May has been good to anglers; not only as far as fish are concerned but also with the weather.
Warm days, light winds and calm seas have been pretty much the norm for the month. And even when the wind does manage to blow, it doesn’t last long and conditions improve relatively quickly.
Water temperatures have continued to creep up and are now just shy of the mid-70s. With the month of June a few days away, the fishing should continue to improve allowing anglers even more opportunities. Let’s just hope Mother Nature continues her blessing of calm weather.
Offshore, around the Gulf Stream, is where the main focus has been for those fortunate enough to have access to larger boats. The dolphin, aka mahi, have been on fire and most of the fish being reported are larger “gaffer” sized fish. A few wahoo and tuna are still being found on occasion but it appears the mahi have taken up most of the action lately. Also becoming a little more frequent were sightings and some catches of blue marlin by several different boats throughout the weekend.
Closer to shore, but still out in the 30-mile range, the bottom fishing has been good with catches of grouper, snapper, triggerfish and other assorted bottom fish. Areas within 20 miles of the beach are also producing some grouper, but anglers are having to work through sharks and smaller bottom feeders to find them.
Just off the beach, the Spanish mackerel fishing has been really good, with most fishing averaging 1-2 pounds. Trolled Clark Spoons are the preferred method for most but sight casting to schools of feeding fish with a small spoon or Got-Cha Plug is also working. With the days and water heating up, early mornings and late afternoons have been the best time to target Spanish mackerel. Anglers are still finding lots of bluefish by this method as well.
Inshore, the red drum are becoming more abundant as are the flounder. The area docks and creeks are holding fish, it just takes some searching to find a fishy spot. Artificial baits and live minnows are all producing.
