Miami, Florida - Offshore

Sailfish have made an assault on the waters off Dade and Monroe Counties. Common catches of two to three fish per day are occurring on a daily basis. With only occasional periods of fishless days , that may only last a day, Dolphin, Kingfish, and Mackerel have also been making an appearance. The best Sailfish action has been the area north of the Whistle Buoy off north Key Largo, Triumph Reef, and the Monument Buoy off Key Biscayne. Best depths have been 100 to 180 feet of water. Almost all of this action has been with the use of kites, and live bait. A surprising number of larger Dolphin have been showing up under the spread of kite baits. This past week twenty plus pound fish were brought in to the docks, and plenty of school size Dolphin were mixed in with them. The bigger fish have no trouble taking your larger baits, i.e. Goggle Eye and Threadfin Herring, but it’s a good idea to have a few smaller baits on board for the smaller Dolphin. I try to make it a point to catch a few Pilchards to toss to the smaller Dolphin when they appear around your boat. Wahoo catches were also made by live bait fisherman this week. This time of year begin to look for large Wahoo around the area of Molasses Reef in the Keys. Anglers in the know will troll high speed lures around this reef in search of big Wahoo. Best time is early morning and usually not too far offshore. You may find them anywhere from 100 to 400 feet of water. Other anglers I spoke with did well fishing along the edge of the stream for Yellowtail. Mike Pellini fished south of Fowey Light in eighty feet of water and caught plenty of legal size Yellowtail and an occasional Spanish Mackerel just before dark. He then moved inshore to do some bully netting, and found 14 legal lobster in a matter of a few hours. Bully netting is a great alternative to jumping in somewhat frigid waters this time of the year. Lobster are always on the move and can be found moving across shallower water during the night. A bully net is a large landing net that is bent at a ninety degree angle to the handle. The “bugs” are located with a spot light on the flats and the net is placed over the top of them. A quick scoop of the net and they’re in the cooler.