Great November fishing is here. The last week has been a lot of fun, catching a variety of great fish with great people.
Monday the 20th we fished with Fredrik and his guest. They scored well with a blackfin tuna and king mackerel right off the bat. The variety was steady all morning. They finished with 1 of 2 sailfish that attacked live herring on the kite, 2 small sharks, an amberjack and a mutton snapper. With other obligations, they had to cut their day short a little after noon.
We had the honor of fishing with two wonderful ladies from North South Productions on Monday afternoon for a brief trip at the inlet. The girls caught a couple barracuda up to near 30 pounds and a couple jack crevalle up to nearly 10 pounds.
David Black came down from Maine to try for some Florida sailfish and went home with stories of big waves, windy weather and two sailfish tagged and released. A small shark added to his conquest.
A Beautiful African Pompano
Hank and Danny hooked up for a day of fishing on Wednesday. It was a day to remember. It started slow with hopes of getting in on all the spanish mackerel that were striking hot and heavy all month. The spanish mackerel had disappeared with the wind. It was flat calm and the mackerel were not biting. The good news was that other fish were willing to feed. They started with a beautiful 40 pound african pompano. The afternoon was red hot with 6 king mackerel, 2 bonito, a 25 pound wahoo and two sailfish tagged and released.
The family Thanksgiving morning fishing trip was highlighted by Holm Heinitz catching a 30 pound jack crevalle on the first fishing trip of his life. Holm and his wife came to Miami Beach from Dresden Germany to spend the holiday with our family. A king and a bonito filled out the short family outing.
Friday was every captains dream trip. Richard and Michelle brought their daughter Alana, 14, and son Kenny, 12, down from New Jersey for the holiday. Kenny told me sailfish were the target of the day. It seems the sailfish agreed. After catching 6 or 8 kingfish faster than anyone could keep count and a loggerhead turtle that ate the kite bait and took 30 minutes to bring boatside for a healthy release, the sailfish turned on.
Alana released sailfish, shark and kings
By days end we had 8 sailfish strikes. Richard, Michelle and Alana each caught tagged and released a sailfish. The hot angler was Kenny. He caught 3 sailfish. 2 we were able to tag and one was released without a tag. The score card also showed the kids each catching a shark. The grand final event was Alana catching a mahi mahi and Kenny doing gaffing duties. A long time "right of passage" for young anglers.
The Della Monicas from New York joined us for the weekend. Jay and Joe fished with us Saturday. They caught 10 kings, 4 bonito, a big spanish mackerel, 2 dolphin and a sailfish. Joe II flew in from Chicago to joined the fun on Sunday. The variety was great all day. We had 3 mutton snappers, 2 amberjacks, a bonito, a king, a grouper and a dolphin, but only one sailfish tagged and released by 4 PM. Then while we were discussing going home, a triple header of sailfish struck the kite baits. Joe's ran NW, Jay's ran SW and Joe II's ran east. When the spray cleared we had tagged and released all three of these full grown sailfish to end the day.
Kenny caught 3 sailfish
About half the sailfish we caught this week were around 10 pounds. These fish have very fragile bodies and skulls. They should not be handled by the bill as the weakest part of the bill is where the skull covers the brain. This area has been known to fracture causing death of these beautiful young sailfish. The best science indicates that these little sailfish are only about 6 months old. As you all know, circle hooks play a big part in the survival of these fish as well.
The season is here, the fish are biting and the reservations are filling up. With holidays, super bowl, tournaments and the boats show ahead, please don't delay making your reservations. I hate telling my favorite clients "sorry but we are sold out" , but it happens. E-mail me and makes those fishing plans. My e mail is captbouncer@bellsouth.net
A Family Mahi event
Speaking of planning, we are having a seminar at Dusky Sport Center on January 18th. The topic is sailfish and other fish you can catch on the kite. On January 16th I will be teaching wreck and reef fishing at the IGFA.
