Hopefully the winds will lay down for us this month so we all can see at least a few days offshore. The sailfish should be eating in full force if we can get to them and the mahi will be mixed in too.
The best bet to get hooked up will be to troll ballyhoo from 90 feet on out. If live baits can be found, such as big blue runners or sardines, they will improve your chances of hooking up a sailfish or a nice mahi. If you pull a dredge or teaser in front of your baits, this will entice a deeper fish to come to the surface to check out your baits.
On days that the weather won’t allow you to get far offshore, there will be bluefish in the area to bend a rod. These are fun and exciting fish to catch and they will be from the beach on out two to three miles. The bluefish cruise these waters in larger schools looking to eat anything that swims. You can catch bluefish on smaller mullet, pilchards and sardines if you are a live bait fisherman. The faster the bait swims, the better the chances of hooking these fish. If you like to fish with artificial bait and lures, the bluefish will hit anything that is shiny and quickly retrieved. It doesn’t matter if you are using top water or sub-surface lures, they will hit them. Bluefish will also hit a silver spoon with a fast retrieve.
Light tackle setups are great for these fish. I would recommend a 4,000 size reel matched with 10- to 15-pound line. I prefer using 10-pound mainline with 20-pound leader and a small barrel swivel. You will want to put a piece of #3 wire up to your hook or lures and attach the wire to the swivel so you don’t get bit off by these fish razor sharp teeth.
Good luck and have a great New Year!
FORECAST BY: Capt. Danny Markowski
LottaBull Fishing Charters
Phone: (772) 370-8329
Email: lottabull4@bellsouth.net
www.lottabullfishingcharters.com
