Blue water bonanza.

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It's time to head for Florida Keys blue water in search of dolphin, marlin and maybe even a fat yellowfin tuna. Get in the glass early in the morning and start searching for birds as soon as you cross the main reefline. Any kind of bird diving or moving vertically will cue you into fish below and will be worth a look.

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May is a top month for slammer dolphin, with many fish topping the 20-pound mark. Super slammers, fish over 40 pounds, will be found in good numbers. Most of them will be bull dolphin. These big bulls can be caught by trolling, but most of them are put in the fish box with a pitch rod. Here is how it works: an angler casts to an individual fish with a live bait or dead flying-fish fixed on the hook of a heavy spinning rod. Serious dolphin slayers spool their spinners with 30-pound test, double the main line with a Bimini twist knot, add a 5- to 6-foot section of 80-pound mono for a leader, and tie on a long-shank 8/0 super strong and sharpened hook--simple, yet very effective.

Look for the big dolphin to move to the southwest and west directly into the current. Smaller schoolie-size fish move with the current. This will help cue you into what you're looking at when you see birds. If you can judge their movement you'll know what to be prepared for when you get close. Keep several 12-pound spinners in the cockpit rigged up for the schoolies. If you get into some school fish, be on the lookout for a bigger fish to swim into the action.

Some of the birds you'll see--especially big flocks of birds--won't be on dolphin at all but instead will be trailing schools of skipjack tuna. To retain these small tunas, you'll need the same HMS permit required of swordfish anglers. If the fish are decent size, try to catch a few for the fish box. If not, catch one or two and live-bait them right in the same area for a blue marlin. Live-baiting marlin with small tuna really works.

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To catch a bait, troll a 2-inch feather or spoon far back behind the boat--a stout, 30-pound conventional outfit will land a bait fast, keeping it nice and frisky. As soon as you bring one in the boat you'll want to hook it up to a heavier rig and put it right back in the water.

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Attach a short Dacron loop to the hook bend to secure the skipjack to the hook. Use a rigging needle to quickly pull the loop through the very upper part of the skipjack's eye sockets, then loop the Dacron back on the hook bend, spin the hook several times to tighten up the loop, then push the hook point through the remaining opening right next to the skipjack's head. The leader should be 15 feet of 200-pound mono with a 9/0 or 10/0 hook crimped on.

Attach the leader to a 30- or 50-pound conventional rod and slow-troll the live skipjack in the area where the schools are working. If you have the crew and gear for it, try trolling two rods with a single bait on each. Give it a half hour or so and see what might pop up. If you get a take, allow the fish time to eat the bait before coming tight.

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Expect the tarpon migration along oceanside and backcountry flats to be in full swing this month. Anglers looking to sight-cast with fly rods should stake out along bank edges and points where tarpon are forced to pass due to tidal conditions and water depth. Bait fishers looking for a tarpon bite should soak baits at night in creeks with moving water and at bridge channels.

Along the reefline snapper are biting. Yellowtails up in your chumline bite best when water conditions tend toward the dirty side. Muttons will take a well-presented bait off the bottom and could really turn on around the full moon. Expect mangos to show their stuff best at night.

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ABOUT YOUR PHOTOS

We always welcome your fishing photos for publication. We look for photos showing battles in progress, landings in the act, and interesting angles of angling scenes. Mail color photographs (not ink jet) to Florida Sportsman, Action Spotter, 2700 S. Kanner Hwy., Stuart, FL 34994. Keep a duplicate because we can't return submissions.

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You can also submit digital pictures, 600KB to 1 MB. For details, go to www.floridasportsman.com/ photos. All images--print, slide or digital--must not have appeared elsewhere in publication or online. identify angler(s) by name and hometown, and include location of catch and other details.

Best Bet: KEYS

May holds the potential to catch a yellowfin tuna in the Keys--another reason to get that HMS permit. We definitely have a run of fish--it's just that no one has figured out all the details of how, when and where it happens yet. If you want to take your shot, the key is to be ready. Once the word gets out that a few have been caught, plan on putting in some time on the water over the next several days.

Here is the favorite rig for yellowfin tuna in the Florida Keys: Rig a whole large ballyhoo with a single 10/0 hook on 10 feet of 130-pound monofilament leader. Wire the ballyhoo on securely so it can't get blown off the hook on the strike. Anglers favoring artificial lures troll a soft-head lure with a diameter of about 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Lure length should be between 7 and 10 inches. Rig the lure with a single hook on 100- to 130-pound leader, making sure the hook size matches the lure diameter.