South Florida Weekly Fishing Report - June 13, 2019
LOCAL FISHING REPORT
OFFSHORE FISHING
Though the offshore bite has been a bit slow off Jensen Beach, there has been some action.
Trolling ballyhoo or casting live pilchards into the scattered seaweed has produced a decent dolphin bite. They are mostly being caught in 80 to 120 feet.
The bottom fishing on 6- and 8-mile reef has been good for grouper and snapper. The grouper are hitting on pilchards, sardines and grunts, and the snapper are being caught on squid.
There have been a few cobia caught as by-catch by anglers targeting grouper and snapper. Score!
Off Jupiter, there is still some cold water around.
Luckily it's only a quick run up to the Hobe Sound area where the bottom bite has been excellent. There have been nice mutton as well as yellowtail and a few vermillion snapper caught off the Loran Tower.
There are still plenty of king mackerel around off Jupiter. They are being caught in 60 to 110 feet of water.
The blackfin tuna bite has been good as well. Anglers working depths from 200 to 250 feet are faring well.
Looking for bait? Some decent schools of sardines have shown up and can be caught using Sabiki rigs off the blue roofs and directly out from the cross on Jupiter Island.
Off of the Boynton Beach area, there are a few dolphin being caught. Nothing big, with most fish in the 3- to 5-pound range. One captain said he'd tried multiple baits and tactics and in the end chunked threadfin herring was the only thing they wanted.
There are still blackfin tuna around, but they are widely scattered. The average size has been 15 pounds with the smaller ones taken on vertical jigs and bigger fish caught on drifted threadfin herring around schools of bonito. Best depths for them have been 160 to 190 feet.
The king mackerel have been scattered as well. Still off the Boynton Beach area, most have been around 10 pounds with a few up into the 20-pound range. They are being caught on drifted threadfin herring in 120 to 180 feet.
One charter captain reported catching a 55-pound wahoo Sunday. It was caught on drifted threadfin herring in 125 feet of water.
From 95 feet onto the reef in 60 feet, there has been a huge variety of fish. Anglers are catching cobia, African pompano, cero mackerel, yellowtail snapper and schoolmaster snapper. The snapper are hitting herring plugs and jigs with thin squid strips.
INSHORE FISHING
Along the beaches in the Jensen area, the whiting and croaker bite has been fantastic. They are being caught on shrimp, squid and Bloodworm Fishbites.
Also, on the beaches there have some nice tarpon and snook. The tarpon are being hooked using live pilchards and glass minnows. The snook on the beaches are more towards the inlet where the getting ready to spawn.
In the St. Lucie River, anglers working the Roosevelt and the 10 Cent Bridges are reporting an excellent snook bite using live pilchards, pinfish and shrimp.
Along the beaches in Jupiter and up to Hobe Sound, there has been excellent action on croaker, whiting, jack crevalle and snook.
The seawalls along the Loxahatchee River have been excellent for big lake croaker lately.
The Jupiter Inlet is fantastic for snook right now. Remember they're out of season, so it's catch and release only.
Unlike the past few weeks, there have been very few tarpon or snook around the Boynton Inlet. The area has also been mostly devoid of bait as well. There have been large numbers of spinner sharks, however, hanging around the channel on the approach to the inlet.
At the Lantana Bridge, anglers are still catching good numbers of sand perch on peeled shrimp and sheepshead on live shrimp and clams.
Small snook and tarpon also are being caught at the bridge on threadfin herring and greenies. Working the shadow lines with Rapala X-Rap lures has also been producing good results.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE
The bluegill action is still excellent in the Kissimmee River and Indian Prairie Canal. They are bedding down along the edges. Crickets and worms are still working well and if going with an artificial, beetle spins are the best bet.
The bass bite has been fantastic along King's Bar, Tin House Cove and even into the Kissimmee River. Anglers working the outside grass lines in the early mornings and late afternoons with chatter baits, spinner baits and swim jigs are doing well. Mid-day can still produce, but best bet is switching to artificial worms.
>>Whether it's a monster or a minnow, if you've got a good fishing photo send it to eritz@pbpost.com
17th ANNUAL PALM BEACH COUNTY KDW CLASSIC
Hosted by The West Palm Beach Fishing Club, this year's event featured 233 boats and over 1,000 participants who took to the water in pursuit of king mackerel, dolphin and wahoo on June 1.
Stephen Ray and team Shimako took top honors for the biggest king mackerel. The impressive 48.5-pound fish was caught using a live goggle eye on a flat line in 130 feet of water.
The heaviest dolphin went to David Batignani of team In Your Dreams. Working a weedline that was just a bit offshore at 22 miles, they caught the 28.3 pounder on a black and blue jet head with a horse ballyhoo.
Trolling a 14-inch Mr. Mullet bait in 210 feet of water off Boynton Beach, Dustin Haff and team Haff Time caught the event's largest wahoo. Weighing in at 62.7 pounds, their fish not only won the wahoo portion of the tournament, it bested the previous event record by over 7 pounds.
Dustin Haff's wahoo also earned in the title of King of the Classic.
Sherri Beswick was named Queen of the Classic for the 26.9 king mackerel she caught fishing aboard the Spiced Rum III. The Top Junior Angler this year was Casen Emmons who landed a 26.0 pound king mackerel aboard the Knot Possible.
Held out of Riviera Beach Marina, the annual event is among the largest one-day saltwater tournaments in Florida.
NOTEWORTHY
Capt. Bruce Cyr will conduct a seminar "Summer Snapper" from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday at West Marine in Lantana. The store is located at 1389 S. Dixie Highway, Lantana.
All fishing report information courtesy of Snook Nook in Jensen Beach, Fishing Headquarters in Jupiter, Capt. Bruce Cyr and Garrard's Bait & Tackle in Okeechobee.