The winds of March are behind us and the calmer sunny days of April are upon us. There are many things to look forward to about April fishing. However, my favorite is the run of mahi-mahi that we are about to see come through the east coast of Florida.
In April we will see a large influx of larger mahi-mahi out of the Fort Pierce Inlet. We will see the normal 20-to-25-inch fish but, there will be many more 10-to-20-pound fish to be caught along with the possibility of catching a giant mahi-mahi of over 40 pounds. The key to catching these fish is to spend more time fishing and less time running at high speeds going from spot to spot. It is very common for anglers to “run over” the fish trying to get to deeper water. I always start fishing in 100 foot of water and do not go out deeper than 300 feet of water during this mahi-mahi run. These depth ranges will have the most attractive water temperatures for the bait and mahi-mahi to follow as well as the highest probability of currents pulling weed lines together. I like to troll ballyhoo at five- to six-miles-per-hour with green and orange skirts. I also like a pink and white skirt as well. If running a longline, a black and purple skirt will get the bites as well. If you do not want to troll ballyhoo, you can also troll lures such as a Chugger or a Rapala diving crankbait (25 feet) to yield results.
Other fish that will be around are wahoo and kingfish along with the mahi-mahi, it will not be uncommon to catch a couple of these as bycatch.
As always on the bottom there will be some mangrove and mutton snapper to be caught on the 80-foot reef. We are approaching the spawn for these snapper, so the fishing will continue to improve for them. There will also be some more cobia showing up on the reef so keep those flat lines with a live greenie or pilchard ready. The yellowtail and lane snapper will also be some common species in April to find out on the reef.
If you are looking to deep water bottom fish, the amberjack should be plentiful in 120 to 200 feet of water. I would recommend a live blue runner around artificial sunken ships to get the best results.
Last but not least, nearshore there will be kingfish and cobia to be caught in 40 to 60 feet of water. Slow trolling live bait around artificial reefs will prove to be the most productive.
FORECAST BY: Capt. Colton Hester
Sonna Girl Fishing Charters
(772) 293-5342
colton@sonnagirlfishing.com
www.sonnagirlfishing.com
