South Florida Spring Inshore Fishing!
Capt. Alan Sherman
April 12, 2008
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing in North Biscayne Bay has started to heat up and with Spring upon us we are starting to see some signs of the Spring Migration taking place. Schools of small immature baitfish like glass minnows, threadfin herring, Spanish sardines and pilchards plus large schools of large silver mullet have moved into the bay and at times attracted the attention of large tarpon, snook, large and small jack crevalles, ladyfish, sharks, barracudas, snappers, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, snappers and sea trout. Although the action has not been hot and heavy at times it has been very interesting. I expect the fishing to only get better as more baitfish schools move in and out of the bay attracting the attention of the predators that are following them.
I have taken possession of my new 22' Pathfinder Tournament Edition with a new F225 Yamaha Four Stroke outboard engine. This boat has almost all of the extras my last boats have had but on this one I have added a Power Pole that has already proven how effective and convenient the tool is and will be. I have only used the boat a handful of times and am still breaking in the engine. As all new boats it takes awhile to get them tweaked out and then to become comfortable with it and this boat is no different. The engine is powerful, quick and responsive and did I mention quiet? Wow! After going from a Hewes 21' Redfisher to a Pathfinder it soon was apparent that the Pathfinder is a true Bay Boat that allows a fisherman to get the most out of a day here in South Florida. Whether it be fishing the grass flats in North Biscayne Bay for sea trout or tarpon or the Finger Channels in South Biscayne Bay for snapper and grouper or running offshore looking for kings and dolphin on a nice day or working Florida Bay, the Gulf of Mexico or Whitewater Bay for snook, redfish and tarpon the Pathfinder does it and all in comfort. You can always tell when a boater has found the boat he likes because when he replaces that boat he replaces it with the same model only a new version and that is exactly what I have done. The pathfinder 22' Tournament is truly the boat for me. Its versatility allows me to do almost everything that an inshore guide with a little offshore experience wants out of his fishing platform. If anyone is interested in a 22' Pathfinder I traded my boat into Bob Hewes Boats in North Miami and that boat is ready to be sold. Yes the engine has 1000 hrs. in three years but just the other day while on the water I was reminded that most of those hours are idling hours in idle zones, manatee zones and at idle while fishing the inlets.
On recent charters in North Biscayne Bay my clients have been having good success with sea trout to 18 inches, jack crevalles to 11 pounds, Spanish mackerel to 5 pounds, bluefish, snapper and barracudas. We have had sporadic action on snook and seen some very large tarpon in the bay but at this time no hook ups.
Fished with Scott and Dick Simons in North Biscayne Bay and caught a fair number of jacks in the five, eight and 10 pound class on Skitter Walks and live pilchards, a few Spanish mackerel and sea trout. Saw a lot of tarpon in Dumbfoundling Bay but could not make them eat. So what else is new!
Had a fisherman named Alex out for a half day trip in North Biscayne Bay and Alex caught 20 sea trout to two pounds on Hook Up lures tipped with a Gulp shrimp plus a small black grouper.
The next day I had Jerome Chaves and his grandson's Spencer age 10 and Jake age five visiting from Jacksonville. Caught a bunch of pilchards and fed them to a school of two to five pound Spanish mackerel. The boys caught over a dozen nice mackerel and lost easy twice that in a short 4 hr. charter.
Had double charters the next day one with a Group Charter that Capt. Jim Hobales set up. I had Kip, Michael and Cory and we tried the mackerel but only had a few hits then went trout fishing where the guys caught at least 30 trout to 18 inches before the charter was up. During the afternoon I had Mel and his wife Mickey on board and went looking for the big jacks and may be some snook but no luck. We turned our attention to the grass flats from Haulover south to Miami Shores and found plenty of sea trout to 18 inches that were eager to eat our ¼ ounce Hook Up lures tipped with a Gulp shrimp. A few mangrove snappers also joined in on the action plus one small Spanish mackerel.
The following day I had the second half of the Group charter and this day I fished Dan, Darrin and Terry for four hours. We started off toward the north end of the bay where a school of threadfin herring had been holding. As we approached the flat terns were diving on frantic fleeing baitfish. I got my 10' ¼ inch mesh Lee Fisher Net out in hopes of getting a good throw on the bait but the schools were scattered and in a rush to get out of the way of the many jacks and sea trout that Capt. Jim Hobales's clients were catching on artificial lures. I quickly put the net away and handed each guy a fishing rod with a Hook Up lure and Gulp bait and a Rapala Twitchin Rap. Instantly and for next 30 minutes every cast was rewarded with a strike. Just like that it was over and time to move on. We headed over to Haulover Inlet and right away saw some action along a weedline rip. I instructed the guys to cast in that direction and all but Terry did just that. Terry cast his jig up against the sea wall and was soon into a large fish. His fish was taking lion e like crazy and after a short 15 minute battle we had the 11 pound jack crevalles in the boat. We took some pictures and released the fish. We fished the area for another 30 minutes but managed only one Spanish mackerel; before finishing the trip catching a couple dozen more sea trout on a flat near the Venetian Causeway.
Today I am fishing North Biscayne Bay with John who is from England. We started the day out catching a few pilchards and then tried our luck and some trout fishing. It took John a few minutes to get the Hook Up lure technique down but soon he was catching or loosing a trout on every cast. After 30 minutes of trout fishing we went looking for bigger fish near haulover Inlet. The water was very clear and other then a huge school of small glass minnows that seemed to be bothered only by the terns we moved on. Back in the bay we located a small school of jacks in the 6 to 15 pound class and John was able to land two a six pounder and a 10 ½ pounder. We were on a ½ day charter and it was time to end the short day.
My last few charters have been in Flamingo and you can go to the Flamingo location to read that report!
Miami Fishing Forecast:
For the next couple of months spawning sea trout, snappers, snook, tarpon, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, sharks, barracudas, ladyfish and large jack crevalles will be moving in and out of North Biscayne Bay as the attack schools of mullet, sardines, pilchards, herring and glass minnows. Artificial lures like the 1/4 ounce Hook Up lures tipped with a Gulp soft plastic, Rapala swimming plugs and live baits fished under a Cajun Thunder cork will get plenty of action from these preadtors.
Target Species:
Snook, Tarpon, Sea Trout, Mackerel, Jacks, Snapper
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