April is Heaven for the ADD Afflicted Angler

by Capt. John Sahagian

Do you have Fishing ADD? I do, and April is heaven for the afflicted angler. If it swims in the Florida Keys, it usually swims here in April. It doesn’t matter where you prefer to fish, there is something for everyone this month.

If you prefer the skinny water, the flats are alive with every option. Bonefish, permit, tarpon, barracuda, shark, jack, and the list goes on. The water temperatures are more stable. It rarely gets hot enough to chase fish off of the flats in the afternoon. Likewise, it is rare for a cool front to get the water cool enough to start the day off slow. The only nemesis for the inshore angler in April is the possibility of higher winds. Those days, you may have to hide behind an island to sight fish, or work the channels for fish that do not have to be seen. Those same channels and bridges hold the vanguard of the migrating tarpon. Mornings and evenings give shots at some of the larger tarpon found in the Keys.

Inshore is also a place to find oversized mangrove snapper. These fish are gathering around the inshore waters of the Keys, where they will migrate to the reef line this summer to spawn. Wherever water is moving and spilling into the deeper Gulf water, you can find fish gathering to feed on the snacks being flushed from the bays. Besides the mangrove snapper, there are cero mackerel, mutton snapper, yellowtail and, a personal favorite, the porgies. Although, finding mutton snapper over the new 18-inch size limit inshore will be a challenge. Here, both live and cut pinfish are the bait of choice--although, if you can find fresh or live ballyhoo, that is a bait that is impossible to beat. Taking the time to learn to properly throw a cast net, and have the forethought to have a cast net available, will make acquiring ballyhoo much easier. So far this year, we have had the best catch of oversized mangroves that I have seen in all of my 31 years of professionally fishing the Keys, and even the previous 10 years of amateur fishing here.

Offshore, the first waves of dolphin should be moving through the Keys waters. Moderate depths between 250 feet and 600 feet will hold the fast-moving fish. Look to find dolphin moving downwind fast, at speeds usually associated with schools of tuna. On more calm days, finding any floating debris can put you onto large schools of school-sized fish and will most often have a great chance of also holding a wahoo or two. If you have your heart set on tuna, you should move farther offshore, past the 600-foot mark, and look for the flocks of fast moving terns.

Closer to the reef, you will find mutton snapper gathering for their annual spawn. The deeper edge of the reef line will be the area to drift, or anchor and chum, to get your share of these oversized snapper. On the shallower patch reefs, there are plenty of mangrove, yellowtail, mutton and lane snapper to target. The only thing missing form making the perfect month is the inability to retain any of the grouper species off of the waters of Monroe County. We have to wait until May to again target the grouper clan from our home waters.

With this huge list of possibilities my recommendation will always be, to be flexible. Choose the activity best suited to the weather conditions. Blowing out of the north; fish on the south side of the islands. Wind south; then fish on the Gulf side. If the wind is hard out of the east, as it is often in April, staying inshore and fishing the protected waters between the Keys is the safe bet--pun intended. If you are lucky enough to have fair skies and calm winds, the sky really is the limit. There is no reason that you cannot experience several of these different fisheries in a single day.

Remember that there is no cure for Fishing ADD, and the only treatment is to keep fishing. Stopping can be detrimental to your health. I always remember the immortal words of a Tampa Bay fishing celebrity, Salty Saul Flechman, who obviously knew about Fishing ADD before any of the rest of us. He would sign off of his show with the admonition, “Get out and go fishing ‘cause it is goooood fer ya!”

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