North Biscayne Bay

Florida is quite a unique place; we have a World Heritage Site (the Everglades), the largest reefs in the Northern Hemisphere, the most biologically diverse estuary in the US , and miles and miles of sandy beaches and mangrove-lined shorelines. With so much pristine water it’s hard to imagine there being great fishing within earshot of bustling downtown Miami …but there is.

The Tri-County area of West Palm, Broward, and Miami-Dade is where you will find most of the population of Florida and as a result a good majority of the boat traffic. The US Army Corp of Engineers blasted the Inter Coastal Waterway to allow for safe inland passage of these boats but as a result they destroyed almost all of the natural bottom found in the tri-county area. Fortunately North Biscayne Bay was wide enough that much of the area was left un-touched and retained its lush grassy flats. To find similar terrain one must travel North to the Indian River Lagoon or further South into Biscayne Bay thus making North Biscayne an oasis for city fish looking for somewhere to hide out or find a meal.

Barracuda are VERY common in NBB

Grass flats are important for inshore fish species but not all together necessary: Tarpon, Snook, Jacks, Sharks, and Bluefish can be found all through-out the grassless waters of WPB, Broward, and Northern Miami-Dade counties. These fish will use natural and man-made structure as their cover and although these fish can all be found over grass flats they can be found elsewhere as well. There are some fish which will rarely be found far from a grass flat others which you won’t find anywhere else and North Biscayne Bay is haven for one of these fish: Speckled Sea Trout.

       The limit is 4 trout per angler with only one over 20’’, the author prefers smaller fish            

      Around 15’’-18’’ as they generally taste better, this trout was carefully released.

Sea Trout or “Specs” are not a trout at all but actually a member of the drum family, which includes Redfish, Black Drum, and Weakfish. Trout are a favorite throughout their range as they travel in large schools and are very aggressive feeders that aren’t usually picky about striking a lure. Sea Trout prefer cooler water temperatures and so it goes without saying that you will be hard pressed to find any sea trout in North Biscayne from June through September as the waters will be well over 80 degrees by 8am during the summer…just too hot for Specs. The trout will begin to show again by October but the really hot bite doesn’t start till after the holiday season, in February it is not uncommon to have 100 + fish days, with a number of good sized fish  (21’’-27’’)being caught as well.

Speckled Trout are current feeding fish, they require a moving tide to feed and thus pitching lures at slack water will yield you only barracudas, jacks, and if you are lucky a Tarpon! The really interesting thing about sea trout is that they can be found in the same areas day after day, moving only a short distance around their haunts as the moon goes through its monthly cycle of death and re-birth. This is why I carry a notepad when trout season picks up and at the end of the day I note which flats held the most and biggest fish. At the end of the season you can lay out this information and see a visible pattern that coincides with the phases of the moon…with enough information you could very well stalk the same trout school throughout its range with great accuracy (this also goes for reds as well…but that’s another story).

Tarpon are a welcome by-catch when trout fishing

When chasing down Sea Trout one may employ a variety of proven methods to catch these shallow-water predators: A live shrimp (or DOA shrimp) under a popping cork is by far the most popular method but trout will readily strike topwater plugs, weightless soft plastics, jigs tipped with shrimp or more soft plastics, and the classic spoon never seems to fail. More important than lure color I find the size of the bait used to be the determining factor: if there are silversides present then a smaller lure will work, if mullet are jumping for their lives then 4-6inch bait is preferred.

When pursuing Sea Trout light tackle is adequate as Specs lack the sharp gills and razor-sharp teeth needed to cut through heavy leader material. 15lb-25lb leader is more than enough when dealing with trout but with all the other game fish lurking in the same waters I prefer 25lb-30lb leader in the hopes that when that slob snook does decide to crash the trout party I will be prepared. Light spinning rods and reels in the light to medium class are great choices and if you are chasing after those “gator” trout than a longer rod will aide you in your quest as the big trout will lurk on the outskirts of your casting range…tossing that big topwater plug a few feet further may be the key to success.

As with most fish the best times to target Specs is either early morning or just before sunset, but given a good moving tide and moderate temperatures trout will bite throughout the day. Finding the trout flat is easy enough as well as any flat with a grassy bottom, 3’-6’ of depth, and plenty of bait will hold trout…the key is finding out where the trout are. When fishing a new area I often employ the popping cork as it allows me drift and work a flat, when I catch a trout I stake out and start casting a jig or topwater plug. Using these “locating” lures is how most anglers investigate flats; another method I use is a quick retrieve lure like the DOA terror-eyez. The terror-eyez is a great locator lure as it is retrieved quickly thus allowing you to cast more and cover more water, once you find the fish you can switch to something that requires a little more finesse.

Although North Biscayne Bay is a great trout fishery it cannot compare with the “gator factory” that is the Indian River Lagoon, with that said you can expect your average size Sea Trout in North Biscayne to be around 13’’-16’’. Go further south into Biscayne Bay and the trout shrink in size and I’ve never been able to understand this anomaly but it is a well-known fact that the sea trout found in the southern half of Biscayne Bay are miniscule when compared to your average NBB Spec.

What they lack in size they make up in numbers…50-100 + fish days are not un-common!

Being located in a massive metropolitan area there are several access points into the bay from the 79^th street causeway at its northernmost extent to Crandon Marina on Virginia Key, which, is on the fringes of North Biscayne Bay . With so much public access and the close proximity it’s a wonder that the fishery in NBB is still viable but it is. The key to keeping it a great fishery is cooperation with the FWC and all size limits, together with conservation-minded anglers they will help keep our fishin’ holes clean and productive, tight lines.