Port Canaveral Fishing Reports
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May Fishing Tip: Presented by, Fired Up Charters
May is here and so are the “green ones” that we have been waiting for. This is the month when we start seeing the larger schools of Mahi running through our area. Here are a few tips that will hopefully help you out.
The biggest thing I have noticed in the last several years is, everyone seems to pass the fish to go find the fish! There’s no reason why we need to run to 300 feet of water to start trolling. Sometimes yes, that’s where they are but so many times they’re on a weed line or color break in 100-120 feet. How many times have you caught Mahi on 8A or Pelican in 85 feet? I had a few this month already.
Color and temperature changes and weed lines are each key factors in finding Mahi. Yes, there are those days that you don’t see a thing and you are blind trolling in the middle of nowhere and you get a hit. Subsequently there are also days that you’re on the best looking color change or weed line and you can’t get a hit… I guess that’s why they say its fishing and not catching. As you’re riding out and you get to 90/100 feet start looking at your machine for some temperature changes and keep an eye-out for weed line, rips or that pallet. Start shallow and work your way out. Give each area a little time (unless your buddy says get out to 220, NOW!).
There are many types of bait you can use such as, Ballyhoo with a single hook or with double hooks. Some use Ballyhoo naked and some with big skirts. Bonita strips work well and don’t forget about live bait! Basically Mahi eat anything. I’m sure a good presentation is a key factor as well. Lately, I started using my light tackle king gear with live Pogies. Most fish have been smaller anyway so why not have fun on the light tackle? Be sure to have a few pitch rods handy and ready. Use live bait or whatever dead bait you have on the boat and get it in front of the fish…most times they will eat it.
Fun facts:
Mahi-Mahi has been found from Canada to Brazil, west coast to east coast and almost every ocean in the world. Average lifespan of the fish is 5 years and they are constantly breeding. Believe it or not, average weight is only 5 lbs. but they can reach 50+. The largest caught on rod and reel was during 1975 in Costa Rica at 87lbs. Mahi can reach speeds of 50mph. They eat anything and they’re great eating too! A 4oz Mahi filet is only 100 calories and 92% protein. The Hawaiian term Mahi-Mahi means… strong strong.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Chris Cameron
www.firedupcharters.com
Cell: 407-222-3573 |
Mid- Month Fishing Report Presented By: Fired-Up Charters
Fishing has been GREAT! Everything is showing up.
Porgies have been running the beach in the mornings. They can be found from the south jetty to just past the pier in 5 feet to 20 feet of water. Look for the birds and you should do just fine… a few throws of your net and you are all set.
During the last few weeks I have fished from the Brevard Reef to 8A and everywhere in between. 8A seems to be the best bet. We have been getting our limit of Kings almost every day along with a stray Cobia, Sailfish, Dolphin and plenty of Bonita. It seems as though the morning bite is where it is at. The bite seems to be turning off by 11am so… Get out early.
Weed lines from 160 feet and out have been holding Dolphin. We pulled live bait and ballyhoo with both working well.
Jack fishing has been doing great too. Get on the cones or the Tanker/Copper Wrecks.
Cobia have been scattered along with Triple Tail… One day it is good and the next day it is slow. Be sure to have live bait ready if they don't attack the buck tail. I am still yet to have a Cobia this year turn a buck tail down.
Good luck and any questions or advice please call! I’ll help anyway I can.
Capt. Chris Cameron
www.firedupcharters.com
Cell: 407-222-3573 |
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Fishing Report Presented by: Capt. Brad Spalding
Recently I had the pleasure of mating aboard "The Boss Cat" out of Bluepoints Marina. We left on a Saturday morning at 6 am and ran South East to the Other Side line which is right around West 79.10.00… this is the longitude everyone uses as a general location to start looking for birds and rips that will tell you, you're there! Almost instantly we found a huge weed line and dropped lines. As we approached a pallet… bam… all lines went off with gaffer dolphin. As the Dolphin was running I pitched a spinner into the pallet and hooked up on a nice Triple Tail (yes there is Triple Tail 60 miles out). For the next 3 hours it was absolute pandemonium with some fish ranging in the 40 pound class. I would say only about 5 fish were less than 12lbs with the rest being quality O’ Side Dolphin. After we harvested around 40 Dolphin we headed out to the next temp break to look for the birds and take a shot at some Yellow Fin Tuna. Birds were few and far between and we never got our shot at a Yellow Fin and after running around for a couple hours we called the day and headed for the barn. After pulling into Bluepoints Marina around 9pm we all went home and met at the boat the next morning to clean fish, clean the boat, and have a nice lunch. Our crew was stellar and the fish were biting, this trip will go down in the books as one of the Top 5 Dolphin days I've ever experienced.
I get asked often, "Can I take my boat to the Other Side?" Well, you're dealing with seemingly three different oceans out there; this side, the stream, and the other side of the stream. I've seen it flat in one spot and 7-8 feet 30 miles away. I've seen what seems to be a glorious ride in turn to an absolute crap shoot 40 miles out of the port. Weather is you're determining factor here, I have found to love SE winds up to around 15kts, I absolutely hate any forecast with a W in it and if there is an N in it… it better be 10kts or less and have a 3 day window of calm seas.
The top factors if your boat can make it are as follows:
Safety Gear- Life Raft, EPIRB, Sat Phone, Parachute Flares… if you don't have them don't go. It is a long way out there and if you're running alone, you will be alone. A "Buddy Boat" is an absolute must!!!
Fuel- You have to know the exact burn rate of your boat under a load and know what the cutoff point in miles is… when you need to head in leaving extra fuel for that summertime storm you may have to run through at 15 knots.
Ice- You are going to need 1 pound of Ice for every pound of fish you want to bring back. Lets’ estimate 3 Yellow Fin Tuna per person with a crew of five and say they are all forty pounds apiece, you will need 600 pounds of ice. I personally take around 500 pounds when I go and if it's a long trip I'm looking for ice when I get back in to the port. This trip I heard the Captain request 14 - 40 pound bags from the Bluepoints staff which they loaded up on the boat for him.
Tackle- You will need everything ranging from Triple Tail to YFT, make sure it is new and make sure your crew is familiar with what you want to run. I run 4 - 50 wides and 2 - 30's with all the spinners to back them up.
Float Plan- Have someone you trust, keep tabs on you. If it is an evening bite we will not return until around Midnight. Make sure your entire crew knows this and the spouses and significant others can get in contact with one another. Trust me you will get hailed by the Coast Guard over a worried spouse and have to deal with them when you get in.
Bottom line the Other Side is not for the inexperienced, do your homework, know your rig, know your crew and if you do go, it’s one of the best fisheries on the planet in my opinion.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
Capt Brad R Spalding 321-720-0949
WWW.BRASSYHOOKER.COM |
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Fishing Report: Presented by Capt. Brad Spalding |
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Fishing Report: Presented by Capt. Brad Spalding
Over the last couple weeks we have had an insane King Mackerel Bite on the inshore reefs. Triple Tail has been thick in 30-50 feet of water and offshore, the Dolphin bite has been awesome. One boat found a palm tree and ended up with over 20 gaffer Dolphin this past week.
Today I'm concentrating on Triple Tail fishing!
It can be a lot of fun when using 8-12lb Test gear. To find them, you need to find the conditions they enjoy. Water temp should be in the 65-73 degree range, always looking for a color change or a rip holding weeds. Once found, you can head whichever way you need to (North or South) so you are using the sun to your advantage. Creep ever so slowly with your fishing partner up on the bow looking for clumps of weeds, buckets, boards, and anything that would hold a fish.
OK, you spot one or three laying under some weeds, 1st thing you do is get the boat away from them, they will not go anywhere so don't get in a hurry. Gear wise, you can use light tackle rods with 20-30lb Fluorocarbon as your leader and small clear shrimp jigs tipped with squid, a chunk of squid, or a piece of strip bait. If you have acquired live shrimp, try casting dead baits or jigs first and if they don't eat, then throw them the live ringer. Make sure you position the boat at your maximum casting range and it pays to have your partner watching your baits also calling what the fish is doing. Try to cast past the fish and present your baits within a foot of his nose and ever slightly jig the bait so you get him excited, when he does move in on your bait DO NOT stop jigging. "The best chewing Triple Tail is a mad Triple Tail". Just when you think he going to eat, pull it away, six inches or so and you will see that when he does eat there is no question he is hooked.
Now the failures begin, you have a 15lb Trip on the line and he is coming to the boat, one of the 1st mistakes is "dead boating" the fish. Many people stop the boat when fighting fish; this will line up trim tabs, engines, bottom paint, and other rods to cut your line. Have the driver bump the boat in and out of gear controlling where that fish is coming in. A good landing net is a must for these creatures; they have razor blades for gill plates and spears for dorsal fins. Get him boat side, in the net and in the box or release him to fight another day, the choice is yours..
Lastly, it has been a great day, the mission is accomplished and you and your buddies are at the cleaning table with a mess of Triple Tail (15in Minimum and 2 per person, State Record is 40lbs 13oz). Make sure you have sharp knives because these things have armor! Our best technique is cleaning them as you would a trigger fish, start by getting your knife point into the fish and make a cut from the inside out back to the tail. Then, starting at the tail, make a cut up to the shoulder also from the inside out and finally one more cut from top to bottom just behind the peck fins down to the bottom cut and bingo, you can now get the fillet off clean.
Hope this helps and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Brad
Capt Brad R Spalding 321-720-0949
See my last Triple Tail report here
WWW.BRASSYHOOKER.COM
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Presented by: Capt Chris Cameron, Fired-up Charters
Hopefully everyone has enjoyed a Happy and Safe Holiday Season. For those of you that were fortunate enough to get out on the few calm days we had during December hopefully you got on the fish. Being particularly partial to Kings, I have to say they were on fire. We were lucky enough to keep our clients on the fish all day each day we fished. Every trip we were able catch our limit of kingfish. Many fish were to the 35lb range. We also released many other kings to grow and get bigger for another time. If you couldn’t find live bait you did not need to worry as, Frozen Sardines and Cigar Minnows were working just as well. I found that a standard double hook rig with #4 wire and a pink/white duster was the ticket. On one of our trips, after hooking a few fish, I shut the motors off and we just drifted baits out the back and we were doubled up for a few hours. In the mix of the chaos were Bonitos and Cobias. We switched the gear out to spinning tackle and just had a blast. We have been fishing the 80-90 foot ledges and reefs and all of the wrecks in between. Speaking of Bonito…. Follow the shrimp boats they are stacked up behind the nets.
Triple Tail has been all over as well. Don’t leave the dock without a dozen shrimp. This has been an absolutely great season so far. Look for any floating debris and usually there’s a Trip under it. All of the buoys have been holding their fair share as well... Just because they’re not on the first few sets does not mean they are not out farther. Use a live shrimp on a small jig head for best results. We also caught them on finger mullet and squid. Give each buoy at least 15 casts. We worked a buoy the other day and just before giving up we hooked a 10 pounder that was there. While Triple Tail fishing be certain to have a Cobia rod very handy as we had several decent Cobia pop up while working the Channel. Cobia has also been showing up as the water temps have been a perfect 71 degrees. Many free swimmers have been in the 55-foot ranges from Patrick up to D can area. Fish to 60lbs have been caught.
Mahi fishing has been ok. No record size fish but the boats that are getting on them are coming back with 4-8 fish and smaller gaffers. They are mainly fishing on the edge of the stream or any rips and weed lines you can find. Oh I almost forgot… the buoy. This time of year with the colder weather moving in you should see at least a Wahoo or a Sailfish. Standard ballyhoo rigs or strip baits have all been producing.
This time of year you can expect good bottom fishing all the way in as close as 80 and 90 feet. If you can get through the Red Snapper you will finally see your grouper. I wish I could give you a bunch of detail but truth be told… I’m not much of a bottom fisherman.
I hope this report helps everyone out. If you have any questions give us a shout. Thanks and have a great month of fishing.
Capt. Chris Cameron
www.firedupcharters.com
Cell: 407-222-3573
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Fishing Report Presented by: Fired up Charters
I hope everyone is well and had a safe Labor Day weekend. Fishing has been slow lately thanks to conditions created by tropical depressions near our coast. I was hoping that the fishing would pick back up a little sooner than it has. On the flip side of things, RED SNAPPER is opening soon for the first time in several years. There will be 2 separate openings for Red Snapper. The openings are scheduled for the weekends of: Sept 14-16 & Sept 21-23. The rules are 1 fish per person per day NO SIZE LIMIT. Bluepoints Marina requests all Red Snapper carcasses be donated to FWC & SAFMC volunteers in order to collect accurate data about the Red Snapper population. Bluepoints Marina staff members and volunteers will be available to receive the donated carcass.
Here’s what has been going on at the Cape.
KINGFISH- NO IDEA where they went but... They are GONE… if you find them please let me know!
PORGIES/BAIT- Bait has NOT been on the beach lately! Make sure you get your frozen sardines before you roll out. You can still sabiki the wrecks and buoys for live bait though.
MAHI- Had a friend who fished a very nice weed line in 130 the other day and had 2 strikes. One bit through the wire. SLOW
SEA BASS/TRIGGERS- 8a, Pelican and Benson. I hear its good one day but slow the next. The bottom depending on where you are has been cold, cold, cold.
FLOUNDER- Showing up in good numbers on all the wrecks and near shore areas, Jetties, docks, etc... Use live finger mullet and 1oz weights and bounce the bottom.
BONITA/JACKS- Have been just outside of the tip of the shoals, north side. Slow troll whatever live bait you get, big mullet have been in the back of the port.
AMBERJACK- Seems like the only good reliable fish right now. Fish your normal spots for them. 27 had some decent ones I heard last week.
GROUPER- If you can get on a spot that does not have a lot of current, give it a shot. I have seen a few decent fish come back to the dock. I wish I could give more info on that but truth be told...I am not a bottom fisherman......
Hope this helps you out.
Capt. Chris Cameron
www.firedupcharters.com
Cell: 407-222-3573
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