Spring Fishing in Miami Offers Good Variety and Action
Capt. Freddie David
April 30, 2013
Haulover Inlet - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spring time is here and the fishing is picking up. April-May are the best times of year for sportfishing Miami. There are a variety of fish to catch close to shore which makes Miami an ultimate destination to capture game fish.
There have been a big push of sailfish the past few weeks. My best day so far was 17. My brother who skippers the L and H did better with 25 sails in a day. There have been more sailfish caught over the past few weeks then there have been all year long. Migrating golden hammerhead sharks have been mixed in with the sailfish. These fish average around 150lbs but I have seen some north of 400lbs this past month. We don't normally target these sharks unless we have customers that would like them for a mount. They are a great fight and a very unique fish with their T-shaped head. Aside from the hammerheads, there have been some shortfin makos, threshers, bulls, and sandbar sharks mixed in. If you would like to catch a trophy shark, from now through the end of May is a great time to do it.
Blackfin tunas are starting to trickle in to the reefs. My best day has been three but they will continue to get better in May. Towards the third week of May you are pretty much guaranteed to catch them.
April-May is also a good time to catch smoker kingfish. I have been getting shots of these big kings almost every trip. My biggest king mackerel was 45lbs this year. There is nothing like seeing these torpedoes skyrocket 20 ft. in the air while trying to eat a live bait suspended from the kite. These are one of the funnest fish to catch on light tackle. Known for their long runs and smoking drags these creatures are an epic gamefish to capture.
Moving onto the wrecks. We are starting to see schools of big amberjacks. These fish are targeted with butterfly jigs or live bait fishing in 200-300 ft. I've had a couple days where you can't get a bait to the bottom because they are so thick. Reef donkeys are one of the toughest fighting fish. They pull like a ton of bricks and are notorious back breakers. If you like a good hard fight, wreck fishing for giant amberjacks are the way to go. Permit are also starting to show up. They concentrate on the ship wrecks two months out of the year to spawn. We drift live crabs for these magnificent fish If you have never caught a permit now is the time to go.
The swordfishing has been very consistent and will be good through the end of November. My friend Kenny on the blue boat caught one over 550lbs the other day. He said he had several bites. There was also a boat that caught six swords in the same day.
As you can see there are many fish to target in South Florida. Whether it be a big tarpon on the beach, a trophy shark, or an acrobatic sailfish jumping in the gulf stream now is the time to get them. I hope everyone enjoys there spring and am looking forward to do some fishing with you.
Capt. Freddie David
www.charter-fishing-miami.com
(754) 244-2531
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