What’s Biting?

The calm seas of the summer are conducive to run and gun for Mahi offshore or make the long Bahama runs searching for Yellowfin and Mahi.  Deep dropping for Yellow Eye and Queen Snapper in the Bahamas is always a good back up plan if the running and gunning does not pay off.  Golden Tilefish and Rosies off South Florida are common in the 700 foot range off the bottom as well. The June and July full moon is excellent for mutton fishing localy in South Florida and the Bahamas.  Up North in the Mid Atlantic through the North East season gets going with Bluefin Tuna fishing nearshore and Canyon fishing for Yellowfin, Big Eye, and Billfish can be excellent.

How are we catching them?

Getting out early is key to run and gun for Yellowfin and Mahi. Check our Seminar for top Tier Yellowfiun Tactics fishing without live bait.  Have a few spinning rods rigged up with Spro Bucktail Jogs along with a few conventional rods with easy to deploy Mahi rigs.  When you come across any birds or debris deploy your trolling lines and get ready.  Keeping a couple Deep Drop rigs ranging from 10/0-13/0 and a few Diamond Lights and a box of Squid on hand can help save a day and put some meat in the box.

The Mutton Spawn begins late Spring through the Summer and can produce some of the best fishing for the entire year. We have a full length Seminar giving top tactics and tips to catching mutton. A typical rig will be 20-30 feet of 40 lb Flourocarbon with a live or dead goggle eye or ballyhoo.

For those fishing up north a live mackerel drifted under a balloon is irresistible for the big Bluefins. Fish large heavy duty circle hook on 160-180 flouro. Trolling big Nomad Lures and traditionally rigged ballyhoo and Illander Seastar do well for the yellow fins. Poppers on Big spinners are a great attractant as well when you find them.

Pro Tips:

• Fine tuning your radar is Key to locating the birds. Turning your range down to 3-4 miles and bringing the gain as high as you can without too much clutter will help located even the smallest flock of birds. Be careful not to run right up on them. Leave a few hundred yards and begin to deploy your lines.
• Plan on Fishing late. The last hour of sunlight into the dark can be the most productive especially during the summer when the water is so warm.
• Use two lights with your deep drop rig to attract more fish. Put one light at the top and a second at the bottom.
• When choosing lead for deep dropping a good rule of thumb is 1 lb of lead per 100ft feet in an average current. With a heavier current you may need to scale up the lead.
• Check out our Mutton Seminar for more tips on the Mutton Spawn