Miami, Florida - Offshore

This week we saw record cold temperatures put a chill on us and the coastal waters as well. Without a doubt the colder temperatures will affect our fishing. As always finding bait inside the bay will be nearly impossible. Pilchards will put on a disappearing act as soon as the bay waters get below 72 degrees. I haven’t found out where they go. They either leave the bay or hug the bottom where the birds can’t see them and you can’t detect them on your depth finder. However, there should still be plenty of bait outside of the bay around the markers and patch reefs. Prior to the cold front, Sailfishing was terrific from Key Largo to Miami. Fish were found from 90 to approximately 150 feet of water. There was no “hard” edge but a consistent northerly current, and fairly clean water, provided plenty of action for the kite fisherman. Mixed in with the Sails were sporadic waves of Dolphin moving through. At times there were so many Dolphin you would have thought it was the middle of June. Then, as fast as they showed up, they were gone again. Look for the Dolphin action to be in close along the edge of the reef where they will be searching for flying fish. The Dolphin have been averaging between 3 and 10 pounds. Almost all the Dolphin action I found was while kite fishing with live bait along the edge, however, I’m sure you could have caught plenty by trolling lures in this same productive area. King Mackerel fishing is on the rise. More and bigger fish have been moving into the area. I found bigger fish midway between Triumph Reef and Fowey Light. They should be common up and down the reef from Key Largo to Miami. One angler reported good Spanish Mackerel fishing inside the bay off Marker 21, which is located just inside Biscayne Channel near Stiltsville. The fish were averaging 3 to 5 pounds and were hitting live Pilchards and jigs. They caught a dozen Mackerel on an incoming tide while chumming with frozen chum. They even caught a few Bluefish. Sounding like the old days may be returning? We can only hope. The cooler water temperatures can really turn on the patch fishing. Might be worth a try in the coming weeks prior to the next full moon. Also a shrimp run should be in the works almost any night now, if it hasn’t happened already.