This winter season has been black and white with no gray area, at all. We have had some really slow days and some really busy days. Hopefully we will have a good month in March to finish off the peak of Sailfish season with a bang while sliding right into a good run of big Bull and Cow Dolphin. I have my fingers and toes crossed.
My last 2 trips painted a perfect picture of the black and white, yin and yang, of this winter season. I fished Skip and his crew on a full day. We had to hit 2 bait patches to find enough bait to fish the day and my Calusa net sealed the deal on the 2nd bait patch. We had plenty of bait and shot offshore the 1/4 mile to a beautiful, well pronounced, blue/green color change. This rip was a dream come true with the only downfall being that it was in deeper water than we normally like to fish this time of year. The other problem was that the seas on the clear blue side were 7-8' while the reef edge a short distance away was only 2-3' with dirty, ugly, green water. We caught a Dolphin straight away within minutes of putting out our baits and then struggled. Alex (mate) was diligent, keeping the baits clean and fresh but nothing seemed to matter. We worked a wreck right on the color change and couldn't draw a bite while alternating 3 different types of bait. After Skip started getting queasy we opted to go in on the edge and see if any fish were using the dirty green water. We did manage to hook up and land 3 big Bonito out of 2 assaults and finished the day with a small Silky Shark. Tough doesn't begin to describe this day of fishing.
The next trip was with Jon and Chris, who have fished with me many times. Alex and I met them at 7 AM and we cast off the lines running immediately out to the bait patch that scored yesterday. Not one bait rose to the chum, go figure. We went in to the patch that didn't produce the day before and pulled the bait up like they were starving. We caught all our necessary bait for the day, on hook and line. Alex and I were smiling as we headed offshore with prime "hookers" knowing we had the best bait we could possibly have. I decided to fish farther north than I usually do, opting for some lesser fished areas. As we were running to the area I had chosen in calm seas of 2' or less, a Sailfish flopped out of the water and I immediately pulled back on the throttles and Alex and I scrambled to get out 5 baits, quickly. Within minutes we had a triple header of Sailfish rise to the baits and hook up. One pulled the hook as quick as he ate it while Jon and Chris fought the double that were still pinned on. After about 10 minutes Chris' fish came unglued and we were down to 1 but Jon worked him to the leader and we had our first catch. We tried valiantly the rest of the day to get Chris' first Sailfish going through another double hookup, 5 singles and 5 Dolphin. Chris did manage to get his first Sailfish and also his first Dolphin. A storm cell quickly moved over us and parked there for the last hour which fizzled out our chances of another bite. With numerous free jumping Sailfish flopping around us throughout the day, 9 Sailfish hooked up, and 5 Dolphin caught, we called it a day. Man, what a difference a day can make. Black and white!
Beast Fishing Charters is now offering a $50 discount off the regular trip rate to police officers, fire fighters, or US military, with proper ID. We would like to show our appreciation and gratitude to the personnel that give unselfish devotion to our cities, counties and country.
Capt. Jim
305-233-9996
beastcharters@aol.com
www.beastcharters.com