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Miami, Florida - Offshore
Capt. Mark Houghtaling
July 17, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers have been all smiles these past two weeks. Up and down the Miami coastline has been non-stop Dolphin fishing. Fisherman is having no trouble limiting out on dolphin catches, and many of the “schoolies” have been big enough to make you think twice about just lifting them into the boat. The action has been anywhere from 4oo feet on out to 1200 feet of water. If you don’t have a depth finder that will go that deep, that’s about four to ten miles offshore depending where you are relative to the coastline. Just look for the birds. The birds “petrels”, have been following the schools of dolphin and are easy to find with a good pair of binoculars. A pair of binoculars with an internal compass is a great help. You may find birds frantically diving and come up empty handed. This could be because the birds have also been following migrating schools of blue runners. The birds don’t care what they’re following, they’re just looking for a free meal, and as the runners and dolphin push bait to the surface, the birds swoop in for the kill.
I fished the edge this week, and came up empty handed, it was very slow. Bait has been very difficult to catch. However some anglers have been catching a few bonito, sails, and a king here and there. No reports in just yet, but we just past a full moon, and my guess is that a few Cubera snapper should have been caught off the north Key Largo area. The July and August moons are notoriously the best moons to try for the big snappers. Night fishing in general should be excellent this time of the year. Mangrove snapper should be going wild along the outer drop-off.
Just a note to any anglers traveling to the islands. A very good friend of mine went to Bimini during the July 4th weekend and had his 27 foot Contender stolen right out from underneath his hotel room. The marina he was staying at even had a nighttime security guard. There has been no sign of the boat. This is the second Contender that I know of being stolen from the Bahamas in the past couple of years. Also, make sure you are covered by your insurance policy while traveling into foreign waters. Many companies will not cover you outside of the US.
Good Luck.
Capt Mark
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