Pier 60 Fishing Report

Spotted seatrout

Fishing in April has been decent when the weather cooperated. There were a couple of late-season cold fronts that pushed though, and some winds that turned the Gulf of Mexico into a mass of whitecaps. Temperatures sank into the low 70′s during the days, but there were still quite a few good fishing days and nights. Water temperatures are now firmly into the mid-70′s, and things look good from here out into summer.

Spanish Mackerel fishing has been very good, with the toothy speedsters biting well on live shrimp and plugs. A wide variety of other fish have shown up, including Jack Crevalle, Lane Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Black Sea Bass, Sheepshead, Whiting, Flounder, Key West Grunt, Gag Grouper, Pompano, and Cobia. Some King Mackerel have been hooked, but none have been brought up as yet.

Spotted Sea Trout have been biting very well, with some fish taken during the day, but a majority are caught at night under the lights on live shrimp, small greenbacks, or grub lures tipped with a bit of fresh shrimp.

Tarpon are here, with a few fish jumped, but none tamed. Any day we should see schools of Tarpon daisy-chaining off the beach near the pier. We have a No-Kill policy for Tarpon here on Pier 60. No Tarpon are to be beached, gaffed, killed or removed. Tarpon are to be released unharmed.

Snook fishing has started to pick up, but only a few fish have been taken. Most of the Snook have been powerful and quick to wrap the line around a piling and break off.

The local technique for catching Snook is simple and inexpensive. First, one rod is dedicated just for catching baitfish with a sabiki rig. Since we do not allow cast nets on Pier 60, the sabiki rig is used to catch a few Greenback minnows. The lively Greenback is hooked in the nose with a small live bait hook, or circle hook tied to a length of fluorocarbon leader material. The bait is free-lined, no weights, swivels or beads to alert the wary Snook. The Greenback is tossed just to the edge of the illuminated area off the pier, and the Snook usually take the baitfish in a gentle sneaky fashion. It is important to watch your line movement, because you won’t always feel the bite until it is well along. When the fish feels the hook, the Snook might jump once then lunge under the pier to try and wrap around a piling. The fight is usually decided in the first 30 seconds. If the Snook gets tired out, then stage two of the battle begins.

We use a large hoop net, or pier landing net to get the fish up top. The net is lowered, and the fish is brought into the net. Then the Snook can be brought up, unhooked, measured to see if it is a keeper, (28 inch Minimum / 33 inch Maximum total length) and photographed.

It is important to take care and support the belly of a large Snook while out of the water. Holding a big fish vertically lets the guts of the fish slump downwards, and can damage and mortally wound the fish internally.

The third stage of the fight is the release. The fish should be put back into the net, lowered gently, and revived with an up-and-down motion of the net. When the fish has recovered enough, it will be upright in the net, and alert to rejoin its’ friends. Most all of the larger Snook are females, and it is important to insure the survival of the large breeders. After all, it is the success of Florida’s fisheries management that has kept the Snook fishing so awesome here on Pier 60.

Good Luck Fishing!
Capt’ Tom

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!

Pier 60 Fishing Area

The New Year started off with a bang at Pier 60!

Abundant sunshine and warm temperatures brought the water temperature up into the low 70′s, insuring a variety of species caught in the first two weeks of 2009.

During the daytime, Spanish Mackerel have been thick at times, with multiple hook-ups on large sabiki rigs. Mackerels ranged in size from 8 inches on up to keepers at 14 or so inches.

Live shrimp fished under a bobber also work, but the hordes of small Pinfish become a nuisance to having any success with whole shrimp during the days.

Sheepshead fishing has also been respectable, with nice fish up to 5 pounds landed on cut fresh shrimp, free-lined on a small stout hook. Small crabs work great too, if you know where to get them.
There have been a few Spotted Seatrout caught during the day, but the best action has been well after dark. Along with 15-inch and above fish, a few Trout over 20 inches have been caught. Remember, the current rules allow you to keep 4 Spotted Seatrout, minimum 15 inches, with only one fish above 20 inches allowed per fisherman.

Silver Trout and Sand Seatrout have been abundant, with catches of foot-long Sand Seatrout most impressive.