Red Hot March Fishing
Capt. Bouncer Smith
March 27, 2009
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Boy! March has lived up to it's reputation as a good fishing month although a bit windy. On the 4th we fished with Hank, Ron and Bob from the Washington D. C. area. They had a good day with 3 sailfish and 5 dolphin to 12 pounds.
Ron and Gary followed the next day with even better action. They released 4 sailfish, 3 big dolphin, 4 king mackerel, a bonito and a barracuda.
The 6th the wind switched to the east and surprising us was the dolphin shutting off. Danny and Kelly did catch 4 sailfish, an amberjack and a bonito.
The next day the wind stayed from the east and the dolphin were back. Spenser caught 2 sailfish, 3 small dolphin, 12 and 16 pound dolphin, a small amberjack and a bonito.
On Sunday we went tarpon fishing for the first time this month. Andrew caught one tarpon and a spanish mackerel.
On the 9th we went tarpon fishing in the evening again. Reed caught 3 tarpon, a couple small kings and a snapper.
On the 10th we did another night tarpon trip. The moon was full, the tarpon were plentiful, but not biting. We got one bite and thankfully caught that one tarpon.
On the 11th we were back to sailfishing. the seas were fairly calm, but the current was running strong. Tom, Jack and 2 guys named Gary caught 5 sailfish, a dolphin, a king and an amberjack. Tom had fished once a year for 3 years with us to catch both his first sailfish and his first amberjack this day. These were the two fish he ask for every year. Last year he caught groupers of 25 and 57 pounds while all his buddies caught amberjacks.
On the 12th Barry caught two sails on 8 pound line and we pulled the hooks on two sails on 6 pound line. We also caught a king, a shark and 3 bonitos on the light lines.
That evening Jack, his wife and office manager caught 3 sailfish and a 100 pound tarpon.
On Friday the 13th we had an afternoon half day. We missed a sailfish and caught 4 bonitos and a dolphin.
That evening we fished with Arleen and Nan. Arleen showed a 150 pound tarpon who was boss. This is our best tarpon so far this year. Nan caught two tarpon of 80 and 100 pounds. They also caught numerous snapper, grouper and margates.
On the 15th we fished with Roberta and her family. Roberta was tournament fishing and caught 10 kings, a spanish mackerel, a grouper, a almaco jack, a amberjack and a mutton snapper.
On the 16th it was calm and there was no current. We worked hard to produce 2 kings and a mutton snapper for our Italian guest. Thank fully they had chartered us from noon till 10 PM. They hooked 6 tarpon on live shrimp and caught and released 5 of them.
We fished noon to 10 on Tuesday with Tom and JW (9 years old) Dade. We tried for swordfish for several hours with no bites. Then we moved to Government Cut and put out the shrimp. The guys then caught and released 7 tarpon to 80 pounds.
Day two for Tom and JW started at noon again. It was rough so we went looking for JW's first sailfish. JW caught his first "Gold Coast Grand Slam" by catching his first sailfish, his first 2 dolphin and 3 tarpon. Tom caught and released a sailfish and a tarpon.
Day three for Tom and JW they brought along Uncle Billy. We fished noon to 10 again. JW got things started by catching and releasing the first white marlin aboard Bouncer 's Dusky 33 in 10 years. It was JW first white marlin as well. JW added 2 sailfish, 6 dolphin, 3 mutton snappers, his very first king mackerel and 2 tarpon. The other guys added a mutton, a big cuda, an almaco jack and 2 tarpon. What a 3 day trip!!!
Eric was fishing with us Friday, when we crashed in the big fish department. Eric was fishing a 8 hour day trip, so we started by trying the tarpon in the inlet. This produced a couple nice gag groupers and a couple snappers. The kite fishing produced 6 dolphin, 5 kings, a mutton snapper, a grouper and a shark. A good catch of fish, but we were hoping to get him a big fish.
Jay and Joe Della Monica had scheduled Saturday and Sunday to target tarpon. Saturday we fished 5 spots for tarpon and saw tarpon in every spot. All we caught were 3 spanish mackerel and a ladyfish. But Sunday we made up for lost time.
On Sunday we started out at 1 PM for a 10 hour day. Over the next five and a half hours we had the best day time tarpon action I have seen in 43 years of this fishing. We had between 25 and 30 bites. We caught tarpon, we jumped tarpon, we had lines break, we caught 3 big jack crevalles. The guys reached the point that they were glad when tarpon jumped 4 or 5 times and then spit the hook.
At 6:30 the guys declared themselves beat. "One last drift and were going home" was declared. A rod bent and they fought over who had to take the fish. Not who got to fight it, but who had to fight it. By 8:10 when we released this big tarpon, they had both fought it, and were worn out. I think dinner and cocktails had to be consumed through a straw. They could not pick up a glass or fork. Final score 8 tarpon, two of which were estimated at 140 pounds, caught and released and 3 big jacks released.
And now we have been blown out for 5 days straight.
April and May fishing is generally much better than March. We have several dates left in April and May, so let's plan a trip. We will be speaking at Dusky Sport Center on April 9th. Call 954-922-8890 for details.
Miami Fishing Forecast:
Sailfish, tarpon, dolphin, kings, tuna and permit will all offer peak fishing from now through May
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