Broward, Dade, Palm Beach
Live blue crabs have been the choice bait for the tarpon. A few permit and some very large jack crevalle are stealing crabs intended for the tarpon. Bait fish have been tough to come by in the bay and around the markers. Clear water on the ocean side is one of the reasons the baitfish have been tough to catch. Baitfish can be bought at all of the ocean inlets. At Port Everglades you can reach bait boats on channel 68, Haulover Inlet on channel 08 and at Government Cut and Key Biscayne channel 80. Offshore anglers continue to have mixed action. Large blackfin tunas to 35 pounds are still being caught on live threadfin herring fished under a kite or free-lined. Best depths for the tuna have been in 120 feet of water along current rips. Kingfish, cobia and bonito are mixed in with the tunas. Best action has been just after sunrise and the last couple of hours before the sunsets. Bottom fishing this week with the full moon was very slow. The dolphins have been scattered along weed lines and patches of weeds outside of 600 feet of water. Nighttime bottom fishing is producing mangrove, mutton and yellowtail snappers.
Biscayne Bay
Schools of tiny baitfish are attracting the attention of seatrout, jacks and small barracudas over the grass flats from Haulover Inlet south to Government Cut. Small bull sharks can be found over many of these grass flats and will artificial twitch baits and live baits, cast close enough for the sharks to see them. A few tarpon and snook are scattered throughout the bay. Loads of seatrout are schooled up on many of the grass flats on the west side of the bay. Casting quarter ounce Hookup lures tipped with a Trigger X 3-inch shrimp have been catching the seatrout. Spawning snook can be found in the ocean inlets on the change of tides. Live threadfin herring have been getting plenty of strikes from the snook. This is catch-and-release only! Nighttime tarpon and snook action has been fair around the bridge shadow lines and under the dock lights.
Permit have been in good numbers on the ocean side and west side of the bay flats, they are eating live silver dollar blue crabs. Tailing bonefish can be found on most shallow flats in South Biscayne Bay early in the morning especially on the low tides. Plenty of small tarpon, barracudas and bonnethead sharks are working some of the same flats. Live shrimp have been the hot bait this week for the bonefish, barracudas and bonnethead sharks. I like to use a 1/0 Mustad Ultra Point short shank hook when I use live shrimp.
