Fishing Reports

The fishing reports you see below are from a Outdoor Florida Magazine. It’s a state wide publication that I give the monthly report for Miami and Fort Lauderdale fishing.

Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

2004

2005

2006

2004

August 2004
When the sun goes down
Anyone who lives in South Florida knows how brutal the heat can be in August. The best way for me to beat the heat, is to fish at night. All of the inlets and bridges throughout the intracoastal will hold Tarpon and Snook for red-hot catch and release action. For those of you looking to put something on the table, Mangrove Snapper should be in pretty good supply as well.

What To Look For
My first recommendation if you’re new to night fishing would be to scope out the area you plan to fish during the day. Don’t plan on going very far, just pick a couple of spots and fish’em hard. Most every bridge within a couple miles of an inlet will have active fish at a particular stage of the tide. What you need to do, is get out there and figure it out. I can’t say which stage at which bridge, because there are so many and they are all unique. I will tell you, you do need flow. By flow I mean some type of current in or out. Most Snook fisherman prefer out going tides and I favor an incoming on some spots for the small Tarpon. The reason I look for current is because, when there’s no flow the fish tend to wander or meander around.. When the waters moving they don’t want to expend the energy, so they tend to find structure and stack up. Another key to picking a good bridge would be, the lighting. Generally the more distinct the shadow line, the more consistent that bridge will hold fish.

What To Feed’em
No matter what time of year I like to have a few dozen live Shrimp on board. This time of year the only place I’ve found that has nice Shrimp is Tarpon Tackle in North Miami Beach 305 948-9397. Carl get’s some in the summer, that are as sweet as the best winter Shrimp runs. Tarpon Tackle also has all the Crabs, Pinfish, and Pilchards you need. All of these live baits are excellent for Tarpon, Snook, and Snapper. I usually carry a little bit of everything. Often, you can see fish actively feed on the surface. Try to see what there chasing and match the hatch. There are plenty of great articials as well. For sight-casting I love to throw Gambler Jump’in shads and the old reliable D.O.A shrimp. You can also use lipped plugs as well, like Yo-zuri crystal minnows.

The Set Up
I have two ways I like to approach a bridge. One is setting up, uptide of the shadow line, and free lining a bait back. The other is casting a jig or knocker rig up current and bouncing it back to me. Free lining works better when the fish are feeding higher in the water column. While the other is deadly on fish down low. Both are effective and take a little time to perfect.

Keep it Simple
Figure out a knot system that is easy for you to tie in the dark. I’ve seen people take 20 minutes re-rigging out there and sometimes that was your window of opportunity. I like to double up 24 inches of main line via a spider hitch. Then, tie my leader to that via a double surgeons knot. Tie a loop knot on my hook and rock n roll. Remember this is catch and release fishing this time of year and if you don’t know how to fish circle hooks, you need to learn. Gamkatsu octopus circle hooks fished properly are the only way to go.

Tackle
I use 8 to 20 pound gear for these fish. All Chaos custom rods, Shimano spin and Plug reels, and Ande line.

Catch’em up,
Capt. Gavet Tuttle

September 2004
Increase your chances, fish for what's biting!
What I like to do is take advantage of patterns and migrations of fish to help tip the scales in my favor. In September this means the opening of snook season. I’m expecting a really good season in the areas I fish, due to the fish showing up a little late than usual. Hopefully this means they will stick around a little longer. Most snook fishermen will tell you word travels fast among those linesiders. There should definitely be a few around for those who put the time in. I will also be looking for big schools of tarpon to start showing up in north biscayne bay later in the month.
On the offshore scene fishing has been red-hot! I teamed up this summer with an old friend of mine, Capt. Steve. We’ve been running offshore trips together with tremendous success. Steve has been fishing for a living for over 20 years and is extremely efficient at finding fish. We don’t waste a lot of time with bait, usually a couple throws with the cast net and were off. It’s not uncommon to have at least a couple hundred live bait on our charters. So even when the fishing is tough we can still create something by live chumming. The reef has been producing lots of bonita and kingfish of late, and this would be a great time to catch that bonita on fly. Where we’ve had our most success though, has been dolphin fishing. We’ve had several fish in the 35 to 40 lb. class and tons of fish over the 20 in. min. I’ve dolphin fished here for a long time, and have never caught the quality of fish since teaming up with Capt. Steve. We’re looking forward to some more dolphin action and hoping to mix in some nice wahoo’s in September. So now, whether it’s inshore or offshore in the Miami or Fort Lauderdale area, we’ve got you covered.
Tight lines,
Capt. Gavet

October 2004
Here come the bait fish!
Well the fall migration of bait fish is underway. On several recent trips I’ve encountered plenty of school’s of finger mullet, pilchards, and sardines. Most recently the predators were right there with ‘em. Lot’s of seatrout and jack crevalles tearing them up. This should continue to improve, as cold fronts start to make there into Florida. Sending the bait scurrying for the warm south Florida waters. It won’t be long before the sharks, tarpon, and snook let their presence known.
First thing you need to have is a live well. Second, you have to get bait. Now there’s 2 ways to get bait. Buy or catch. If your fishing in the Haulover area you can buy live pilchards from Carl at Tarpon Tackle in N. Miami Beach 305 948-9397. If your on the water in the Haulover area you can call Lester Wenger at 954-557-8501. Both are good guys, and takes great care of their regular customers. If you decide you want to catch it, there’s 2 ways for that. Either sabiki rigs or cast net. Cast netting is my preferred method, because it’s usually much less time consuming and I can have ample supply. To me, catching bait can be just as important as catching fish. So, learning to throw a cast net is crucial. There are plenty of videos available. Go to evergladesoutfitters.com and they got the videos and the best prices anywhere on West coast nets and cesars nets. Call the owner Bill Stuerner up at 239-777-3565 and let him know where you fish and what kind of bait. There are lot’s of nets to choose from, take his advice on the right net for you.
Now that you got bait, it’s time to find something to feed’em to. Inshore or offshore I like to watch the birds. Where the birds are feeding, the gamefish usually aren’t far behind. If you have fish actively feeding on the surface cast right in the mix. If you see a school of bait, but no predators. Fish around the edges or put one on the bottom.
We’ve had lot’s of success on recent trips, both inshore and offshore. Stan Greene and Sharon Swan teamed up to catch over 40 Dolphin up to 42 pounds. Charles Snyder of Light house point caught seatrout, jacks, and went 1 for 2 on tarpon. The father and son dou of Adam and Peter Weitzman had an awesome half day of catching! Adam started with 2, 14 pound kings and a 86 in. Sailfish. Then we came back inshore and he caught a 12 pound crevalle followed by a 50 pound tarpon, 20 pound barracuda and then dad caught a 65 pound tarpon. What kind of slam would you call that? Right before Frances came we had some good sailfish action with Brian and Johnathan from New York going 3 for 3 on sails.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Gavet Tuttle
954-448-1211
www.backformore.com

December 2004
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report

Cool temps, hot fishing!
As I write this today, we are experiencing the coolest day since last winter. As these cold fronts star to come through on the regular basis, water temps will begin to drop rapidly. Don’t be discouraged though, because there are still plenty fish to be caught. You may have to change your strategy a little bit, but here are a couple things I like to do.
One thing I always do with cooler water is slow my retrieves down. As the temperature drops the fishes metabolism begins to slow down. So there not as aggressive, and not as willing to chase after something. Another thing I like to do is fish a little deeper water when I’m fishing the flats in north biscayne bay. Instead of fishing the flats in 2 to 4 feet of water, I’ll work areas of 3 to 6 feet of water or even deeper. Seatrout will be back in season as of January first and snook will be out of season. Tarpon fishing should really begin to heat up as winter progresses. If you want a shot at fish over a hundred pounds, we are entering that time of year. So don’t let that cool weather keep you in that warm bed. Get out there and catch some fish!
Recent Adventures!
Dave Gallup and wife Trish teamed up to catch tons of jack crevalles, trout, and 6 snook up to 27 inches and went 0 for 1 on tarpon in north biscayne bay. Steve Chippendale fishing with his brother and father had a great half day catching a bunch of mackeral up to 6 pounds, and an awesome 13 pound snook. Stan Pierson fishing with brother in-law Jim had a great night snook fishing, going 13 for 18 with a few keepers and a 14 lb. crevalle. John Deerman caught a couple nice dolphin, groupers, snappers, and missed a sailfish, before boating a huge 55 inch kingfish

2005

January 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report

Cool temps, hot fishing!
As I write this today, we are experiencing the coolest day since last winter. As these cold fronts star to come through on the regular basis, water temps will begin to drop rapidly. Don’t be discouraged though, because there are still plenty fish to be caught. You may have to change your strategy a little bit, but here are a couple things I like to do.
One thing I always do with cooler water is slow my retrieves down. As the temperature drops the fishes metabolism begins to slow down. So there not as aggressive, and not as willing to chase after something. Another thing I like to do is fish a little deeper water when I’m fishing the flats in north biscayne bay. Instead of fishing the flats in 2 to 4 feet of water, I’ll work areas of 3 to 6 feet of water or even deeper. Seatrout will be back in season as of January first and snook will be out of season. Tarpon fishing should really begin to heat up as winter progresses. If you want a shot at fish over a hundred pounds, we are entering that time of year. So don’t let that cool weather keep you in that warm bed. Get out there and catch some fish!
Recent Adventures!
Dave Gallup and wife Trish teamed up to catch tons of jack crevalles, trout, and 6 snook up to 27 inches and went 0 for 1 on tarpon in north biscayne bay. Steve Chippendale fishing with his brother and father had a great half day, catching a bunch of mackeral up to 6 pounds, and an awesome 13 pound snook. Stan Pierson fishing with brother in-law Jim had a great night snook fishing, going 13 for 18 with a few keepers and a 14 lb. crevalle. John Deerman caught a couple nice dolphin, groupers, snappers, and missed a sailfish, before boating a huge 55 inch kingfish

February 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report

Firing on all cylinders!
This is the time of year when a little versatility go’s a long, long way. There are several options and many cards to play in February. First, Biscayne bay has been a great place to hide from the wind and catch lot’s of fish while you do. The seatrout, jack crevalle, and occasional snook have been plentiful throughout the bay. I’ll normally favor the leeward flats whenever the wind blows over 15 mph. This time of year they will be more out to bite all through the day. Jig and shrimp combo on the slow side for trout, and fast for the jacks is the way to go.
Between cold fronts when I’ve been able to venture offshore, the fishing has been excellent. The sailfish have been feeding real well from 200 feet of water in to 90 feet of water. Quite a few nice kingfish have been biting around the 90 foot depth. Spanish mackeral have been providing a lot of action right of the beaches. If you can locate the mackeral and you’ve got live pilchards. It’s hard to beat on light tackle.
This is also the time of year when I’ll start to do some bass charters in the everglades. As the water levels fall and the flats begin to drain. All I can say is “ducks in a barrel”. You can really go out there and clobber them. It hasn’t been red hot yet, but as the winter go’s on it will get better and better.
Finally there’s the big show! The big show is 80 plus pound tarpon on 20 pound tackle. That’s what I’ll be doing every morning or evening until June. As long as mother nature allows. I will fish for the big tarpon at some point of every trip for the next 4 months. Evenings are more consistent, but there are still plenty of fish caught the first couple hours of day break. I like to finish my night tarpon trips with bridge snook fishing for good measure. The fly fishing for snook has been awesome of late. So get out there and catch some fish!
Recent Adventures!
Pat Murphy fishing with his brother Fred teamed up to catch 6 or 7 nice snook before Pat locked into a beautiful 42 in. 24 pounder. Marty Matiloni caught 8 different species of fish before landing 4 nice snook on fly. Jim Pascucci and father in-law Robert Pierce teamed up to catch 8 jack crevalle’s between 10 and 15 pounds along with a few seatrout. Adam Weitzman fishing with his dad Peter got his first taste of getting spooled. Adam hooked what we presumed to be a monster kingfish, which preceded to spool 200 yards of 20# test in a couple of seconds. They did manage to land 5 or 6 others. After a slow morning of bass fishing with Alice Belusko and her brother John. We headed out to north biscayne bay where we caught seatrout, jacks, and bluefish.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Gavet

March 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Elephants eat peanuts!
Inshore
Well the after a couple of cool weeks water temps look like there starting to rise and the tarpon fishing has been hot. The end of February saw lot’s of day’s with temps in the mid to high 60's, and although you may see lots of tarpon. Getting them to feed is different story. On those days however, we were able to catch spanish mackeral, yellow jacks, blue runners, and a couple permit. Now that the water has warmed a little, the tarpon are really on the feed. As we get near the full moon you will notice the bait shops typically have small shrimp. Remember elephants eat peanuts. Don’t think that a 100 pound tarpon will turn down shrimp, because it’s to small. I’ve caught many fish over 100# on shrimp the size of my pinky. They look a little funny with that 7/0 gamkatsu sticking out of their head. They do get the job done, none the less. If you want to get out there and try it. Stop by tarpon tackle in north miami beach. Get yourself a few dozen hand picked shrimp. Then go hit the inlets, bridges or the beaches. Hang on tight! If you really want to increase your chances. Give me a call.

Offshore
On the trips we’ve run offshore the fishing has been exceptional. The kingfish action has been steady, with a nice mix of sailfish to keep you on your toes. Dolphin have also been crashing a few parties as well. If you really want something to pull on. The wreck fishing has been going off. We’ve had some really nice gag grouper. Between the tug-o wars with the monster amberjacks. I’m starting to book trips for the summer dolphin fishing. June and July should be the time to reserve a spot.

Recent catches
In the photos are Ml with here first tarpon and Paul with 1 of many snook he caught on fly. Eric with a nice snook. Shawn Maloney with a nice gag grouper. Jeff Harris with his biggest tarpon to
Tight lines,
Capt. Gavet

April 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Elephants eat peanuts!
Inshore
Well the after a couple of cool weeks water temps look like there starting to rise and the tarpon fishing has been hot. The end of February saw lot’s of day’s with temps in the mid to high 60's, and although you may see lots of tarpon. Getting them to feed is different story. On those days however, we were able to catch spanish mackeral, yellow jacks, blue runners, and a couple permit. Now that the water has warmed a little, the tarpon are really on the feed. As we get near the full moon you will notice the bait shops typically have small shrimp. Remember elephants eat peanuts. Don’t think that a 100 pound tarpon will turn down shrimp, because it’s to small. I’ve caught many fish over 100# on shrimp the size of my pinky. They look a little funny with that 7/0 gamkatsu sticking out of their head. They do get the job done, none the less. If you want to get out there and try it. Stop by tarpon tackle in north miami beach. Get yourself a few dozen hand picked shrimp. Then go hit the inlets, bridges or the beaches. Hang on tight! If you really want to increase your chances. Give me a call.

Offshore
On the trips we’ve run offshore the fishing has been exceptional. The kingfish action has been steady, with a nice mix of sailfish to keep you on your toes. Dolphin have also been crashing a few parties as well. If you really want something to pull on. The wreck fishing has been going off. We’ve had some really nice gag grouper. Between the tug-o wars with the monster amberjacks. I’m starting to book trips for the summer dolphin fishing. June and July should be the time to reserve a spot.

Recent catches
In the photos are Ml with here first tarpon and Paul with 1 of many snook he caught on fly. Eric with a nice snook. Shawn Maloney with a nice gag grouper. Jeff Harris with his biggest tarpon to
Tight lines,
Capt. Gavet

May 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Don’t let the summer time blues catch you!
Inshore
With summer rapidly approaching. The mid day heat will start to take it’s toll on the bay fishing. The best way to counter punch the heat is by, fishing early and fishing late. Fishing the low light conditions will really increase your chances with most of north biscayne bays inshore species. Slick calm mornings can be a great time to work top water plugs like the yo-zuri banana boat over grass flats in the 3-5 foot depths. Another great artificial to use is a gambler twitch’in shad, rigged on a gamakatsu 4/0 wide gap hook. The most likely suspects will be seatrout in the 12 to 20in. range. But, don’t be surprised if a snook or jack crevalle jumps on it. The same thing go’s for the evening bite. After those thunderstorms blow through in the afternoon. It can cool the water temps a little and get those fish chewing before the sun goes down.

Offshore
On the offshore scene. Look for lots of dolphin being found under birds and floating debris. I like to fish over the reef for kingfish, sailfish and bonita first thing in the morning. After the sun gets up a little bit, it makes it a little easier to locate the birds, or find any floating debris. Fishing offshore can get tough in the middle of the day as well. A good way to draw a strike during that middle of the day lull. Try trolling a bait on a down rigger. Getting that bait down deep can make the difference in the summertime conditions.

June 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Don’t let the summer time blues catch you!
Inshore
With summer rapidly approaching. The mid day heat will start to take it’s toll on the bay fishing. The best way to counter punch the heat is by, fishing early and fishing late. Fishing the low light conditions will really increase your chances with most of north biscayne bays inshore species. Slick calm mornings can be a great time to work top water plugs like the yo-zuri banana boat over grass flats in the 3-5 foot depths. Another great artificial to use is a gambler twitch’in shad, rigged on a gamakatsu 4/0 wide gap hook. The most likely suspects will be seatrout in the 12 to 20in. range. But, don’t be surprised if a snook or jack crevalle jumps on it. The same thing go’s for the evening bite. After those thunderstorms blow through in the afternoon. It can cool the water temps a little and get those fish chewing before the sun goes down.

Offshore
On the offshore scene. Look for lots of dolphin being found under birds and floating debris. I like to fish over the reef for kingfish, sailfish and bonita first thing in the morning. After the sun gets up a little bit, it makes it a little easier to locate the birds, or find any floating debris. Fishing offshore can get tough in the middle of the day as well. A good way to draw a strike during that middle of the day lull. Try trolling a bait on a down rigger. Getting that bait down deep can make the difference in the summertime conditions.
Photo’s Adam and Peter Weitzman with permit, Stan green and Sharon Swan with Dolphin and Jeff Harris with Tarpon.

July 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Fort Lauderdale/ Miami Report
Lobster time!
Every year around the first week in August lobster season starts. That first week is usually going to be the best. So get your gear ready and hit it hard. Once the lobster traps are out it gets tougher by the day. I would start on the shallow reefs early in the season and work to the deeper reefs later on down the road. The reason for this is because a lot of the lobsters you find out deep in 40 to 90 feet of water will have eggs. Which hopefully everyone knows, you can’t harvest. It’s extremely obvious when they’re carrying eggs. It’s like a bright orange sponge stuck to their belly. In the first part of the season you can find them in little rock pile right off the beach. From John Lloyd to Haulover there are all kinds of nuck and crannies. The best thing to do is go out on a slick calm morning and use your gps to save spots before season starts. As far as catching them, there’s not much to it. It takes a little time to figure it out. My best advise would be to take your time and be as discrete as possible. If there’s more than one in the hole, you want to get him out, without disturbing the others.

August 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Fort Lauderdale/ Miami Report
Lobster time!
Every year around the first week in August lobster season starts. That first week is usually going to be the best. So get your gear ready and hit it hard. Once the lobster traps are out it gets tougher by the day. I would start on the shallow reefs early in the season and work to the deeper reefs later on down the road. The reason for this is because a lot of the lobsters you find out deep in 40 to 90 feet of water will have eggs. Which hopefully everyone knows, you can’t harvest. It’s extremely obvious when they’re carrying eggs. It’s like a bright orange sponge stuck to their belly. In the first part of the season you can find them in little rock pile right off the beach. From John Lloyd to Haulover there are all kinds of nuck and crannies. The best thing to do is go out on a slick calm morning and use your gps to save spots before season starts. As far as catching them, there’s not much to it. It takes a little time to figure it out. My best advise would be to take your time and be as discrete as possible. If there’s more than one in the hole, you want to get him out, without disturbing the others.
Offshore
The dolphin fishing should continue to be excellent. We should start to see some bigger size schoolies passing through. Live bait has been great for the schoolie’s. I’ve been trolling a couple of chao’s pro-jet heads to find the schools. These are great lures cause I can troll them at very high speeds and then slow down when I get back with the birds or whatever it is I’m working. You just can’t do that with ballyhoo, unless you reel them in.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Gavet

September 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Fort Lauderdale/ Miami Report
Fall Migration
September is a good month to start to prepare for the fall migration of baitfish. As the first cold fronts of the year begin to cool things off, for our neighbors to the north. It also lets the baitfish know it’s time to return to sunny south florida. This typically takes place the latter part of September or into October. Every year is different so just try to keep up with local fishing reports. Once it begins , look for schools of finger moving down the intracoastal. They will be getting harassed by a all types of inshore gamefish. Jack Crevalles, Tarpon, and Snook just to name a few. After the finger mullet, come the bigger mullet. They’ll be cruising the beaches and moving in an out of the inlets. These fish are often surrounded by sharks and other gamefish.
To catch some of these fish. Your gonna need some mullet, and would suggest ordering a castnet now if you don’t have one. I recently got an awesome 12 foot ½ in mesh from Bill at evergladesoutfitter.com and it was at my door the next day, and it was 50 bucks cheaper than I could find anywhere else. If your not used to throwing a castnet I would start off with a smaller net. Like a 8foot 3/8 mesh and work my way up. I would also pick up a video on throwing it. If you how to throw a net already, go with that 12 footer I got. It’s made be Westcoast nets and is the best net for the money I’ve found. Give Capt. Bill Stuerner a call 239-348-2753 and he’ll take care of ya.
For those offshore fishermen. There’s a great new shop in town. Recently, Chaos rods and lures opened a retail shop in pompano beach. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it really came out nice. They’ve got hundreds of custom rods to choose from and every type and color trolling lure you could imagine. There’s a free crimping station. So you can rig your own lure’s or better yet. Make your own daisy chains. There’s a cool little library and video library where you can check out videos for free or bring your old stuff for fellow fishermen to check out. There’s a ton of gear and tackle for all types of fishing. Go see it for yourself at 590 S.W 9th Terrace Pompano Beach, Fl 33069 or call them 954-782-8500 chaosfishing.com

December 2005
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Cool Changes

Inshore
December can really bring on some interesting weather. Cold fronts should be pouring through with regularity. Keep an eye on the radar, before heading out. These fronts can produce extremely violent weather as they pass. However, once they pass, chamber of commerce weather follows! Cool crisp air, and clear blue skies. In the bay, expect to see good numbers of seatrout, jack crevalles, and spanish mackeral. When the waters a little chilly, I like to work the deeper water off the edges of grass flats in the 4 to 6 foot depth. The standard shrimp under a popping cork or working a jig/grub combo slowly along the bottom, will get you plenty of action. These fronts, will also trigger the start of the shrimp run, and when the shrimp run, so do the tarpon and snook.

Offshore
In December, Spanish mackeral can be an absolute blast, on light tackle! I like to fish some of the shallow reefs from haulover to government cut. These fish can be caught on all types of live and artificial baits. I like to cast a 1/8 oz. Jig head with a medium size shrimp. My typical set up would be. 7ft. 8-17lb. Chaos spin rod, Shimano stradic 4000 with 8 lb yo-zuri hybrid line. 40 lb mono leader. If you get into them thick. Prepare to do a lot of re-rigging. With that set up, you will get the most enjoyment out of each fish you catch. 4 to 8 lb. Mackeral will really make that drag scream. Sailfish will be back on the main stage for next several months. If you want to take a day and target them. This would be an excellent time. Multiple hook-ups aren’t uncommon in December. While you wait for those sailfish bites, there should be plenty of kingfish to keep you on your toes.

Photos
Thats Doug Giles with his largest snook 34in.
Doug and friend with a lemon shark.
After catching almost a dozen dolphin offshore. Jeff Putman caught this tarpon on his first cast.
Steve Chippendale’s first tarpon.

2006

January 2006
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Tackle a tarpon, dance with a sail or better yet, both!

Inshore
January really starts the season for most charter captains, then it’s full on till the end of May. A couple months of freezing temperatures up north and the snow birds are on there way. I’d be on my way to, if I couldn’t use my boat for 4- 6 month’s out of the year. With the abundant supply of shrimp. The tarpon will be hanging out for the next 5 months. If you’ve always wanted to try to land one of those monster tarpon. I would book a trip soon. The average fish over the next 5 months will weigh close to 90lbs. Out of the 74 trips we targeted tarpon, only 6 times did we not land at least 1. 53 of the tarpon caught last year were anglers first tarpon ever. So you don’t need to be a pro, you just have to get out there and do it.

Offshore
January is a great month for sailfishing. I like to get out after coldfronts pass through, but anytime the seas allow. There’s where you’ll find me. I like to fish a very basic set up. Because I fish out of a smaller boat, I like to keep things simple.
I typically put out 1 kite with 2 live baits. Either threadfins or pilchards. Off the other side of the boat I’ll have 2 flat lines with live bait and 2 lines with a couple ounces of lead to a small piece of wire. The key for me is cast netting extra bait to live chum with. Live chumming is not allowed in tournaments for a reason. However, it is a great way to make something happen in a short period of time on a charter.
I’ve recently been trying out a couple new products for a company called justcastnets.com. They send me a really nice 12 foot net that’s enabaling me to catch bait in some deeper water. I’ve also been using a power braid they sell. It’s called dyneema and works as well or better than any other braid on the market. Recently I’ve been using it while wreck fishing and have been totally impressed with the sensitivity at some of the depths I’ve been fishing. They’ve also got some really nice topwater plugs the snook have been tearing up. Check them out at justcastnets.com.

Photos
Thats Galen Webster with his first tarpon and the next day he and his buddy caught a double of snook on fly and his first tarpon on fly. Doug Duncan with a nice jack while his buddy works on one.

February 2006
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore

Inshore

It’s really been nice having this bigger boat. December and January are typically my toughest month’s to fish inshore. So I find myself fishing offshore more than inshore for those 2 months. Lot’s of rapid changes in water temps can lead to tough fishing. You also won’t always find the fish in there usual hang outs. However, the next 3 months are some of my favorite to fish in the bay. I love the fact that the wind can be blowing 20 plus mph out of any direction and you can still catch a ton of fish in north biscayne bay. The most likely suspects willbe seatrout, jack crevalles, and snook. I’ll catch more trout over 20 inches in the next 3 months, than I will the rest of the year. Even though seatrout are in season, if you catch a fish that is obviously full of eggs. Please use discretion when keeping these fish. For some reason they have the season closed when they are not spawning, and open when they are. Tarpon season is in full swing. Book an evening after work and go have a blast.

Offshore

The spanish mackeral fishing should remain solid. The sailfishing on days of good current, has been arguably the best it’s ever been. Some of the tournaments boats are putting up outrageous catches, sometimes over 30 sailfish a day. On almost all my recent trips we’ve had enough dolphin to make a couple nice meals. Also for all you offshore guy’s. The Miami boat show is this month and Chaos rods will be there with a ton of rods and lures. If your in the market for a swordfish set up, or deep drop. Whatever your looking for I’m sure they will have it. Also justcastnets.com will be there giving cast net throwing lessons. It’s typically a busy week for me, but stop by the shearwater both and ask for me.

March 2006
Fort Lauderdale/ North Miami Beach Report
Inshore/ Offshore
Take a kid fishing
Inshore
March is a great month to take a kid fishing. With Spring break right around the corner. Now is the time to take that day and get those kids out on the water. For the kids 10 and under there is lots of rod bending action to be had. In North biscayne bay in’s not uncommon to catch up to 40 fish in a half day and mix in about 6 different species. For those teenagers looking to flex there muscles for mom and dad. The average tarpon in March is going to run 75 pounds and on my full days we’ll be targeting sharks in that same size range. As of right now, I have openings the 16th through the 22nd . I also have some ½ day mornings and night tarpon trips open in the early part of the month. April is another great month to get out there and that’s pretty wide open. Air and water temps are typically ideal for both, fisherman and fish the next 2 months. My approach to fishing the next couple of month’s is very simple. Whether you’re novice or pro, young or old. There will something for everybody.

Offshore

Spring time king fishing get’s the call. This is an excellent time to catch your limit of kings while waiting on your sailfish bites. On a recent trip we had a fish or lost a fish on every bait for 5 and a half hours straight. All these fish were between 8 and 15 lbs and caught on 10 lb spinning outfits. The first few runs of a king caught on light tackle are phenomenal. You’ll find most the bites coming in 80 to 130 feet of water. If I’m targeting kings I’ll use 10 to 15 lb. Test line. A 12 inch piece of #3 wire to a 4x treble hook. If you want the baits to dive down. Hook them from underneath the throat. Or, to keep them more towards the surface. You can hook them through the bridge of the nose. Watch out for the birds!

Products
This section of my report is going be dedicated to products I use on the daily basis, that I’ve found to work. When you clean your boat over 200 times a year like I do. You start to look for things to make your life easier. I recently hooked up with Starbrite products. I actually got a crash course in cleaning products and learned a lot of the stuff I was using, was causing more harm than good. For instance, that dish soap we’ve all used a time or two. Instantly takes the wax off your gelcoat. Just like it removes grease from your dishes, it’s doing the same to the wax on your boat. Now I’m using strictly Starbrite orange boatwash for my daily cleaning. When the dirt get’s a little built up on the non-skid, I’m using starbrite non-skid deck cleaner. This product cuts the time I clean my boat by 50%. Nothing makes me happier, then when I use a product and it doe’s what it’s supposed to. I can truly say Starbrite Products do just that. You can find them in any marine supply store.