Trolling the Miami Reefs This Fall
Fall Reef Trolling is great! This time of year we start to see a real mixed bag of great sport game fish caught trolling. We may see Kingfish, Wahoo, Foot Ball sized Blackfin Tuna, Larger Dolphin (Mahi) fish, Sailfish, Spanish Mackerel and Little Tunny. We may even see a nice grouper or Snapper. As the water temperature begins to fall from the hight of the summer heat the bait fish begin their migration South. The predator fish that we fish target are right behind them.
Trolling with Baits
For Fall Reef Trolling we use a large mix on natural baits and artificial lures. The Bonita strip is one of our top baits. We pull them deep on the planer and right on the surface in the long rigger positions. You can pull then naked or with a lure, feather, skirt or sea witch. Or any combination of the latter. Wahoo and kings are usually caught on the planer down deep. Sailfish and Tunas like the strips swimming right on the surface. Small feathers are great when fishing for the school Dolphin, smaller Tunas and Spanish Mackerel. We like to use a small “Bird” teaser in front of the feathers. It helps attract the game fish to the small baits. The teaser also helps to keep the small baits in the water fishing properly when the wind is blowing a bit. We have found that spread of six to seven rods pulling a mix of baits and lures is most productive. Typically we have at least 8 baits and two teasers, for a total of ten baits in the water at all times while were are Fall Reef Trolling of Miami and Miami Beach
Capt. Jay Cohen
Capt. Jay owns and operates the Miami fishing charter Capt. Jay’s Deep Sea Fishing. Capt. Jay has fished Miami for more than 40 years and holds several I.G.F.A world records and has won multiple tournaments, including the METT tournament and the fun fish boat in the Miami Billfish tournament. Capt. Jay discovered a new species of tilefish and had the honor of naming the fish (Bahama Tiger Tilefish).
