As the water in the outer Gulf warms up the chance of catching a marlin starts entering the thoughts of local anglers.

Catching marlin aside, kingfish are still hard on the charge and these mighty fish are name of the game right now. Sizes have been excellent too.

Whether you choose to take a memorable photo and release the fish for another day or decide on a take-home fish, you won’t be disappointed with your catch. We all love fresh kingfish steaks or smoked kingfish.

Find mackerel in numbers and kingfish are highly likely to be close by, very close. It’s definitely worth a jig- 200gms are working well in most Gulf areas, or a live mackerel from the baitschool on your sounder not surprisingly!

Snapper have been feeding more in the evenings lately, typical of a full moon week when daytime activity has been relatively quiet, but bring on the night, and some great action has been had whether close to shore, or out in the middle.

New fun fishing: Skipjack tuna are dutifully swimming into the northern gulf areas. These stunning looking silver and blue/purple fish are fishing fun personified. Whether you would like to go small game trolling (especially with younger or novice anglers aboard) or use micro jigs/softbaits on lightweight gear, the choice is yours. The best way to find them is on a calm day you will see them jumping and blipping around the sea surface. Trolling a lure like a Squidwing is perfect. Try 5-6 kts and set your reel clicker on, when they strike the reel bursts into life and provide an outstanding fight right to the boat. And of course they make some of the best bait around.

Marlin season: Wavedancer Captain Cam Allan with his purpose-built 8.5m walkaround Extreme boat ‘Arcade’ with all the latest Furuno technology has been giving people some of the most ultimate of thrills. Out for some fresh snapper or a kingfish or two, then why not a striped marlin at the same time? Cam certainly has the marlin mojo with multiple clients ticking their bucket list. Catching marlin is something both incredible to do and to be a part of, congratulations to everyone, such a thrill!

Cheers,

Espresso.