Better late Than Never! Fall Fishing is here in South Florida
Capt. Alan Sherman
November 9, 2013
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fall has come late this year but at least it has come! Winds have finally started to blow from the north and northeast, water temperatures are falling and our baitfish schools are no longer Happy! The reason for unhappy baitfish is because the predators like large Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jacks, ladyfish and small kingfish have moved into our area and at times given us some outstanding inshore fishing in North Bay. In South Bay I had hoped for lots of snappers and groupers to have already moved into the Finger Channels but that has not happened yet. Yesterday we did get into an hour long gag grouper bite but it was slim pickings after that. Offshore mackerels and bluefish are feeding along the beaches; the tarpon that were feeding in the mullet schools seemed to have disappeared but may make a return soon. Further offshore there are scattered kingfish, lots of very small blackfin tuna and some decent size dolphins. Flamingo in Everglades National Park has some real good redfish and snook action. Lots of sea trout are in many of the same spots that the reds and snook are in and a few tarpon, sharks, big tripletail and sawfish have joined in. Out in the open water cobia, mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, jacks and snapper are keeping fishermen busy. We have fished in rain, gale force winds, and beautiful clear skies and had some outstanding catches as you will read.
Olga, and husband David and Gina their daughter fished North Bay for a half day but missed the action by a few days. Gina caught a nice sea trout and Olga and Gina cleaned up on the jack crevalles. David caught a few but mostly watched.
Paul fished North Bay for a half day and also missed out on the action. He caught a bunch of jacks and sea trout but was hoping to get in on some bigger fish but it didn't happen this day.
James and his wife Mailine got in a six hour day in North Bay before taking a four day cruise of the Caribbean. On this day with winds blowing we caught so many jack crevalles that their arms were aching when they left for their cruise. A few snappers were caught as well.
Jeremy and his son Robert met me at Flamingo for an eight hour day. After filling a live well full of frisky pilchards the father and son landed over a dozen slot size sea trout, three big reds, eight snook, two tripletail to eight pounds, a small cobia, lots of jacks and ladyfish and lost a big shark. We also spotted a sawfish.
Today the winds were blowing at almost gale force strength and my cousins Stew and Alan and I and my son Zach who had just returned to Miami after putting in a full 60 day rotation in Australia decided to give it a try anyway. The nice thing about North Bay is there is always a calm piece of water in one part of the Bay or another. Today the fishing Gods were looking down on us. The winds were definitely strong and the water was like white milk. The bait was thick and we quickly had all we needed. Not knowing for sure where the fish might be I started scouting but didn't have to go far. Up in front of the boat were dozens of gulls diving and fish crashing. We anchored the boat and in a few hours had caught over 100 fish. The catch included Spanish mackerel to four pounds, king mackerel to two pounds, jacks, bluerunners, ladyfish, sea trout and mangrove and mutton snappers.
Back on the water in North Bay with Jordan and his new fishing buddy Marc. Again the bait was plentiful and the winds were still strong but calming. We headed back to the same areas as the day before and it was obvious that some of the fish had moved on. After fishing the area for a few hours Marc and Jordan had landed 10 nice mackerel and released many more plus a bunch of small kingfish, bluefish, jacks and bluerunners. We hit a few other spots in hoping to catch something big but only managed a 24 inch snook a first for Marc.
No rest for the weary and today I have longtime clients Marjorie and Lisa in North Bay. The expectations were high and the bait was easy to catch. In the spot that had been producing large numbers of fish we caught two huge needlefish a few lizardfish and one small mackerel. Time to change gears. The word was the seas had calmed and blackfin tuna were biting offshore. We headed offshore in two three foot seas and hit the grounds only to find the tunas had stopped feeding. We tried anyway and had a small group of maybe ten dolphins in the four to ten pound range eat our baits. Our hooks were for tunas and small not for dolphins and we kept pulling the hooks on the fish after hooking five or six fish and losing all the fish left. We headed into shallower water where we caught and released a trumpet fish, six mutton snappers, a red grouper and a handful of lesser amberjacks. Our chum baits started getting hit by big mackerel so we tossed a few baits out on Mustad long shank hooks. After missing the first three Marjorie got a solid hookup and landed a six pound mac. Mike on one of the charter boats called and told me the tunas were feeding again so offshore we headed. Sure enough the birds were diving and fish were crashing. The only problem was they wouldn't eat or baits. The fish were feeding on very small minnows and the tunas themselves were small. I tied a few Rapala #8 X Raps on the lines and the girls hooked three and landed two. Just enough for a Sashimi dinner!
Today the forecast wasn't too good but if you're not on the water this month then you are defiantly going to miss out on some good fishing. Not having a charter and wanting to try South Biscayne Bay to see if the mutton snappers that I had heard were feeding in the Finger Channels I got my son to join me. We donned our Columbia Sportswear rain gear and headed out in a good rain storm. We caught a ton of bait and had high expectations but after fishing that area for three hours we only managed an hour of hot action. During that hour we landed four gag groupers keeping the two largest. A 12 pound and an eight pound gag grouper. We hooked and lost a number of others before the fish stopped feeding. We had some jack and mackerel action but no mutton snappers.
Well that catches us up on my South Florida Fishing explorations this past week.
This is what South Florida, Get Em Sportfishibng Charters and I have to offer you! All you have to do is call, text or e-mail me and it's done.
I have open dates in my calendar so if you're interested in getting in on some hot fishing action give me a call at 786-436-2064 or drop me an e-mail at [email protected]. Let's set it up today!
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Miami Fishing Forecast:
Fall fishing is here and the fishing in Biscayne Bay, Offshore of Miami and in Flamingo in Everglades National Park will be red hot for the next four months. Look forward to catching SEA TROUT, JACK CREVALLES, LADYFISH, BARRACUDAS, SNOOK, TARPON, MACKEREL, BLUEFISH, POMPANO in NORTH BISCAYNE BAY, IN SOUTH BISCAYNE BAY GROUPER, SNAPPER, MACKEREL, COBIA, JACKS, SNOOK,POMPANO AND BLUEFISH and OFFSHORE of MIAMI, KINGFISH, BLACKFIN TUNA, MACKEREL, JACKS, BLUEFISH, COBIA, SAILFISH and DOLPHINS will be available on the calmer days and in FLAMINGO in EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK we always have a huge amount of wildlife like the WHITE PELICANS, ROSEATTE SPOONBILLS, SKIMMER BIRDS,GULLS, OSPREYS, EAGLES, TERNS, EGRETS, HERONS, ALLIGATORS, CROCODILES, BOTTLE NOSED DOLPHINS, MANATTEES, SHARKS and TURTLES and of course the wide variety of fish that migrate into FLORIDA BAY and the GULF waters during the cooler months of the year.
SNOOK, TARPON, SHARK, REDFISH, SEA TROUT, COBIA, DOLPHIN, SAILFISH, TUNA
Target Species:
SNOOK, TARPON, SHARK, REDFISH, SEA TROUT, COBIA, DOLPHIN, SAILFISH, TUNA
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