Plenty of mahi-mahi but bring a tape measure!

Mahi-mahi are the one of the fastest growing fish in the ocean. Their lifespan is very short, not more than a few years. Right now, off our coast we have been catching plenty of mahi in the 18-to-25-inch range. The minimum size to keep is 20 inches from the tip of the lower jaw to the fork in the tail. Make sure that you bring a measuring tape, so you don't receive a ticket and fine from the FWC when you return to the inlet. We have heard of several boats being fined for undersized fish this week. Most of the Mahi were caught between 600 and 800 feet of water. There has been loads of seaweed, both close to shore and offshore this week. Conditions are changing daily as we have pockets of clean water that are fishable nearshore, but you may have to travel north or south to find that water. 

The blackfin tuna and sailfish bite seems to be the most consistent bite closer to shore. We did have a great catch of blackfin the other day trolling and around 250 feet of water. Live bait anglers are experiencing the same thing, but the fish seem to be pushing into about 125 feet of water. The best blackfin bite seems to be coming early in the morning or later near the evening sunset hours. Live bait is yielding the larger tuna pushing 30 pounds. 

The most exciting fish of the week was a blue marlin. we hooked aboard the "Lisa B" out in 800 feet of water. We were in pursuit of mahi-mahi when we hooked something big on the planer rod. We fought the fish for 20 minutes before it came up jumping boat side. We all screamed when we saw that it was a blue marlin. We do not catch very many blue marlin here in south Florida, but with all of the mahi around, we should've expected it. 

For an up to the minute, Fishing report tune in to the Paul Castronovo Big 105.9 Papas Pilar fishing report on Friday mornings at 6:20 AM with RJ Boyle. 

Get tight!

RJ Boyle

Pictured here is the Christian Davis charter.