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Jupiter & Palm Beach Offshore Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Rob Mazzei
January 3, 2003
Jupiter - Saltwater Fishing Report
Flags are flying.
Amended report for Thurs. A good school of kingfish has infact invaded the 70ft range north of Jupiter. At one time nearly every boat in site had fish on. We had fish to 22lbs. Dead sardines are all that is needed to hook up. Put a bait or two on or near the bottom and snapper, amberjack or grouper my show for lunch.
Finally, after a slow week of sailfishing our flag is flying high. 5 sailfish in the last three outings. Also got my first "triple header", two on flatlines and one off the kite, all three at once with only two anglers and myself aboard the boat. All hell broke loose. Congrat's to Don and Jeff for awesome coordination working these fish in short order. I also tussled with the rod for a minute or two. Nice!
Rob Boland from Philly got his 2nd sail of the season on a small jack fish off the kite along with several dolphin for dinner. I believe he's turning into a fine young angler.
Today we went one for two on sails, one shark, a dolphin and a bonito.
Bait has been scarce so we've had to buy bait, mostly goggle eyes, blue runners and sometimes small jacks. All make excellent kite baits but is ideal to have smaller baits as well, such as spanish sardines, cigar minnows, pilchards and threadfin herring. Unfortunely, their migratory patterns dictate the are not in much abundance at this time of the year, which sucks! Several days we were able to locate some of these smaller baits and we made the best of it.
Flatlines with sardines on one side of the boat and a spread of hyperactive goggles on the other fish from kite lines proved deadly Friday after three sails showed without hesitation for breakfast.
100-200 feet of water has been all we've needed to cover, drifting in or out depending on wind direction. We've only fished from Jupiter to Hobe Sound, but many reports have come from the south off Palm Beach inlet. One boat called the "BoomerRang" reported 10 sailfish in the last hour or two before dark, 5 fish fish on each of two drifts, have enough live bait and be there when they're on the feed and you'll score not doubt!
Not to be outshined by sailfish, the dolphin fishing has been outstanding as well. As reported last week when the wind is blowing northwest or north great rips have formed well defined weedlines inside of 200 feet. Flying fish and frigate birds are great indicators of fish. When they are active in a specific area that were we fish. Trolling, live bait, dead and chum all have produced for us.
One morning I was out doing a "recon mission" before the holiday rush of charters. In 180 feet I found a current edge that stacked up the sargassom weed thick. Several dolphin were bounding out of the water 3 or 4 feet in the air, the largest blue marlin I've ever seen broke the surface in hot pursuit. Some of the dolphin tried to hide within the weed patches only to have the marlin blow up his shelter and resume his chow time. I actually felt sorry for those dolphin, the had no chance. As for as trying to catch that beast, it would have been PeeWee Herman against Mike Tyson I'd didn't even try. Needless to say I had to find another place to fish for dolphin that morning, as they despersed that area immediately.
One kingfish bite in a few weeks. They should show up in decent numbers soon. Spanish mackerel are thick off Pecks Lake along with jack crevelle. Haven't seen any spinner sharks yet but haven't looked for them either. It's all about sailfish and you've got to love it!
Happy New Year! Good luck fishing and please keep an eye on the weather forecast.
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