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Jupiter & Palm Beach Offshore Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Rob Mazzei
April 18, 2001
Jupiter - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sardines shine, Sailfish make second showing!!!
Spanish sardines have invaded Palm Beach with a vengeance, on their heels(fins), have been large king mackerel, sailfish, cobia, amberjack, yellow fin tuna, scattered dolphin and sharks. Along with the sardines, cigar minnows and blue runners are all over the beaches. I’ve "sabikied up" loads of baits from just north of Hobe Sound, south to the Juno Pier. From 10 feet to 60 feet. Birds, boats, sonar and good eyes will lead you to the bait. Cruise along the beaches and you’ll find all you need. Small bait rigs in sizes 6-8-10 all work. Stay with the smaller ones for sardines, cigar minnows and greenies. And if the runners start tearing them up, either move locations or put on size 10 or 12 and catch runners if you’ve got a big live livewell. I do a little of both. Get a variety of baits, because you don’t now what kind of conditions you’ll encounter in the "deep blue." Spend time getting bait early and it’ll pay off!!!
When we fished out of Palm Beach we bought goggles because I had heard from my new friend and light tackle angling extroninaire Pete DiThomas, who was having dinner at Sailfish Marina. He spoke with one local charter who had caught several sailfish that day. Goggle eye, arguably the best sailfish bait, we bought half dozen "gogs" from the bait boat. Pete was my angler a day or twoprior to that, gave me a call to let me know. I had not seen a sailfish in several weeks and appreciated the info. I was towing the boat down from Jupiter to Palm Beach that next day. So we decided to go early for sailfish
We caught one sailfish and jumped one off. Had several other strikes and bite offs, before decided we fish for amberjack on one of the deep wrecks around Palm Beach.
We caught some more runners and headed out a mile or two offshore from where we were. The 200 -240 feet range produced in the past. I turned the sensitivity up on the sonar and cruised around until we spotted fish on the screen. Several anglers deeped jigged others sent large baits down and heavy 3-way rigs. The action was incredible. AJ’s to 70lbs were anxious to engulf anything sent there way. Two AJ’s were taken by sharks and I was a little upset when my favorite Gulfstream Jig was robbed along with the fish. Florida Sportsman Magazine had a great article on the subject. You can check out there weekly radio fishing Saturday mornings on a.m.1230 at 7a.m. You can call in and learn a lot.
Kingfish have become much more abundant the last couple of days. We fished right out front of Jupiter Inlet and caught and released as many kings as we wanted. The largest was around 25lbs. Most of the action came in the 100-130 foot zone.
Dolphin have been scattered. We did have a school of "schoolies" follow one of the baits to the boat while we were reeling for bait inspection. Rigged and ready were light spinners with small bucktail jigs. We caught a couple for dinner before they moved on.
Wahoo and yellow fin tuna have been caught north of Jupiter, look for bullet bonito and small skipjacks busting the surface. They are breakfast for the two aforementioned specie. Fast trolling lures will take them.
A friend of mine, Tony, told me a cobia followed his bait to the surface, but the "cobe" was unable to catch his bait before getting discouraged and moving on. Tony had several kings that day as well.
The key to success this time of year is live bait. Spend time netting it or jigging them up and you’ll definitely see action Gram Slam Sportfishing Supply in Jupiter is having a great special in #6 sabiki rigs. You can save a couple of bucks.
Good Luck and tight lines.
Captain Rob Mazzei
Sail King Sportfishing charters
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