BLUE WATER GULF STREAM REPORT Well, it hasn’t been the best of weather conditions, but when it is I suggest, if you have the chance, to go! During this time of the year, you could find yourself catching black fin tuna, dolphin, (Mahi Mahi), king mackerel (most likely silver kings), or Wahoo. Heck, I am even going to throw African Pompano into this possible catching mix. December-February is great months to give the naval towers close pass by. The African pompano are known for schooling inside the legs. In other words sometime you can see them, but you can’t get to them. However, it certainly offers a fisherman one heck of a reason to try to get them to charge a bait outside of the tower legs. For many years the offshore naval towers have not only held the attentions of fish, but also fishermen. This is a target rich environment for any kind of fish. With that being said, “The towers are target rich environments for the fisherman too!” Since most species of pompano are preyed on by mackerel, tunas, and shark hanging inside the legs of the tower could offer a sense of safety. And of course this is a great area for an African pompano to feed on the thousands of small baits fish and shellfish that find this area their home port. Since we don’t catch this fish all of the time seeing them schooling inside the legs of the tower could be once in a life time seeing affair. I have been fishing there waters for many years and have only seen them once at R3 naval tower. Over the years I have caught quite a few while bottom fishing, but not enough to say we have a season on them. So therefore, I rely on reports of sightings from fishermen. There have been some sightings! So there’s your sign to keep a look out! How do you get your best chance at catching one of these wonderful looking fish? The ones that I have caught have been while plain old bottom fishing with cut squid. They just happened by, saw our bait, and ate it. If you see them schooling around the tower I suggest giving slow trolling flashy baits a try. If you have any live bait such as Spanish sardines or cigar minnows, which offer quite a bit of flash, I suggest giving these a try. Your main goal would be to get them to hit bait while you are moving away from the tower. The reason being is this fish pulls strong just like an amberjack!
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:46:00 +0000