Earlier in the week our boat got it's turn as we were live bait fishing. Mitchel Lazar of Aventura, Florida chartered our boat on this trip and we opted to purchase live baits to save time and get to fishing right away. We had lots of Goggle eyes and Pilchards in the livewell, so we were enthused about the upcoming adventure. There was a good north current a little slower than 2 knots and nice blue water coming in as shallow as 80 feet, great conditions. The Kingfish were the first to show up. We caught and released a half dozen and lost about the same. We couldn't get out of the Kings so we talked about going into deeper waters and hopefully hook up with these big Bull Dolphin everyone is talking about.
We picked up and headed east until we were around 500 feet of water. We put out a nice spread of Goggle eyes and pulled them behind the boat. Were moving along close to 3 knots in and out of gear making our way northeast. All of a sudden the Port line trips and my ears caught the sound. I looked back into the spread and saw a large blue fish move across the wake. We let him eat for several seconds and Mitchel winded down on him and got tight. Then the center high line starts rolling off the reel and Mitchel's friend got onto it, winded down on it and was tight also. Both fish were on but the two lines were crossed. We couldn't uncross them no matter what we did, under and over, over and under, still crossed. Both men wanted their fish so we continued as is. The battle lasted on and on. The Fish took line every time they got close to the boat. I would get a glimpse of one fish then he would run an easy 50 yards away. Funny thing was every time Mitchels' fish ran off so did the other rod, every time. At this point both anglers are sweating it on their fish and close to 20 minutes have past. The fish were tiring out and coming closer to the boat. Now they were staying deep just out of site, but I could see one of them had some good size to him. As both anglers brought their fish closer to the boat I only see one fish! And both lines are still crossed from what I could see. The fish made a few last ditch efforts to run off and almost cut us off on the props. Quickly I put the props in the air to avoid losing this fish. Then it became evident our fish was hooked with both lines. Still, what amazing strength and determination this Dolphin had. His colors we gorgeous blues, yellows and greens. His pec fins were straight out and illuminating a strong blue. We quickly got him into the boat and struggled to get him over the gunnel. This fish was HUGE, his tail was enormous and wouldn't fit into the fish box. Sure enough both lines were in his mouth, one was down the hatch and the other in the roof of his mouth, he wasn't going anywhere but into the boat. These Dolphin prove to be very aggressive eaters. So if your fortunate enough to be around them your in for a great time, either keeping a few for the table or catch and release.
Definately the best time to get on the water is during the early summer months. There are Blackfin Tuna and Cobia among different species to be had. Sailfish are also a great bonus and are being caught everyday.
See you on the rip,
Captain Cary Hanna
