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| June=Mangrove Snapper Trifecta |
Well June is here and if spearfishing is your fix, then you
should be out on the water everyday cause June has it all-just about! As the strong spasmodic winds of March, April,
and May have passed, the calm Gulf
breezes of June move in and with them come- pescados!
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| The calmness is delightful |
All our spearfishing expeditions are action packed through
June. And it’s a good idea to keep all
your indicators in check, as each Miami spearfishing guided trip can produce
anything from a record mangrove snapper to a slammer bull mahi dolphin all
within the same day!
One good indicator is the moon. I’ve said it before the moon (a little
more on moons in a minute) does some crazy things to fish and during May/Junes full moons this year around June 12-13 strawberry moon mangrove snapper headout to spawn- my telltale sign is when those big ass spooky mango’s leave our
dock in the Florida Keys- these big mangroves are headed to the reefs and humps for
the spawn as well as that tasty spooky critter we call the Porgy a distant cousin of our
.jpg) |
| the mama 'go's |
European Dentex. In fact, June is one of the best time to
shoot a record slob Porgy during your spearfishing guided trip. FWC
lists a few variety of Porgies but for our spearfishing tribe the Jolthead ,
Knobbed, and Sheepshead (yes they too
are considered porgy) Porgy are the target.
Nothing beats a fresh fried Porgy fillet and June is a great month to go spearfishing for them. Ok back to the mangrove snapper spawn- I like spear
fishing those waypoints with isolated humps and plates in the 30-40’ surrounded
by deeper water, of course a good ledge wouldn’t hurt either. Another often overlooked snapper spearfishing
spot are those shallow wrecks that big snapper like…and keep a look out as some
permits are still lingering around those wrecks on the second minor phase of
their spawn. But Gray (Mangrove) snapper
aren’t
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| One Shot One Kill big mutton still around |
the only snapper all frenzied up on our Miami spearfishing charters- big
mutton and big yellowtail snapper or “flags” as they are called are hungry and
aggressive as well….if you shoot a big yellowtail, give yourself a big pat on
the back, as these delicious fish are a spearfishing trophy any day of the
week! On most of our spearfishing
expeditions we’ll find that “secret” waypoint with the perfect structure, put
out a chum block about 10’ below the surface (not just hanging over the side of
the boat) and wait a few minutes before slipping into the water, sweetening up
the chum block with some chunked Cuda or
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| BIG snapper off the wrecks |
ballyhoo really brings them in! Your spearfishing captain should be up to
date on the bag limits as they will vary on whether you are in state
or federal waters
when targeting snapper, but it won’t hurt for you to be up to date on the
currents regulations and amounts when spearfishing snapper as well. More than once we have put spearo’s &
speara’s on great snapper spearfishing spots and they have come up with smaller
guys, rather than the slabbers (any mango over 3lbs), the spear fishing trick for
mangrove snapper is patience. When you
first drop on structure the “mango train” of snappers will come in to greet
you- the train consists of smallish pounder pan fryers snappers, but be patient, as
usually the bigger slabbers are nearby
“feeling” you out. Here's a great snapper spearfishing tip when
you are on the bottom doing your aspetto scratch a few
rocks (that scratching sound drives big snapper crazy) often this will bring
the bigger boyz in from hiding. Another
great spearfishing tip for snapper is to look over your shoulder every so
often. Usually big snappers will sit,
till you pass by them, then they will
cautiously follow behind you at a distance.
If this happens turn around and quickly chas’em down often these big
slabbers will sit in bewilderment for a few seconds before bolting, so
act
fast!CLICK!!!
If the reefs are loading
up on snapper.... then bluewater is Mahi’Time!
BEST BET: MAHI-MAHI, DORADO, DODO, DOLPHIN FISH,
LAMPUCA…
all the same –MAHI
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| June's Best bet |
If for nothing more than edibility and sheer numbers
we’re calling Mahi mahi
our spearfishing best bet for June (although the Grey Snapper gave it a run for its
money) A memorable spearfishing guided
trip with a cooler full of Miami Mahi is
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| Mahi Mayhem |
hard to beat, maybe it’s the lure of
blue water (which is more often a game of drift and seek for hours with blanks
drawn more often than fish on), coupled with the 100% success ratio of mahi-
they are fairly simple to shoot, are abundant ,
and they grow fast….they are not too difficult to find. and are incredibly tasty…. mahi
got our vote for best spearfishing bet for June.
Mahi are
everywhere from Miami to the Keys and up and down the East/West Florida
coast! And if you have ever gone on a
Miami spearfishing charter for mahi you know the action can be fast and furious
as schoolie (fish b/t 3-7lbs) and gaffer mahi(7-12lbs) are eating everything in
sight. One thing to understand when
spearfishing pelagics including mahi is they are migratory fish so they move
around, where they are one day they may not be the next. As June rolls in so does the closeness of the
Gulfstream currents, in fact as of this writing it is just 2 miles SE of Fowey rocks…those warm currents bring in tons of baitfish and following them are
pelagics-Dolphin, Wahoo, Kingfish, Tuna are all in the bunch and chances to get
one spearfishing
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| Frigate are fish dials |
increases drastically. How to find Mahi while spearfishing...it’s
been written countless times, but one more won’t hurt. Any good spearfishing guide will tell
you as well- head out beyond 400’ feet find some birds (I’ll be writing a blog
on reading birds in/on the water soon , say stay tuned) that’s my first and
best indicator when out on the blue spearfishing- I like a few birds cutting
zig-zags up and down , that’s a good spear fishing indicator, and a swarm of
diving birds is another (dah)- or look
for a nice tightly formed Sargassum weedline. or listen for the chatter on
the VHF (that’s another good spearfishing
tip for mahi mahi). Here’s is another bluewater spearfishing tip
for mahi-one word-Flotsam! Be it a large
tree, a crate, we’ve even found a flipped over dinghy holding fish (this
solitary structure usually will hold a nice bull slammer – a mahi over 20lbs-,
and maybe his harem of cows! Once you
located that floating structure idle in slowly add some burly/chum….and quietly
glide yourself into the water. If mahi
are around it shouldn’t be long before you have a few in the cooler. Another often used spearfishing bluewater
mahi trick is keeping one hooked/tied alive
in the water keeps the school around longer so packing a rod/reel might be a
good idea…or tail shooting one will work too, as a regular client of ours
manages to do consistently on our spearfishing charter. June (May less so) is the month to be on the
look out for those lone spear fishing record slammers and super
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| Paulo with a nice slammer |
slammers-
chances increase if you find a frigate
as these pelagic pescivores are usually following a big lone fish in the water. On our Florida Keys
spearfishing charter we set ourselves up ahead of its path throw some chunks in
and drop in. A solitary flotsam as
previously mentioned is another, slow and quiet is the spearfishing trick when approaching these type structures, you may not
immediately see your quarry which more often than not is lurking 50-60’ below
so take your time and look deep- slammers love those isolated pieces of “junk”
floating in the ocean, and that’s another strategic spearfishing bluewater tip
on Mahi. So you know to look out in the 400’+ depth range but
reading the bottom also helps. Uneven
bottom, with valleys and peaks is what you want to look for, as these natural
contours create rips that push currents up towards the surface disorienting
bait fish providing an easy meal for bluewater pelagics. That’s why the Islamorada Hump
(here is the spearfishing waypoint GPS: N24-48.175' , W 80-26.674' W at 294 ft)., also the 409 Hump (here is the
spearfishing coordinate GPS : N24-35.5' , W80-35.5' W at 409 ft.) as well the Marathon Hump (West
Hump- here is the spearfishing numbers GPS: N24-25.528' , W 80-45.328' at 516 ft.)
These are great spearfishing coordinates so register them, of course the
absolute best spearfishing waypoints for mahi are a secret closely guarded and divulged only
on our spear fishing expeditions
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| Flasher decals |
The best spearfishing equipment for mahi is a 100-120 cm double
banded (or single) speargun, an enclosed track euro that tracks fast with a reel or float/float
line combo is ideal, no special bluewater spearfishing arsenal is required,
actually your regular spear fishing reef rig will work just fine. That’s another bonus towards our fish of the
month! One thing I like to do is add
flasher decals to my freedive fins one of the best upgrades you can do to your carbon fiber spearfishing
fins. This is a great spearfishing trick
I’ve been using for years and is used by lots of guys that book spearfishing
charters with us. You can get ral
creative with this decals which you can get at places like Basspro shop. Often pelagics are drawn up from the depths
with these “fin flashers”, and it also keeps the fish focused on your dive
blades
and not your gun lol.
I was going to talk about the moons influence on
spearfishing, but I think that would be
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| Strawberry Mangrove Snapper moon |
better as a blog in and of itself so
let it suffice to say in June the full moon triggers the Mangrove snapper spawn, but it will also slow the Mahi
dophin “shoot” (as opposed to “bite” lol) as most of these mahi have been
feeding all night….but just the same running opposite, a New moon (this month
June 27)
will put the mahi on hunger mode in the early am so the best
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| A schoolie trifecta |
spearfishing
guides in Miami know to be out on the blue as the sun rises. Yes we do have some favorites for each of our Haulover,
Miami Beach, and Key Biscayne spearfishing charters, and June as you have read
has some spearfishing favorite fish too, but there is a lot more fish in the
ocean to be speared-AMEN broda. Grouper
are in full game and although a bit wiser they are still plentiful. The first reef
running along Miami beach and
Haulover usually has some big fat blacks, and if you shot one at a certain spearfishing
coordinate one year, chances are another one is there now, at least that’s how
it works for us on our spearfishing guided tours. Red grouper are also around, and they too are
a bit wiser (hard to believe huh). Here
is a spearfishing tip for red grouper- if you find an isolated rock a bit off
the main reef structure approach it slow and steady, high chances a fat red
grouper owns it, Miami red grouper love those big solitary
rocks that sit a few feet away from the main structure…and make sure you mark
that spear fishing waypoint sometimes within a week a new red grouper will fill
his place. Its no surprise that Florida
has the spearfishing world record red grouper hopefully we’ll get you on one on one of our Miami spearfishing guided
trips, we know where they live! In fact last year on a personal spearfishingKayak guided charter trip, I put a speara on a 14 pound Red grouper she slammed
with one of our stone staff pole spears,
off of Bear Cut in Key
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| Red Grouper "STONED" |
Biscayne…this fellow was on a rock surrounded by sand,
then grass about 30feet away from the main structure On our offshore spear
fishing charters aside from the big player, mahi you’ll likely see a few kingfish and wahoo
thrown into the bunch…when the spearfishing target is Kingfish and wahoo- make
sure your spearfishing gear is ther best and the toughest as most of these
pelagics will put it to the test, you’ll find Kingfish /Wahoo over wrecks
especially the bait laden wrecks….there are some great coordinates of wrecks in
and off of Haulover Beach, Miami Beach, and Elliott Key that lay in less than 100’ of water….good spearfishing
captains have those coordinates, but the best spearfishing captains have the “less
public” wrecks that are pelagic magnets!
And while we are on the pelagic topic don’t forget that Blackfin tuna
are also out there tearing it up, so keep that on your fish to shoot list as
well- you’ll often find them over deep structure following the bait.
So June is a great month to be out on the
water spearfishing….and with these quieter winds and plentiful fish…it just
doesn’t make any sense not to be!
Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!
Tone
http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com/
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