The monthly fly rodding tuna/dolphin report from Palm Beach

[Capt. Scott]

And so it continues...The past month has been very consistent. Anytime the ocean was laid down, the fins and phins were there. Not sure how long this will continue with the cold fronts of November right around the corner.
This is from From Friday, one of the most epic black fin blitzes I've seen, with three acres of black fins blasting out of the water. Stayed on them for hours, released a bunch, lost a few to big critters, kept seven in the 6-8 lb range and one decent 12 lb dolphin. The tuna were gorging themselves on very small squid less than an inch long....and eatme flies of course

[sparse grey]

Well don, thanks for sharing & wish I was there. BF on the fly has to be great.

[saltybum]

Of course it blows now all week right after I get my boat back from the mech.

That must have been a blast.

[Homer47]

Just saw an interesting small squid pattern over at Fly Dreamers that you may want to take a look at.

[jaym]

Damn I just came over to post the report. I fished with Scott last Friday and we had a fantastic day. It was nice to have some calm conditions.

Scott also left off the fish we released, a dozen or so lesser AJ's that we caught on top, the triple tail, the other 6 or so blackfins we released and the skipjacks that we could have caught more of if I did not have to drive back to Tampa. Skipjacks are way underrated fish. They are much more athletic than the blackfins, maybe even more so than bonita. They are long and sleek and fast. The blackfins and bonita are much more blunt shaped although still way fast. I love catching bonefish but you could take the 5lb skipjack and tie it to a bonefish and it would pull the bonefish around. Plus you have the chance to catch some really nice dolphin. Frankly having a group of lit up dolphin come in is awesome. Don't let people tell you otherwise it is sight fishing. You have to put the cast in the right place and when the bigger dolphin eats you need to stick them because you will most likely not get another shot. Plus they are strong, fast and jump.

Here is why I go to Palm Beach/Jupiter. I live in Tampa and it is a 3:15 minute drive over to Palm Beach or Jupiter. In another 15 minutes from the ramp you are in 200+ feet of water. To get to that depth of water and fishing in Tampa you are going to have to run A LONG WAY OFFSHORE. When you are 60-100 miles offshore that brings a whole other set of risks/things you need to prepare for. Yes you can get the dolphin and blackfins in shallower occasionally on the west coast but it is a whole lot easier to drive over to Palm Beach. For you guys in Orlando, Naples/Ft Myers this is a no-brainer in my opinion.

Jason