By Capt. Nate Wheeler
The ides of March are upon us. March proved to be an interesting month, as March always does. Blowing out of the north, flat calm, blowing out of the south, flat calm, west, calm, blowing, calm, southeast, north, south, east, west…….it seems like it will never end. At the moment I am sitting on my couch, not fishing in 25+ kt winds out of the north. Can you tell I have dock fever? However fishing and dealing wind and weather go hand in hand. Sometimes it will force you to think outside of the box and be creative. These are the times you can discover things you never would have otherwise known. On a real hard south wind I took my Sea Vee into the shallow water in the back country and found a small wreck in a channel I never would have seen from a flats boat. We closed out half a day of fishing with a few nice snappers and some large lemon sharks. I was very happy given the weather conditions and my anglers, seasoned offshore vets, appreciated not get beat up for a day.
Outside of the erratic wind the fishing was very good this March. The yellowtail snapper bite was very good, with some very nice fish in shallow water. Fishing in 20ft of water in Hawks Channel produced some snapper as big as 19 inches. One problem in shallow water can be picking through the small fish. I find casting a free lined chunk of yellowtail food as far back into the chum line as possible and allow a very free drift works well. This same tactic with a heavier 40-60lb leader and a much larger chunk will almost always produce a grouper or nice mutton snapper.
A little further out off the reef produced some great sailfish action. It seems as if sailfish were caught pretty steadily throughout the Keys in depths anywhere from 30 to 240ft of water. Keep a sharp eye out for sudden congregations of birds, often indicating bait balls being pushed up from the deep by schools of sailfish. The mahi mahi, blackfin tuna, and even the sneaky wahoo can join in on the festivities.
Inshore fishing, just as offshore fishing, required a lot of bumpy rides. Fishing was rather hit or miss due to the weather; however a good streak of warm weather produced some optimal water temperatures and heated the flats up big time. Both permit and bonefish were tailing under the lowlight conditions. Wind and overcast are every fly fisherman’s nightmare. Pushpoling in heavy winds is very overrated and often pushes the boat around, minimizing the amount of time available to fire an already difficult cast. Instead take the deer hunters approach; Sit and wait. This can be very boring, but finding the right spot out of the wind with good visibility and being patient will most often result in more captures.
Spring is approaching and that usually means one thing for the diehard inshore enthusiast. Tarpon. I call April the pre-spawn phase. Weather can still be rather hit or miss, however under the right conditions April will provide the best bite all year. As these fish move into the bays and channels from wherever they migrated, they are hungry. Early April, most of these fish will be stacking up in the bridges and channels. Later on in the month, when the water temperatures really begin to rise, the silver kings will start pushing into the shallow water, creating Graceland for diehard fly enthusiast. Patience and persistence is always the key.
April may be the favorite month for offshore captains. Tailers. Every captain I know loves to chase tailers. Sailfish around here spawn primarily in May and June off the Yucatan Peninsula. Not trying to be late to the Party, sails spend April heading west as quickly as they can. When the wind blows hard out of the east and creates “surf-like” conditions the sailfish will ride the waves. Mahi Mahi will tail down the line as well, usually just a little deeper than the sails. With that said, you never know what you might see. With tailing conditions pushing fish to the surface, I have seen everything from marlin, giant bluefin tuna, and great white sharks. All you have to do is get out there and keep your eyes open!
Captain Nate Wheeler
Waypoint Fishing Charters
(305) 394-2177
www.waypointfishing.net
captnatewheeler@aol.com