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Fishing Report for Miami, Florida
Capt. Bouncer Smith
June 18, 2002
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Rain rain go away come again some other time of day. 2 to 4 AM would be good.
Over the last week it has rained everyday. The good news is that through it all we
did a good TV shoot for Mark Sosin’s Saltwater Journal by running in an out as the
squalls past. We caught tarpon everyday on live crabs. We also caught a
hammerhead shark and a leopard ray. The leopard ray runs, jumps and fights like a
tarpon. You will have to watch for the show next winter.
Today was one of the best days of tarpon I have had in a couple years. We had
strikes on every drift during the day except 2. We caught 4 tarpon from 75 to 110
pounds. We had a couple more right up to the boat when the hooks pulled. We
jumped several more, losing them in 3 to 10 minutes. Everyone from here to
Marathon has reported that problem this week. Plenty of strikes, but lots of lost fish.
Our best success was on Eagle Claw L2222 7/0 circle hooks on 80 pound mono
leader. Crabs were the bait of choice. The same action was found this evening. We
got 3 and had several more on.
The family on the boat today had no tarpon experience. As they learned today,
there are a lot of things you need to remember to preserve our fisheries. Tarpon are
protected by Florida law. You must purchase a permit from the state to keep one.
Why, there lousy eating and fertilizer is better store bought. Pulling one in the boat
for photos can kill the fish. They are damaged by lose of scales and slime plus over
pressured internal organs. Tarpon were not designed to be pulled up by their gill
plate or jaw. Fight this great gamefish to the boat, photograph it in the water, revive
it by towing it a minute and set it free. Tarpon live over 50 years, grow to over 250
pounds and have been around since the dinosaurs. Enjoy their game and let them
live.
Other boats in the area have beeen catching numerous very small dolphin fish in 300 to 900 feet of water. King mackerel, sailfish, wahoo and false albacore have been widely scattered along the dropoff.
Your best bet for offshore would be to plan a swordfish trip one evening. Contact me and we'll set one up.
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