Pier 60 Fishing Report

Paul DelPizzo proudly displays his flounder, caught this month on Pier 60.

Fishing from Pier 60 in March improved greatly as the weather warmed.

Daytime fishing really heated up as the water cleared and began to climb towards the 70 degree mark.

Schools of baitfish were followed by Spanish Mackerel. At first the Mackerel were small for the most part, but now we have seen many fish over 20 inches taken. They are hitting small minnows, live shrimp, and lures. In addition to the Macks, we have seen many nice Flounder taken on live shrimp. Some of these flatties have been very respectable in size, over 16 inches. We have also seen a great variety of different species, including Gag Grouper, Mangrove Snapper, Pompano, Bluefish, Ladyfish, Sheepshead, Pompano and Cobia.

Butterfish and Whiting were the most popular nighttime catches. Spotted Sea trout were also showing up after dark, and quite a few keepers were taken on small live baits or live shrimp. Some evenings the Trout arrived in schools, with some anglers taking their limits of four fish in a couple of hours.

We can look forward to the rest of March heralding some of the best fishing of the year. Snook have been almost absent so far, with only one undersize fish taken as yet. But warmer conditions will send those larger fish arriving from the inside bay waters into a feeding frenzy off the beaches. Look for more schools of baitfish followed by Snook, Redfish, Mackerel, and the occasional Cobia. King Mackerel “Smokers” will be prowling just off the beach troughs, looking for a large offering to cut in half. Pompano fishing will also improve as waters fill with small baitfish and crabs. If you want to experience some of the best fishing of the year, come out early mornings and late evenings this month.

April first, Pier 60 hours will go back to a 24-hour, 7-day schedule.

Fishing in April is some of the most reliable of the year, with Snook and Trout the stars of the show. The Snook bite best at night, using only a free-lined Greenback minnow on a small stout live bait hook. No extra hardware should be used, or the fish will ignore the bait. Bait nets are not allowed on the Pier, so baitfish must be caught using a Sabiki rig.

Lures are also effective on Snook, with hot pink being the preferred color.

April also means the schools of Tarpon arrive off the beaches and to Pier 60. These acrobatic Silver Kings can be enticed with a live baitfish during the mornings and middle of the day. It is thrilling to see a large hundred-pound Tarpon rise to inhale a lively bait, and then to see him skyrocket and try to throw the hook is a sight you will not soon forget. This is a catch-and release fishery on Pier 60.

Good Luck Fishing!

Capt'nTom

The second half of January saw some good fishing on Pier 60. As long as the wind was not howling right before the arrival of the cold fronts, or during some of the torrential rains we had in the past week or so, fishermen were able to do well after sundown. Lots of good-sized Whiting were caught on cut squid, and many nights saw up to 35 fish per angler. Most of the Whiting were over 12 inches in length, and a few nights the fish averaged 16 inches, with a couple of fish measuring 18 inches!
There were also a fair number of Sand Seatrout and Spotted Seatrout taken at night on live shrimp. Small Silver Trout were also caught on cut bait.

Anglers armed with small hooks and cut shrimp or small crabs were able to catch quite a few Sheepshead, but not as many or as large as a few weeks ago.
Small Blacktip Sharks have shown up in the past few days, and a 3-foot Lemon Shark was caught and released.

Good Luck Fishing!

Spanish Mackerel

December was a great month to fish on Pier 60.

On the sunny warm days, the Spanish Mackerel were around, hitting on small Glass Minnows, Shrimp, small live Sardines, and live shrimp. Larger sabiki rigs also induced flurries of action.
A few Gag Grouper were caught and released, but no keepers.

At night, Silver Trout, Whiting, and Sand Seatrout were caught, with some fishermen taking home up to 25 assorted fish.

There were a variety of species, including Lane Snapper, Key West Grunt, Black Seabass, Searobin, Sheepshead, and Jack Crevalle.

The water remained clear most of the time, but when the winds churned the waves into froth, water visibility quickly deteriorated, and it takes a few days of clear calm weather to bring the water visibility back.

It seems that the baitfishes are still around, and on some days the water was dark with schools of fish. The larger predatory fish attacked from below, while the Pelicans and other diving birds feasted from above.

Snook have moved inside the passes into warmer areas, creeks cuts, and deep canals. It will take a sustained stretch of warm weather to entice them back to the Pier area.

A few nice stringers of Sheepshead were taken, and the fish were fat and healthy, averaging about 3 pounds each.