By Capt. Quinlyn Haddon
May is one of my favorite months for offshore fishing, as the fishing seasons coincide with good weather. Being spared from the beginning of hurricane season until next month, right now is the most reliable time to get nice weather days to make the trek to deeper waters.
Mahi season has begun to be more consistent, making the trips offshore more exciting and worthwhile. When making the long drive to the humps for blackfin tuna, or the swordfish ledges, it’s always a plus to know that you have opportunities to catch mahi on the way there and back. Staying alert for weedlines, diving birds and floating debris makes the trip seem like less of a chore, and keeps that fisherman’s optimism alive for more of the venture, knowing you’re still on the hunt nearly the whole way back to the dock.
With the prevalence of mahi, tuna, queen snapper and swordfish in our deepwater fishery, May 1st marks the opening of grouper season here in The Florida Keys, providing additional catching opportunities for both nearshore and offshore adventures. We also welcome the opening of tilefish this month.
For those with an electric reel setup in their arsenal, this is a great month to get out there and scout for new deep-dropping locations. With snowy grouper and yellowedge grouper found peppered throughout the area, test dropping on new found spots can be a fun addition to mahi fishing. As you run aimlessly offshore looking for signs of dolphinfish, you may notice you run over a ledge or depth variation. Anything that looks fishy after about 500’ could be your next honeyhole. 
If this is a new area especially, use a variety of baits on your 5-hook deep-drop rig to ensure your best chances of surveying the location. Squid is always a good choice offshore, with many species unable to resist its potent aroma, but chunks of fish should be included to entice a grouper bite. With bait sizes matching hook sizes, its a good idea to make your own rigs with different sized hooks if you’re unsure of the species that might be available at a new place. Affix larger hooks near the bottom of the rig for grouper baits, and smaller hooks near the top with squid for tilefish.
If offshore isn’t your thing, there are plenty of grouper on the reef and wrecks nearshore this time of year as well. However, after releasing these sandwich providers since their closing January 1st, every local fisherman in town will be hitting the wrecks hard for the recaptures now that season is open. Before they face all this pressure from being targeted nearshore, particularly on publicly known wrecks, it’s a good time to put some skin in the nearshore grouper game.
After a short closure for the month of April, amberjack has also opened again this month. These fish are easy to find, and add some nice backbreaking action to the grouper hunt.
Whatever your flavor of fishing is, The Florida Keys has you covered this month. With the anticipated opening of grouper season at the beginning of May, and schools closing for summer break nearing the end, it’s a good idea to get booked for a charter before you arrive on your Keys vacation.
Give us a call at Sweet E’nuf Charters to get tight. Capt. Quinlyn Haddon guides with Sweet E’Nuf Charters out of Marathon, The Florida Keys.
(504) 920-6342. www.captainquinlyn.com; IG: @captainquinlyn
