    
Capt Tim Fletcher
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 3:19 pm: | |
Subject: Port Canaveral, Florida Offshore Fishing Report
If you haven't taken a day to chase Cobia yet, you are missing one of the best runs we've had in a LONG TIME. Cobes are still strong out of Canaveral but, you can bet they won't be here much longer. Above average temperatures in February signaled the arrival of these brown bombers in numbers greater than anyone can recall in recent years. Cooler temps over the past few weeks appear to have done a good job holding the Cobia a little longer than normal. Most boats are targeting the Cobes in 40-60 ft of water Southeast of the Port entrance but, I can tell you with certainty that many of the fish have moved further North. Last Sunday, during the Captain Jack's Cobia Tournament, I fished Northeast of the Port and found more Manta Rays (at least 75) than I've ever seen in a single day. We spotted the majority of the rays in 90 ft of water about a mile outside of the North end of 8A reef. Most of the rays were skyrocketing and sadly, few of them stayed on the surface long enough to allow us to fish them effectively. The very first ray we spotted did stay up, however, and we were able to put two jigs near him and land two legal fish. After a few hours of racing around like madmen chasing the rays with little success, we decided to work our way North and looked for free-swimmers. We located only one free-swimmer about 3 miles South of Hetzel Buoy and he was a brute of at least 60 lbs. What occurred next was frustration in its greatest form. After watching him refuse jigs multiple times, we flipped a live Pogy near him and he quickly inhaled it. After a tense 20 seconds of waiting, we set the hook and were into quite a battle. As Cobes will often do early into a fight, this particular fish turned towards the boat, opened his mouth and spit the Pogy right out but, stayed on the surface near the boat. A whole squid was the next offering. Again, he inhaled the bait, made a strong run for the bottom, returned to the boat and spit the bait again. Still, he stayed near the boat but, refused any further offerings. Our last offering was a tiny tripletail jig tipped with a small piece of squid. Again, the fish inhaled the jig, made a strong run, spit the jig and disappeared for good. Having three shots at a tournament-winning Cobia only to lose him three times was, to say the least, very disappointing. Nontheless, we learned a valuable lesson from that fish...Patience, patience and more patience. Cobia are a crush and eat fish. Often times, they will hold a bait for a long time in their mouth before swallowing. Even a fish that feels hooked might just be holding a bait firmly in his mouth. Give them some time before setting the hook!
Dolphin showed in good numbers a couple weeks ago. Most of the fish were taken in 150-200 ft of water due east of the port. The main body of fish haven't arrived yet but, this was a good signal that we are probably in for an early run. Rigged ballyhoo are super baits for dolphin. Optimum trolling speed is 4-6 knots and they can be trolled with or without lures. Sea witches are a solid choice. Use light color combinations on bright days and dark color combinations on dark/overcast days. Weight of the sea witch head should match the conditions - heavier on rough/choppy days and lighter on smooth days. One of my favorite dolphin lures for the last couple seasons has been the C&H Alien in Blue & White nylon or Green Mylar. These lures have a great action on them that dolphin just can't seem to resist. While targeting dolphin, it is always a good idea to run a bigger Ballyhoo rigged with a Red & Black or Blue & White Illander on your downrigger. You'll be surprised at how many Wahoo you'll take with this offering as well as, some big Dolphin.
The weather for the upcoming weekend doesn't look very promising but, you can bet that stable patterns are right around the corner so, get your gear in shape and get ready for some of the best fishing of the year.
Best of luck to you,
Capt Tim Fletcher
Cool Beans Fishing Charters
http://www.coolbeanscharters.com |
