It’s winter in The Florida Keys and it’s a great time to be out on the H2O. On the Atlantic side of the islands, the sail fishing has been really good and since my childhood has been one of my favorite fish to catch. Running a 25 Contender Bay Boat which in my opinion is one of the best boats on the water because on a calm day I can be out on the edge fishing for a sailfish right alongside the guys in the tower boats and when it’s too windy to be out there, I can run to the Everglades to fish up in the bushes. My go to rig for sail fishing is a 7ft spinning rod with 20lb mono and a 40lb fluorocarbon leader with a circle hook at the end of it. My baits of choice are live ballyhoo, cigar minnow or a large pilchard, and there are various ways to get them but mostly involve a cast net which I picked up at a recent boat show.
The Ballyhoop (photo below), is a foldable hoop net which you can find in most bait shops in the Keys and getting to be pretty popular. If sail fishing is not your thing, you can use the same bait on the numerous patch reefs in the 15-50ft range scattered throughout the Keys and load up your cooler with fresh fish for dinner! Switching gears to fishing on the Gulf of Mexico side of the islands or in Everglades National Park you can find a hot bite of everything from Spanish Mackerel to Snook. If you want to have an easy day and bend the rod, my advice would be to go down to your local tackle shop and buy as many live shrimp as you can afford along with a few blocks of chum and head out to the Gulf, west of Springer Bank, and try a few spots for spanish mackerel, they are in this time of year and once you get them in your chum slick you can catch them on everything from a live shrimp to a flyrod. Honestly, there is so much fun and if you ever wanted to try artificial or fly fishing it’s the perfect time of year and the perfect species. I have plenty of open dates on the calendar and would love to get you out on my new boat so give me a call at 305-393-3327 or an email at gregpoland@icloud.com. Visit www.gregpoland.com and let’s get out on the water sometime soon!