Radiant Fishing on the Vessel New Moon: A Report
By
Jan Maizler
Ocean fishing off South Florida’s Gold Coast during April and May can be truly golden. This is an excellent transitional period that features the presence of cooler weather fish like sailfish, mackerel, and kingfish alongside inshore pushes of gamesters like blackfin tuna, groupers, and snappers.
I had some family members who were ardent anglers converging on Miami during this period. Just before their arrival, there was a string of three flat summery days which caused the ocean fishing to fall off. But by the time of their arrival in the Magic City, the weather conditions resumed with the lively, vibrant breezes of Spring. The weather forecast for the day of our trip called for brisk southwest winds. This was coupled by a new moon spring tide which could make for a fast moving water column from top to bottom.
I booked the charter boat New Moon out of Haulover Marina, quite close to the inlet of the same name. My friend Adam Goldstein was the first mate and the skipper was Captain Jack (as he is known). Though circumstances forced myself, Anthony Ho (of Curacao) and Gary Mims (of Miami) to grab a Sunday afternoon charter, our concern about tons of boat traffic was completely unfounded. As inshore anglers, we forgot that the ocean is a rather big place.
As we left the dock, Adam netted a large amount of horse pilchards that completely blacked out their huge livewell. Adam mentioned that the live bait would be our basic offering for the top and mid-depths. For our bottom rigs, Adam and Jack planned on adding a chunk of fresh goggle eye to the live bait.
We made a short run to a wreck a few miles from the inlet and anchored upcurrent of a sizeable wreck. After the vessel was in place, Adam started chumming copious amounts of pilchards. The action began immediately and never stopped for the five hours we fished. We caught and released kingfish, bonito, black grouper, gag grouper, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, sandbar sharks, and a large hammerhead shark. In addition, we hooked four sailfish, but they all came unbuttoned. It was a truly exciting trip.
CONTACT DATA:
New Moon Sport Fishing
10800 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida
305-949-9762
www.newmoonsportfishing.com
