OFFSHORE- Dolphin fishing reports improved drastically this week; with what seems to be a pretty decent number of fish showing up in 400-600' of water pretty much from south of Lake Worth Pier all the way up to Jupiter Inlet. Trolling small ballyhoo, bonita strips, and squid should all work for the dolphin. Pretty standard pattern on the dolphin; look for any kind of floating debris, well formed weedlines, current rips or edges, or large areas of flying fish and the dolphin shouldn't be far behind. With calm conditions in the forecast be sure to keep a bait down deep for a lurking wahoo or suspended dolphin as well. Speaking of wahoo; a fair number have been caught this week in 200-300' of water. A bonita strip or mullet behind a planer or deep diving plug like a Nomad DTX minnow are good ways to go for the wahoo. A bait below the surface, even just 5-10' deep, is the way to go for the wahoo. Sailfish action was good over the past weekend, but slowed late in the week with super calm conditions. Out deep it sounded like a slower week on the swordfish. Tilefish bite was also a bit tough with a ripping current. In on the reef bottom fishing was fair. A mixed bag of snapper and porgies made up a bulk of the catch that came home; along with a good number of red grouper that had to be released.
INSHORE- Starting to see a few springtime mullet (spring mullet are typically bigger in size and not in big schools like the fall) inshore and the snook and big jacks are not far behind. Seawalls with current flow, and preferably good ambush points, will be key to finding the snook. Lowlight periods and tide changes will produce the most action. At night the snook continue to bite the shrimp jig well around the bridges. If the warming trend holds they will start to key in more on bigger baits over the next few weeks. Sheepshead action remains fair to good in Palm Beach Inlet. Live shrimp remains the bait of choice for them. Jacks are still cruising Palm Beach Inlet in good numbers as well.
SURF/PIER- Calm clearer conditions had the surf feeling almost like June this week instead of February. Pompano reports were fair along the beach, with a decent scattering of pomps from south of the Juno Beach Pier up to Jupiter Inlet. It wasn't huge numbers for anybody; but 2-3 fish with a few limits seemed to be the norm. Sandfleas and Fishbites continue to be top bait choices for the pomps. Best action remains early morning and late afternoon. With the pompano of course come the sharks; so reel them in quick. Not huge numbers yet on the sharks (spinner/blacktips), but the migration does seem to be slowing kicking off. A popper early in the morning or late afternoon should get some attention, as should a fresh chunk of bait at night. Bluefish action picked up locally this week. Best bite on the bluefish has been coming at night (the surf and the Pier have both been producing) on cut bait. It is still early for the snook, but those patiently fishing dead sardines under the pier have been getting a few bites. Pretty solid biting on croakers this week, with small pieces of fresh shrimp being the best bet.
NOAA MARINE WEATHER:
FRI...E winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 1 foot. Period 3 seconds. Intracoastal waters a light chop.
SAT...E SE winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 1 foot. Intracoastal waters light chop.
SUN...SW winds 5 to 10 kt becoming S in the evening. Seas 2 to 3 ft. Intracoastal waters a light chop.
Thanks For Reading,
Todd
Pic courtesy of Captain Eric (www.countylinecharters.com). Happy customers with a nice snook this week!
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