Miami, Florida - Offshore

I had the greatest fishing report to give this week. Dolphin fishing had turned on to unbelievable proportions. Starting in close, were small schoolie Dolphin from two to three pounds. As you moved further offshore, the size of the fish increased to four to eight pounds. These fish were just under gaffing size, and the schools were big. You could find thirty to forty big fish that would just hang under the boat. The only requirement was that you needed live bait. During one outing I went out for a half day trip, and did not catch any live bait. (I should know better!) Sure enough we found a good size school of fish that would not touch a cut bait, however I did manage to entice two fish into hitting a jig. We left the school to find more fish. We found a board that had another school of big fish, but it also had a school of baitfish hiding under the board. I moved a few feet from the board and the school of baitfish ran for cover under my boat, when I threw the cast net over them and caught nearly the entire school. We then proceeded with the chaos. The school of Dolphin went wild and we came home with a nice catch of big fish. This action lasted all week and then it ended. Dolphin became difficult to find during the beginning of this week. A few anglers found a school here and there, but they were reluctant to hit. Some anglers found fish twenty to twenty five miles offshore. There was an increase in the amount of Arctic Bonita in the area. Normally, you can follow birds diving on the school of Dolphin. Now, the birds are diving on schools of Bonita and you may have to investigate quite a few flocks of birds to find a school of Dolphin. This is all normal for this time of year. I think we are at the peak of our Dolphin season. You should start to see the amount of fish start to fall off. I would start to head south in the morning with the hope of running into the next “wave” of fish. Bottom fishing is still good off North Key Largo. Gag and Black Grouper are still being found along the deeper reefs from 120 to 180 feet of water. Live Pinfish are excellent baits. Fishing has been best in the morning. Also a Mutton Snapper is a sure possibility while fishing the same areas. During the upcoming full moon we may see the first spawn of Cubera Snapper. Anglers normally use live lobster for bait, but lobster season will be closed during this moon. I have done very well using large, live blue crabs. I hook them on the corner of their shell with a 16 ounce white jig with a trailing , triple strength, treble hook. I then wire the treble hook with a small piece of ballyho wire to the opposite claw. They will be found along drop offs and wrecks off North Key Largo. You may find that the fish will be on the smaller size during this moon. The average size of fish should be from 20 to 30 pounds. During the moon in August you will find your bigger fish. Some fish possibly pushing 70 o 80 pounds.