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| April |
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| Chasing
the Slam!!! |
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| Hello
from the Florida Keys. If you are in search of that elusive
grand slam, spring is the best time of year to get it. For those
unfamiliar, a keys grand slam is a permit, tarpon and bonefish.
There’s an abundance of all three species on the Oceanside
flats. But, whether these fish want to eat what you have to
offer is a whole other story. Make sure not to leave the dock
without at least 3 different live baits. My favorites are shrimp,
silver dollar sized crabs, and pilchards or mullet. If live
bait is not available you don’t have to stress, just get
some fresh dead or dust off your assortment of bucktails and
lures.
The bonefish
can be found on the crown of the flats mudding, tailing or
just cruising. As the tide rises follow the water up onto
the crown, and as it falls check along the edges of the flat
in the deeper water. The bones will be moving off the flat
as the tide dumps the water off the flats. A live shrimp on
a circle hook is the bait of choice. You can also use a quarter
sized crab when the shrimp become scarce. My favorite artificial
bait is an 1/8 oz. Hank Brown HookUp bucktail in tan, white
or pink. The permit will be found along the edge of the flats.
Work along slowly with a push pole or trolling motor looking
for permit floating along the surface or tailing.
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The
best baits are live crabs or shrimp or the same bucktails
you use for bonefish. The permit can be very skittish when
the winds are calm and the water is slicked-off. The best
condition for permit is light winds with just enough chop
to mask your existence. While you are searching along the
edges for permit you are likely to come across some tarpon
as well. It’s tough to miss these big migrating silver
kings as they move through on their migration routes. Tarpon
tend to follow along the same paths year after year as they
migrate through the keys, so make sure to check the same places
that you found these fish in previous years. Tarpon can be
the toughest of the grand slam species to get to eat. My bait
of choice is a live mullet when available, if not I will use
big pilchards or ladyfish. If they refuse to eat a mullet
or pilchard, then I will deploy a blue crab or shrimp. Shallow
diving plugs and top waters will also work on these migrating
tarpon. If you are a night owl or early bird, fishing at dawn
or dusk will give you the most opportunities to land one of
these acrobatic kings. At night look for areas of high current
where bait will be moving along with the tide. Here in the
keys it seams that most guys like the outgoing tides due to
the flushing of mullet, shrimp and crabs at the bridges and
channels.
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The
offshore scene in the keys is heating up. The yellowtail bite
has been red hot and will continue into the spring. The bigger
fish are being found around structure in 70 feet and deeper.
The best way to get the fish in a feeding frenzy is chumming
with commercial blocks or mixing a potion of oats, commercial
chum, menhaden oil and some sea water. Then ladle out this
chum at a constant rate to keep the tails up at the surface.
The grouper bite will continue to be pretty good around any
bottom structure. They will eat just about any live or cut
bait dropped down to the bottom. Make sure to use sufficient
tackle to remove them from their lair. A good combo is a heavy
action rod matched with a 30-50 lb. conventional reel. Spring
also marks the beginning of the dolphin bite. Nothing beats
a ballyhoo trolled naked or along with a lure for the mahi.
The dolphin can be found just about anywhere outside the reef
line out to 30 miles. As always, keep your eyes peeled for
birds working bait schools and any floating debris. I’ve
heard many stories of captains finding mahi under debris as
small as a five gallon bucket.
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Til’ next time, Tight Lines and Light Winds…….
Captain
Lain
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