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Miami, Florida - Offshore
Capt. Mark Houghtaling
May 10, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
You got to love the month of May. There is a great variety of fish of available to the offshore angler this month. Dolphin are beginning to pour into our area. The anticipation of the dolphin is great enough, but this month we also start to see the larger dolphin migrate into our area. On Thursday we baited three fish over thirty pounds and found a school of dolphin that we all in the eight to twelve pound range.
The kingfish bite has been better that ever. From Triumph reef to Government Cut, anglers have been catching limits of kingfish from six to thirty pounds. The area just south of Fowey light has been terrific. We found most of our fish from 160 feet to 90 feet and caught them on the kite as well as on the deep rigs. But we caught them all using live bait.
Blackfin Tuna are still roaming the area off Key Biscayne. Fish have been averaging twenty pounds and up. Anglers are catching them using live bait flown from kites. One captain caught eight fish during a trip this week.
Sailfish are still here, but if you want to catch one, you had better hurry because they won’t be here too much longer. Typically the end of May to the beginning of June will be the end of any type of consistent sailfishing.
Many fishermen are anticipating the full moon in May in hopes of catching a good Mutton bite. Muttons have been under great pressure the past decade and the spawns we used to see off our area are all but gone, so I don’t see a great bite happening. Don’t get me wrong. There will be a few anglers finding a good school of congregating fish but the bites of past years are over until we get some serious legislation in place to help restore the Mutton stocks. When we interrupt the Mutton spawn we are only killing breeding fish that are replenishing our stocks for years to come. If I had a say in the rules, I would make it illegal to possess a Mutton during the months of May, June, and July.
I was at the ramp last weekend (Matheson Hammock) and it was a joke. Serious overcrowding. We have a serious problem in Dade County with the boat ramp situation. There has not been a new ramp built in years to accommodate all the boats we have. Not only do we not have enough boat ramps but the one’s we do have were built so long ago they can’t accommodate the larger boats that use the ramps today. If we can’t have new ramps then we should redesign the one’s we have so that everyone can use them. Dade County has no problem taking our ramp fee money but that money probably ends up in the general fund and not going to the ramps. Let me know you opinion. E-mail me and I and other Captains may start a grass roots campaign to get something started with our county commissioners. Tight Lines!
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