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Jupiter & Palm Beach Offshore Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Rob Mazzei
September 24, 2002
Jupiter - Saltwater Fishing Report
Dolphin Return, Mullet On The Run!
Well finally! I updated my my report. Besides that, finally the good news is dolphin have been showing up with a little bit of consistency. Almost every boat that goes offshore has a dolphin tale to tell. Most are on the smaller side but fish up to 40lbs have been caught recently. I don't like to call the smaller dolphin "peanuts" or "chickens". If you want "peanuts" go to the ballgame or circus. If you want "chickens" go to KFC! I prefer to show them a little respect and refer to them as "little guys". Sorry but they are supposed to be one of South Florida's most popular species. They haven't show themselves much this season, so when they do, I address them accordingly. Anyhoo,
We've been trolling artificials on top, along with a wire line or planer down deep and have scored with wahoo as well. The dolphin have been caught anywhere from 65 feet on out. Any visible rip or dedris on the surface will likely produce a "little guy" or two. Toss out a live bait after the hook up may produce multiple hook ups with other dolphin, wahoo, sailfish, kingfish and who knows. Two seasons ago this September I hooked a marlin trolling off of Sloan's Curve and got stripped of all my line before I knew what hit me. So anything goes out there.
The "mullet run" has begun, but I have not observed many finger mullet on the beaches. Most of the mullet I've seen along the beach have been larger than the typical 2-4 inches. 6-8 have been most commom. If I'm not offshore I'm surf fishing (my favorite) from Singer Island to Hobe Sound. The Juno area has been busting out with tarpon, snook, sharks, jacks, bluefish and spanish mackerel. Just north of the pier has been explosive in the morning with tarpon in excess of 100lbs cartwheeling in the surf. Although I have not hooked a tarpon yet this season, I have caught snook to 40 inches and jacks to 30lbs right in the "wash" 10 feet from shore. The last several mornings the fish have shown between the "Reef Club" and the Juno pier. Blowing Rocks and Coral Cove on Jupiter Island has had full blown "blitzes" of tarpon and mullet as well. At times I have been the only angler on the school. I go early a.m. with my two dogs(boxers) and it's the absolute best experience when the mullet are getting thrashed so hard at day break my hands start to shake anticipating the bite. Anyway,
The bait schools are defintely thinning out as far as greenies, pilchards are sardines go. Blue runers are thick but many are too large and bust up the sabiki rig.
Sailfish and kingfishing has been excellent at times but you need to find them. With the bonito all but gone it's not easy just to out to 120feet and hook up all day. Move around and try various depths until you get hit or mark fish and bait. Jim and Barry on the "Break Free" in Jupiter caught two sailfish trolling ballyhoo in 65 feet Sunday. Most boats would have pulled in their baits by the time they reached 70 feet. With the migration of gamefish and baitfish relatively close to shore this time of year it pays to work the shallows as well as the deep.
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