The holidays have arrived and so have the fish. Since my last report we've had several trips and all but one have been very productive. Most of the action as of late has centered on sailfish and mahi-mahi. Besides the sails and dolphin we have also been getting our fair share of kingfish and some bottom fish. Closer to shore the tarpon are here and should stick around for several months. Pretty soon the shrimp will be running and the tarpon action will peak.
Now, let's get down to some of the recent action. About a week ago, we tarpon fished in Government Cut for a couple of hours. We had a beautiful evening with clear skies and calm winds. The wind was so calm that it actually made the fishing a bit difficult. Even though the water was a bit cold and the conditions tough we managed a couple of shots at the silver king. We'll be back on South Beach very soon and I'm sure the results will be quite different. Actually this was the slowest trip of the month.
On Monday we had stiff North winds and it looked like sailfish weather. The sailfish did show as we went 2 for 4 in about 5 hours. The bonus catch of the day was a bunch of mahi or dolphin that we caught off our kite baits. We kept picking at them and by days end we had between 15-20 fish. We also release a half dozen or so fish. Most of these fish were schoolies but we did have several gaffers.
Tuesday- Christmas Shopping
Wednesday we had a trip scheduled with the folks of Ancla TV. Our goal was to video tape some of the action for the first show of 2011. We met at the dock at around 9:00 a.m. under blue skies and left shortly after loading their cameras and equipment. Earlier that morning I had caught a well full of salami size herring that most fish can't resist. Apparently these baits were irresistible because the fish seemed to ignore everything like water color, current, wind direction. Shortly after deploying the first kite bait we had our first fish come into the spread. We had three more that morning and ended the relatively short trip successfully releasing 2 of 4 fish. The guys also caught a barracuda and a nice mahi for the table. Later that day the producer told me that he plans to make this the first show for 2011. I'll try to post the date and time for those who want to watch.
Well, that pretty much brings us up to date. I have some trips scheduled but there are still a few open dates towards the end of the month and in January. If you're in town and want to go fishing now is the time. I also wanted to take this time to wish everyone HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. I know that 2010 was a tough year for many but hopefully 2011 will be much better.
Till next year,
Capt. Orlando Muniz
Nomad Fishing Charters
www.FishingCharterMiami.com
(786)266-0171