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Fishing reports are provided by professional Fishing Charter Captains and Fishing Guides throughout the State of Florida,
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Fishing Reports -- NORTHEAST FLORIDA (Back to top)

(For contact information, see the Charter Directory)

Captain Jim Hammond - Jacksonville, FL Inshore
Tel: (904) 757-7550. E-mail: : jim@fishingwithjim.com

November 9, 2009

Hot Fall Action

A little change in the temperature and you guessed it, the fishing is superb.

Trout by the truck loads are everywhere. Now, the challenge is sorting through the millions of 14 to 14 3/4 inch fish to find a few for the grease but if you keep at it you should have no problem getting enough to feed the family. Here is what I have been doing to catch a bunch and take home a few nice ones.

Some things you will need: A trolling motor with plenty of juice.

A light action rod and reel. Plenty of 1/4 ounce lead head jigs. Plenty of Gotcha 3 1/2 inch paddle tail Shad Bodies in pearl, chartreuse, pearl and red, chartreuse and black (this has been the color), pearl and black and clear and black.

Mud minnows and or live shrimp.

Some hard lures, like floater divers, top water and suspending. I have been using sizes from 3 inches to the big Zara Spook with real good success on calm days. Windy days, good luck on the top water but the suspending and floater divers still work.

Now that we are ready to go. Head to your favorite trout spots, put the trolling motor down and start casting. Do not spend a lot of time in one area unless you get bit. If you do catch one, work that area pretty good as lately there has not been just one fish. Once I have found them, the action is pretty steady.

These fish are in the winter time mode and will not chase a bait very hard, so what ever you are working, work it slow. I know that the soft plastics I am throwing are getting a slight tug and almost a heavy rod feeling and not a pull the pole out of your hand bite. So work your bait slow and will get more bites.

If you manage to hook up with something that pulls real good and runs from side to side, you might have a real nice bluefish, as I have had a few of those lately in the 8 pound class. Oh, and a few 1/2 trout have come to the boat on the hook and what else could be eating them but bluefish.

If you know where the trout are rounded up, you can put out the anchor and float fish if you can stand the invasion of pinfish that will eat more of your shrimp than will the trout.

We have in this area had some monster high tides with the full moon and nor'easter, so redfishing on the low tide has been pretty tough. But I have managed to work the edges with a small cork and mud minnow to produce a few nice reds. A small live mullet or big live shrimp will also work for these reds. On the days it is not blowing too bad, a great way to catch reds on the higher water is a 4 to 6 inch soft plastic with a 5/0 X-Point worm hook in it, tied directly to the fishing line. My best set up for this is a light Shakespeare spinner on a 7 foot Ugly Stik with 10 to 15 pound test Power Pro. You cast this a mile and it works great over the tops of the mounds. Work it like it is wounded and expect a strike almost like a topwater. The Gotcha 4 to 6 inch Shad Bodies work great for this. Try to rig the lure where the point of the hook is barely sticking out of the back. When you get it rigged up drop it next to the boat and swim it. The tail should be flip flopping as it swims. I like to cast it, twitch it and reel it slowly to get the best action. Change your action around to see what works best for you.

There are still a few monster reds in the river but I expect them to be gone real soon as they make their way back to the ocean. The jetties (when the winds will let you fish there) are still producing big numbers of redfish on the south and north tips. A mullet, crab, squid, big shrimp, cut croaker and silver spoon fished directly on the bottom will generate good bites. I like to send out 4 to 6 rigs, put them in the rod holders and hurry up and wait. When I use live or natural bait, I use a Daiichi 5/0 Circle Wide hook, so almost all of my fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth. With this style of hook, it is best if you wait until the fish is hooked up before you have any interaction with the rod OR you will feel the fish and rare back and set the hook, which is a NO NO with a circle hook. If you just HAVE TO hold the rod while using a circle hook, lift up gently and turn the reel handle when you feel the bite. This will work in getting the hook in the fish but not as good as leaving it in the rod holder until the rod is bent over.

The sheepshead have been on fire with catches of 15 to 50 at the jetties and some rock piles in the river. Almost all of the bridge piles near the ocean should have a few on them as well. There are a few baits that work well on sheepshead but none as good as a fiddler (this time of the year). If you go to the jetties for these hard fighting tasty critters, be careful and do not anchor your boat from the stern. I see several people each year the do that and have big problems.

The whiting are starting to show in the river and sound and with a few pounds of dead shrimp, enough weight to hold bottom, a small hook and being in the right place, you can have a blast and have some of the best eating fish to bring home that you have ever eaten.

If you are going to fish for whiting, keep in mind, how small their mouth is and do not use a bait too big to fit in it. I like to use a Daiichi D82 Circle Wide #1 hook and a piece of shrimp that is no larger than the last joint on my little finger. That is plenty small enough for the fish to get it all in it's mouth and a hook that will set itself. The rest of my rig consist of a sinker just big enough to hold bottom, a small barrel swivel and a mono leader about 6 to 12 inches long.

Great places to try for these are Nassau sound in about 15 to 30 feet of water. I know that is a pretty big range of water depth but they move around. When you get to a spot, DO NOT throw your anchor. Ease it over until it touches bottom then finish letting out the line. Give a spot about 10 minutes and if no bites move to another spot in either deeper or shallower water. When you find them, you should be able to sit on the spot and catch a bunch before they relocate. Don't send out your baits and lay your rod down or it might go swimming. Yes these small fish can snatch your rod, reel and line slap out of the boat, before you can grab it. I have seen it once in my boat and plenty other times on other boats.

The ocean has producing great numbers of snapper and some good grouper (when the weather cooperates). With the water cooling off the fish have moved closer in and runs of 8 to 12 miles are plenty far enough for a good catch. Live bait is always best but if you cannot catch live ones, dead cigar minnows, squid, cut bait and boston mackerel work great. Once you get to a spot, you can always have one of the crew send down a Sibiki rig for some small grunts as they will produce some rod bending action as well as live mullet or cigar minnows. If you want to get froggy, try a small live blue crab. If you do use a live crab, let me know how it worked. A picture of what it caught would be good.

Good Fishing

Capt Jim Hammond

Capt Jim's Fun Fishing Inc.
17184 Dorado Cir
Jacksonville, Fl 32226
904 757 7550

Fishing Reports -- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA (Back to top)

(For contact information, see the Charter Directory)

Fishing Reports -- SOUTHEAST FLORIDA (Back to top)

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Fishing Reports -- SOUTHEAST FLORIDA (Back to top)

For contact information on the Charter Fishing Captains below, see the Charter Directory)

Captain Ron Mallet -- Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miami
Action Sportfishing Tel: (954) 423-8700 e-mail: captron@actionsportfishing.com;

September 30, 2009

It has been a long month and summer. Tomorrow is October and it looks like the weather will give us hope that summer is leaving. It has been a while since my last report, a few reasons for that. I travel and spend time with family every summer and I was gone most of September. Reason being it is one of the slower times of year here for action and business. I did get a few days in this week and it produced Bonita, Kingish and we did have a Sailfish on for a little while. The Jacks were hungry inshore too. The bait is heading our way. I am going out in the morning and feel change in the air. October is the month when good things start to happen again, as long as the weather cooperates.

Sea Ya,

Captain Ron Mallet

www.actionsportfishing.com

FishHeadquarters - Ft. Lauderdale
(954) 527-3460 (754)214-7863
e-mail Captandy@fishheadqurters.com

April 17, 2009

Offshore Fishing in Fort Lauderdale-

The fishing off Fort Lauderdale this month has been phenomenal. It’s April and we’re in the middle of the Spring fishing season and in South Florida that means there are some big game fish offshore. 7-9 miles offshore, there has been a beautiful weed line formation, littered with flying fish and other important baitfish. A few hours spent trolling offshore can be rewarding though, when it all comes together. The months of April, May and June bring with them the big game fish… Bull Dolphin, Tunas, Wahoo, Sharks, Sailfish and even Marlin. This is the season when you can go out there and catch that once in a lifetime fish. The Big Game has been catching some monster sized bull dolphins out there, scatter with some schoolie dolphin, blackfin tuna and the less common wahoo. Offshore fishing has been a pretty sure bet for us lately.

In on the reef, there is some nice action as well. The local wrecks are holding heavy this season. Many of the deep wrecks off the coast of Fort Lauderdale are laden with amberjack, grouper, snapper and sporadic cobia. Amberjacks are especially prevalent this season and can commonly reach 50 pounds or more. With so much activity going on the big game sharks are here for their piece of the pie as well. Hammerheads, threshers, makos, bulls and tigers are some of the sharks we will be catching in the weeks to come. There are some really big fish swimming off our coast. Let’s get out there and catch some of them. Sea ya on the water…

Captain Andy
www.fishheadquarters.com

Capt. Tris Colket
Last Mango Sport Fishing Charters Tel: (772) 559-0594 e-mail: fvmango@juno.com

September 3, 2009

Every Summer Needs a Vacation

On August 8^th Robert Conley, Marion Jones, Devin Silas and I took a break from our summer routines in Ft. Pierce to join up with an interesting group of fisher people headed for the USVI Atlantic Blue Marlin or “Boy Scout” Tournament in St Thomas, VI. While Devin went there to work as a mate on one of the boats, the rest of us were signed up as ‘observers’ to work with the tournament director and world renowned founder of “The Boy Scout”, Jimmy Loveland.
Our 2hr flight out of Ft Lauderdale included approx. 22 of the 36 overall ‘observer contingent’ to St Thomas, where we were treated to a delightful tour of the island and were then dropped off at a rather grand hotel overlooking St. John’s and other tropical vistas. Unlike the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands have some serious topography. Formed in part by volcanic eruptions, the islands look more like Hawaii than the flatlands of my old stomping grounds in the Abacos.
Four days of tournament fishing on 36 of the world’s finest fishing machines was a serious matter for an observer. With prize money in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, decisions made by observers (who fished on a different boat each day!), had to be accurate and concise. Woe be unto the man or woman who made a bad call, as this was very serious business to anglers vying for the prestige and prize money of a win at the ‘Boy Scout’!
All things considered, it was not only a privilege but the chance of a lifetime to be a part of this fascinating event. To top things off on our trip to the USVI’s, the four of us met up with Ft Pierce native Capt Mike Brady, and marlin fished on our ‘lay day’ (one day set aside in the tournament in case of a bad weather day). Marion was by far the star angler catching a 400 lb plus marlin on a ‘pitch bait’ fifteen feet from the transom of the “Cowpoke”! Capt Mike, aka ‘Brady’, also of Ft Pierce, 1^st mate Dewey and 2^nd mate Devin were a finely honed team that day and it was more than apparent that we were under the tutelage of a sage and practiced skipper in the world of marlin fishing. Backing down with unfettered alacrity on all three of our marlin releases that day, Brady added the ultimate thrill to an already fantastic trip.
And….we arrived home to excellent fishing on the Treasure Coast. Well no, there were no marlin, but extraordinary catches of both sailfish and wahoo in 80’ to 200’ have been the order of the day in mid August. Superlative cobia catches were reported between St Lucie and Ft Pierce last week and a steady bite of both AJ’s & kings promise great Treasure Coast fishing into Sept. With tropical storms on the horizon, it looks like the ‘mill pond’ we fished in all summer is a thing of the past, but it won’t be long before the mahi bite picks up and trolling dead bait will be the order of the day!

Tight Lines,
Capt Tris

Last Mango Sportfishing Charters
www.lastmango-charters.com
Ft Pierce City Marina
772-559-0594

Capt. David Ide
Lady Pamela II Sportfishing Tel: (954) 761-8045
e-mail: ladypamela@bellsouth.net

October 3, 2009

Starting off October with a monster Mako Shark!

This afternoon, Captain Paul and Captain Darin set sail with Ryan, his daughter and his wife aboard the Lady Pamela II. Once Captain Paul cleared the port and hit open water, he led the family north to troll the reef. Trolling wasn’t attracting; Ryan’s daughter reeled in a King Mackerel and that was it for the bite. Ryan had something bigger in mind so they headed to a shipwreck in 300 ft of blue water and made a drop. A live bluerunner caught the eye of a nice fish. Ryan was in the chair and ready to reel. Once Ryan battled the fish to the surface, Captain Paul yelled “SHARK!! DARIN, SHARK!” Paul ran down from the bridge and grabbed a shark rig as Darin pulled the Amberjack into the boat. Paul cut a chunk out of the Amberjack to attract the game shark and threw it over the side. At this point, the shark is munching on the bait as Paul set the hook. “Round two Ryan!” Ryan won the 30 minute battle with a monster Mako shark. Once they got a hold of the leader, Paul threw the harpoon and the fish took a run, he was not a happy camper. After a tough 30 minutes, another 10 minute run is brutal on the angler. It was all worth it in the end once they got to see the set of teeth on this bad boy. Awesome catch guys!

Check out our Daily Captain's Log's and Updated Fishing Reports at www.ladypamela2.com

Tight Lines!

Captain David Ide

www.ladypamela2.com

954-761-8045

Captain Taco Perez -- Ft. Lauderdale
Hooked Up Sportfishing Tel: (954) 764-4344
e-mail: info@tacohookedup.com

Oct 23

Ok we’ve been in the boat yard for some bottom work and a bit of much needed TLC on the Hooked Up and now we are itching to get back to the fishing. The only problem is the Hooked Up is still on dry land and our next fishing trip is less than three hours away. But after some hang shaking and a bit of grease here and there it seemed the whole yard pulled together and before we knew it we were back in the water and headed for the dock to meet our anglers for the day.

No sooner than we hit the dock our first angler showed up and she was eager to go fishing. We had Bobbie from Knoxville Tenn. soon after she got there Jerry and his wife Erica from Alexandria Virginia showed up and last but not least Even who was entertains his friend Alex from Columbia South America showed up and we were off and on our way fishing.

We had gathered some live baits from a few of the boats that were sitting at the dock and ran south for about 4 miles we went right to kite fishing.

Once we got our kites set with our live bait suspended from them the wait began. I had Bobbie up stairs on the fly bridge with me and while she was having a few drinks and telling me what a disaster her last fishing trip had turned out to be. Somehow I just knew that with the north current we had and the pretty blue water that this was going to be a good afternoon of fishing. At first it took a bit of penitence but at last it paid off. A sail fish popped up on our left long kite bait and we were Hooked Up.

Bobbie jumped in the chair and the fight was on. It was a back and forth battle for a good 20 min but at last Bobbie got her fish next to the boat. We got a couple of pictures of her sail fish next to the boat and watched him swam away in great shape. Way to go Bobbie!! (A bit better than your last fishing trip huh)

Captain Greg got the baits right back out there and back to fishing we went only this time it didn’t take long till our next bite this time we got Ericka in the chair and her fight was on. This fish never jumped so we figured this one was not a sail fish but all the same he was giving us a tough time to get to the boat the way he kept go down and going in big circles. It turned out to be a nice black fin tuna.

Things were starting to come alive now because it seemed as soon as we got the baits back out there here came another sail fish and the second we hooked him here came anther sail fish.

So now we had two sails on at the same time and things were hopping on the Hooked Up.

Alex jumped in one chair and Jerry jumped in the other and now the double header fight was on.

Sorry to say that Jerry’s fish finally managed to spit the hook but Alex’s fish was not quite so lucky and Alex finally got his sail to the side of the boat for a couple of quick pictures and once again watched his fish swim away in great shape.

Thanks again to all of our anglers for helping us to getting off to a great start after the much dreaded boat yard ordeal.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344

Oct 24

This morning Captain Greg and I got to the boat and we were as eager as you can get to get right back out there and do some fishing after the great day of fishing we had the day before.

Today we had a father and son team looking to spend some time together deep sea fishing aboard the Hooked Up. We had Jim and his son Andrew who was also celebrating his birth day and we were all chomping at the bit to see what today had in store for us.

We started out by setting our two planners down about 45 feet deep and three baits skipping across the surface. We were hoping to catch a few king fish and or bonitos to start out with. And things worked out good. The kings were biting and it seemed we had our limit in no time.

After catching our limit of kings we went trolling out in deeper water to see if we could find any dolphin fish.

As we were trolling around Jim was telling me about how he had been reading some of my fishing blogs and how he had read about us finding a piece of debris floating and how we had caught some dolphin fish off of it. I was explaining to him about how the fish like to hang around just about anything floating when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I seen something floating in the water. As I got closer I realized that what I had found could turn out to be a home run. It was an eight to ten foot branch of a tree and it was floating heavy in the water as if it had been floating for a long time.

As we made our first pass by this tree branch I seen them coming out from under the branch. Sure enough there was some dolphin fish here and there were all nice ones. I don’t know how many we caught on our first pass but I knew that there were plenty more to be caught.

As soon as we made our first pass by we had dolphin jumping behind the boat and other boats seen this? Within 5 min we had four other boats trying to see what we were catching these dolphins under. But as luck would have it this branch was just barely out of the water and most of it was under the water so they were having a hard time finding it. Every time I would make a pass by it I would keep the boat moving and get a good way away from the branch and they just could not find it.

This went on for a good 45 min and I’ve got to say that if I was one of the guys running one of these other boats I would have pulled my hair out.

At this point we had more dolphin fish than we needed and I figured that a little good karma could go a long way so I got on the radio and called the other boats in and showed them what we had been catching the fish from.

Once we got back to the dock we were eager to hang up these fish for a picture and we were a bit surprised to find that we had caught 14 8 to 12 pound dolphins along with our limit of kings. Not a bad day of fishing.

After our fishing trip I decided to go next door to the little restaurant and enjoyed a great dolphin lunch with Jim and the birthday bay Andrew. Thanks again guys for great time fishing and for a great lunch.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) Sea-4344

Oct 25

This morning we set out for a few hours of deep sea fishing off the coast of Ft Lauderdale with Sharon from Michigan and Ian from Scotland.

We went right to trolling the reef with our planner board and three baits skipping across the surface.

Fishing started out with a bang with the kings and bonitos biting like mad dogs. We had our limit of kings and were throwing them back by 9:00 am and we were also catching the bonitos one after another. After we had all had enough of the reef fishing we went off shore looking for some dolphin fish but sorry to say that today we just could not find any dolphin fish.

But everyone had a ball and we had a box full of fish.

Thanks again Sharon and Ian.

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) Sea-4344

Oct 29

Today we had a mom and dad Kevin and Therese and their two sons Brain and Ben from St Louis and from God free Ill out for a morning of deep sea fishing.

We started out trolling the reef looking for some good eating fish so they could have a fish fry later today. The kings were biting and we had a box full of kings within the first hour of fishing. But they were really looking forward to a fish fry and to be honest while king fish are an edible fish they really are not the best of eating so we decided to give some fishing with live baits a shot and see what we could catch.

So in came our trolling gear and out went the kites with live baits suspended from them. It took a bit of patience but soon enough we got our first bite and this one was a dolphin fish. I can’t recall who got in the chair to fight this one but I do remember praying that this one would not get away. Luck was on our side and this fish ended up in the box Ok now a bit of the pressure was off of me but was not going to be enough to get me off the hook as far as their fish fry was conserned and I knew we were going to need a little more good eating fish than just this one little dolphin for the four of them.

We got all the kite baits back in line with the kites and back to waiting we went .Than all of a sudden we had a bite on one of the kite baits and line started screaming off the reef. Before we knew what it was out came this big sail fish dancing all over the surface of the water and we were Hooked Up. This time I do remember who got in the chair and I’ve got to say that Kevin wasted no time jumping in the chair. It was a back and forth tug a war for a good 20 min until dad decided to let Ben give it a shot for a while.

Finally Ben got this nice sail fish to the boat. We got a few quick pictures and a quick measurement to have a replica trophy made of their catch and watched him swim away in great shape. Perfect catch and release great going guys.

Man things were just going so great today and for that matter this whole week. But there was just one more thing I needed to do to make this a perfect trip and that was to catch a little more good eating fish.

I had one more trick up my sleeve and we were running a bit short on time so I decided to pull the plug on kite fishing and try a bit of deep drops to see what we might be able to pull off the bottom of the ocean.

So we went out to 410 feet of water and dropped what we call a chicken rig which is 5 hooks with a weight on the bottom. It turned out to be the right move because we ended up catching what a lot of people have never heard of Tile fish. These fish eat shrimp and crabs so you can just imagine what they taste like. At the end of it all we had more than enough fish for the table and a big sail fish for the wall to boot.

Guys thanks again and hop you have a great dinner.

Captain Taco (9540 764-4344 or toll free (877) Sea-4344

Oct 30

Today we had four guys from Holland that are over here working at the Fort Lauderdale international boat show. Pieter, Gerard, Erwin and Eric were able to get away for a morning of deep sea fishing.

And what a great fun full of catching day we had.

We started out trolling the reef and the king fish were biting like mad dogs. We also caught a big Wahoo and an African pompano while trolling for kings.

Than we ended our trip by doing some deep drops and caught a box full of tile fish.

Guy’s thanks again for a fun morning of fishing and hope you guys had a great fish fry at the

Bahia-Cabana

Captain Taco (954) 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344

Oct 30 pm

Today while out on my morning trip I got a call from my daughter Samantha and she had told me that her best friend Jenna was feeling pretty down because she had lost her farther two years ago on this date and wanted to know if she could leave school early to spend some time with her bud.

I asked her what they planned to do and she let me know that she really did not know what they were going to do. So I came up with this great idea to spend the afternoon fishing.

Ok so the deal was made but first we had to talk Jenna into getting on a boat than she did not know this but she was going to be the one reeling in the fish.

I’ve got to say that this all was easier said than done. But at last we talked her into it and we also talked my son Luis into being the mate for us.

Perfect a fishing trip with no pressure!!

The ocean was so calm that we did not even have enough wind to fly our kites so we sent out four live ballyhoos and started slowly trolling them out in about 400 feet of water.

Everything seemed to be going along quite well Sam and Jenna we up on the bow of the boat getting some sun. My son was setting out all the baits and I was up staring enjoying some music and a ice cold beer when all of a sudden things took a turn for the worse!

Sam and Jenna had come down off the bow of the boat and onto the cock pit with Luis and a good Van Halen (running with the devil) song came on the radio so I cranked it up and I mean loud when all of a sudden this monster sail fish was jumping all over right behind the boat.

I was yelling at Luis to get the rod Luis was yelling at me to watch my rod that I had up on the fly bridge with me and as for Sam and Jenna they were just laughing their butts off at us.

THE FISH GOT AWAY

We checked all the baits to see which one of us was to blame for losing it but as it turned out all the baits looked just fine. We figured the fish was just dancing to the music (LOL)

A few min later we did get a bite and now the hard part was getting Jenna to reel him in. I think it took longer to get the fish to the boat then it took to talk her into reeling in the fish. But when it was all said and done I’m sure she was glad she finally did it.

Today even the fish got a happy ending once Luis got the hook out of the small cobia’s mouth we let him swim away.

We may not have caught a lot of fish this afternoon but we sure as heck caught a lot of laughs and that was really what we were after in the first place.

Thanks kids

Captain Dad Taco (9540 764-4344

Oct 31

Today we had three guys Troy, Al and Roger down from Canada for some golf and a bit of deep sea fishing.

We started out our day with a bit of trolling on the reef looking for some king fish and bonitos. Today the kings were not biting quiet as well as they had been but we did end up catching three kings and we also caught two monster bonitos both over 20 pounds and a couple of dolphin fish witch sure were a pleasant surprise.

We ended our day looking for some more good eating fish so we did some deep drops looking for some tile fish but as luck would have it they were all small tile fish.

All in all everyone had a good time and then everyone enjoyed the afternoon at the Ft Lauderdale international boat show.

Guys thanks again and hope you guys enjoy eating those fish for dinner.

Captain Taco (9540 764-4344 or toll free (877) SEA-4344

Fishing Reports -- FLORIDA KEYS (Back to top)

Islamorada Sportfishing -- Islamorada Offshore, Reefs, Bridges, Flats & Backcountry
Email Info@IslamoradaSportFishing.com

November 12, 2009

Florida Keys Fishing Report

Provided by:

IslamoradaSportFishing.com

Offshore:
Capt. Brian Cone out of Robbie’s Marina on Lower Matecumbe filled his livewell with Pilchards and took a ride out to the 409 hump. Captain John T. on the Suzanne met him there with live cigar minnows. Both boats had a field day on the Tuna up to the high twenties in weight. The method is to toss “freebies” out on the Hump and wait for the Tuna to start “bustin’” the free swimmers. With a live bait fixed to a 4/0 hook on a 20# spinning outfit a reasonably accurate cast is all that is needed. The Tuna have good eyesight and no cutting teeth, so the heavy leader of Dolphin season is not needed.

Reefs:
Well, it is happening on the reef right now, as the Sailfish seem to have moved in and taken up residence along the upper Keys reef. Few charters are getting booked to fish, but those that do are encountering Sailfish on a regular basis. Capt Jeff on the Genesis released two Sails this week and Captain Kevin on the Motherload released one Sailfish. The King Mackerel are in good supply; although most captains use their depth finder to mark the Mackerel and establish a depth at which to hang the bait. For the Kingfish the bait of choice is a live Pilchard, but Ballyhoo and Cigar Minnows will work well. Capt. Paul Johnson on the Reef Runner says he has great success with de-boned Ballyhoo as well.

Gulf and Bay:
Calm water has made for an easy ride to fish the Gulf areas. The water has begun to cool down some and this means the action will heat up. The variety of species available is great. The Spanish Mackerel will for sure be the most sought after and caught in the greatest numbers. For the Spanish, look for off color water and anchor down with a block of chum overboard. Cast jigs with soft tails or fix a Shrimp to the jig. Along with the Mack’s are Snapper, Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Tripletail, Sharks, Cobia and more.

Flats, Backcountry and Flamingo:
Right off the bat we need to announce that the Sea Trout season will close in November and December in the South region. Also look for the Grouper closure come January. Find the booklet at tackle stores published by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for Florida Fishing regulations. It is published in January and July. As for the fishing action in the Flamingo area, it has been terrific on the Snook. Guides are releasing a dozen or more Snook on an outing. Speaking of Regulation, the Snook season will close as usual December –January – February in the everglades and South region.