Fishing Reports
Almost Here!
Report Date: March 12, 2015
Springtime is almost here and in my opinion, April and May can offer some of the best fishing in South Florida, especially when it comes to variety. The next two months, there will be plenty of sailfish around and if last year was an indication, April will probably be the best month of the year. This year the sailfish has been mediocre and there have been very few banner days. In the past two weeks the sailfishing was ok but not great and was a bit of hit or miss. Our best day we went 5 for 6 and we had a few days with two and three fish but we also had a few days (mostly on the half days) when we didn't get a sailfish. The good news was that there were plenty of mahis around and some really big ones. Two weeks a go we scored on 40 pound plus mahis twice in one week. We caught a 40 pounder while we were offshore in a school of 5 to 15 pounders and then while kite fishing we caught a 42 pounder. Besides those two big mahis, we had plenty of gaffer size fish for the past two weeks. April is also known as one of the best months for big mahis on the edge so I am excited about that.
April is also when we start getting into the spring kingfish, which are usually much bigger than the snakes we catch in the fall and winter. I did catch one king close to 40 pounds last week, which is a good sign that the bigger kingfish are on their way. One of my favorite fish to catch and a fish that shows up every April and May is the blackfin tuna. We have been catching an odd one here and there in the winter, but have not seen the run of the bigger springtime blackfins. Those 25 to 35 pound blackfins on 20-pound test really put up a fight and everyone is looking forward to them.
Besides the sails, kings, and tunas, the big AJ’s are on the wrecks as well as an occasional snapper and grouper. In April the weather usually calms down a bit as well and that means more daytime swordfish trips. As I mentioned from my last report, we did have one scheduled swordfishg trip a few weeks ago and we did have success. We had three bites and caught and released one swordfish. It’s been a while since I had three bites in one day so things are looking good.
Next week the new 350 Mercury Verados go on the boat and I am really excited to see the performance from these babies. I hear that the fuel economy is also great on these motors.
As I mentioned before, we are getting into spring, which is an awesome time to fish in Miami. I have 4 open days in March and about 10 in April so if you want to get in on the fun, give me a call and lets catch some fish!
Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos
