The Trolling and Bottom Fishing Has Been Excellent!
It was a wonderful week bending the rod. We are getting ready for the mutton snapper bite to heat up around the full moon but the yellowtail snappers locally have been chewing! The yellowtail snapper pictured here was caught in Marathon last weekend but they were biting up and down the coast. Snapper fishing is always our go to when the trolling is slow. We generally fish anchored in around 75 feet of water and use a block of menhaden chum to get the bite going. We fish very small jigs tipped with squid or bonito. One tip I can give you regarding yellowtail snapper is not to put a line in the water for at least 20 minutes.You need to allow time for the school of fish to come close to the boat as they follow the chum. Most times anglers start fishing too quickly and the school never has a chance to make it up near the boat. Fish hooked a long way from the boat are often shark bit because it's taking too long for the fish to be reeled in. Once the sharks show up the fishing usually goes to crap. That's my tip of the week for yellowtail snapper.
We did happen to have a great day trolling between 200 and 400 feet this week. We got covered up with mahi-mahi and actually scored a doubleheader on wahoo. Try not to get frustrated with a slow day of fishing because the next day will probably be better. It's amazing how the water and sea conditions can change in a 24 hour period. All of the fish you see here on the table we're caught using Bonito strips and trolling around 8 knots.
We have a cold front that is going to push through on Friday so we will probably see a good sailfish bite for the weekend.
For an up to the minute fishing report tune in to 105.9 the Paul Castronovo fishing show sponsored by Papas Pilar Rum. For a charter aboard the "Lisa B" or a local Charter Boat please call us at 954-420-5001.
Tight Lines
RJ Boyle rjboylestudio.com