Awesome Cobia fishing is taking place offshore the Jupiter and West Palm Beach inlets. For the last two weeks almost every Captain I've spoken with have said the same thing..."Cobia, the best bite for Cobia in years". In between windy days and rough seas we've been able to capitalize on the action.
On many occasions fisherman associate Cobia fishing with chasing Manta Rays that cruise relatively shallow water close to the beach. For those who are unfamiliar with Cobia, one must understand there is a weird relationship between Cobia and Manta Rays. For whatever reason Cobes love to kind of hitch a ride and follow closely behind the Rays. Many boat Captains with Cobia fish by looking for the Rays.
That has not been the case as of late. The Cobia we have fished for and caught have in 90-180 feet of water. Some days we've found them inside the drop off and some on the outside. The chatter at the docks is that the Cobia schools have came in with the Bull Sharks the reside off West Palm Beach in the summer. Expect to loose a fish or two the sharks, it's an inevitable occurrence during the summer.
Larger Cobia have been caught on live goggle eyes fished deep, but most of ours have caught by drifting dead Sardines near the bottom. I know other boats have been deep jigging them as well.
Naturally we have not been "targeting" only Cobes. We've been kite fishing and drifting live bait, using goggle eyes. While doing so we've caught dolphin wahoo, sailfish, kings, amberjack and sharks. Fishing has been good and should only get better when the bait schools show up.
West Palm Beach - Jupiter Off Shore Fishing Heats Up 03/01/2008
Spring like weather conditions encourage decent schools of Dolphin to 45lbs. The bite has been anywhere from 80 ft. out as far as you care to venture. We have concentrated our efforts in 80 - 220 ft. drifting live goggle eyes and flying the kite when conditions allow.
There were a few outings when most dolphins seemed to have lock jaw. Many more fish were seen than caught. At times would not even respond to cut bait for an enticement. At times we started off trolling artificial seeking prime conditions such as rips, edges, temperature breaks and surface debris. Find these conditions and you will most likely find dolphin.
King mackerel have made a good showing from Lost Tree village to north of Jupiter Inlet from 80 - 130 ft. We have had them attack live goggle eyes off the kite and caught many using dead sardines with a double or a triple hook rig. Put some dead baits down deep under the kings and you may be surprised with a Cobia, Grouper, Snapper or Amber Jack.
Over the last few weeks bottom fishing has taken a nose dive due to unusually cool water near the bottom.
Sailfish season is still upon us with many boats hooking up throughout the week. It seems one boat will see 3 or 4 fish while others see none and vice versa. Hammerhead sharks seem to be on the move. We have caught one and had several more put on a show chasing our baits.
Spinner sharks have finally concentrated in certain areas that make targeting them relatively easy once located. I like to drive the beach and wait to see them jumping before throwing anchor and chumming.
Warm weather cools Sailfish bite in West Palm Beach and Jupiter! (02/07/2008)
Unseasonably warm weather, attributed to southerly winds have had a negative impact on Sail fishing this season. Although we catch Sailfish all year long, winter is considered peak season. Last year we experienced nearly identical weather pattern and our "Sail bite" never lived up to our expectations.
There have been several days we encountered up to 10 Sailfish bites and had multiple hook ups, so one never knows what to expect offshore Palm Beach.
Do not be discouraged, south winds should push the Gulf Stream closer and with it come the Dolphin. Many of the largest fish caught come in the early Springtime. Last year schools of Spanish Sardines came in early as well, a live well full of Sardines will boost any fisherman's confidence.
Several King Mackerel to 50lbs. have been caught recently by some of the local boats drifting dead baits along the reef. We caught a few over the last week, but no big "smokers" for us.
Cobia have been spotted cruising the beach, sometimes they can be found near the Juno Beach Pier, other times they can be located off Blowing Rock Preserve.
When you least expect it, expect schools of big Jack Crevalles to join the party. Not considered a "Glamour species" the are a fine sport fish. They are aggressive and fight incredibly strong. If your fish finder marks blobs of red half way to the bottle, most likely it's the jacks. We'll drop and 1.5 ounce buck tail jig to probe the water column.
Snook season is now open, but we have not tried for them.
West Palm Beach Fishing Gets Hot! (11/26/2007)
Dolphin, Sailfish and Kingfish dominate offshore fishing from Jupiter to West Palm Beach.
After poor summer fishing for dolphin this fall has been awesome. Fish to 30lbs. have been common but most fish are 10-15lbs. The larger dolphin have been caught live baiting with goggle eyes and small blue runners, while the smaller fish have been taken on small jigs and cut bait. Proving an excellent light spin tackle opportunity.
Most dolphin have been caught from 180-400 feet of water, look for scattered weeds and color changes for the best action.
Sail fishing has been good as well, hopefully this is a prelude of what's to come as peak season approaches. Last tear's warm southerly winds and warmer water temps discouraged a full-blown sailfish migration into our area. There are quite a few here now, let's hope the rest of the pack joins the party and settle in off Palm Beach.
Although there have not been many all-out kingfish "blitzes" we caught many drifting dead bait in 90-130 feet of water. On more than one occasion we've had a large "smoker" king sky-rocket a kite bait. King Mackerel can be tough to hook when they blast a bait 10 feet in the air, but just witnessing the event is worth it.
West Palm Beach Late Summer Sails! (09/01/2007)
Offshore fishing in Jupiter has been decent the last week or so. Good catches continue, but not as consistent as mid-summer. Wahoo fishing is still holding up. Live bait, dead bait and trolling has taken many. The back side of the full moon seems like the best time target them.
Sailfish are still here and always a good bet.
King fishing has been good in some locations and slow in others. A good place to start would be in100 feet off the Juno Pier. Drift north towards Jupiter inlet, if that doesn’t work try in 70-90 feet off the Loran tower north of Jupiter. Bonito have all but left our area, but a few remain. I’m starting to miss them already.
Cobia have showed up unexpectedly off West Palm Beach on several occasions when drift fishing. Keep a rod rigged with a bright colored jig, should one show up you can cast right to him. While most dolphin being caught recently are very small, larger fish will start migrating south. After the first nor’easter sailfish and dolphin fishing should start to pick up. I love using live mullet this time of year. They usually swim on the surface and cause a great deal of commotion before they get gobbled up.
Snook season will open Sept 1st open and the inlets are jammed with boats after them. The key is to find them and then keep up with the school. Live chumming will almost always get their attention. Small sardines and pilchards are all over the beach, get in close and cast net them. I’ve been seeing a lot of finger mullet inside then inlet and around local dock and bridges. Once they start heading along the beaches, tarpon, snook, jacks, sharks, bluefish and mackerel will be in there with them. Keep an eye out pelicans diving.
West Palm Beach Fishing Report (07/28/2007)
Status Quo fishing offshore West Palm Beach and Jupiter. The typical summer pattern has settled in. Bonitos, bonitos, and more bonitos, they are by far the most abundant fish species offshore now and they are providing light tackle anglers a chance to test their skill.
The wahoo bite off West Palm Beach has been decent from 160-350 ft of water. High-speed trollers are doing best at first light.
Sailfish are around but the bite has been spotty at best, we got one on Friday but that was it.
We seen some small dolphin on numerous occasions, but most were too small to eat our baits. We've kept a light spinning rod with a jig ready for them.
The live bait scene has been very tough this summer. Sardines are here one day, gone the next. Threadfin herring (greenies) are holding around the Juno Pier, but in any mass.
I'll be back and forth to Montauk, Long Island for the next 3 months.
Be sure to book your charters soon for the upcoming sailfish season, which depends on weather patterns usually starts around Thanks Giving and peaks in January-February.
Blue Marlin off West Palm Beach (07/05/2007)
We were fishing dead sardines near shore West Palm Beach on triple hook rig and were catching all the bonitos you'd ever want to. Five minutes left on the charter, this kid hooks another one. After a minute or two the rod tip starts really jerk erratically as if a shark was attacking the bonito. Now line start stripping off the reel at pretty good rate, I thought oh well, here goes another shark. Well the line almost gone from a Saltist 50H with 20lbs Suffix. We start the pursuit and were chasing the beast at 10-12 knots per hour. I said this can't be a shark because this puppy was motoring. About 150 yards away this line is coming to the surface, so we motored towards it as fast as we could just get a look at it. All is could see was a silouette that was dark in color, not brown like a shark. Still unsure we held are composure and continued the pursuit. Anyway the battle went on for 3.5 hours, we'd get a little line back only to loose even more each time. Funny thing is these guys had a flight out of Ft Laud. No jumps but the fish come to the surface and we got the confirmation...BLUE MARLIN! My second one. We could not get her closer than 10-15 feet from the boat but my camera can take shots under water, so I stuck in and clicked and here she is.