Sorry for the delay between reports, but I have been tied up getting my current boat ready for sale and getting ready for the new boat which is due next week. In the middle of that I have also been fishing a little bit. We did another trip to Bimini, along with some trips on the edge, a couple of trips for mahis and a few combo day/night sword trips.
The trip to Bimini was fun. We had a great group of clients and primarily focused on reef fishing. The beauty of fishing in Bimini is the variety of fish you can catch while fishing on the reef. We caught yellowtails snappers, small groupers, cero mackerel, kingfish, AJ's, horseye jacks, cudas, sharks, etc. Lots of fun especially on lighter tackle. I don't have any more trips scheduled this summer, but will definitely be going over there with the new boat for wahoo season.
The fishing on this side has been decent. There have been quite a few mahis around and all the mahis we have been caching are now gaffers. I have been lucky and haven't seen any real small mahis and it's always a pleasure to know that you don't have to pick through the small fish to land a keeper. Personally, when I find a school of mixed sizes of mahis where some are undersized and some are keepers, I generally leave that school so as to leave the small ones alone so they can grow. Along with the mahis have been some small wahoo which are usually located under the school of dorados.
Fishing on the edge has also been productive. Besides the bonitos which have been thick, there have also been quite a few sailfish around. We have averaged one to two sailfish per trip. There have also been some kingfish on the edge and some bottom fish like small mutton snappers and yellowtails.
I also did two day/night combo trips for swordfish. The first one was on a big Viking yacht and we hooked a sword on our first drop but missed it. On the last drop we hooked another fish and although it fought a bit like a small sword, it turned out to be a small 100 pound six gill shark which we released. On the night portion of that trip, we hooked a decent swordfish that raced all over the surface, but eventually pulled off. The sight of the LP light racing on the surface is always a pretty cool thing to see. The second combo trip was only a day ago and we had 4 bites on 5 drops and managed to not get one to the boat. One of the fish we had one was definitely a very big fish and unfortunately we got her all the way from the bottom to within 100 feet of the surface only for her to pull off and swim away. A bit of heartache, but at least we were getting bites. During the night portion we did catch one small swordfish that we released.
Next week my current boat goes to its new owner which just happens to be a good customer of mine. I know she will treat him well and continue to catch lots of fish. At the same time my new boat should be delivered. It is a brand new 34 SeaVee with twin Verados. It is similar to my current boat except I also have a small tower with full controls. The added height will be an additional asset for sailfishing, cobia fishing, mahi fishing and really any fishing that requires sight. I also have a full arsenal of new Simrad electronics which seem to be awesome. The boat layout has also been slightly changed and all these things will help. It's still a 34 SeaVee which in my opinion is the best center console out there. I am really looking forward to getting her out and catching fish.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos
www.doubledcharters.com
(954)805-8231
