Miami, Florida - Offshore

Capt. Mark Houghtaling
April 9, 2002
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report

Anglers enjoyed terrific offshore fishing off the Miami area this week. Conditions were a little on the rough side Saturday and Sunday, but non the less, results were good. We fished the 2002 Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament and were able to catch and release 10 Sailfish to finish in third place out of 101 boats. Sunday the weather was very windy and very rough. I will only fish in conditions like that when I have to. We had a hard time keeping Force Five Kites in the air. ( kites don’t fly well in extremely windy conditions). Plenty of other fish are in the area. Lots of kingfish are around from Triumph Reef to Government Cut. We saw one large king sky rocket on our goggle eye that I estimate he would have gone over fifty pounds. He struck once and missed the bait , but he never returned. Dolphin action is spotty, but they are around. On Sunday when we first put our baits out in 120 feet of water we were surrounded by a school of little fish but they soon disappeard. I thought we were going to be plagued by small dolphin all day but it never happened. Expect to see a lot more dolphin in the area in the upcoming weeks. Bonita are here and they are a pain in the ass. Cobia have been caught behind rays and turtles. And, the blackfin tuna have finally arrived and they have been averaging fifteen to twenty five pounds. This action should continue right on through May. As usuall bait has been tough to catch on the weekends. Hundreds of boats are trying to catch bait at just a few spots and the turmoil puts the bait down. Good Luck.

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