April is here, and this is the time of year to brush off your mahi-mahi fishing tackle. Hopefully we see a little better run than we did in 2017. Anglers will need to venture out past the normal 70’-90’ reefs to find their action as the shallower reefs will slow to a crawl. No worries though because the deeper waters will be holding fish! The usual amberjack haunts will have their share of action. Use live bait on a 3-way swivel with the appropriate weight for the current. Croakers, spots, and grunts work best for these arm shredding beasts. Bunkers do work but tend to spin in heavy current and either cause a tangle or the jacks just won’t want to touch it because they’re smarter than we think. Don’t be surprised if you catch a few groupers as well.
Dorado fishing. It can be the time of your life or you could question yourself on why you bought a $100k boat or just filled your friends boat with $800 of fuel. Last year we really never got the full run. Those more adventurous who went to the other side came back in with huge hauls which means they never crossed over to the western wall of the Gulf Stream. Look for temperature breaks, weed lines, color changes, and mass quantities of flying fish. As far as what baits and skirts. I personally think it doesn’t matter. I like all natural, so I run all naked baits. Every now and then I’ll send a chugger back to make some noise, but my success rate is much higher on naked ballyhoo. Use teasers, dredges, bowling pins, anything to create a bait school effect. Let’s cross our fingers for a good April dolphin run!
This report has been brought to you by Captain Tyler Vollmer and Captain Chris Cameron of Fired Up Fishing Charters, your premier fishing guide charter for shark fishing Cocoa Beach, off- shore fishing Port Canaveral, nearshore fishing Cape Canaveral, and Orlando charter fishing.
