By Darcie Arahill, Contributing Writer
First off- I hope you are staying SAFE and HEALTHY during this pandemic! These are bizarre times for all of us and we are praying this ends sooner rather than later! Even though boat ramps are currently closed as I write this in Palm Beach County, “Fishing” is still considered an acceptable activity using proper social distancing guidelines! I am still going to cover the fishing this month in the hopes that we will be over the peak of Covid-19 & back on the water doing what we love!
We have quite a diversity of species in our waters right now and May is feasibly the prime month to fish off the Palm Beaches! There are a multitude of factors as to why this is one of the best producing months of the year. High winds we have had recently should diminish and water temperatures will quickly rise a couple degrees to average of 80°F giving the offshore angler greater opportunities to fill their fish box! The winds this month will primarily blow out of the E/SE quadrant which will trigger some very large pelagics to move closer to our coast. This time of year will continue to produce a strong mahi mahi bite all the way through June, diminishing when the pelagics start moving further offshore. It’s a good idea for you to pay attention to the dolphin bite taking place off the coast of the FL Keys and Miami-Dade because it will be a good indicator for what you should expect in our waters within a few days time.
For the anglers that like to catch smoker kings, there will be a favorable morning bite in general. Typically, king fish can be found in 90 to 120 feet of water from Boynton to Palm Beach inlet. Trolling spoons or slow trolling live bait with down riggers are the best methods for targeting king mackerel. The blackfin tuna will be abundant too, waters between the Breakers Hotel and the Lost Tree Club is a well known hot spot. Try fishing with live bait in 100 to 180 feet of water with a steady current. The arrival of bait fish will start to show up in our waters this month. I’d suggest pulling out those Sabiki rigs, attaching a bucktail jig to the end of it and catching some bait close to shore!
Inshore fishing should produce excellent fishing as well! Big jack crevalles are schooled up tightly and will eat any live bait within their strike zone. Tarpon will start to show up in the inlets and juveniles can be found in the bays and canals. Snook should also produce plenty of exciting action; work artificial lures and flare hawks along seawalls, docks and near structure. Tournament season should be starting but unfortunately, many of them have been cancelled. Please practice boating safety and social distancing guidelines. Again, be safe, be healthy, follow YOUR dream and keep on catchin’!
Ask me questions about fishing & see my recent FISHING VIDEOS on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/darcizzleoffshore