Summer in South Florida has been rolling on without a hitch, Heat, humidity and lots of bait..

Our bait run started several weeks ago with huge schools of pilchards and sardines arriving on the rock piles offshore and the inshore waters alike. These baits can range in size from an inch to a foot in length, but they are all favorites of the predators that swim in our waters.

A favorite fishing method of captains in Florida is to fill the live well with several hundred baits and use them as live chum. This is a great method whether you like to fish with live bait or artificials and flys, once you get them fired up, they’ll eat anything you toss in the water. I personally love going to the nearshore rock piles and light up the water with dozens of confused small baits, in turn, sending the fish into a surface feeding frenzy. You can expect to catch a variety of species from pelagics to bottom fish, and to be honest, it’s extremely entertaining to watch. One of the more aggressive fish that comes in are Bonitos (false albacore) and although not the greatest eating, they are one of the greatest fighting, and quite easy to hook up.

If the ocean is not your thing, then inshore always has something to target. Snook are still on their summer feed and the tarpon action will continue improve but they aren’t the worlds biggest fish. As we roll towards the peak of our rainy season, the tarpon schools will gather in the inshore basins waiting for bait to be flushed out of the back country, but these will mostly be smaller fish than their ocean going cousins.

There is always something to catch in South Florida, but you won’t know unless you go…

Capt Mike Haines