Daytime fishing has been a bit slow since the water temperatures have reached the 88 degree mark. The majority of the Dolphin fishing and other surface feeding fish, has been localized to the morning hours. The day can still be productive if you incorporate some wreck or bottom fishing into the mix. Of course, here in S. Florida we do have a great night time fishery also. I'll make this report short and sweet since pictures and video, speak a 1000 words.
Amy, Devon, his Uncle Al, and I decided to do a late afternoon and evening trip, with the emphasis on finding our Cubera's later that night. We met up at the dock around 2 PM and loaded up. We turned The BEAST out and took a heading for some bait. Bait spot #2 produced enough Hardtails to make the trip and we broke out for the offshore waters. Our first stop was to kill some time working speed jigs over a wreck. We had some fun, straining our muscles on Almaco Jacks, Amberjacks, Barracuda, and Bonito.
After an hour of speed jigging, we decided to do some Yellowtail fishing. I pointed the bow south toward our favored spot. The fishing was slow at first. When the current picked up, the chum line lengthened and we began catching fish. We caught a potpourri of reef dwellers. Yellowtails around 2 pounds, Mutton Snappers, Black Grouper, Remora, Spotted Moray, Nurse Shark, Porcupine Puffer, Cero Mackerels, and a Gray Trigger. The variety of the catch kept us on our toes as daylight faded. As the sun was setting we packed it in to venture out on our Cubera hunt.
We arrived in our Cubera area and began searching for the schools. We found several packs of fish marking on the bottom machine and set up our drifts. No bites! Devon added a light stick to one of the baits and the bites began immediately. The only problem was that these lumps of fish on the sonar screen, weren't our target fish. It turns out that they were "Night Donkeys". Devon, Al, and Amy took turns wrestling these fish, in hopes that one would be our intended target, the Cubera Snapper.
"El Nasty" never graced us with their presence. It seems this year that the seasons are all running about 2-3 weeks late. Although we didn't catch our intended quarry, we did catch 13 different species of fish. We called this Cubera recon trip around 11 PM. With tired, tested muscles, everyone finally relaxed as I pointed The BEAST's nose toward the barn. "El Nasty" will only elude us for so long! We'll get 'em… it's only a matter of time!
Capt. Jim
The BEAST
305-233-9996
beastcharters@aol.com
www.beastcharters.com