April marks the beginning of spring; at least it does on the calendar. In Martin County, it’s been spring for the last two months and instead of April being somewhat of a transition month this year, expect good warm weather fishing to be in full swing.
Permit, cobia, tarpon, snook and jacks can be found along the beaches, inlets, and wrecks and are best targeted with live crabs or any live baitfish on rods spooled with 15-50 pound power pro. With the ocean calming down a little, the water clarity will improve along the beaches. This makes sight fishing for these bruisers much easier than it is earlier on in the season but also will make them a little more leader shy as well. Use various sized Yo-Zuri pink flouro-carbon leaders to get smart ones to bite. Cruise the beach looking for individual fish to schools the size of football fields. Great bottom fishing is takes place this month and I’m happy to take you to do it, but I’ll let Rocky fill you in on that stuff.
Moving offshore, the dolphin, and wahoo fishing continues to improve as does the size of the fish. Expect dolphin up to 50 pounds to start hitting the docks and wahoo pushing the 100 pound mark. There are also some sails still around and the chance of encountering a blue marlin around the schools of small bonita and blackfin tuna is always a possibility.
I’m still trolling faster than normal (6.5-8.0 knots) and use ballyhoo, mullet, and strip baits in conjunction with different colored skirts, chuggers and mold craft lures I also use a cannon downrigger with a Yo-Zuri bonita behind it, rigged with a cable leader while looking for wahoo and big kings. I also always have at least one marlin lure in the spread during these conditions. Last year I started using Scylla Lures and have had great success with dolphin, wahoo, sailfish and tuna with them, they work well at hybrid speeds when your pulling lures and bait at the same time.
April also kicks of the great yellowfin tuna fishery we have off of Stuart. If you’re interested in a long range tuna trip, give me a call. Fish average 65 lbs and there’s always a chance at a 100 + pound yellow fin. April and May also offer your best shot at catching blue marlin on these trips too. It’s a “run and gun” aggressive style of fishing that you better eat your Wheaties for.