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New Year’s Report

Headboat Habits

Hey fishermen! I hope everybody has had a good fall, and ready for the winter blast, not only of cold weather, but of great fishing to come.

Hopefully, our weather patterns may have finally changed somewhat. I don’t know about you, but we on the Reward Fleet are tired of several things that come with those Nor’ Easters that seem to appear on weekends.

Some recently heard comments by our anglers:

  • Is this 70 foot boat considered a “Small Craft”?
  • Why is it so bouncy out here but calm at the dock?
  • It isn’t safe out here…..take me home NOW ( I’ll pay extra)
  • PLEASE CALL THE COAST GUARD TO COME GET ME
  • (barf)……!
  • MAN…this is fun! Do you always catch 10 to 30 pound Dolphin off Miami Beach?
  • Why are all those people complaining about the rough weather? Fishing has been AWESOME!

Actually folks, our biggest challenge are to convince our anglers that no one has died of being sea sick, and that in some cases just calming down will make the trip manageable. Of course, catching a big fish is an instant cure!

How has the fishing been? Glad you want to know. Spanish Mackerel are biting about as good as they can get, especially on the outgoing tide. Trolling small feathers and spoons will get you on the fish, and casting jigs, plugs or flies will keep them coming.

Mutton snappers as well as nice Gag and Black groupers are being caught. Dropping live baits such as pinfish on heavy tackle on any of our wrecks may result in a crushing strike! Muttons prefer the areas around the wrecks, and can be caught on fresh chunks of bait(Spanish Mackerel are one of the best) left lying quietly on the bottom. Use a lighter leader for the Muttons, no more than 30-40 lb test. We’ve caught them up to 18 lbs this week, and they don’t get that big being stupid and eating heavy leaders!

Sailfish are crankin’ as well. We have caught them on nearly every trip using kite baits as well as float baits or flat lines. Threadfin herring are primo, large pilchards adequate, Goggle-Eyes…royalty!

Our night trips are solid with small bluefish, that eat ANYTHING. Yellowtails are still our staple catch-of-the-night.

Our vertical jigging trip on the Reward Won out of Bayside Marina this past Saturday was SUPER. Ten anglers jigging their butts off had a banner trip.

  • 15 Almaco jacks, 3 to 18 pounds. (6 released)
  • One 10 to 12 pound Mutton snapper
  • One 18 to 20 pound Gag grouper
  • 5 nice amberjacks, 15 to 30 pounds(3 released, two didn’t revive)
  • 8 Black fin tunas, 3 to 8 pounds
  • 3 bonitas, 6 to 12 pounds

Check out Reward Fishing Fleet on Facebook for photos and videos! We do vertical jigging trips routinely, just call the office and leave us your contact info, we’ll let you know when we are doing the next one.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, and the best New Year to boot!

Captain Wayne Conn