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.
Jupiter Gets Hot! 12/09/2007
Dolphin, Sailfish and Kingfish dominate offshore fishing from Jupiter to 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 beentaken 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.
Sailfishing has been good as well, hopefully this is a prelude of what's to come as peak season approaches.
Late Summer Sailfish off Palm Beach and Jupiter! 09/15/2007
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.
Kingfishing 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 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.
Jupiter and West Palm Beach Fishing Report 7/28/2007
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 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 aroung Thanks Giving and peaks in January-February.
Blue Marlin Off Jupiter! 7/06/2007
We were fishing dead sardines 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,
Sails, Dolphin, Kings and Cobes! Fishing is on fire in Jupiter, Florida. 4/27/2007
Fishing has been as good as it gets out of Jupiter. Sailfish are still here, we caught or had a shot at at least one every day out. We catch them all summer too.
King Mackerel are stacked up outside of Jupiter, our biggest was 33lbs.
Dolphin to 25lbs nearly every day. Over the last few years Spring-Time has been by far the best dolphin fishing. By summer time they're catching them off Jersey and Long Island. Someone caught a 70lber last week.
We have not fished the weedlines. Every boat from Key West to Palm Beach has pounded the weedlines. The sardine schools are in on the reef, that's were the dolphin are.
Cobia are here in great numbers and almost everyboat fishing inside of 130 feet has see a couple. My buddy Capt. Tom from TomCat charters got 6 in one afternoon.
False Albacore are really staring to show up and with them are the Bullsharks. We've had 3 or 4 come up on us while we were fight the Bonitos.
Jupiter Spring Sails Call! 4/14/2007
After harping over and over about the mediocre sailfish season. We've been pleasantly surprised with abundance of sailfish we've seen and caught over the last two weeks. They are here and hungry, chasing sardines, herring and cigar minnows. Drifting live bait is almost a sure-fire method of getting there attention.
Lack of rain has prevented the South Florida Water Management District from dumping polluted fresh water into the ocean and has helped keep the inshore and nearshore water clean and at normal salinity levels, encouraging large schools of baitfish to show up a month or so early this year. Almost every morning we've found schools of bait from just outside Jupiter Inlet to the Juno Pier.
One morning a school of threadfin herring(greenies) made there way inside the ICW, just north of Burt Reynolds Park. I need thank Capt. Scott Hamilton. Having forgot my cast net in the garage, Capt. Scott made one toss of the net and handed me the draw string to the net. Needless to say it took two people to pull the net in my boat and both of my livewells were "blacked out" with bait. Thanks Scott!
A wise fisherman should not leave the dock expecting to load up on live bait every morning. Erratic Spring-Time weather has made for erratic bait fishing. There have been days when we've found them but they were not happy, and we could not catch enough for the day. Having fresh dead or frozen on board will assure a productive outting.
Dolphin Invade Jupiter 3/14/2007
After a somewhat disappointing Sailfish season, Dolphin(Mahi Mahi) made a strong showing off the Palm Beaches raising fishermen's spirits.
Last week proved to be some of the best Dolphin fishing since last Spring. After three disappointing fishing ventures in a row. We ran offshore to be greeted by acres of Flying Fish and soaring Frigate birds.
Jupiter Fishing 2/27/07
It feels like Springtime is approaching West Palm Beach and Jupiter! Over the lasted several days, warmer, more humid air from the south has replaced the cooler, drier air from the north, indicating Old Man Winter may have lost his grip on South Florida. Fishing has been decent and is getting better every day for those putting in the effort. Many wahoo have been caught, dolphin are starting to show on a fairly consistent basis and sailfish have been around in good numbers. Most boats are getting shot or two at sailfish live baiting from 120-200 feet of water. Cobia are cruising off the beaches. We got lucky and had one come up to the boat while catching bait east of Peck's Lake. Great news is that there has been a trickle of bait schools moving up and down the coast from St. Lucie Inlet to Lost Tree off Singer Island. While that may be a fairly large area of water to cover, it will be worthwhile if you locate bait you're likely find find fish. The limited amount we found was in 30-40ft of water north of the Loran Tower. We used size #8 sabiki rigs to catch treadfin herring and some spanish sardines. Mixed in were the dreaded hornbelly.
Cold Temps, Hot Fishing in Jupiter! 2/04/07
Finally cold weather has heated up offshore fishing. Sailfish lead the pack as they are here in good, if not great numbers from south of Palm Beach Inlet to Jupiter. Although very rough sea conditions have prevailed more often than not, we have been able to get out and enjoy the hot action.
Saturday morning we fished out of Palm Beach Inlet and scored 3 out of five sailfish in a few hours in 130 feet from the Tiara Condo to Old Port Cove Condos. Over the VHF radio we could hear other boats within range all frequently hooking up with sails, dolphin and an occasional king mackerel.
Still no positive bait reports within reasonable range of Palm Beach Inlet. There have been reports of threadfin herring (a.k.a. greenies) off of St. Lucie Inlet. If planning a full day it may be worth running up there and looking around if seas permit.
There has been an occasional wahoo caught by the trollers working the edge.
Cobia are around but conditions have not permitted us to get in shallow and look around for them. If you see a leatherback turtle expect one if not many cobia to be following behind.
Sails on the move off Jupiter! 11/25/06
Sailfish season is approaching fast. Many good reports of sailfish "balling bait" off Palm Beach have come in over the last week or so. Although, we have not been fortunate enough to encounter this extraordinary phenomenon have have caught sailfish.
The lack of summertime bait schools have forced us to buy live bait from Mr. Sportsman Live Bait in Jupiter Inlet.
Once the live bait is secured we've headed offshore in search of fishy conditions. Over the past weekend we've encountered a decent current edge in approximately 180-200 feet of water. It wasn't loaded with weeds and did not have a distinct color change, but were positive signs of life. Our next adventure was trying to keep the kite flying steady. After almost two weeks of near 20 mph winds, it was totally dead calm making it nearly impossible to get the proper presentation. Luckily I had my small helium tank on board and we had the kite soaring like an Eagle.
While waiting for the sail bite, we sent baits to the bottom with limited success. There has been almost no current over the reef forcing us into deeper water were we caught some Yellowtail Snapper, Blue Runners, Rainbow Runners, Grunts and Trigger fish.
We've ensured our success by rigging our live baits with wire leaders to prevent bite offs because there have been King Mackerel cruising offshore.
Dolphin have shown up unexpectedly and were a welcome adversary.
Along the beaches there have been tons of Bluefish, along with Jack Crevalle, Spanish Mackerel, and Ladyfish. Jigs, spoons and live shrimp with take them with ease.
I would anticipate sail fishing to pick to considerably over the next few weeks and peak in mid-January.
We're waiting for you're e-mail! captrob@sailking.com
