The arrival of summer usually signifies a decline in the charter business giving me an opportunity to explore new areas and catch up on boat maintenance. Over the course of the last month or so I've had the opportunity to do just that. Let's get right down to the details from some of these trips.
In mid July, I headed over to Bimini with some friends and fellow members of the Miami Sport Fishing Club. The trip was memorable to say the least. After clearing customs we headed off to find a healthy supply of bait for the day. We found the bait but had a tough time netting them due to the shallow water were they were found. Once we netted our bait we headed to our first spot were we caught a bunch of flag yellow tail and a couple of nice kings. Our second spot yielded some more flags and kings up to 40#. Late in the day we decided to try our luck deep dropping for yellow-eye snapper and were catching some real nice ones when the tunas moved in. After all was said and done, we had boated a nice yellowfin and lost another. After cleaning up it was time to head home again.
The day after returning from Bimini, I was fishing with James and his pals from Ft. Lauderdale. These guys fish with me often and it is always fun to see them poke fun at each other. We anchored on a shallow wreck hoping to catch yellowtail or mutton snapper. The yellowtails weren't as large or plentiful as they've been for us on past trips. The good news is that we still had fun catching some large jacks and other species. The highlight of the evening was when one of the guys hooked into a large fish that turned out to be an estimated 50# goliath grouper. The fish was promptly released and will hopefully grow to breed.
My next trip was with Emanuel, his grandfather who were looking to try there hand at some Miami bottom fishing. The trip was short lived when the two friends they brought along began to feel queasy. Both Emanuel and his grandpa decided it would be better to head in and re-schedule.
A few days later I was again fishing with the Miami Sport Fishing Club and this time we were in Key West trying our hand at bottom fishing and/or wreck fishing. During our time in Conch Republic we never saw winds of less than 25 mph. Our first day kept us bait fishing and inshore. On our second day we decided to abandon the reef fishing and hit the gulf wrecks in search of permit, cobia, goliaths, etc. We were not disappointed going through about 60 blue crabs and countless pinfish in one day. The day was action packed and we ended with about seven cobia, several permit, 2 goliaths. Since we were fishing light tackle we did loose quite a few permit to the wreck. All in all this was a great trip and I'm looking forward to doing it again.
After Key West it was time to head out of town with my family for a little rest and relaxation. We had a great time and actually wanted to extend our trip but duty called as I had a trip scheduled that I had to be back for.
The next day I was fishing with Greg, Jennifer and Brandon. Both of them have fished Miami before during the spring but never during the summer. The morning began by catching a healthy supply bait in Government Cut. I then decided that our best bet would be to head South between Triumph reef and Pacific light. The seas were a bit choppy making our long run a bit bumpy but the crew was up to it. Once we set up it didn't take long. We caught bonitos, sharks, muttons, red grouper, kingfish, amberjack, yellow jack just to name a few. The highlight of the day came when Brandon caught his first ever sailfish. Mom and dad had both caught sail before and watching their son catch his made them very proud. After a few pictures and a successful release it was time to head back. On the way back to the dock Greg mentioned that he had counted 12 different species over the course of the day. Now he can't wait to get back down here next spring.
After, a couple of trips rescheduled due to high winds I got a call from Oscar who was looking to do some tarpon fishing a some family that was visiting from our of the country. After getting some reports and checking tides, I decided that our best bet was to fish one of the local bridges. I knew the fish were stacked up on this bridge but the small shrimp found this time of the year make it tough. After trying one spot and re-anchoring we hooked and landed a nice fish. High fives were exchanged and pictures taken prior to the release. A couple of tries later we hooked into another fish which took advantage of the angler by getting around one of the pilings. We tried a couple more spots before heading back.
During that last couple of weeks I've had to reschedule some kid trips due to the unusually high winds that we've had. Right now I am nursing a knee issue that has been menacing me for five days. The good news is that I should be ready to be back on the water real soon. I'm hoping to recover in time for the lobster mini season due to begin next week. We'll that is pretty much it for now, as always if you'd like to book a trip or just have questions about the types of trips I offer, don't hesitate to call (786)266-0171 or check out my web site: www.FishingCharterMiami.com.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Orlando Muniz
Nomad Fishing Charters
www.FishingCharterMiami.com
(786)266-0171
