Great Miami Fishing in March
Capt. Orlando Muniz
March 27, 2011
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
March has been a memorable month to say the least. We've had some great trips with lots of sailfish, kings, muttons, mahi, sharks, and barracudas. Aside from the great fishing we've also experience some fabulous weather allowing us to fish without having to cancel or reschedule any trips. The best part of the fishing right now is that it's only going to get better as we head into April and more spring fishing. Another advantage that we are enjoying these days is the switch over to daylight savings time. Longer days allow us to fish later and maximize our opportunities.
Most fish are being caught from our kite baits but even on the calm days we've done very well on the flat lines and bottom baits. April and May should bring us more shots at mahi, cobia, and blackfin tunas. So far the cobias have eluded us but they have definitely been around. Fish up to 60 pounds have been caught by boats fishing the same areas. Just yesterday, a good friend found a school of cobia under some large rays and called me over to get in on the action. Unfortunately someone tried to spear one of the fish and spooked the school just before we got there. Most of these cobia are cruising Hawk's Channel on their annual migration and can be found under rays and around channel markers.
One of the interesting things about fishing during the last month is that on every trip we've had good to great action. It seems like every trip has been made special by one or more species that are available on that day. Earlier in the month I fished with Leo who was visiting here from Finland with his three young boys. We had some pretty brisk winds on this day but Leo and his boys were up for the task. The fins were rewarded with some great dolphin (mahi) all morning. Just before we finished our half day trip, I told Leo that I wanted to make one more drift in hopes of hooking up to a sail so the boys could return home with this memory. On the next drift we had a beautiful sail pounce on one of our short kite baits. Leo couldn't believe his eyes and I felt great about the whole thing.
Another first sail came for Jose Jr. Jose's father fished with me back in November and had a great day of fishing. Now his son Jr. was ready to get his first sail. On our first attempt he hood up, but unfortunately the fish was foul hooked and got sharked after an hour long battle. On Jr.'s second attempt we hit paydirt with a very nice sail that ate one of our kite baits.
Since we are on the topic of first sails I should mention that Dave and his wife Sandy from Tennessee both caught their first sails. We fished a full day and didn't get rewarded until very late in the day. During the morning hours we had very erratic winds making kite fishing very tough. The duo hung in there and paid there dues and we ended up going two for four in short order. I'm sure they returned home with a grin from ear to ear.
Yesterday we had a similar day with virtually no wind and overall slow fishing. I told the guys that we were going to need a little breeze in order to get the ball rolling. We spent most of the day catching kingfish, bonitos, barracudas, and even a nice blackfin tuna. At around 2:00 o'clock the winds began to pick up and it was game on. We put out our flat lines followed by the kite baits. Shortly into the drift we came tight on a sail on one of the flat lines. We didn't get any more bites for a while even though I knew the fish were around. I told the guys we might get another shot and with about ten minutes to go we had a sail eat a sardine that was dangling from our long kite bait. After an awesome acrobatic display and some video the fish was released to fight another day.
I could go on and on but by now you get the picture. The fishing is great right now and should continue this way for some time to come. If you're thinking about booking a trip, now is the time. April and May are without a doubt the best months to fish south Florida. Soon we will be seeing large mahi, kings, and blackfin tunas moving in along with the sails, mutton snapper. If you're ready to get in on the action give me a call (786)266-0171 or send me an email: [email protected].
Till next time,
Capt. Orlando Muniz
Nomad Fishing Charters
FishingCharterMiami.com
(786)266-0171
Miami Fishing Forecast:
Look for fishing to heat up both inshore with tarpon and offshore with more sails, smoker kings, and slammer dolphin. Also look for some big blackfins moving in next month.
Target Species:
sailfish mahi tuna snapper kingfish
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