by Tom Greene
This time of year we have a wide variety of fishing to choose from. We see long days and long nights, it’s very hot, and the weather is relatively calm. With all the rain the spillways are opened up and all the snook in the back country and canals all move out to the inlets and the beaches so on any given day where you have some good rain you can go to the local spillways and catch snook on the high tide, starting on the outgoing and after that they all move to the inlets and you can catch them there. Last year I went to Palm Beach inlet with a buddy of mine and we caught 87 in an afternoon—from 10-30 pounds—there were just 3 of us. I’m talking in all the inlets, from Miami up to Pompano, Boca, Boynton, up to Stuart……along the whole coastline.
We’ll also see the sailfish migration; we actually see more sailfish moving up and down our coastline in the summer than in the tournament months of November and December. For example, we have the Pompano Rodeo and it’s quite common for people to go out with a couple dozen live bait and they have to come back to the dock because the sailfish is eating all their bait, but they still catch a lot of kings and blackfin tuna along with the sailfish.
The yellowtail and mutton snapper bite is good. Another thing I’m seeing for the first time in many, many years, especially on this coast is genuine red snappers being caught off the Palm Beaches, Stuart, and on down to Deerfield. Just recently someone came in with a 24-pound genuine red snapper they caught off one of the sunken wrecks. Because the water has changed these fish are moving from the Daytona/Ormond beach area to us where they spawn and reproduce.
We continue to see tremendous wahoo fishing, and swordfish is better than ever—-people talk about seeing less fish and I’ve been in the fishing tackle business for 57 years and let me assure you, there’s a lot more fish here than there was 15-20 years ago. The rules and laws have helped; nobody kills a sailfish, nobody kills a tarpon, they kill a lot less snook so all those fish are still here. Not only are the fish smarter, the anglers are getting better. We had a tournament a few weeks ago and one of the guys from my shop along with some other young guys walked away with $416,000.00! I had to convince his mother that she should sponsor them for the tournament. They caught 18 out of the 19 sailfish bites. The quality and knowledge of the anglers is better.
Tight lines and good fishing!
Hey Tom, what’s the latest at Custom Rod and Reel?
Most of the anglers coming into the shop to upgrade their gear are buying more braid fishing line, more fluorocarbon leader material, more of the better grade fish hooks that are sharper and stronger and lightweight.
Custom Rod and Reel
1835 NE 25th St.
Lighthouse Point
Call anytime at 954-781-5600
