This is what youâve been waiting for folks! Nice weather, great fishing! April offers pretty much every fish you can think of and definitely one of my favorite months to wet a line. Whether weâre running way offshore trolling for billfish, tuna, and wahoo, dropping for swords, chasing mahi, hitting the reefs for snapper and cobia, or even running the beaches for permit, jacks and snook, April offers great chances at all of it. Live bait is always great to have, especially this month. Whatever type of fishing youâre doing, I definitely recommend putting on a couple R&R Sabiki rigs and taking a look at some of the local bait spots. If you donât know any, get a Home Port Chart by Capt. Bill Shuda at any of the local shops. Number 36 is our area. R&Râs have more hooks than most of the other rigs, theyâre made with fluorocarbon and baits donât shake off as often. The R&Râs usually get me fishing 50-percent faster than when I use most of the other brands.
The Spring mahi run is always a big hit, so letâs talk about them. Drifting or slow trolling live baits definitely works well for dolphin, but personally, I think trolling or run and gunning for them is more effective. Mahi are one of the fastest growing fish and in turn, they are usually extremely aggressive. They eat a lot and usually immediately, so if youâre not getting bites, move. When Iâm targeting mahi, I troll a little faster than normal, five to seven knots on an outboard and even faster on an inboard. I also pull a couple bigger baits. Scylla Lures Bubbler (get them at Fish Heads) has been crushing them. I like to fish it in the short rigger position with or without a bait. When you hook one, slow down but keep the boat moving. Reel in the bigger baits and leave the smaller baits (small ballyhoo rigged on J hooks) out. This is a great time to get another bite. Also make a point to look around to see if there is a piece of float that they may have come off of. It doesnât take much. Even something as small as a stick or a bucket can hold a pile of fish. You can also toss a couple of chunks, but when targeting bigger fish, itâs not really necessary. While fighting the fish, toss a live bait or two out to see if there are any followers. Casting D.O.A. Bait Busters or RonZ jigs is also a great way to get extra bites and fish in the box, but be responsible, dolphin are one of the few fish that we can distinguish between male and female so after getting a couple for dinner, I like to let females go and just keep the males.
If the water is clean, I also like to cruise the beach this month looking for permit, cobia, snook and jacks. Weapons of choice are light spinners, D.O.A.âs, shrimp and jig, live crabs, and a good pair of polarized glasses (I use Costa 580 glass grey lenses 90-percent of the time and sunrise silver mirror 580 glass when itâs cloudy or low light).
When you locate a fish or school, thereâs usually no rush. Take your time to position the boat properly (wind, shadow, casting distance and direction the fish is moving) you can usually fish that school for a long time as long as you donât scare it so itâs worth the extra few seconds, plus it will better your chances of getting a bite too.
April is also a great time to bottom fish. Check out Capt. Rockyâs forecast for some information on that. Iâm sure it will be good. I hope you have a great spring and I hope your next trip is âOff The Chainâ.
FORECAST BY: Capt. Scott Fawcett
Off the Chain Fishing Charters
Phone: (772) 285-1055
Email: fishscottyf@bellsouth.net
www.offthechainfishing.com
