This time of year can be challenging as we await weather changes to push more fish to the south. A nice north current really spices things up for Sailfish and Mahi-Mahi. Last week we had a nice moving north current and found a big School of Mahi moving fast to the south inside a 100 feet of water. They were all nice size fish in the 10-15 pound range. We had 4 poles all go down and brought all the fish to the boat. It was so funny because as we had this school around the boat fishing lines were tangling and me and my client were going over and under each other. Then he goes around the engines and steps his whole leg into the livewell. We still got the fish and had laughs for hours.
Later in the week we had to push further offshore to find current. As we approached 600 feet we saw lots of rips and some good looking edges. We pulled our baits through and came into a few nice Mahi all lit up in the cobalt water. We continued working this edge that nobody else was on. We noticed the deep rod take a bend but no drag pulled off the reel. Within a split second a Sailfish busts out from the deep and grey hounds across the surface getting away from the boat as fast as possible. The speed on this fish was amazing. I'm glad everything stayed glued as we finally brought the Sailfish boatside almost 20 minutes later.
It's important to keep all your connections on the end of your line fresh. I always retie my lines each day and also cut back some line in case any knicks are there. The Sailfish bill is not sharp but has a very rough sandpaper like surface. They can easily rub there way through your line. I use 50 pound test as my standard leader and sometimes drop down to 40 pound. If the Kingfish are in the game, wire leader has to be tied to the end of the leader also. It doesn't seem to make a difference to the Sailfish as we continue to get our share of them with or without the wire.
Have a great and safe holiday season! We offer a variety of trips to accomadate your ittinerery. We have mornings available starting at 7 or 8 am. Afternoon trips starting at 12pm and also evening excersions for either Swordfish or Tarpon starting at 5 pm.
See you on the rip,
Captain Cary Hanna