Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
August 20, 2001
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
8/20/01
The heat has been incredible, especially inland. Offshore there has been a gentle enough breeze to keep you from roasting. The fishing during the week was pretty good for dolphin offshore. As the weekend approached, the dolphin fishing slowed down. We caught a dozen or so Saturday, but had to work pretty hard to get them. There was a huge abundance of both scattered grass and large mats of grass. Obviously some had fish on them, while some didn’t. You had to work the area, hopefully pick up some fish and then move on to the next patch. The grass was scattered from 6 miles out; to as far as we went, which was 18 miles. After a morning playing in the Gulfstream, we headed in to the reef. There was a nice blue water edge in by Key Biscayne. We hooked one sailfish on a pilchard on a flatline, had another sailfish bat a goggle eye on a kite and saw several other free jumpers. The reef is also loaded with bonitos, and I mean loaded. You can catch bonitos on every type of line class as well as fly-fishing.
On Sunday, we had a late trip, so after catching bait and picking up my customer at the marina, we headed off to the reef. This gentleman wanted a sailfish, and with the conditions we had on the reef the last few days, it seemed like a good shot. Even though it was a half-day charter in the middle of August, I did expect to hook and hopefully land a sailfish. What I didn’t expect was to hook and land one within 30 seconds of fishing. We were on the blue side of the edge running down towards Fowey, when I noticed a pretty nice rip in 180 ft right off of Monument Buoy. The edge looked like it pushed out a bit farther there, but there definitely was a rip right off the blue side. That rip, blue water and a strong North current looked like the spot to be. As we were putting out our third bait, the long flatline with threadfin started pulling line right out of our hands. After a few seconds of line streaming off the reel, we closed the bail and instantly had a sailfish dancing in the air. About 20 minutes later, we had the sailfish next to boat for a good healthy release. If it wasn’t for the heat, the water looked like it should in the winter. With the dolphin fishing spotty at times, the reef looks like it is the place to be, when the conditions are right.
Fishing in the Bahamas has also been productive. The muttons bit pretty good in front of Bimini last weekend, and if you picked your spots right, the yellowtail fishing was exceptional. Key words here are picking the right spots. Night time fishing for yellowtails is almost always very productive in the Bahamas, but catching large yellowtails in the middle of the day in August, can prove challenging, unless you are in the right spot. It seemed we had the right spot last time since we caught many flags between 3 – 5 pounds, along with grouper kingfish, cero mackerel and mutton snappers. In the one spot where we were catching the big tails, the sharks and large cudas showed up and unless you were quick to bring in the tails, they became dinner for the predators. After catching enough yellowtails, we converted our gear over to catching sharks and cudas on light tackle. Catching these large predators on light tackle is a blast and will definitely get some muscles sore at the end of the day.
Overall the fishing has been good, again if you are in the right place at the right time. With the heat as hot as it has been, dehydration can be very dangerous. Drink plenty of fluids and douse on the sunscreen. A large hat is also a definite plus. With that in mind, nothing beats a good day of fishing offshore, especially when it is smoldering hot inland!
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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