Bonefish Bonanza and Monster Mutton Snappers
Fall is about my favorite time of the year to fish in my local waters around Biscyane National Park.
There’s a fall migration of many gamefish chasing mullet and other baitfish and a natural need for predators to fatten up before cold fronts come and make their sources harder to find. (see video at end of post)
Baitfish so thick you could walk on them
In the early morning light at the end of the outgoing tide, Capt. Mo of Miami bonefishing and I came upon a secluded area that was so thick with bait fish you could easily have walked across the bay. Each cast of the bait net was full of pilchards.
There were a few snook around smashing the bait on the edges. We fished for the snook using lures as a way to draw them from the massive bait balls and hoked two snooks.
Pitching Pilchards to Monster Muttons
When the tide turned we were in place at one of several wrecks around Biscyane Bay, targeting mutton Snappers.
Within minutes of tossing handfuls of live bait over the wreck there was an explosion of big muttons feeding on them like candy.
Sight casting a live pilchard to a crowd of hungry muttons quickly resulted in my personal best, a 15 pound mutton snapper.
Bonefish Bonanza
By the end of the incoming tide we were once again inshore and ready for bonefish using live shrimp on a jig.
In less than an hour I went 5 for 6 on the bonefish all between 3 and 8 pounds. This was the most bonefish I ever caught in a day.
