Sailfish and Tarfpon and More for April
Capt. Bouncer Smith
April 22, 2009
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
March certainly roared out of town. We were blown out 7 days in a row. We did get out on the 27th in the evening with Bob and his European friends. They caught 3 tarpon from 75 to 110 pounds on live shrimp.
Brooke and Joe brought Kerry and Chris down from the Northeast for a few days of fishing. They arrived on March 30th and we got around noon. Winds had dropped and with a strong north current we caught 3 sails, 5 dolphin and a wahoo. To finish the trip we ran back to Government Cut and caught 1 of 4 tarpon.
The 31st we went permit fishing with Brooke and company. They caught 6 permit from 20 to 44 pounds on live crabs.
On April 1st they caught a sailfish and 2 barracudas. We spent hours trying for tarpon who chose not to bite.
We spent April 2nd preparing for the Miami Billfish Tournament. Tom and Peter Kane from Fair Haven New Jersey were going to fish this tournament with us.
15 year old Peter was our primary angler and did a great job. On Friday the wind was blowing 30 and more from the south and the guys caught 7 out of 8 sailfish. Saturday the Kanes caught 3 out of 5 sails that came our way. The final day We were 3 for 4 on the sails. Peter also caught a 29 pound kingfish.
Sunday afternoon Peter filled our table with trophies. Peter was "Top Outboard Angler" , "Top Junior Angler" , caught the "Top Junior Funfish", "3rd Place Kingfish" and we were "3rd Place Outboard Boat"
On Monday we fished with Zach (16), Dennis and Gary Wittenberg. They caught 5 sailfish, 2 bonitos and a king. In the evening we fished with the Wates from England. They caught a sailfish for Miles and a hammerhead for Pierce. These were two thrilled young boys.
On the 7th we fished with Ben, Ron and Domenic. They caught 13 sailfish and 6 bonitos.
On the 8th we had a very busy trip. We fished with young men Richie and Andrew and their father John. Richie caught a sailfish as soon as the lines were out, but not before Andrew got sea sick. We ran back to the inlet where it was calm, and Andrew immediately caught a 80 pound tarpon. Action got slow there so we went to a small artificial reef where we caught a couple spanish mackerel, 6 gray snappers, and assorted yellowtails, lane snappers and red groupers.
As the weather improved we ran back offshore to try the sails again. Everybody caught another sailfish by the time we headed home.
All these varied methods and catches could not have happened without the help of Adrian and Capt Tony.
That night we fished with a bunch of guys down for a wedding. They caught 4 tarpon from 100 to 130 pounds on crabs and shrimp around Government Cut.
On Thursday I got to fish with my nephew Keith Baskette from Georgia. He had a great day catching 3 sailfish, 2 kings, 2 barracudas, 10 bonitos and a 300 pound Dusky shark.
Friday we caught a 28 pound dolphin, a 35 pound kingfish, 8 more kings, 2 small groupers and a bunch of bonito.
Saturday was the bust of the month. We had Ron Garry and his great wife and sons out fishing and the fish took the day off. We worked real hard to catch 10 bonito, a 28 pound king and some bottom junk.
Al Young and his guest fished on Monday the 13th. They caught 10 kings to 34 pounds, a barracuda, mutton snapper, grouper, 7 dolphin, bonito and 3 small amberjacks.
That night Robert Schultz (130 caught 2 tarpon, 2 small kings, a mutton snapper, jack, grouper and ladyfish.
We then spent two days with Cody Lapnow and his school friends Jake, Joe and Casey. They rocked the fishing scene. Day one they caught 2 sailfish, over 20 dolphin, 4 kings, a bonito and a shark. Vertical jigging added 2 big amberjacks, 3 almaco jacks and a 7 pound snow grouper. On the way home we stopped and the guys caught 3 permit to 34 pounds.
Day two the Cody Lapnow gang caught 6 big amberjacks and 6 big almaco jacks while vertical jigging. Surface baits fished while jigging produced a dolphin and two bonito. We took time out to catch 3 permit to 35 pounds and Joe caught a 120 pound tarpon on the way home.
Capt Dick Harris and his wife Cathy fished with us April 16 and 17 evenings. Dick caught three tarpon over 100 pounds and Cathy caught assorted jacks, snappers, grouper and ladyfish.
Kelly, ,his son Kelly and daughters Sara and Emily caught 2 sails, over 30 small dolphin, 2 bonito and 2 big barracuda on the Friday day trip.
Garrett Fisher and his guest caught 3 sails, a bunch of dolphin and 4 bonito on Saturday.
Daniel Stokes and his fishing pals caught a shark, a sailfish, a 20 pound dolphin, a 25 pound barracuda, 6 smaller dolphin, 2 kings, 6 small red groupers and another big barracuda on Sunday. A swordfish well over 200 pounds swam around the boat, repeatedly inspected all the baits and occasional free jumped for over 30 minutes putting on a frustratring show for all of us.
Miami Fishing Forecast:
May is the best fishing month of the year. Sailfish, dolphin, kings and tuna will be ready to eat kite baits and flat line baits. Permit, jacks and mutton snappers will be on the wrecks and tarpon and snook will be loaded around Government Cut. E mail [email protected] and let's plan your trips.
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