Florida Charter Fishing - World Class Angler

Seasons Change

The transition has begun. We are saying goodbye to most of our winter residents more and more daily. As things thaw up north, they return for their summer stay. We see more and more of the, what I call, spring anglers. They are the ones that like to come in for a month or two to hit the start of the dolphin season while still catching a good run of April sailfish. They also are here for the start of the tarpon run as well as some of the best bonefishing of the year. They have learned to target a shorter stay with the best options for good fishing.

What seems to happen is that we have visitors that some & go just about the same time as the fish species in the adjacent waters. Now it is not that specific that we can time the departure of the cobia to the Michigan residents or the mackerel with the departure of the New Yorkers but it is somewhat hand in hand with a general movement. One thing I have noticed in the past couple of years is that the avid anglers are staying a little longer to hit the tarpon as well as some good dolphin.

What will be happening is a great run of sailfish this month. It is usually when we have a strong east wind with the current near the edge of the reef. This causes ‘tailing’ conditions and we traditionally see tons of sails moving through. We have been having some of this for the past couple of weeks now. Cobia are known to be in with them as well which makes for exciting days just offshore. The only problem for fair weather anglers is that the best conditions for fishing are not the best conditions for people. The rougher it is, the better the fishing. (In other words, eat a smooth breakfast.) A big fish on the end of the line tends to calm down the seas, at least mentally.

Dolphin are usually moving in more & more as we get closer to Mid April and from reports that I have heard lately, they are right on time. Some of the largest fish of the year are in this early batch, say from Mid April through Mid May. It is more common to find a few big fish than large schools of smaller ones for the next few weeks. You still come in with similar poundage to lots of schoolies without all of the cleaning. The only thing about them being more spread out is that you have to cover ground to find them. This is a great time of year for higher speed trolling to accomplish just that.

High speed trolling as well as many other techniques of trolling will be covered at this week’s free seminar at our Marine Educational Center. It is located at 5050 O.S. Hwy. It will be held from 6 to 8pm and will feature many options of what is offshore now along with what type of trolling works best for the different species that are available. We will also discuss when to fish deep and when not to.

Other than offshore, the action has not been spectacular but remains solid. Good schools of yellowtail have been found in shallower water than usual. The depths of 40 to 50 feet have been the most productive as well as having quite a few big mangrove snapper. Hawk Channel has been good for grouper and cobia for the past week or so. The humps & bumps have been fair but drifting the open bottom has been the most productive for the larger ones. The bay has been solid on snapper and very good on trout. Cobia, grouper and mackerel have been spotty, at least for the keeper sized ones.

One thing that has been noticed by me and many other anglers is the number and size of the remoras that are around wrecks as well as open bay bottom lately. Sometimes you may have as many as 40 or more eating right out of the chum bag. The things sound just like a vacuum sucking the chum out of the bag. Usually when you had some of them come up, the cobia or at least the sharks were not far behind. But that has not been the case so far this spring from what I’ve heard as well as experienced. I’m not sure of the reason why there are so many ‘loose’ as opposed to being attached to some predator. (But they sure are fun to stick on a tourist arm!)

Tarpon fishing has excelled dramatically in the past week or so and it looks like a great season is upon us. If you get the chance, go! They have not been disappointing. Don’t forget about the International and the Ladies Tarpon Tournaments that are coming up next month. The International is May 1st, 2nd 7 3rd while the Ladies have their turn on May 9th & 10th. They are a great time and very competitive every year. Give me a call for more information.

Captain Dave Navarro is a lifelong resident of Marathon, Owner of the World Class Angler & Apparel in Marathon and captain of the charter boat, “Dave’s Dream.”