Well, the spinner sharks are still in the area, much to my delight. It was 3/26/02 when they pulled their mass evacuation last year and every one of about ten thousand sharks disappeared in twenty-four hours. A very impressive coordinated effort that hasn’t happened just yet. I don’t have a clue what the trigger is that causes them to high tail it out of here, and I don’t think I want to know. It’ll just depress me that the spectacular sport these things provide is coming to an end for the year. The cold front that is currently blasting through my neighborhood,(winds are over 20 knots sustained with gusts over thirty) may just find the spinners gone when it is done later this week. We’ll see. Our weather has been so good from a fishing standpoint this winter, that a good wind storm was inevitable, and probably needed, in coming. And there’s still hordes of bluefish around, this will easily be the best bluefish winter ever here in Palm Beach. I’m sure we crossed the fifteen hundred mark on landed fish for the blue chompers. And the pods of big jack crevalle are making their appearance right on que. The next month or two will give us shots at jacks in the fifteen to forty pound range. But the consolation is that it looks like we might be having an “overlap year” on species arrival. Generally, it’s not a surprise to find the winter fish leave and there be a slight lull in the action for a week or two be fore water temps and whatever it is that causes the arrival of the kings, dolphin, false albacore and the tarpon and snook to wake up enough to start feeding,(same thing happens in the fall). But with the exception of snook, we have caught all of those species in the last week or two. One really neat thing was finding albies running around in the surf, from seven feet of water out to about twenty. Not huge fish, they were about four to seven pounds, but there was no shortage of them. We were able to target them on ridiculously small gear, getting all the way down to five weights. And a six or seven pound albie on a five weight is pretty much out of control. Great fun. Also had some running around weather last week to get out and find some dolphin, and though the ones we found were not large at all, again fine light tackle fare with fish in the three to five pound range. Well, with what looks like a “wind delay” for at least a day or two, I think I’ll take advantage and start pumping out albie and dolphin flies as fast as I can…

Pretty much the same report with a few additions. The sharks, jacks, bluefish and spanish mackerel have continued to put on a very entertaining show. The pompano have moved on for the most part, but quite a few false albacore and huge school of king mackerel have taken their place. The kings can be very good fun, even for those somewhat “fly challenged” due to there being very little need for distance casting. Deep drifted flies get smacked about as fast as they sink deeper than twenty five feet. You basically just feed out enough of the fast sinking line to get it down to where the kings are and start twitching the fly. Hang on tight though, I think a king hits the fly going about twenty miles an hour, and then hits the afterburners when it feels the hook. About the fastest thing you can hook around here short of a sailfish or wahoo, the kings top out at over fifty MPH. Most of the kings are running less than fifteen lbs, but there are a few “smokers”(not sure if they’re called that because people like big kings to smoke, or because big kings “smoke” your reel) over twenty lbs. Many a drag has been in need of a re-building after a couple encounters with the big kings. The albies have been in good enough supply to chum a few up and we boated several last week in the ten to twelve pound range. A nice treat since they’re usually not even around this time of year. Dolphin have also started to show up, a prelude to my favorite months of the year for big slammer dolphin. We have dolphin in the area for the most part year round, but April and May have the majority of big mahi mahi over fifteen lbs. Dolphin on fly is easily one of my favorite things to do. While there are a few fish that run faster, pull harder, not too many fish jump better or more frequently than dolphin. And nothing does all that and tastes great to boot. Cobia are also passing through the area, though we haven’t had any encounters with them, fish of over fifty lbs have been hitting the dock on a fairly regular basis. About the only thing missing are the blackfin and skipjack tuna, and I’m expecting to start seeing them this coming month also. Looks like spring fishing is about ready to bust loose here in south Florida.

I don’t have much of anything new to report. The bluefish, jacks, spanish mackerel have, for the most part, continued chewing up a storm. Ladyfish have also shown up in the same area, nice fish in the two to four pound range. And the sharks have continued to put a spectacular show most days. The recent weather changes has made everything a little moody, but hasn’t shut the whole show down by any means. One special treat of late has been some of the best pompano fishing in years. These mini-permit have been right in the middle of all the action, so getting past the other, more voracious critters has been the main trick. The pompano like flies dragged right across the bottom, and won’t tolerate a heavy leader. So on the way down and on the way back up, many flies have been neatly clipped off by the blues and spanish mackerel. But the pompano hit a fly like a knock out punch, one of the hardest strikes of anything their size. And of course they are some of the best table fare going. That’s about all for now.

Time is just flying by here in south Florida, a byproduct of very entertaining fishing. The bluefish and jacks are still chewing up a storm, teaser plugs tossed into the schools and ripped back to the boat at warp speed brings a foaming, frothing wave of fish charging. And a fly dropped into the melee is just a forgone conclusion, perfect six and eight weight action. Occasionally, one of the spinner sharks will zero in on the action and relieve us of one of the jacks or blues. Since we’re running wire traces for the blues, (and the jacks don’t care) several times we’ve ended up with a spinner on a rod never meant to endure such an encounter. The trick has been to pop him off before all the line on those tiny reels disappears. Schools of bigger jacks in the ten to twenty pound range have also started appearing and the teaser plugs bring the same result, only in a faster, more explosive version for the larger nine and ten weights. The afternoons have been spent battling the sharks deliberately, with their cooperation level being fairly consistent with a few days they just were not in the mood to play. I haven’t been keeping close track of numbers, but close to a hundred released and two hundred hooked is about right. And we still have six weeks or so before they leave for the year. Dolphin and king mackerel have also been OK on the days the offshore scene is comfortable. Nothing of any size, the kings have been seven to fifteen lbs, (although some serious kings over thirty pounds have been reported) and the dolphin all under ten. But matching the appropriate gear and you can still have your hands full. Other incidental catches include a nice ten pound grouper Kyle Shannon caught out of the middle of a school of jacks, still not sure what he was doing there. Dave Ulmer also had a treat this week with some out of season albies showing up. Caught about half a dozen up to ten lbs. Been having large groups of monster permit giving me fits. They show up right at the boat while the motor is running as if to say ” Hi, how ya doin? We know you don’t have any crab flies for us to eat, so we’ll see ya later “. I don’t think there is a crab fly out there big enough to get these guys attention, some of which are well in excess of forty pounds. And that is life in south Florida.

Well, the boys are back in town. The spinner sharks started showing up at the end of last week. First day out was a solo trip on thursday, and I hooked five and got three to the boat. Releasing one of those bad boys is quite a trick solo. Anyhow, friday morning we managed zero to the boat out of four hooked. And sunday only three to the boat out of twelve hooked. This is hands down my favorite thing to do during the winter and I’m looking forward to playing with the “brown bombers” for the next couple of months. If the timing happens like it did last year, we can look forward to the sharks being around into late march. Other than that, bluefish, jacks of all sizes, assorted runners, king mackerel and dolphin have been rounding out the action. The sailfish have been in the area, and we’ve tried a few times for them, but have yet to get any interested in a fly. Seems like the best bite on the sails is during really snotty weather that neither I nor my customers want to screw with. But, other than that, winter fishing is in full swing.

The weather has been changing  rapidly, and that has been keeping the fishing running hot and cold. The fishing for jack crevalle has been the exception, huge numbers of fish providing great action most all of the time. The jacks have been running five to fifteen pounds and hitting poppers on top very nicely. Just before the jacks showed up there was a very good permit bite going on. Not flats fishing, these permit were holding in the inlet and the guys bouncing jig and shrimp combo’s on the bottom were scoring big. About the time I got around to giving them a try, a massive school of jacks moved into the area and it was impossible to get anything past them to get to the permit. There has been more and more tarpon moving into the area. It’s that time of year when they come south running from colder water temps. We launched on nice tarpon in the seventy pound range last week right in the middle of the day. I’ve not seen a big push of sailfish into the area just yet, a couple more cold fronts should change that. Most of the action on sails is still north of here. I did get a chance to try out a new teaser rig consisting of a high-speed spreader bar with five daisy chains of ballyhoo rigged on it. The thing looks great in the water, and when the sails show up, I intend to annoy the crap out of a bunch of them. Spotty action on dolphin and king mackerel is more of an indication of less than favorable weather and not a lack of fish. If the weather moderates, there should be some of both going on. I hear the ladyfish and Spanish mackerel have moved into their normal winter spots north of here, something I’ll keep in mind when I need a change of pace. The only thing really missing is the spinner sharks. They should be moving in over the next three weeks or so.

The first couple of cold fronts passing through the area has sparked the arrival of our winter menu. Jacks, ladyfish, spanish and king mackerel, spinner sharks and sailfish have all shown up. Some big dolphin also have been around. And a nice treat for us, a bunch of big bluefish, (big for us, four to eight pounds), have also been in the area. The weather has been leaving a bit to be desired though being a bit on the windy side. Directly after the first cold front of the season a week or so ago, quite a few white marlin and a couple of blue marlin were being caught. One spot in along the beach has had clear water and a varitable smorgasbord of targets. We had two-thirds of a slam one day last week with an eight pound permit and a sixty pound tarpon. I wish the bonefish here were a little easier to locate. There were schools of pompano, spanish mackerel, hordes of blue runners and small jacks, the biggest school of bluefish I’ve ever seen, and for some reason, the tarpon were just fascinated with the boat, grouping up under the boat and following it as we drifted. Not small guys either, these ‘poons were all fifty lbs to well over a hundred. Throwing the teaser plugs into the schools of bluefish was a riot. The swarm of blues would come tearing the surface to foam as they chased the teaser back to the boat. This activity would immediately draw the attention of the few spinner sharks, who would charge the blues chasing the teaser. This would understandable bother the blues who would decide they really didn’t need to catch the thing skipping accrossed the water and would scatter in the wink of an eye. But the spinner shark would continue after the teaser plug, throwing a headwake like a nuclear submarine. I very gladly lost several teaser plugs to the sharks that particular day. I have to remember to get the video camera out for stuff like this, but it’s very easy to just grin like an idiot and watch it all happening.

Dolphin fishing has been pretty good the past couple of weeks, though the unseasonably warm weather and a stalled front to our north has left them in a less than favorable mood. When this front finally passes through they should become more cooperative. The skipjack tuna also have not been liking the weather and have been laying low. The tarpon are still on the beach chasing mullet schools, we were treated to a spectacular show by some very big ‘poons hammering one school of mullet. Not one of the dozen or so tarpon were less than a hundred pounds. But they were pretty single minded in their eating, we couldn’t get any to even look at a fly. Ladyfish, jacks and some bluefish have been rounding out the action for us. Though not red hot, still decent entertainment. We did have a brief encounter with a spinner shark this past week. About a month early from their usual arrival date, I was very glad to see a few jumping around. After this front passes through, I expect the jacks, spanish mackerel, tuna, dolphin and hopefully sailfish to get really chewing. I can’t blame them for being out of sorts, here it is the end of October and we still have light winds and high eighty degree days. Very untypical.

Some of the very best fishing for ladyfish I have ever seen in the past couple of weeks. This is the time of year the ladies pass through the area as the bait migration is happening, and this year fishing for them has been spectacular. Huge schools of very large ladies in the two to five pounds plus range are out along the beaches and the weather has been just perfect. Calm seas and clear water. Numbers over fifty fish in a half day trip, pretty much out of control action with a dozen or more fish fighting over who gets to eat the fly. I had been chumming them, but decided that was needless. If you could just get a fly in the area, they would pound it. Also had some good dolphin action the end of last week. Out by myself on Thursday, I managed three in the box,( had finished off all my dolphin filets long ago) two twenty pounders and a twelve pounder, and released four more in the ten pound range. My customer on Friday also released about a half dz. It was nice to see some starting to show back up after the dolphin drought we experienced all summer. I also heard of some skipjack tuna action going on, but didn’t see any of that personally. Tarpon rounded out the menu over the past couple of weeks. Though not red hot, they have been quality fish in the thirty to sixty pound range. One forty five pounder was landed on an eight weight, not the typical tackle you’d like to fight one on, so it took awhile and put on a great jumping show. This is my favorite time of year for the tarpon, with the silver kings all headed south following the bait schools and feeding as they go. A bit of a change from their attitude in spring when they’re headed north with traveling and sex being the only things on their minds. We get our first cold front of the fall/winter season coming through this week. That heralds the winter menu’s imminent arrival. The ladyfish will move into their usual haunts, but the jacks, spanish mackerel, sailfish and my best buds, the spinner sharks are just around the corner. It should also get the skipjack tuna really chewing.

I don’t have a whole lot of fishing to report over the last month. Mainly due to a major boat renovation on the “Time To Fly”. It’s been twelve years since I bought the boat, and beating the hell out of it has taken it’s toll. The fact that it’s been driven like a jet ski for that amount of time and it hasn’t split in half and gone to the bottom is somewhat amazing. And though nothing had reach structural failure, the transom was on it’s way out, the gas tank needed attention and all the wiring and plumbing needed replacing. It took two days to dismantle the boat( removed console, motor, control cables and about three hundred screws and rivets) far enough to lift the deck off with the help of a forklift, prybars and chisels. Another two days to get the gas tank out, buffed down to clean metal and encased in fiberglass. Two days of tearing, cutting, grinding and scraping to get the old transom out. Three days to shape the replacement pieces for the transom,( the transom was in a total of three, 2pc interlocking sections, plus four integrated stringers) and two more days to fiberglass the whole thing together. A couple of days to replace the wires and plumbing. A day to repair the joint where the deck and hull were joined and do various other little things to have it ready to go back together. We lifted the deck back onto the hull thirteen days after pulling it apart. Quite a little backyard project. About five days into it I was wondering if I had bitten off more than I knew how to chew. I had never attempted anything quite this extreme in a rebuild and needless to say, my learning curve was just about vertical. But everything went back together fine and the maiden voyage came off without anything falling off and going to the bottom. And the next trip was a offshore run through about four foot waves which confirmed nothing was going to fail anytime soon. I think this will take me another twelve years down the line. Maybe by then there will be a boat on the market that can compare to the Wahoo, otherwise, I’ll be doing it all over again. Now, to the fishing. The mullet run/ bait migration has started. Pods of finger mullet,(little guys, they’re the first to come through) have appeared in the intracoastal and just like clockwork, jacks, snook, tarpon, sharks, cudas and ladyfish are blasting the crap out of them. My customers on Saturday afternoon, (probably the only worse time to fish inside here being Sunday afternoon due to boat traffic) boated probably thirty ladyfish, missed at least twice that, several nice jacks and one shark. Also missed several snook and I think at least one tarpon. I haven’t been offshore, but I’ve gotten reports of dolphin, wahoo and tuna being caught. I don’t have a lot of trips on the books for the next month or so, a typically slow time of year despite the good fishing. But after the boat project and the busy winter, spring and summer, I plan on treating myself to some fishing. I’ll keep you all posted on the results.