February Brought Super Tarpon Catches
Capt. Bouncer Smith
February 28, 2010
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
February has been a challenge of cold weather and lack of Gulf Stream current, but we still had some great fishing.
We started the month with Matt from the TV show "Wanna Go Fishing" . We welcomed Matt and his guest Jeff for an evening of tarpon fishing. It took till after dark, but we caught a 70 pound tarpon.
The next morning we were back on the water with Matt and Jeff. This time we had blistering action. They caught a sailfish, 35 pound cow dolphin, 25 pound bull dolphin and a 15 pound king mackerel and made it back to shore for lunch. That was some fun fishing. The series season starts March 27th, so watch for us on ESPN 2.
That night we fished with Roger, Bill and Don. They caught 3 tarpon to 120 pounds.
The next day fished with us catching a sailfish, 5 sharks, a barracuda, a 25 pound king and 4 smaller kings.
Saturday morning we caught 3 sailfish, 2 mutton snappers and 6 bonito with Peter, David and Navarro.
That afternoon we fished with 13 and 14 year old Conner, Bo and Jefferson. They caught a sailfish, 2 big barracuda, 2 kings and 2 spanish mackerel.
Pete and Scott fished Sunday the 7th and caught a sailfish, a shark, 1 amberjack and 1 almaco jack.
Monday morning 14 year old Conner jumped on the boat for a few hours fishing before flying back to California. in 5 hours for caught a black grouper, a gray grouper, mutton and gray snappers, a big jack crevalle, a couple small bottom fish and 9, yes that was nine tarpon. He was a little tired by the time we headed in.
The 10th we had an evening trip on which Matt and Mark caught 11 tarpon and 8 big gray snappers.
The morning of the 11th we caught 3 tarpon, 3 grouper and 3 snappers. The big one was about 125 pounds, but he got away after 6 jumps and about 20 minutes.
Abie ran the boat the 12th through the 14th and caught a bunch of bottom fish, a few tarpon and barracudas.
On the 15th we caught a 60 pound wahoo, a 25 pound king, 10 bonito, 2 dolphin and a 6 pound king with Jed, Marie and Christine.
That evening Mark Sosin hosted Herb and Gail Henzie. Herb caught a 140 pound tarpon.
The 16th Abie ran the boat and caught a couple of sailfish and a couple of tarpon.
The 17th Abie ran the boat with Tom and Peter Kane and caught 4 dolphin to 20 pounds, a tarpon and 3 snook to 20 pounds.
The evening of the 18th we fished with Jerry, Herb and Matt. They caught 2 tarpon, 2 snook, a huge sheephead and 6 nice gray snapper.
The 19th we fished with Collin and caught 3 sails, 2 kings, several gray snappers and red grouper.
That evening we fished with Charles Jeter , his son Mike and grandson Drew. They caught 4 tarpon and a mess of snappers.
The next day Baron, Andrew and Tammi caught a big red grouper, a king, a barracuda, a 15 pound gray grouper, a black grouper and a bunch of gray snappers.
That night Pace High Schools fishing club's best students, Victor, Gaby and Veronica caught a tarpon, a big jack and several snappers. What a bunch of laughs we had.
Charles, Mike and Drew got out again on Sunday and Drew added his first sailfish, 3 dolphin, a king and 6 bonito to his score card.
That night Seth and Ron got 2 tarpon.
The 23rd Charles fished alone. He caught 8 kings, 3 big amberjacks on 20 pound spin tackle, a 35 pound african pompano, 3 big cudas and a bonito.
That night we hit the jackpot of tarpon fishing. Felipe and Edwardo caught 15 tarpon to 100 pounds, 2 big jacks and 10 snappers.
We tried for swordfish on the 24th, but ended the day with a 20 pound pomfret.
Richie and Nick caught 3 snapper, a sailfish, 3 sharks, a nice black grouper and a scamp grouper on the 25th.
Tom, Cindy, Bill and Carol almost froze before catching a big red grouper, 2 snapper, 3 yellow jacks and 25 amberjacks in the 5 to 8 pound range on the morning of the 26th.
That night Brad and his guest caught 4 tarpon, a bluefish and 6 snappers.
Joe, his sons Joe and Jay and Nick caught 5 sailfish, a wahoo, a tuna, a nice dolphin and 6 kings on the 27th. They were back without Nick on the 28th and caught 3 sailfish, 2 bonito and a cuda.
Well, that ends February and brings us into the start of the best fishing season of the year. March, April and May should bring us some super fishing. We will discuss what to catch at Dusky Sport Center on March 11th at 6 PM. Call 954-922-8890 for details.
Miami Fishing Forecast:
March through May should produce great sailfish and tarpon action for big game anglers. We should also see loads of dolphin and kings throughout that time. May will produce plenty of tuna and permit along with all those mentioned above.
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