Summertime bonefish

16 Aug Summertime bonefish

Summertime Bonefish:

Finding fish when the weather gets too hot

Summertime bonefish are one of the main things to do in the flats of Miami and the keys during the months of July, August and September.

The summertime months mark the slow season for tourism in Florida. Most people go trout fishing and hunting up north, or go in vacation with the kids.  No to say that people do not come down at all, or book fishing trips, they just do it in lesser numbers.

That often creates a great window of opportunity to find miles of flats with little to no fishing pressure and great fishing…..all to yourself.

During this time of the year, the weather can get extremely hot in Florida, often calling for a change on strategies to find and catch bonefish and other flats species.

The temperature range of comfort for bonefish goes from water as cold as 65 and as hot as 85 degrees. As soon as the water goes below or above these numbers we will have to adjust our fishing strategies to find fish.

Water temperatures in Summer time can reach temperatures way above 85 degrees and often get to the mid-upper 90s. Days with no wind, no rain and sunny skies are really nice to cast and spot the fish but those will also be the hottest and will elevate the water temperatures to uncomfortable numbers for bonefish, sending them off the flats towards deep water.

During those hot water periods, we will have to focus on looking for fish mudding or cruising deep water edges from 4 to 8 feet deep. Sometimes, bonefish won’t be around at all,  making permit fishing a better choice, as these fish don’t mind water too warm as bonefish do, thus the spots we fish for them are often deeper, with  more moving water irrigating shallow water.

Summertime bonefishing is always best early in the morning or late in the afternoon, while the water temperatures are still mild. Summer is also the best time to find tailing bonefish in Miami and the keys, specially after a thunderstorm or hard rain, events that cool the water off, activating the fish. Bonefish absolutely love those conditions.

Cloudy, rainy and windy days in the summer can create difficult conditions to see fish and cast, but the same conditions will also keep the water temperatures at a tolerant range for bonefish and will make them get in shallow water to feed.

Summertime bonefishing can be great, as long as you know how to adjust to the changing weather conditions. Give me a call and I’d be happy to show you a great day on the water chasing bonefish.