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| Dog Snapper...August Dog Days |
Well the dog days of August are here.....and I don't mean dog as in spear fishing dog snapper...I mean really slow, hot,humid days! For some spearo's/speara's August is the time of year to to tend your boat, and for
others it’s time to hit the sandbar for some braggin' why cause generally speaking the water warms up to the point that it’s virtually impossible to find fish in depths less than 100' and that limits about 50% of most folk spearfishing our Miami, Haulover, Hollywood, Key Biscayne and Florida Keys water. But don't despair my breath holding, band stretching, trigger pulling, fish slinging compadre….spearfishing in Florida in August is still awesome if you have the best
spearfishing crew to put you on the fish….so if you want to
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| A typical August Charter |
score some spearfishing bonuses (and some sandbar bragging rights) read these spearfishing tips and tricks for the dog days of August!!!
Water temperature is key when spearing in Miami, Florida Keys, and Miami Beach in the hot month of August….so keep an eye on your temperature gauge any significant change in temperature is worth checking out. Most temperature changes occur either on an abrupt change in depth, as in a drop off or large plate for example, or in a trough that runs parallel to a flat, these are fish routes often used be predator fish such as Coronados (otherwise known as BIG MUTTONS) or Mules (BIG
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| keep an eye on your sonar.Tept and Depth changes |
YELLOW JACK or Florida Hamachi), and yes some mighty big’ass bull sharks too. Temperature is also a few degrees less in the shade so when spearfishing in August look under ledges and especially in holes, I can’t say how many times we have dropped on to a boulder with a crack on it to find a mammoth Black chilling inside. The spearfishing month of August is known for some flash showers, and some long all day showers as well…many spearfishing clients shy away from spearing after these days because visibility is impacted negatively (more on this in a minute) and many
spearfishing charters just close all together when these showers roll in as well. But here’s a spearfishing
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| Black Grouper in the hole |
August secret tip that not everyone knows….although visibility is decreased, due to run-off water dumping into
Biscayne Bay and surrounding waters, as well as algae blooms (caused by the change a in salinity and sun) which begins as white particulated water then changing to a more mature green particle (algea)…this
decrease in viz also causes the water to cool off at depth! So water that was say 85 degrees at 30’ can after a long shower, hit say 80 degrees the day after, and that 5 degree change can mean 5 more fish in the cooler!
Another August spearfishing report trick of the month is
current- a north current is key when fish are to be speared and the best spearfishing captains will keep an eye out for that as well-especially around that
August full moon which brings the
big cubera in for some romancing and also increases your chances to score spearfishing some wahoo…and of course some kingfish too.
Many of our spearfishing expeditions revolve around bluewater;
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| Nice Florida Hamachi |
we do have success, but truth be said you gotta do some serious running and gunning to find fish. Mahi are out and about but mostly small schoolies, weedlines are not as pronounced, so look for pods….also birds which will usually be under schools of Bonita…which may have a few
wahoo under them as well, or as in our last spearfishing guided trip a 300+ Marlin….which we shot, with our GoPro lol.
Kingfish can also be had during any of our spearfishing mixed bag of August, these guys are usually along our second reef line where the color change occurs and the depth jumps from 70-80’ to 120-130’ kingfish patrol these waters hungry for food, and a slow deliberate drift with our drift anchors, some chum and flashers usually brings one or 2 in for a closer look . Speaking of chum if yellowtailing is the spearfishing plan…take plenty of chum and find a nice drop of…fix yourself up with the current and let that chum work its magic, and don’t forget to sweeten it up with some chunk to (bonita is golden) keep an eye out for the willy mutton or
cubera which might be drawn into your chum slick(especially if your chunking) as well.
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| Cubera on the prowl |
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Here’s a spearfishing trick for yellowtail snapper…which by the way are one of the hardest snapper species to shoot. Once the big tails are in swim away from the pack drop and approach from below shooting upwards …we’ve taught clients this spearfishing trick, and they have been able to shoot some big flags this way. No spearfishing report is complete without a wreck forecast right? Wrecks are fish magnets fa’su and now’s a good time to hit a wreck with a cooler full of chunked bait fish and bring up the gear wreckers-
Amberjack! This guys will put your gear to the test, and will provide you with an adrenaline rush not soon forgotten…plus a
months’ worth of smoked fish, also within the wreck bunch keep a look out for Florida Hamachi, Kingfish and Wahoo.
BEST BET Spearfishing for the month of August...Well not really spearfishing ....LOBSTA
Florida Spiny Lobster that’s the “fish” of the month for our August spearfishing report! I think we had a great write up on last month
best spearfishing blog in the world…lol. So if your up for a review check it out….here is a quick summary for
regs . And here is a short version of a few lobster tips and tricks when in Miami, or Florida Keys…also keep in mind when in the Keys many regulations for harvesting lobsters are different than the rest of Florida, so either read them
carefully or make sure your spearfishing charter captain is up to date on them.
Another important factor when snatching Florida spiny lobsters is to carry a lobster gauge with you at ALL times.
Here are a few more lobster harvesting techniques when chasing these tasty critters and the best thing is they will work in Miami Beach, Dania Beach, West Palm Beach, Sebastian Inlet and onward throughout all of Florida! I first should mention, when chasing lobsters think like a roach…yes a roach, as that’s a lot like lobstas are. Once you got that lobster tip down …the rest is not to difficult to grasp. In my last blog I mention some broad lobster hunting methods that are 100% full proof and should boat you quite a few bugs as well as the best type of
equipment and
gear you should use to maximize both your time and cooler with lobsters. Here are a few more methods and techniques to get more Florida Spiny Lobsters. When you approach any reef, plate, hump always look for a lobsters antennae, it’s a very distinguishable telltale sign, that just sticks out . Another tip for
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| Snare...gotcha! |
lobster harvesting is to look for them on what I call the “out rock” that is those rocks that are a few feet away from the main reef or rock pile. Another place to look for bugs is in coral heads but not just inside the head, but on the inside top part same holds for the inside top part of ledges and piles. A
tickle stick is the best tool for effortlessly getting lobsters to move out of their hole sneak it behind them and tap their tale this will get them to move out and face the tickle stick, the rest is simple. Another great part about lobstering is that we can combine it into any part of your
spearfishing guided trip, often times we will do a half day of bluewater spearfishing and end with a few hours of bugging.
Overall although August can be a tough month to spearfish, but it still can
be productive. All they species are here and as any good spearfishing captain and crew will tell you its just a matter of planning your
charter to attack from different angles as the weather and day adjusts. Run and gunning will work well, but so will the other methods fpr spearfishing described above....be versatile and the cooler will slowly fill up. And if all else fails well you can always hit the sandbar and have yourself a merry time enjoying Florida's awesome weather and its assortment of fun thanks for dropping in!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
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