Welcome to Martin County, where July’s fireworks run all month long with a grand finale consisting of blasts, explosions and eruptions annihilating schools of pilchards, and glass minnows along the beaches followed by early signs of the mullet run towards the end.
Calm seas and the opportunity to target tarpon to tuna, and everything on either side, makes July a prime month to hit the water. Massive schools of the silver king can be seen rolling along the beaches as they make their way up coast on their annual migration. These fish will respond to everything from live baits to flies but there are times you may need to switch it up a little to get bites consistently. Mullet, crabs, shrimp, pilchards, greenies and sardines make great live baits for tarpon, while D.O.A. Root Beer Terror Eyes, and Glow Shrimp have been long time favorites of mine. The last few years I’ve been throwing RonZ eel imitations at them when they get in deeper water with great success too.
Having a small tower like the one I have aboard Off The Chain is a huge asset while following these fish up the beach, but lately, even a greater advantage is the side scan sonar. Capt Mike Holliday, using his Humminbird SOLIX, has been able to stay with these fish even as they move through the dirty water being dumped out of our inlet from Lake Okeechobee. These sonar units are nothing short of amazing and are literal fish finders. They actually give you marks so accurate that you can see the shadow of the fish on your screen and probably even be able to identify it. I already have mine ordered!
The calmer seas of summer makes it a great time to run offshore and look for swordfish and tuna. Daytime swordfishing has really taken off over the last 10 or 12 years, and I must admit, the more I do it, the more I like it. Squid, eels, ladyfish and pretty much any strip bait or fish taco will work for these amazing gladiators that we typically target 1500 feet down and deeper.
When we first started, we used electric reels, but lately we’ve started catching them on conventional tackle. Keep in mind, even on the electrics we have some amazing battles lasting close to four hours, so if you’re going to tangle with one of these things via hand crank, you better eat your Wheaties! A bonus to these trips is that you cover so much water on the way out and in, there is a good chance of coming across something floating and holding mahi, wahoo, or something.
These calmer months also allow us to fish a couple of live baits while we are swording, giving us chances at dolphin, sailfish, tuna and the occasional marlin, so you’re not just staring at one or two rod tips all day long.
All in all, July is a pretty good month of fishing, offering lots of variety and a great time to get the family and less salty anglers out on the water. Be sure to check out Capt. Rocky’s bottom report because July offers up some impressive reef action too.
Remember it’s extremely important to report all swordfish landings to the NMFS.
I hope your next trip is Off The Chain!
FORECAST BY: Capt. Scott Fawcett
Off the Chain Fishing Charters
Phone: (772) 285-1055
Email: fishscottyf@bellsouth.net
www.offthechainfishing.com
