Spring Fishing

Report Date: March 23, 2024

A lot has happened since the last report. Overall sailfish season has been below average this year, but it has not been terrible. We have been consistently putting our clients on sailfish on almost a daily basis, what has not happened is many of the 5 to 10 releases per day. It has been mostly 2 -3 releases a day but now we are stating to see the numbers improve. Just a couple of day ago we went 11 for 17 on sailfish with one angler. Many said it was due to the El Nino weather pattern we have had this year. Experts are already agreeing that El Nino is weakening, and it will be over very soon, if not already. There were a few times this year though, that the sailfishing exploded. There were two days in February where records were shattered. There were at least three boats with over 60 sailfish releases that day. We had a swordfish trip that day and we attempted to go swordfishing despite trying to talk my client into sailfishing instead. After we made it to the sword grounds, the seas steadily increased from 5 to 8 ft to 10 -13 feet. At that point we pulled the plug and headed in. On the way in, I called some friends that were sailfishing and everyone told me to get to the edge and put out the kites as there was a phenomenal sailfish bite going on. We ran in, called the bait guy and bought more bait to supplement what we had. By the time we did all this and got to the edge it was 1:30pm. No more than 30 seconds of getting set up we saw some tailing sailfish and caught a few. The next hour and 45 minutes we caught 17 sailfish. I only wish we had been there all day, who knows how many we could have caught. March and April have been the best months for sailfishing in Miami the past few years and I’m sure this year will follow the same pattern.

We have also had quite a few daytime swordfish charters. We have been very successful with the daytime trips catching at least one swordfish on every trip but one. Our best was about 275 pounds which is a decent size swordfish. We have also been doing a few daytime trips without the use of electric reels. We are using a 50W Penn reel with a custom Biscayne Rod loaded with 50-pound Sufix braid. We use a 200-pound wind on leader crimped with a bait. We attach a 3 lb. lead on the windon on leader and an 8-pound sacrificial steel weight that falls off once we hit the bottom. The 8 pound plus the 3 pound is enough to reach bottom and once on the bottom and the 8-pound steel falls off, the 3-pound lead is enough to keep it on the bottom. Now you can fight your fish in a harness with only a 3-pound lead attached and not a 10-pound lead. We do this for our clients that do not want to use electric reels as well as clients that are trying to complete their Billfish Slam (catching all species of billfish) and keeping it withing IGFA rules. We have worked hard at developing this technique and now have complete confidence in it.

As we approach April, we will start seeing more and more blackfin tunas. A few have already arrived and for the past 2 weeks we have been consistent catching one or two blackfins per trip. Now we should start seeing more and more tunas well into May. Sailfishing has also improved and will only get better in April. Add a few big smoker kingfish and some big mahis and we have spring fishing in full effect. It is my favorite time of year to fish, so look at your calendar and let’s set something up. I only have one day open in March and April is already half booked. Book now and let’s go catch some fish!


Tight Lines
Capt. Dean Panos

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