Can you believe this!!! I listened to the weather man again today and the predicted winds of 25 to 35 knotts this evening never came and I missed another great day on the water. But, with this ocean you have to respect the weather and with the predicted forecast it wasn't worth the gamble that they would be wrong!!!
But, the Lord has given us two weeks of unheard of calm seas for this time of year. Although I have had a lot of preparations to be made for all the up coming events and haven't had a chance to fish much, those that have have been having a "field day"!!
I will try to recap some of what's been happening. Notice I said try, there has been such good fishing, I am sure to miss something!!!
INSHORE: Yesterday, I went fishing with my wife Barbara, she hardly ever gets to go anymore and she wanted to go catch some bottom fish but didn't want to go offshore. We went to the Lighthouse Rocks area and here we found the Black Bass, Bluefish, and Grey Trout to be very cooperative. The Black Bass we found were less than the new size limit of 11 inches. Most were 10 7/8" and we put them all back. The Bluefish are out there with a vengence. I bet we caught 200 of those and we threw all those back. We caught a pile of Grey Trout but only wanted enough for dinner, so, we kept five of those and came home. It was nice to just go and fish not caring if you even got a bite!!!
OFFSHORE: Man, this place has been awesome!!!! The King Mackeral bite has been phenominal!!! They are slowly working their way offshore to the normal wintering grounds, but, right now they are a little SW of the Tower,(about 2 miles) Also, if you like the battle of a Bonito, there are plenty of those out there also.
BOTTOMFISH: With the New Moon waining, look for the Grouper bite to get better. It's been a little slow lately, but will pick back up soon!! As for the other botton species, they are hungry and if you drop a bait in a school you better be ready, the bite will be instant. When we were drifting for Kings Sunday, I dropped a bottom rig to the bottom and it wasn't long until my shoulders and arms were aching. I talked to Capt Chris this evening and he said he was fixing some of them for dinner tonight!!
BLUEFIN TUNA: The Bluefins are here, but, you have to find them!! They have been any where from the Shark Hole to the knuckle buoy to the fairway buoy to the 30/30 and anywhere in between!!! Look for the Gannett Birds diving on the bait. Look for the fish to actually be surfacing or jumping while feeding. Also, watch for "oil slicks" these are created when they are feeding. Use your nose, remember when you were a boy and you went bream fishing in the spring and you would sniff the air trying to get a whiff of that musky wetermelon smell that meant a bream bed close by, same thing here, but leave the breambuster at home!!! This past weekend there were some true Giants hooked up. These fish were brutes that were beyond your wildest imagination!!! The guys that were lucky enough, and I use the term "lucky" with mixed emotions, that were lucky enough to hook up these fish could not do a thing with them!! Other fishermen went to their aid to try to help, but, a fish that can pull line from a reel with a heavy drag and pull the boat sideways at the same time is a TRUE GIANT that is to be dealt with. The Giants are here, now will anyone be able to get one in the boat? I know I will be trying a lot more in January after all the shows are over!!!
GULFSTREAM: I have not heard a thing from the stream, but I suspect there would be a wahoo or two hanging around the break!!
INSIDE: The Speckled Trout and even a few drum are being caught. I hope I haven't left out too much!! As you can see, the fish eat in the winter just as you do. A lot of people think that when winter comes the fish quit feeding, when actually, it can be some of the best fishing of the year!!! So, when the weather gets nice again after this front passes, come on down and get rid of the cabin fever and catch you some fish!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!!Capt Butch. www.yeahrightcharters.com
SUNDAY12-17-06
The fishing lately has been good and today was no exception. Capt Chris came home this weekend to go Pheasant hunting with me Saturday, and today we were joined by his and my friend William Deal to get some more king mackeral quota on my federal king permit so I won't lose it. Federal requirements are that you have got to catch at least $10,000.00 or 25% of your earned income each year of King Mackeral or they will revoke your permit!!!!
We went to the Tower area where we found the Kings willing to accomodate us. We were beginning to have second thoughts though after hearing on the VHF radio of the "Giant" Bluefin Tunas that were being hooked up. We had our Tuna tackle on board, but we knew we had to get some King Mackeral today, the time for me to qualify my permit was running out!!! There were around 8 Tuna hook up's that I heard about this morning, all the way from the Shark Hole to the Knuckle Buoy, and they were big fish, some were so big that they could not even be slowed down, much less boated, and 130 lb. test lines were being broken!!!
Will be going out tomorrow to do a little bottom fishing on a 1/2 day trip. Will let you know what transpires and what I hear on the Bluefin's. Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt's Butch & Chris Foster and "Private Bodie" the fish dog says, man, where did all those kings come from!!!! www.yeahrightcharters.com