Log
-
Sep 9Dolphin off Miami Beach
We headed out with the intention of dropping for swordfish and catching some dolphin while out there (dolphin off Miami Beach are always a possibility). We made quick work of bait near bug and began the long trek out to the sword grounds. Upon arrival the conditions looked nice with a light east wind and manageable 3 knots of current. After a couple drops and no action we were distracted by some mats of weed sliding toward us. We hooked into a decent dolphin on a livie we had off the rigger opposite from the sword rod. We began retrieving the sword bait and kept an eye on the weed. After getting the sword bait up we went into dolphin mode. Its pretty common to find pelagics while out swording. Today we were lucky enough to run into schools of dolphin off Miami Beach near the sword grounds. We ended up catching about a dozen fish to 8 pounds and refocused on swordfishing. Unfortunately some pretty severe storms started sliding toward us ...
Read More -
Sep 1Snook Season in Miami
Snook Season in Miami, September 1st-December 15th After checking the tides and making sure all our gear was packed up, Captain John and Brent loaded the wells with baits and looked for the fish. We arrived at the spot at a great time and it didn't take long... The tide was ripping but only minutes after setting up the first drift did John connect to the first fish of the night. After a short battle, the first slot fish was iced down in the cooler. It was a great way to start the season. A few minutes after Brent got a solid strike, and was worked by a large fish. After a solid battle this overslot fish came aboard for a few pictures before being released. Snook have a very specific slot, they must be between 28 and 33 inches to be kept.The action was hot at the beginning of the tide, but slowed significantly as the current picked up. We managed 5 solid fish for the night (2 in slot). All ...
Read More -
Jul 30Snook Fishing in Government Cut Miami Florida
Snook Fishing Charters in Government Cut Miami With a gorgeous night in the forecast we headed out to our snook hole. We made a quick stop for bait and loaded up accordingly. The last several trips to this spot had produced excellent results and we were hoping tonight would be no different. We set up and began our routine. David got the first strike and after a quick but brutal fight, an 8 pound cubera made it to the gaff. Cubera Snapper in Government Cut We reset after the commotion and continued working the area. The next fish was a slob snook. Steve was on the rod in an effort to catch his first. After a couple minutes we landed him for a picture, dehooking, and a release. We kept working the area until the end of the tide. Our efforts produced some more very nice fish-We missed a few fish but the night was certainly a success. Everyone got a chance to pull on some big snook. Snook fishing in ...
Read More -
Jul 26Miami Beach Fishing Charters
Miami Beach Fishing Charters literally occur right in front of the famed Nikki Beach and the adjacent venues that have made South Florida the cultured area that it is internationally known for. Government cut, the key shipping lane that brings both cruise ships and container ships to port holds a variety of gamefish that many anglers wouldn't even expect. Tarpon and snook are caught with regularity, with snapper, grouper, sharks, jacks, and many others will also intercept baits before either tarpon and snook can reach them. We headed out on the Blue Yonder with high hopes after a previously stellar night in North Biscayne Bay. Tonight's tide would be less favorable but more convenient as it was an evening trip. We loaded up on special baits and hit our spot. Things started off a tad slow as the sun lowered behind downtown. Our first fish was a nice jack crevalle. Shortly after, a small tarpon jumped out of the water after a live bait but didn't even ...
Read More -
Jul 23Miami Inshore Fishing Reports
Today's Miami Inshore Fishing Report is focused on tarpon and snook. Government Cut has been on fire lately during the night bite, with pinfish taking a very large share of slot snook and prehistoric tarpon. After checking the tides and seeing a window of opportunity for a hot bite, we headed out. We left the dock at about 11, giving the group just enough time to fill the well with our top secret baits. Among the snook and tarpon candy were pilchards and even a ladyfish. We couldnt wait to see what rose to eat that... We made it to the cut and setup our first drift. Fishing the Blue Yonder, we managed two flatlines off our bow rod holders, and three snook baits off the stern. Action was fast and furious tonight, as the tide slowed something crushed the ladyfish off the flatline. A large tarpon jumped and shook his head for a few minutes before he threw the hook. After we reset Grossman hooked up and successfully boated ...
Read More -
Jul 21Blackfin Tuna fishing in South Florida
We got a late start and headed out for bait on a beautiful Saturday morning. There was a decent east wind and we were hopeful about the potential fishing conditions. It is late July and the summer pattern has set in with the exception of certain days when the wind kicks up. These days are a treat as you can catch fish you'd otherwise expect in Spring. Blackfin Tuna fishing in South Florida is ussually best during Spring, but as we know there are no fences, and fish don't follow calenders. In addition, you don't need to go far searching for dolphin because the edge can be hot. We already had some nuclear pilchards in the well that I have caged up and I'd been feeding for weeks. We still opted to load up with more bait. Palm sized jacks were thick at Bug with a small layer of pilchards still holding to the south of the mark. They were tough to paint on the sonar ...
Read More -
Jul 14Snapper Fishing in Miami
Snapper fishing in Miami has been exceptional lately. We got out for a night time snapper fishing excursion Saturday, with some time thrown in with the kites. We left the dock at 4:30pm with 3 dozen penned up baits in the well. A 15 knot east wind kicked the ocean up nice, so we couldnt help but grab another few dozen pilchards and hang them off the kites. Pilchards are still thick E-ESE off the mark about a 1/4 mile out. We got a few in the nets, but we got full strings of sabikis so theyre still there. We arrived south past fowey at about 545, and got the first baits in the water not long after that. Great water color and current in 145, and it didnt take long before the first bite. First fish was a solid bonita that we boxed for bait. After resetting that mid, another two lines went off. One was a fat bonehead, and the other a football blackfin. We headed further south and trolled along the way, ...
Read More -
Jul 8Deep Sea Snapper Fishing in Miami
Deep Sea Snapper Fishing in Miami with The Double Threat Crew is a night time adventure that is unlike many of our other trips. Tonight we trailered the Grady down to Blackpoint Marina to Launch South for some bottom fishing action. Armed with a bunch of spinning reels, a case of chum and 20lbs of oats, we headed out of Caesars just after dark and set up in 65' with a solid North Current. We had issues with our windlass so we werent able to set the anchor until 930 or so. We began chumming the area heavily and it wasn't long before the first mangrove came over the gunnel. As the night continued we were able to chum the Snapper all the way up to them chum bag, hookups occuring only seconds after letting baits back. This went on for the next 3 and half hours. There are a ton of combinations of terminal gear we like to try as we establish the chumslick. Some of us were armed with small ...
Read More -
Jul 7Dolphin Fishing Charters in Miami
Well after having a blast last weekend, the owner of the 36' Contender wanted to go look for dolphin again. We left the dock at about 6:30, filled the wells with pilchards (still holding strong off the mark east of Bug) and headed ESE looking for signs of life (the typical start to most dolphin fishing charters in Miami). A 12 knot Eastern breeze kicked the sea up a bit, but it was still a beautiful day on the water. The plan was to look for flotsam, birds, or signs of fish, and pitch livies to the fish. The owner preferred not to troll so an array of spinners were rigged and ready with 5/0 matzuo j-hooks and 10 ft of 50lb Ande leader. Running and Gunning for Dolphin At about 730 we spotted our first few birds working a sargassum line in 1100'. There had been plenty of weedlines, but no life to speak of up until that point. The birds were holding over a small pod of schoolies so we got the skunk off the ...
Read More -
Jun 30Sportfishing Charters in Miami
To start, Dolphin are the perfect targets for offshore sportfishing charters in Miami. The eat virtually anything, love to jump and take ridiculous runs, fight hard, make great table fare, and are a blast on light tackle. The day started off bright and early at 630 am. Clear skies and light west winds made for calm conditions. We headed offshore on a clients 35 contender in search of dolphin. Reports of larger fish were promising as we headed out. We stocked the baitwell and armed an array of spinners for casting baits under birds or weedlines, and trolling gear with artificials to cover fishy areas. We planned to cruise along at a fast pace to cover water. We made he trek past 400' and hadn't seen any signs of life. Same for 600' and 800'. At 900' we saw a few loose weedlines but no bird or bait activity. Finally at 1100' we began to see larger pods of fliers. We trekked back and forth between 1200' and 2000' when we finally saw a few birds working a ...
Read More -
Jun 22Kite Fishing in the Rain
The morning started off clear with a 9 or 10 knot breeze, but of course that didn't last long. We braced ourselves for a day of kite fishing in the rain. After spending a few minutes searching, we found the pods of pilchards 1/2 mile east of bug and filled the well in short order. We headed south and put the kites up on an edge in 150'. The light winds only allowed us to fish 4 baits. At about this time the first clouds came through and storms began to form offshore. After a half hour we had to pull the kites because of the rain. We moved offshore a ways and cut the engines in 375 to begin a beam-to drift in the flat ocean. We had just set the bow flat and deep rod (among the 6 other baits in the cockpit) when the deep rod went off. A few minutes of fighting had an angry bonita boatside. Feder reset and redeployed the deep rod, which went off minutes after with another angry ...
Read More -
Jun 21Offshore Miami Fishing Charters
We left the dock at about 730 ready for anything. This time of year serves as a transitional period for fisherman. Fish have thinned out on the edge, and winds are typically lighter than winter, so kite fishing isn't so easy. At the same time though, pelagics are few and far between offshore so trolling usually turns up an equal amount of action. After filling the wells with bait we decided we had enough wind to pop the kites up. We settled in an area just south of fowey, popped six kite baits up, a deep rod, and a flat line and began the waiting game. Action was slow to say the least. The radio was dead, and those that ventured offshore found nothing so they returned to the edge to soak kite baits as well. At about 1130, something smoked the right short and took off on a blistering run on the blue side of a deep rip (220'). The angler had just gotten comfortable when whatever it was bit through ...
Read More -
Jun 18Miami Sailfishing Charters
Kite fishing is the name of the game on every one of our Miami sailfishing charters. By using kites, we are able to suspend 3 baits from one kite line, keeping frisky live baits struggling on the surface. 2 kites, 6 baits, and blue offshore waters make for serious sailfishing conditions, especially when you add wind and North current to the equation. Clear skies and an 18 knot ENE wind made it seem like midwinter in South Florida, not mid June. The weather was perfect for popping the kites up, so after spending some time loading the wells (pilchards were thick 1/4mile off bug) we headed out. Dirty water and sargasso were everywhere out front so we headed south. We finally found a rip in 190 with cleaner water a few miles south of fowey and popped the kites up. We had a cutoff right off the bat, then a pair of small dolphin came through. One munched the right mid and stole the bait then came to the right short where he found the ...
Read More -
Jun 8Light Tackle Kingfish in Miami
Live Baiting for South Florida Kingfish A few inconveninces in the morning had us out a bit later than expected. But things took a turn for the better when we got our share of bait, and headed for the edge. In the Spring you can have your shots at landing light tackle Kingfish in Miami during a full day offshore trip. Kingfish are most at home in the middle of the water column. When the weather roughens up they are usually eager to eat kite baits and flatlines, but more often than not a well presented mid-depth bait will get bit 9 times out of ten. In spring, 40-50lbers are not uncommon, and today we even boated one without wire leader. Dead Drifting for Kingfish We cut the engines in 140 and began our dead drift with 6 kite lines and 5 flat baits with a jig working everywhere in between. Only minutes into the drift did the kings crash the party. First bait out was a gog on the cabo, which got ...
Read More -
Jun 4Key Biscayne Snook Fishing
The group decided to hit a special spot in Biscayne Bay for a night of Key Biscayne snook fishing. Supposedly during the outgoing tide last night the bite really picked up. The plan was to capitalize on what would hopefully be a stronger tide promoting more feeding activity. The last couple trips were very successful and hopefully this one would be more than what we anticipated. We loaded up with bait (super secret spiny fish) and headed to our spot. The bite was hot... with fish popping periodically and fast bites. The first fish was in the mid 20 inches and was released quickly. After pulling the hook on another, we landed a 35'' fish. After this guy we caught another snook in the mid 20'' range. After that we caught another cookie cutter fish around 33''. We kept at it with our drifts and lost a few more mystery fish that couldn't be stopped by locked down drags. We eventually caught another snook around the same size which was just ...
Read More -
Jun 2Dolphin Fishing at Night in Miami
Full Day Miami Fishing Charter With a group of bachelors and a full crew the Blue Yonder headed offshore to find some fish. We had an entire afternoon and night planned out for the lucky group that booked our full day trip, and it entailed a lot of different techniques. We stopped at bug and tried to get some last lively baits for the kite (we had a full livewell of chummers but they werent looking so hot). We headed offshore at about 630 with a couple dozen more livies and popped the kites up in 180 to begin the waiting game. Kite fishing with Live Bait About a half hour into our drift a big bonehead slammed a deep jig, succesfully wiping the skunk off the boat. Flyers started showering off our left kite soon afterwards with football blackfins in hot pursuit. Our long got slammed and after a short fight a nice little blackfin made his way to our cooler. The guys were excited about the action and when we ...
Read More -
Jun 1Early Morning Blackfin Tuna Fishing off Miami
After preparing swordfish rigs for multiple hours the night before, captain and mate decided to sneak offshore and checkout the early morning blackfin tuna fishing. Bait was thick off the mark near bug at sunrise, so we spent some time loading up the wells with fresh liveys. An hour of throwing the nets and sabikiing had both wells thoroughly blacked out and fish boiling next to the boat. Figuring they were big jack crevalle, we pitched baits into the fray. Oddly enough though they were very large bonita. We hooked up to two and released them quickly so we could get to the edge. The weather was not in our favor for flying the kites, as heavy showers and light variable winds came through the area. The fish didn't notice the weather though and after setting only four flat rods and a deep rod in 120, the first flat went off. A short fight later had a keeper cero mackerel in the box. After the plague of remoras we'd ...
Read More -
May 30Afternoon Sailfish Charter in Miami
We left the dock at 2:30 for today's afternoon sailfish charter in Miami. We pulled about 3 dozen baits from the cage. After getting out a ways we realized the breeze had picked up from the morning providing perfect conditions to fly the kites. After stocking up on another few dozen Pilchards off bug, we headed south of Fowey to set the lines. After getting the first baits out, we knew the afternoon wasn't going to be easy. Remoras harassed any and every bait that hit the water, ranging from kite baits to flats and deep baits. One by one we pulled the sticky suckers over the side, having to reset kites numerous times over the first hour and a half. A few cutoffs on the flatlines had us rerig a few spinners with wire (we left fluoro rigs out for the ever present tuna), but again, the remoras beat out the kingfish to the baits. With the stiff breeze and dead calm ocean we decided to cut the engines ...
Read More -
May 25Catching Cobia in Miami
Today we left at 7 and headed to bug. Pilchards were thick off the mark and we bumped around until we caught enough for the morning. Only took about 15 minutes. Water on the edge was nasty out to 400 or so. Green water and no current... The rain and tropical storm winds from the day before had things pretty stirred up out there, but the foggy green water was clear enough to spot cobia as they cruised along the edge. They look almost like sharks as they slowly swim looking for an easy meal. Catching cobia in Miami today was very sight oriented, where the captain intercepted the free swimming fish with the boat. This allows the baits to intercept the crusing fish. Bump trolling livies didn't produce a hit between 60' and 200'. It seemed pretty dead until Girard spotted a decent cobia cruising south in about 90'. We dragged the baits in front of him and put the reel in free spool after he inhaled the pilchard on the right short. As ...
Read More -
May 19Kids Fishing in Miami
Today we had a 3/4 day offshore Charter that had been rescheduled a few weeks back. With a few baits left over in the well from the day before, we headed east in the dead calm conditions. We slowed the boat right outside Biscayne Channel to view a pod of porpoises, when John took a look at the sounder. We were painting bait from the bottom to ten feet up and thick! Looking down, we saw the hordes of pilchards, and not wanting to waste the opportunity, we loaded the well with more fresh baits. Little Leo and Gio had a blast winding in full strings for a few minutes before we continued offshore. We popped the kites up (with helium) in 140 and got 5 baits dangling straight east of Fowey. After giving Bruno (Father/birthday boy) a crash course in kite fishing, we got him fine tuning the spread in no time. While the ladies were on the Fly bridge talking with Captain John, Bruno was tending to the right trident, ...
Read More
