Miami, Florida - Offshore

One week before the Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament and the it seems the Sailfish are taking a nap. This could be good, because the Tournament is being held April 5th through the 8th, which is a few days before the full moon, and we want them well rested. Sailfishing should be red hot for the event. However, this past week, Sailfishing was nothing to write home about. A lack of current can be partly to blame. Anglers had a tough time finding fish. In fact, fishing in general has been slow. Dolphin were hard to come by. An occasional school would be found along the edge while anglers were fishing for Sails but no consistent action yet. I say yet because any day now Dolphin should start showing up in larger numbers and larger sizes. The first announcement of steady action will come from the south out of the Florida keys but that hasn’t happened yet. This week anglers found huge mats of weed offshore from 300 to 600 feet with few Dolphin around. If those weeds were present four weeks from now they would have been loaded with Dolphin. Bottom fishing has been fair. Best action was found in deeper water fishing for Mutton Snapper from 100ft out to 200 feet of water. My anglers aboard the “Magic Fingers” found two big fish this past week while fishing the deeper wrecks. One fish was fifteen pounds and the other about twelve pounds. They struck live Pilchards fished on the bottom. We read large amounts of fish on the fish finder on almost all the wrecks and ledges, but there was a lack of action. The Amberjack and Muttons were hitting but little else. Fisherman found an occasional Cobia on the wrecks and reported sightings of schools of Cobia following Leatherback turtles. This can be a common event this time of the year. Many anglers will hook a Cobia while fishing on top of a wreck and be surprised when an entire school of Cobia will follow the fish to the boat. Many anglers will mistake a Cobia for a Shark but don’t be fooled. They make excellent table fare. SHALLOW WATER FISHING EXPO The Shallow Water Fishing Expo will be held this year on Saturday March 31, and Sunday April 1, at the Broward County Convention Center at 1950 Eisenhower Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale. This Expo will host a number of shallow water experts, giving continuous seminars on techniques and tips on flats fishing. There will be three full length casting ponds as well as over 150 vendors demonstrating their products relating to shallow water fishing. You can receive a 32 page color program describing the events and highlights of the show by calling 561-562-5069. Check out their web site which will also list the menu of events at www.castlow.com. Admission is $10.00 for adults and kids 14 and under are free. Show hours are Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 10-5. The 2001 Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament will be held from April 5th to April 8th. Thursday, April 5th, will be the final registration and kick-off party. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be fishing with dockside parties each afternoon. Join the “Hooters” girls and sample chicken wings during the weigh-in on Friday. For more information call 305-598-2525 or log-on at www.miamibillfish.com .