by Tom Greene of Custom Rod & Reel
March and April are 2 good months for South Florida fishing. Generally speaking, we’re finished with the cold fronts and the major sailfish bite of the year is probably behind us but they’re still around. Kingfish tournaments are starting and we always hear complaints from fishermen that there’s too many sailfish around and they can still bite very well.
We’re now looking for the dolphin run — the summer run that hasn’t been real good around here for the last 2 years. A lot of folks call or come into the shop and want to know where they are, so call us for updates. We are also seeing a very good run of blackfin tuna and most are caught in 150-250 along the entire east coast from Miami to Jax in schools of 8-12 pounders and also 20-30 pounders. They are here and biting very good in the morning and late afternoon with small artificials and live bait like pilchards and goggle eyes.
There’s swordfish action daytime and nighttime with the ocean starting to calm down — we’ve had more 400-500 pounders in the past few years than we’ve ever had. As for bottom and reef fishing we’re starting to see people catch more true red snapper, or genuine red just like we see on our west coast of Florida. Normally we catch them north of us around Fort Pierce or Sebastian but not as many around here. Recently a customer brought a 25 pound genuine red snapper into the shop caught in 150 feet on one of the wrecks. The yellowtail action is good; anchor up and chum in 60-90 feet and have a great bite in early morning or late afternoon. Call us and we’ll tell you how, when and where.
Snook will be starting in the inlets soon and won’t hit the beaches until the rainy season starts and the water turns dirty.
Tight lines and good fishing!
Tom’s Tip
We’re selling a tremendous amount of braid fishing line which holds up much better and longer than mono. The demand for braid is getting big so prices are coming down due to competition so there are some good deals out there. Top shot means you put the mono on the bottom and braid on top, or if you want to fish mono and have more line capacity you put the braid on the bottom and mono on top so if you hook a big fish and run out of mono you still have braid underneath. So, for jigging, bottom fishing, trolling for wahoo and that type of fishing we keep the braid on the top—it’s the best thing by far.
Visit Custom Rod and Reel at 1835 NE 25th St., Lighthouse Point.
Call 954-781-5600 or just drop by—Tom and his team are the best and always happy to help.
