MIA BCH 22 NOV & 24 NOV

catchemup

..results…make that modest results…make that very modest results ... from a couple of recent fishing trips. 

MIA BCH 22 NOV
Because it was blowin” pretty good offshore we fished a true half day on the inside from about 9AM - noon in the finger channels south of Stiltsville. My angler enjoyed fishing for muttons on really light 10# spinning gear. While the  mutton measurement was  39” in total it was made up of three undersized snappers so they were all released. He also caught one legal Spanish mac and had a cut off from a bigger mac near the boat. A porgy was also caught and released. All the fish were caught on live pilchards. While the action was anything but fast or continuous …he still got to bend the rod a few times during a quick outing.

MIA BCH 23 NOV

Fished live gogs and pilchards top, mid-depth, and bottom. Fished  from 90’-140’. Beautiful chamber of commerce day. Started at the Miami Sea Buoy with a strong south current, and slightly offshore drift. Couldn’t buy a decent bight…just one small shark caught and released. Moved up to the Diamonds with a due south drift virtually staying at 120’ most of the time. Would up with 3 Spanish mac with a nice one around 5# …1 small king…another small shark. High point of the day was a hammerhead about 110# -120# caught on a 20# sailfish spinning outfit . My angler got a true release after a fairly lengthy 20-30 minute fight. A decent catch and release by any standard but we were hoping for a sail.

Realdeep

Not a bad way to spend a couple of days. Tomorrow is looking good, ill report back.

xenia

****!  November used to be the month when if you came in with 250 lbs of kingfish the other guys on the river would ask you "what went wrong?", "what the heck were you doing?".  I remember fishing 14 days straight in November 1983 and our smallest catch was over 300 lbs, or biggest was over 900.  Are the kings and macks just staying farther north due to warmer weather?  With a baitwell full of live pilchards this time of year, and we always had it, it was just a matter of anchoring in 90' of water and tossing out a couple netfulls of livies, then we'd watch the fireworks start with all the kings jumping after our baits.  I wish I had a video of those days.  Had a free-jumping king land on my head once.  Luckily it was only an 8 pounder, not one of those 30-40 we'd get in the mix!

Catchemup, ever think of trying some of those live baits a little shallower, like slow trolling in 30-60'?  After we were done fishing out deeper, we'd troll a couple larger pilchards or gogs, if we had them, on the way in and we'd almost always get a smoker king or two.  Just an idea if it's not working out in 120'.

CaptJ

Fished in 24' of water off Tavernier today and the live ballyhoo didn't last very long.

catchemup

xenia said:

****!  November used to be the month when if you came in with 250 lbs of kingfish the other guys on the river would ask you "what went wrong?", "what the heck were you doing?".  I remember fishing 14 days straight in November 1983 and our smallest catch was over 300 lbs, or biggest was over 900.  Are the kings and macks just staying farther north due to warmer weather?  With a baitwell full of live pilchards this time of year, and we always had it, it was just a matter of anchoring in 90' of water and tossing out a couple netfulls of livies, then we'd watch the fireworks start with all the kings jumping after our baits.  I wish I had a video of those days.  Had a free-jumping king land on my head once.  Luckily it was only an 8 pounder, not one of those 30-40 we'd get in the mix!

Catchemup, ever think of trying some of those live baits a little shallower, like slow trolling in 30-60'?  After we were done fishing out deeper, we'd troll a couple larger pilchards or gogs, if we had them, on the way in and we'd almost always get a smoker king or two.  Just an idea if it's not working out in 120'.

Xenia your point is vey well taken. In fact a couple of trips  ago down around Fowey we did a little fishing 60' in to 40'.  This last particular angler relishes bottom baits for muttons and groupers and gogs on top always courting a sail whether flat lining or on a kite. He prefers not to go shallow for kings. Up until two years ago, I also used to guide off Ft Pierce and Vero a few days every month. That particular angler loved fishing for kings and  most of the time was spent slow trolling threadfins, sardines, or cigar minnows shallow both on top and with a downrigger. And when we could get them, we would troll runners, mackerel, or bluefish for smokers in as little as 20'. Occasionally  I have to tailor the days activities based upon the angler's preferences which aren't always aligned with what gives us the best shot.