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Fishing Report for Miami, Florida
Capt. Bouncer Smith
June 27, 2005
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Good Fishing Near Home
Hey we finally did some more fishing off our home coast. As you all know, we normally fish off Miami Beach, Florida. As many of you know, we have been spending a lot of time in the Bahamas. We started this week there. It was raining every afternoon, along with 30 knot winds and lightning. We caught a few fish between the storms. We had barracudas, cero mackerel, yellowtails and small jacks on fly. We had plenty of yellowtails on light spinning tackle and plugs or bucktail and we even caught a few fish on live bait. We had a lot of fun, but none of the spectacular fish we have been spoiled by over the last couple months.
We fished with old friends and new on Thursday. They wanted dolphin for weekend barbeques, so off we went. We trolled lures at 10 knots as we searched for birds or other signs of fish. We hit a school of undersized fish at about 11 miles. We hit a single 6 pound fish at 14 miles. Thing were looking bad, when we were tipped off on a bunch of fish at 20 miles. We hurried out there and hit the jackpot. We caught dolphin from 5 to 12 pounds on pilchards. We caught a bunch of nice ones on fly as well. Jay Stafford caught our best catch with a 15 pound bull dolphin on fly. It was a great fish for a guy who started the day telling us about his previous best fly catch. That was a 20 inch brown trout in Montana.
Friday we fished the edge, in an effort to have all day action. Wrong, it was slow. A small barracuda from time to time, a nice king mackerel and some missed bites consumed most of our time. Knowing that the tide was perfect for the inlet in the afternoon saved our day. Both anglers, father and son, caught snook, jacks and barracuda before the day was over.
Saturday was back to the dolphin hunt. With 3 tournaments scheduled off Miami and beautiful weather, I thought it would be tough fishing. It turned out great. We had 3 generations of fishermen on board and the fishing was good. We hit a real good school under a bird picking in the grass at 16 miles. We caught a bunch of 5 to 8 pound fish and the 12 year old member of our anglers scored with a 21 pound bull. This fish was extra tough, being hooked in the tail. We hit a bunch of fish at 11 miles under a flock of birds. Half were under the 20 inch fork length required by law and the others were up to 6 or 8 pounds. One more school of under sized fish was spiced buy the 12 year old catching another 9 pound bull.
We ran back inshore and put out the live bait for a while. We were rewarded by a 19 pound tuna, before going home.
Saturday night was the Hydro Glow Summer Swordfish Slam tournament. They had 79 boats hunting the gladiator of the seas. We were fishing this event on Marty Arostegui’s Cabo, “Timely Sale” as the Hydro Glow Fishing Team. We had the baits out by 8 PM, but fishing was slow. About 10, the radio started to crackle with reports of swordfish catches. We were getting into shallow water, so I called for another set. We moved offshore and set up again. The fleet had several fish boated and released by midnight, when I called for another move. I stopped in 1776 feet of water off Haulover Cut. As we were setting out the lines, the one I was adjusting got hit. I called for 13 year old Martini to catch the fish. He locked up and the fight was on. It didn’t take long before he had a 52 inch fork length swordfish on the deck. It had swallowed a rigged squid down 225 feet on the long jug rod. We put the lines back out and about 25 minutes latter the same rod screamed for attention again. This acted like a bigger fish. At 1 hour on the rod, Martini was frustrated that no fish had ever made him work so hard and then ran off another hundred yards of line. It took a while, but finally the fish were in sight. The fish were? 1 bait, 1 hook 1 rod, what is this the fish were? Martini’s 137.8 pound beautiful swordfish was escorted by another bigger fish. Right up to the boat it came. Marty hit Martini’s fish with the gaff, handed the gaff to our mate Aaron and grabbed his fly rod to make a few cast at the following swordfish. It was gone and we headed for the weigh in. Second place in the tournament for the Hydro Glow Fishing Team pleased us all.
July is fast approaching. Bimini beckons and the prime months for swordfish are upon us. Snook will be filling the inlet Let’s plan some great fishing adventures. E-mail [email protected]
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