What A Spectacular Month!

Report Date: April 25, 2019

The conditions off of Miami have been epic. We have had purple blue water as well as strong north current. These two factors plus it is springtime has meant only one thing, and that is incredible fishing off of Miami. Sailfish are snapping. Our best day we caught 11 out of 14 sailfish. Our customers had just gotten off of a cruise so we didn’t start fishing until 10:30am and by 3pm they were worn out and we heading in. That's some pretty good fishing for basically only a half-day. The day before that trip we had and absolutely gorgeous weather with crystal blue skies, a slight chill in the air and absolutely no wind. Usually no wind is not good for sailfishing, but when you have 3 knots of north current and purple blue water, wind is not as important. We caught 9 sailfish that day and all but one was caught on spinning rods. We also had one day a week or so ago that we got covered up in sailfish. We had two kites out with three baits on each kite and we hooked 5 sailfish at one time. Even with only two anglers we managed to catch 4 out of the 5 sailfish and then proceeded to catch two more singles. So as you can see the sailfishing is on fire in Miami right now.

Besides sailfish we are seeing good numbers of blackfin tunas. Gone are the 5 to 15 pound tunas and now we are catching the 20 -35 pound tunas. Our biggest this year is still only 28 pounds but I’m sure we will get them in the 30-pound plus range very soon. The tunas have been biting both flatlines and kite baits and have been hitting throughout the day. As we get into May, the blackfin bite will be getting better in the late afternoon. We can cater our trips to start at noon and fish till dark so we still get a full day in but have better chances of catching bigger and more blackfins. It also doesn't hurt the sailfishing since in the late afternoon the sailfish bite is usually very good as well.

Swordfishing has been great all winter long but it seems to have slowed down a bit about two weeks ago. We did a day sword trip this week and were lucky enough to catch a beautiful 180-pound swordfish. This fish put up quite the fight, especially at the end. We would get the sword almost to the boat and she would take out 100 feet of line. This happened about 10 times. Leo our mate took a great dart shot with the swordfish still down 25 feet and nailed it!!

April is now pretty much over and it has been the best month of the year in regards to fishing and business wise. May is usually just as good as far as fishing but we still have quiet a few days open, so with great fishing in Miami both now and forecasted for the month for May, it is time to book your trips. Whether its sailfish, blackfin tunas, swordfish and very soon mahis, May is the month to do it!

Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos

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