Hot Bottom Fishing and More
Capt. Orlando Muniz
April 3, 2016
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Wow! A lot has happened since my last report. Sailfishing has been better and a lot more consistent. Also, the bottom fishing has been hot, especially around the deeper wrecks and rock piles. On the edge, blackfin tunas are starting to show up as well. Most of the tunas that have been caught are not huge but it is a good sign. Over the last week, several boats have hooked into yellowfin tuna while sail sailfishing. Even though most haven't been successful, it is still a great thrill just to have the opportunity.
Let's start with the sailfish action. Although we've caught a bunch it seems as though our timing has been a bit off. Most of the banner days have occurred when we are either doing maintenance on the boat or fishing with clients that don't care to target sailfish. We have been catching them pretty consistently as a result of clean blue water and good north current. Over the past few days the winds have been predominantly coming form a southerly quadrant but yet the sailfish have been moving through in good numbers. Hopefully this trend will continue and we'll catch a bunch more.
The bottom fishing has been great for us over the last two or three weeks. We have caught and released numerous black grouper up to 28 lbs., a 14 lb. genuine red snapper, a 16 lb. mutton snapper, and countless almaco jacks and amberjack up to 40 pounds. The amberjack have been so aggressive that is often difficult to get the bait past them. On one trip, my anglers tried vertical jigging for them on light tackle and they did until we went through all of our jigs.
On one trip we caught and released five black grouper in less than 90 minutes. I finally decided to move off the spot in order to let them relax until the re-opening of the season on May 1st. We have also been releasing all of the amberjack and almaco jacks. Muttons on the other hand, haven't been so lucky. We also released a beautiful American Red Snapper that was just shy of 15 pounds. It gives me a great feeling to know that these fish can still be found.
Inshore, tarpon fishing has been improving after a slow start to the season. The bite has been picking up to where it should be. Hopefully, this trend will continue as we have some trips later this month and also in May. Another nice byproduct of tarpon fishing is the permit that occasionally inhale the craps intended for the tarpon.
We are quickly moving into the best time of the year to fish Miami. On any given day, you'll have the chance to catch sailfish, tunas, smoker kingfish, mahi mahi, cobia, and large bottom fish.
Finally, I'll be conducting a FREE fishing seminar on Spring Fishing Techniques this coming Wednesday, April 6th at 7:00 p.m. Come out to Bass Pro Shops (Miami) and let's talk fishing.
More information on this and other events can be found on my FACEBOOK page.
We'll that's pretty much it for right now. Also, don't forget that you can keep up with all of the action by following us on FACEBOOK, Instagram, and Twitter. If you like watching some of the action, be sure to check out my YOUTUBE page for the latest video additions.
SPONSORS AND FRIENDS: Mercury Marine, Bass Pro Shops, Offshore Angler, Orca Coolers, SeaDek, Costa Del Mar, Yo-Zuri.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Orlando Muniz
Nomad Fishing Charters
fishingchartermiami.com
Miami Fishing Forecast:
The time we've all been waiting for is here. Expect the unexpected because it is going to get crazy with everything you could ever want to catch.
Target Species:
sailfish tuna grouper amberjack snapper tarpon kingfish cobia
More Fishing Reports:
