and released 4 big tarpon all between 120 to 100 pounds. We also hand fed two big hammerhead sharks that were 650 – 800 pounds. Unfortunately, the first shark got one of the tarpon.

After the shark ate off the tarpon’s tail, I quickly gaffed the mortally injured tarpon. “Now let’s have some fun!” I told my clients. They weren’t really sure what I was talking about, still dazed from the horror. But when the big S.O.B. came right back and grabbed hold of the 100 lb. tarpon again, heaved and thrashed me, about pulling the gaff out of my hand, then hitting the side of the boat with its huge tail and soaking all of us – now those boys came back to life! Yee haw, awesome!

So we did this another 15 minutes letting that hammerhead eat about half that tarpon. He was almost lazy about coming back each time to have a bite. Then he faded away. Well we were about to go back fish after waiting another 5 minutes in the current, when another hot, very “amped up,” hammerhead of equal size but much blacker came charging up the scent trail. It hit that remaining half tarpon right up along side the boat, rolling on its side with half its hammer and eye out of the water looking at all four of us down the side of the boat. Then it buried down pulling hard on me, and with a big kick of its tail, soaked us all and felt like it almost pulled my arms out of my sockets.

He came back a few more times and got the better part of the tarpon just leaving us with the head before he had enough to eat and enough of us pulling on him. It was a debate on which one was bigger. As I remembered when he first came up and rolled on his side, it’s girth which was about 3 feet from base of it’s dorsal down its side to its belly in a straight line. Then you got to think about the width of the belly, I’d say it would have to be at least close to an 8‘ girth if not more. It was probably at least 14’ long. I have never personally seen a big hammerhead out of the water, but I have just seen giant blue marlin on the scales down in St. Thomas (1004, 918, and 910 pounders). I gaffed a few blue marlin too, one that weighed 542 lb., and along with catching 104 blue marlin there in three seasons, we released one that was estimated 800 lb. So I have seen some big fish in the water and on the dirt, but I can not give you a very accurate estimate of big sharks.

One of my clients summed it up pretty good yesterday, “the Chicago Aquarium will never be the same!”

A quick note on helping tarpon get away from sharks: some of us use our boats to distract the shark allowing time for the tarpon to recover and escape. I would say close to 90% of the tarpon that are chased by these big sharks get away when I do this with the boat. Some times I will follow the tarpon for 30 minutes, using the prop wash to disperse the scent trail by doing figure eights or circles between the tarpon and shark. The tarpon will come up to the surface periodically to gulp air, and that is when you can see them and stay behind them. Or the shark will come up to the surface chasing down the scent trail, run out in front of him and do a circle. Stay behind the tarpon or in front of the shark doing circles or zig zags. The wash and the noise confuse the shark and often the tarpon will get away. Also it is very important to release the tarpon immediately when that “hot” shark comes in hard. I brief the client, I run down fast on the tarpon to get the leader in the reel. Then hold the spool and point the rod at the fish. The leader will break easily, and the tarpon will not be dragging around a long length of line that will eventually kill them I believe. Once I found a very tired 120 pound tarpon with a short leader and a regular size float. I easily motored up to him and grabbed it. The fish broke the leader when he darted off in panic.

Next month I’ll tell you how I think is the best way to release tarpon and most all fish. I always try to get the hook out if it is easily done and will not interfere with resuscitation.

What to expect for fishing this June is about just what I wrote for May. Because I got into this fishing story and I got to go now for my charter (I’ll be taking my #50 test stand up rod. I have a couple big barracudas on ice, because my client today mentioned last week he would like to try some shark fishing – if the tarpon are not cooperating.) I’ll be ready today to play!

INSHORE FISHING:

In June the TARPON are here in mass. This is when we can release more than 10 tarpon in a day, and if we did not have to take pictures of most of the tarpon (in the water along the boat side), we would be able to catch over 20 in a day. That is if we fought them like we were in a sailfish tournament, by catching them as quick as possible by running down on them for the release then cutting the leader, I swear I have had days were the tarpon are biting so good we could have caught over 20 tarpon and maybe even 30. Instead, we fight the tarpon for 15 to 45 minutes so as to tire it out sufficiently so as to handle it safely (for the tarpon) along the side of the boat for photos, then to remove the hook, and finally to resuscitate it.

Now the big mangrove snapper are migrating from the bay out to the reef to spawn, and this is when we can catch 2 – 6 lbs. snappers. This is a nice bonus to tarpon fishing, because all of the local restaurants will cook your catch, for a discount too.

Of course the bonefish, redfish, and snook (snook are now closed to harvest) are still biting excellent on the flats and in the back country creeks, along with all the other rod bender critters like jacks, trout, ladyfish, little goliath grouper and big sharks.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

The PERMIT have moved out to the wrecks to spawn and this is when you can hook double and triple headers, and at least catch a couple or a few between the break offs in the wrecks or to the sharks. They get schooled up to 500 permit in a big ball. You can almost not miss, unless they got lock jaw which most likely is because there was another boat in there busting their butts a half an hour before you arrived.

The mutton snapper can be good on the wrecks too this time of year. So it is always good to give the permit a rest by dropping a live bait down for dinner.

The black fin tuna of good size (10 – 20 lbs.) can also still be on the humps, and when it is calm I have actually run out to hit them in the morning, then run back inshore to tarpon fish. Now that is a lot of running, and I have to ask the clients to pay for the extra gas over what I would normally burn in a day which is 20 gallons. That equates to about an extra 10 gallons, which the fuel meter is very accurate. It does make for an interesting day, as you can see in the photo of Lad Farian and friends a couple years ago. They caught four tarpon and those black fins.

DOLPHIN are the go to fish for the offshore fishing, and May is when you will start catching those “slammers” (dolphin over 25 lbs.) on a regular basis, along with all the “gaffers” (12 – 20 lbs.), “heavy lifters” (5 – 10 lbs.), “schoolies” (3 – 5 lbs.) and “shakers” (do I have too describe?). This is when most of the BLUE MARLIN are caught while dolphin fishing, so it pays to be ready. Also some good size wahoo are still caught while dolphin fishing and many guys troll a wahoo rig out and back from dolphin fishing offshore.

MAY

Wow! This is the time of year we all have been waiting for. It is: fish, eat, and sleep – every day. I am writing this now at 4:30 am before another charter, so it will be short. I’m not sure if keeping a schedule like this will keep me young, or make me old. Thank God though; business has been good for me in spite of the recession everyone is talking about. One thing is sure, the fishing is still good!

INSHORE FISHING:

In May the TARPON are here in mass. This is when we can release more than 10 tarpon in a day, and if we did not have to take pictures of most of the tarpon (in the water along the boat side), we would be able to catch over 20 in a day. That is if we fought them like we were in a sailfish tournament, by catching them as quick as possible by running down on them for the release then cutting the leader, I swear I have had days were the tarpon are biting so good we could have caught over 20 tarpon and maybe even 30. Instead, we fight the tarpon for 15 to 45 minutes so as to tire it out sufficiently so as to handle it safely (for the tarpon) along the side of the boat for photos, then remove the hook, and finally resuscitate it.

Of course the bonefish, redfish, and snook (now closed for harvesting them) are still biting excellent on the flats and in the back country creeks, along with all the other rod bender critters like jacks, trout, ladyfish, little goliath grouper and big sharks.

OFFSHORE FISHING:

The PERMIT have moved out to the wrecks to spawn and this is when you can hook double and triple headers, and at least catch a couple or a few between the break offs in the wrecks or to the sharks. They get schooled up over the wrecks, sometimes 500 permit in a big ball. You can almost not miss, unless they got lock jaw which most likely is because there was another boat in there busting their butts a half an hour before you arrived.

The mutton snapper can be good on the wrecks too this time of year. So it is always good to give the permit a rest by dropping a live bait down for dinner.

That’s it. It’s 6:30 am and I got to go.

APRIL

INSHORE FISHING:

April is the beginning of “peak tarpon season,” and this is when we can catch more than ten tarpon in a day. Oh boy do I look forward to those big tarpon smashing surface baits, launching “line ripping” aerial assaults, and dodging around bridge pilings chasing these behemoths pushing 200 lbs. as they try their best to break us off.

After catching 112 blue marlin, over 800 sailfish, and hundreds of bonefish there is nothing that compares to catching big tarpon in the labyrinth of concrete bridge pilings with heavy current and at times rough water. Almost every tarpon we have to charge off chasing them on plane with the boat, often doing 360’s around pilings and running down through them like a slalom course with the angler bracing themselves with their feet jammed against the inner liner while sitting on a bow cooler that is lashed to the deck. Hang on, at times the angler will roll off the cooler with the pitching boat from having to go hard right then hard left. “Reel, reel, reel,” even if the angler is on his back – a tight line is a must. It does not get any better!

During late March, April, and May the big mangrove snapper are hard fighters on light tackle, and we catch them while tarpon fishing around the bridges, channels, and out on the patch reefs in Hawks channel. These guys migrate out to the reefs anticipating their spawn typically during the full moon of June or July. They are excellent eating too, probably my favorite.

April is also excellent fishing for bonefish, permit, snook, and redfish on the flats. Towards the end of April the permit will start to migrate off the flats out to the wrecks offshore of the reefs to spawn. This can happen from mid-April to mid-May, so we will start to see less permit every day during this time. But, the great bonus is they get stacked up on the wrecks in the hundreds and we can hook two to three at a time sometimes. This fishing is weather dependent. Calmer weather is needed so we can see them just under the surface or on the surface so we can cast the crabs in front of them.

Snook season closes May first, so keep that in mind if you want to do a snook trip and keep some snook to eat. We can still fish for snook after it closes though; we just have to release them all

However the sailfish this past March has been terrible down here in the Islamorada area, upper to middle Keys; so it will be very interesting to see if we get a final push of sailfish this year.

Inversely, the dolphin showed up in March. Some of my friends had some great catches while I was fishing back country. Typically early season dolphin are small, mostly “schoolies” with some “heavy lifters” (5 – 10 lbs.) and possibly some gaffers (10 – 20 lbs.) mixed in. But this year the heavy lifters, gaffers, and even some “slammers” (20 – 40 lbs.) have been being caught on regular basis. So maybe it will be a great dolphin season!

Big black fin tuna will be showing up on the humps, and these tackle busters are a great fight. Lots of guys have been using the metal jigs for them last year. I like live bait and chumming with pilchards is always fun to see the big surface explosions on the “freebies” we throw out around our baits with the hooks. Talk about “baited breath” while waiting for your bait to get smashed with all these explosions popping around. It is tantalizing!

Tip of the Month:

When considering tarpon fishing, there are a few things to consider once the fish is hooked up. Now my pointers will start after the hook up, because hooking a tarpon requires different techniques for the different baits, lures, or flies one can use to catch a tarpon. Now the most important thing you have to remember is: you can do every thing right and lose the fish, or you can do everything wrong and catch it. What the hell, why even care? Because if you stick to the technique, over time you will catch more fish than if you do not.

First, once the tarpon has your bait in its closed mouth, reel as fast as you can until it is taking line. Be ready to reel 50’ of line before you come tight (if he still is holding on to the bait), because he might charge the boat after eating the bait and feeling the resistance if the line. Most of the time it is just a crank or few of the handle before you come tight to the fish and he is screaming line, but be ready for that fish that charges the boat.

Now once you come tight, I like to slip in a few quick strikes with the rod tip, but I do not like to see my clients doing the “Bill Dance hook set” because one of the first things the tarpon does is jump, clear out of the water mostly! If you’re pulling back on a huge strike, you are doing the absolute opposite of what you should be doing!

When a tarpon jumps, or any fish, you should bow to it! That is drop the rod tip in the direction of the line going down into the water. It is possible that the fish is screaming off yards of line creating a belly in the water where the line is going directly in front of you but the fish is off to the side at a ninety degree angle to the line and jumping – drop the rod quickly and even extend as far as possible in the direction of the line (without creating slack) for every jump the fish makes. This is extreme speed with extreme line stretch in the water which demands an extreme “bow” to the fish for every jump.

Conversely, if the fish jumps close to the boat and is not screaming off line, be gentle with the dropping of the rod tip. Be careful not to create any slack. Many times when a fish jumps close to the boat the line can come out of water, now this is a delicate matter. It is very easy to get slack in the line, especially if the fish comes at the boat.

Never allow the fish to create slack, especially with the line out of water during a jump. You have to be able to move the rod tip and crank if needed to keep a little tension on the line during a close jump. If the tarpon jumps shaking his head to and from the boat, you should move the rod tip in unison with his movements: up and down, always keeping a little tension on the line, and if the jump is coming at you, crank to keep pressure on the line.

This is one of the greatest aspects about tarpon fishing. It is the great skill that is required to aptly play the fish. It is like leading a dance partner: power is achieved through timing and subtle technique.

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