Fishing is on Fire in Miami
Capt. Nick Gonzalez
February 28, 2013
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Epic Sailfishing- February 20th
We left the dock at 8 am. We already had some goggle eye, thread fin herring, and pilchards but we stopped for extra bait. We loaded up on big pilchards and officially had a beautiful live well. We then headed straight out front and popped the kites up in about 150. There were about 1.5 knots of north current and conditions looked pretty good. It didn't take long before we had a triple header of dolphin. We landed 2 of the 3 and reset our spread. We slid in shallower to about 115' and a sailfish came up on our short. He swiped at it but we couldn't connect. After a little longer, we had a second shot at another sailfish. This time we capitalized.
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We continued to fish shallow and between 100-120', we had nonstop action for the rest of the morning. We ended up having a double header on sails and a few more singles. We also caught a bunch more dolphin, several kingfish, and even hooked 6 bonito at once. We went through about 60 baits and had rods bent the entire time. Check out this video from the double header- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7arM7RatUk
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Final Tally- 6 for 7 on sails, 8 dolphin to 20 pounds, 2 kingfish to 20 pounds, and 7 bonito
Great Snook Fishing and a Tarpon- February 20th
Fished for a few hours in North Biscayne Bay on the 20th. We used live bait and jigs but tonight the live bait out performed the jigs. We caught 4 snook and got absolutely worked by some huge mystery fish. We also caught a nice tarpon after a 3 minute fight with 20 pounds of drag on 80 lb braid. 3 of the snook were in the slot (2 came home for dinner).
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Final Tally- 4 snook to 38". Got our limit with 2 in the slot. Also got a 70 pound tarpon
Big Seatrout in Biscayne Bay- February 12th
We had a request to try and capture some seatrout during a 3/4 day charter in Biscayne Bay. We went to one of our favorite grass flats and began working artificial lures with some live bait. During the incoming tide around the pilchard schools, we managed some big seatrout to 24 inches. When the tide switched, we headed to another spot where we caught our share of jacks and bluefish. Overall it was a great charter with rods bent most of the time. We also tallied up 12 seatrout (our target quarry).
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Final Tally- 12 solid trout to 23 inches, jacks, and blue fish
Great Fishing in Flamingo- February 11th
On the 11th we had a west wind and poor conditions in Flamingo. Fortunately, over 15 years of experience helped Captain John put his guests on fish anyway. We had a lot of action from many different species. Redfish, seatrout, and even a snook crashed the party. By the end of the day we had put together a decent catch.
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Final Tally- 6 redfish, 10 trout, 7 black drum, a snook, 5 sheepshead, spanish mackerel, snapper, jacks, and ladyfish
Miami Fishing Forecast:
The past week we had a stellar bite off Miami. Sailfish, tarpon, snook, swordfish, and more were caught. The fishing picked up following the first genuinely significant cold front of the year. With a few more cold fronts heading our way, expect it to get even better.
The weather will be pleasant and should bring more fish down. There are several cold fronts moving into our area. Temperatures will be dropping into the low 50s at night and the low 70s during the day starting on Thursday night (Feb. 28th) and lasting until at least mid next week. These cold fronts will be accompanied by light to moderate north winds. What does this imply for fishing in Miami for the next few weeks? Perfect weather and lots of fish. Winter sailfishing at its finest.
Offshore, the fishing during the past week was phenomenal. The average boat caught 5-10 sailfish per day with dolphin and kingfish mixed in (we caught 6 sailfish, 2 kingfish, and 10 dolphin on Wednesday). We even heard a few reports of up to 20 sailfish being caught in one day. With the cold fronts moving through this week, the bite this weekend might be even better! We can expect a lot of sailfish to be caught on the edge. A conservative estimate would be double digit shots if you are in the right place with the right bait. Fortunately, the Double Threat crew already has about 1,000 live baits which we have been feeding. Book a charter and we'll put you on the sailfish. In addition we can expect some dolphin on the edge with a few bigger fish thrown in. We might have a shot at a kingfish or wahoo as well.
Inshore, the tarpon and snook fishing has been excellent in Biscayne Bay. During our last trip, we caught 4 big snook and a 70 pound tarpon. The snook are in season so expect an awesome meal if you catch one in the slot. There have been many big seatrout during daytime charters in Biscayne Bay. Flamingo has been a little slower on the colder days but we have still managed to catch over 10 redfish per trip with seatrout, black drum, and snook mixed in.
Check out this short video of a double header on sailfish from last week- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7arM7RatUk
Target Species:
sailfish, tarpon, swordfish, snook, redfish, mahi-mahi, snapper, and more
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