Miami, Florida - Offshore

Capt. Mark Houghtaling
February 24, 2005
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report

After a few weeks of very slow fishing in general, things have begun to pick up again this past week. A surprising number of dolphin have been showing up along the edge of the gulf stream. Anglers fishing with live bait have been having the fish show up in their spread and finding them very aggressive at times and then they become very finicky. Fish for the dolphin close in, don’t make the mistake of running a long ways offshore. The deepest I found fish was in 400 feet of water.

This week we have been coming up to the full moon and the sailfish made a nice appearance along with the dolphin. The “bite” has been best in the afternoon but anglers were picking at them all day. The full moon also made the bottom bite successful. We caught black grouper and a good number of African Pompano were caught. Reports of mutton snapper have been reported south of the Whistle Buoy off Key Largo. Kingfish have been small and the majority of them have been found around the “boil” off government cut.

I look for the dolphin fishing to be good while the warmer temperatures hang around. When we have southeast winds you will probably find them more plentiful. A host of sailfish tournaments are coming up around the corner, and I don’t think they are going to disappoint tournament fisherman. I expect to see a strong push of fish showing up in the Miami area in the next few weeks.

Oh, and one other thing I forgot! Swordfishing has been excellent. Angers fishing in the early hours of the evening have been catching swords from fifty to well over one hundred pounds. Many anglers are catching two to three fish a night. Captain Frank Godwin caught a fish of 205 pounds during the full moon.

Good Luck and Stay Hooked!

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