A week or so ago we had a great time with kingfish for several trips. The fish were caught in 80 to 100 feet of water off Government Cut, Miami Beach. The standard kingfish rig with a whole sardine or ballyhoo worked well, with a variety of weights. Depending on wind and curent conditions we use from “no weight” to 4 ounces of lead in front of the rig. Also effective are bucktail or nylon jigs with two additional hooks added on to accommodate the whole baitfish. Butterfly jigs work wonders as well on these toothy critters! Be prepared to lose some iron. By the way, we’ve had great luck with putting a piece of #6 wire in front of the jig, thereby minimizing cut offs.
An added bonus while fishing in such shallow water is catching nice yellowtails and occasional mutton along with the kings. Although they are caught on the same rig, it’s somewhat better to fish a single hook, usually a 3/0 to 5/0 circle hook on a 10 foot leader, with a 2 to 4 ounce lead to take it down.
A memorable catch last week was made by Captains Ryan and Chris. They ran into hungry muttons a bit south of the inlet, catching about a dozen up to 12 pounds! Great catch.
Last Monday, Captain Chris and I ran a charter on the Reward Won out of Bayside Marketplace for John and Mary Jane from Boston. They are best friends with Bruce Berman, longtime Reward customer. John was hoping for his first sailfsh, and to show Mary Jane a good time. The sail never showed up, but in only three drifts with live baits out on two kites as well as flat lines they caught 7 gaffer sized dolphin to 14 pounds, and a 30 pound Blackfin Tuna! First one of the season for us of that size.
Night fishing has been consistently decent for yellowtails, small bluefish, and an occasional mutton or mangrove snapper.
This Saturday, February 18th, we have our vertical jigging loyalists taking the Reward Won at 6:30am. This trip is full at this time, with 12 customers pre booking. We are attempting to hold this trip to 12 fishermen to reduce tangling and crowding. If you have an interest, call the office in case there was a cancellation.
We are also starting an all day trip on Sundays from Bayside Marketplace on the Reward Won as well. The hours are 7am to 3 pm. Parking is no more than $5 if you get in the parking garage early, and usually it’s free! We plan on fishing near Fowey Light( Elliot Key ) . Vertical jigging customers as well as bait fishermen are welcome. The plan is to use our standard driftfishing techniques, usually staying on a drift for 10 to 15 minutes. Wreck fishing, jigging, kite fishing,trolling or anchoring are all possibilities. The cost is $80 per person, tip not included. We will run the trip with 10 booked customers, maxing out at 20.
Our goal is to have these trips each and every weekend. and throw in a 12 hour trip monthly, as well as an overnight Key Largo trip.
I’ll keep you posted on this site for these trips, but please call the office to book in advance! These trips will sell out.
In case of bad weather, I’ll cancel, no charge, and either refund the deposit or put in on another trip to hold your spot.
Check back in Sunday, we’ll post the results from our jigging trip.
Hope to see you all soon!
Captain Wayne