Here comes the heat, Summer brings us calmer water and southern currents along the surf, bait begins to hold on the piers and inlets, as we move through the month bait will increase in amount. We should see Threadfins, Pilchards and Goggleeyes, lingering mullet around also.

Fishing starts to get a little tougher as you must target your fish because very few species will be in abundance except Tarpon, the northern migration tarpon run should be in full swing through june and are a sportmans dream and some reaching 150 to 175 pounds and are beasts and almost impossible for a shorebound fisherman to get in but every so often everything is in your favor and you get that catch of a life time from shore.

Catching Tarpon from the Piers , Beaches and Inlets, from the Piers you can sight fish them with live Pilchard live lined, a nice size Mullet head lobed out from the beach will also work and at the inlets live or Dead will get you picked up.

Other fish that will begin to move in will be large cero mackerel, bonita “little tuny” and everyone’s favorite Mangrove snapper, the snapper will show best once the summer bait moves in thicker and the snapper will be stacked up under piers, docks or around structure inshore, best bet for the Mangrove snapper will be live shrimp, Silver-sides or any fresh cut white bait.

There will be Panfish in the surf and all will be easily caught on pieces of shrimp on a double chicken rig, your likely to catch Spots, Sand perch “Mojarras”, whiting, and maybe a straggler Pompano.

This time of year I bring fishing to the beach with me a snorkel and mask because if the fish aren’t hitting I’m a because the water is super clear and its hot on the beach.

Have a great June and get ready to take the kids fishing, summer break is almost here and they will have plenty of time so you need to make some time.

Bait for April along our shore we should see Pilchards starting to show up and Silver Mullet moving north, thread herring “greenies” should be running the shadow lines of the piers and some of the piers will be holding a good amount of goggle-eyes.

Shrimp have been in the Broward area last month and I only saw a few good days, but I do expect to see a few in April so keep your dip nets and lanterns ready and if you see a good SE wind for a couple of days find a place you can shrimp from that is close enough to the water to use a 18 foot dip net, the inlets work and you can shrimp from the seawalls or rock jettys, Hillsboro Inlet would be my suggestion.

Mutton Snappers should begin to move in to the more hard bottom areas of our shores, Piers in and around jettys and the inlet channels, beaches where you are able to cast out to hardbottom “Rocky Sea Floor”

So the Northern Piers of Broward will likely see some Monster King Mackerel, Cobia and maybe even a few giant Bluefish this month, the kings that I have seen in past years and some go well over 30lbs, they also have there days with decent Muttons and Mangrove Snapper.

On the southern piers as the pilchard move in we will see some Nice Snook caught, Nice size Spanish Macks, March was a more consistent month for Pompano, Spanish macks, Bluefish and were caught with ease, this should continue through this month of April.

Best bet from the beach or pier for Pompano will be a double drop loop rig, #2 khale hooks with baited Sand Fleas or fresh shrimp. I advise you to cast as far from the beach as you can get or fish from a pier in the pompano area, it’s funny but they always seem to run in one area on a pier. Banana Jigs “daffy jig” Docs Goofy Jig all work well if you are jigging from the piers and sometimes you can score big time from the beach with jigs as long as they come in shallow though.

Tarpon will start to show up in more numbers heading towards the north at the end of the month, so get to ready to wrestle those 125 pounders from land if that your target species, nothing like trying to stop 100 plus fish from a fixed structure it is the challenge of all challenges the only other fish I know that is equally hard is those toothy critters Sharks, but nothing like the acrobatic show that the silver kings puts on, so get ready that time of year starts at the end of the of this month.

Happy Fishing, the Boatless Fisherman…aka Tom Argue…a Fishing Friend

Bait this month will be Ballyhoo, Goggle eye, Big Thread herring “Greenies”, We may see some small sardines at the North end. Speckled swimming crabs “Calico” have been abundant on the beaches, I would say there must be a Permit swimming close by.

March is a great month it will hold a more consistent bite and there will be more fish along the coast. Bluefish should be around any night we have a good wind off the ocean. Big Spanish Mackerel should also be in the area along with Bluefish during the day. On the Southern piers Snapper, Mangroves and Muttons and, in the past, I have seen some nice Cobia’s caught this month in the the 30 to 40lb range.

Pompano Madness on our piers will begin and anywhere they are being caught should be chaos, as always. But they sure do taste good don’t they. They will bite to the South best, we will see them also on the Northern piers. The morning and evening bites should be best and it will be great to be out on the wooden planks enjoying a good bite with fishing friends.
I am looking forward to some awesome fishing this month.

Best bet from the beach or pier for Pompano will be a double drop loop rig, #2 khale hooks with baited Sand Fleas or fresh shrimp. I advise you to cast as far from the beach as you can get or fish from a pier in the pompano area, it’s funny but they always seem to run in one area on a pier. Banana Jigs “daffy jig: Docs Goofy Jig all work well if you are jigging from the piers and sometimes you can score big time from the beach with jigs as long as they come in shallow though.

Black tips and Spinner sharks will invade the North end of Broward but will be everywhere. A 4/0 wide and cast from the shore should find them this month and a nice head bait from a lady fish will work great. They are a great fight on lighter tackle and I prefer 40 to 50lb test and I love to see them do their aerial acrobatics and rocket spins from those 100 to 125lbders “Catch and Release” that’s how I play with them.

Don’t forget the perfectly seasoned shrimp that will be in our waters this month. We should have a few evenings into the late night to be able to net enough for dinner and they will go great over a Pompano filet. So look for East winds with a North current and a full moon normally helps too.

Happy Fishing, the Boatless Fisherman…aka Tom Argue…a Fishing Friend

Well made it through the lull of January, this month things will definitely start to pick up Boatless fishing wise, End of February marks the start of Spring for our springaling fish.

Bait for this months will be the same as last, Ballyhoo, Google eyes, Greenies “Thread Herring” and some Mullet in small schools lulling around the shore.

What we should see being caught as the month goes on is Bluefish and they should be on the larger size, every few years we see the 12 to 15lbders move back north and lets hope this springs brings them through, everyone always likes catching the Big Blues. Pompano will start to show in better numbers and will be best caught to the south end of Broward, south of Port everglade that area is always best for the spring. Spanish mackerel will also start to show in better numbers. Snapper, Croakers, Whitting, Margates will be in the mix also.

Snook season Opens on the 1st of February and should be more productive towards the end of the month as shrimp starts to show up more in our waters, Your best bet from the piers and Inlets will be a live shrimp used with a troll rite or a live shrimp live-lined and worked in towards the structure you are fishing. They love those shadow-lines so be ready as you come into them or through them. Another Pier method is walking the dog that is an egg weight on your main line and a 3 to 4 foot flouro carbon leader and a 1/0 to a 3/0 short shank live bait hook and just walk the pier and keep your shrimp at about a foot and half to 2 foot above the bottom you can also bounce it on the bottom as you walk the length of the pier. If you are fishing the beaches for Snook try a olive green xrap at daybreak or sunset that time makes it harder for them to see it clearly and you have a better chance with artificials and you also can try a DOA they work sometimes very well. Snook only opens for the Alantic side and is 1 per day and 28” to 32”

That’s right those pink delicious shrimp that come from the south will hopefully start to make a showing, I have heard that they have been moving in and around the Rickenbacker and have heard of some nice poundage taken and that is why I am mentioning it this early and so its just a matter of timing and wind to get them here to Broward county.

Here is some good indicators that they could run, a good wind from the west at 15 or more for a day or so and then moving to a SE direction and holding for 3 or so days, all this coinciding with a full moon. February is only the start and I have seen shrimp run well into April.

Happy Fishing, the Boatless Fisherman…aka Tom Argue…a Fishing Friend

So the New Year Begins.
Bait in the water for this month will be Ballyhoo, Thread Herring, Goggle eyes, maybe some Sardines as well. This month is the lull before the Spring run starts to kick in so if we get lucky with the winds and they keep pushing against our coast from the SE or NE this should help to keep bait in the surf and if there is food for the fish the fish are there to be caught.

Fishing this month will improve as the month goes on, with King Mackerel, Cobia and Spanish macks being the more prevalent fish on northern Broward piers. The days when the water is calmer and clearer will be the days to set back and keep a rod rigged with a large Cobia jig, watch for rays and those Dark moving fish behind them or around them should be cobia, toss out past them, give a couple of jigs to get there attention and they should be on it. If you are going to fish a bottom bait try using a Blue runner head. Another fish that will be caught will be King Mackerel mostly on the Northern piers a single trolly rig or as others call it a slider rig with a live Goggle eye or Ballyhoo will do the trick.

We should also see after any storms and rough water some nice size Mutton Snappers move in and around all the piers. I am never surprised when I see a 7lb to 10lb Mutton caught this time of year.

Also a good mix of fish will be caught from our Southern Broward piers, Spanish Mackerel, Bonita, Amber jacks “Lesser and Greater” Make sure you know the difference because the size on a lesser is not less than 14″ or more than 22″ fork -Daily Bag Limit is 5 per harvester. For the Greater Amber Jack minimum size limit is 28 inches fork length, Daily bag limit of one fish per harvester per day,
and they look very similar. Cobia are around the Southern piers but there are many shorty’s that do not make the number unlike the ones to the North. Bluefish are always a sure bet at night and numerous Black tip and Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks, some Mangrove snapper are also caught under the structures at night.

From the surf the Southern end will be better with Pompano starting to show, along with 3 to5 lb jacks, there will also be plenty of Pan fish like “Mojarra,” large ones, Croakers, Southern or Gulf Kingfish “Whiting” these can be caught from the beach using a double hook rig like a pompano rig with small pieces of shrimp.

Our Inlets will produce some great fish also, fishing live shrimp on a troll rite on incoming or outgoing you may get a Snook “Out of Season let it go”, Sheephead, Tripletail and 6 to 8lb Cubbera or Mangrove snapper working the edge drop offs from the sides through the inlets.

What is great about fishing this month and the next couple of months is we have a lot of different fish around so you don’t know what you may catch until you try so get out and find a nice place to take some time and fish and enjoy this time of year it only comes once a year.

Happy Fishing, the Boatless Fisherman…aka Tom Argue…a Fishing Friend
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