Those of us in South Florida find ourselves surrounded by two things during the Spring, thawed snowbirds and a potpourri of species of fish.

Those of us in South Florida find ourselves surrounded by two things during the Spring, thawed snowbirds and a potpourri of species of fish. The downside is the snowbirds eagerness to eat, causing “us locals” to skip out on our favorite restaurants until they head back North, but the upside is the fish have the same agenda. Whether you like inshore or offshore fishing, fishing from the shore or a boat, this is a great time to bend the rod.

Inshore, cooler water temperatures keep many fish in the channels and creeks at lower stages of the tide and around docks or closer to shorelines during the higher phases.

The can’t miss rigs are the shrimp tipped jig or a jig head rigged with a whole shrimp. I personally like using a 1/4 ounce jig head with a shrimp hooked through the tail bounced slowly along the bottom. This method literally attracts everything in the water, with 15+ species in half day charters not being uncommon. It’s a great method for novice to expert anglers alike, and is perfect for light tackle enthusiasts.

We have had some excellent catches of pompano, drum, snapper, mackerel and bluefish with some snook and redfish thrown in for a little extra fun.

The offshore waters have also been action packed with bluefish, mackerel, pompano and sharks lurk nearshore while out deeper, we have been landing kingfish, nice snapper some cobia and sailfish. The catches along the beaches have been on shrimp tipped jigs worked slow to medium speed in 8-15ft of water while the kings, sails and snapper have come on mostly live bait, free lined in 40-80ft of water.

The catch of the month was a sailfish landed on my birthday with Marc Mills of Daiwa reels, I was able to hook and land the 50-60lb sail on a Daiwa Saltist Backbay 3000 series reel while Marc ran the boat. Thanks, Marc for a great gift!!

South Florida is one of the worlds greatest fishing destinations, so come on down and test your favorite gear.

Until next month,

Capt Mike Haines
305-505-2772