Where does the time go? I can't believe I have not posted a report in 6 weeks. Sorry about that.
March was pretty good fishing, but not like the last few years. The water was cold and the current ran really slow along the edge of the reef. The first week of March we had a few sailfish and a fair amount of amberjacks on some wrecks.
The second week of March We started with Mattias, John and Sid catching 8 bonito, a sail and a dolphin during the day and Don and Sandy Blake catching 3 tarpon and 3 snapper in Government Cut that night on live shrimp.
The 10th was crazy. We had Wendell, Smitty, Vernon and Bobby out to catch fish for a VFW fish fry. They caught 11 kings to 20 pounds, 4 mahi to 15 pounds, 2 mutton snappers, a shark, 3 bonito, a big amberjack and a tuna. Plenty for the fish fry there.
We fished with Josef and Marcus from Germany the rest of the week and they caught a big tarpon, a bunch of bonito, a load of sharks, a couple dolphin and some mackerel.
Mike and Tracey were out Sunday night and caught a couple tarpon.
Monday, March 15th, Joe Conner, 16, caught 75 and 150 pound tarpon fishing with his dad.
Tuesday the guys from Germany caught a 53 inch swordfish on the bottom during the day and another swordfish 47 inches at night. The next day they caught a big sail, a dolphin, king and bonito. Then Thursday they caught 6 kings to 30 pounds, a tuna, dolphin, 160 pound bull shark, 10 bonito, 10 amberjacks and 2 mutton snapper to 9 pounds.
On the 19th Dan, Kelly and Lane caught 10 kings to 35 pounds, 8 dolphin and 10 bonito. That night Maurice and Tony caught 2 tarpon 5 nice snappers, a 15 pound grouper and a snook.
The 20th Richard, Victor, Kelly and Steffen caught a sail, a cuda, a skipjack tuna, 2 dolphin and 12 bonito. That night Caroline, 12, Vicki, Jack and Richard caught 2 tarpon, a snapper, a ladyfish, 2 horse eye jacks and a squid. The girls rocked with those tarpon.
On the 22nd Joe and Jay caught a sail, a 30 pound king, 4 bonito and lost two bonito on fly. That was all while dodging rain storms.
That night Ben, Dominick and Ron caught 4 big tarpon.
The 23rd Joe and Jay caught a 80 pound tarpon, 12 pound red grouper and 10 bonito. Joe got his first bonito on fly.
The 26th through the 28th was the Yamaha/Contender Miami Billfish Tournament. Mark and Dustin fished with us and took top outboard honors on day one with 4 sailfish releases. Day two was a bust. Day three they caught 6 sailfish for a strong finish just missing daily prize money. A bunch of bonito and kings kept everybody busy all three days.
Ron and his daughter Casey caught 7 tarpon Monday night. They had a good day on Tuesday catching a big amberjack, 4 big cudas, 6 bonitos, 4 kings and a mutton snapper.
March 31st and April first we were in Bimini with Massimo, his sister and girl friend. They caught loads of 3 to 5 pound gray snappers, jacks and yellowtails. A 40 pound cobia, 3 amberjacks on fly, a sailfish and 5 black groupers were the highlights of the trip.
Miami fishing in April roared on the scene. The 5 th we caught 7 of 9 sailfish, 6 mahi, a 25 pound wahoo, a skipjack tuna and 10 bonito with Elliot, Steve and Jeff. That night Robert, 14, and Herb caught 3 tarpon over 100 pounds each.
On April 7th Mike and his guest caught 2 sails, 2 big kings, a tuna and bonito. That night Ann and Gregg caught 2 big tarpon and a big jack.
April 8 through the 13th we were in the Cayman Islands. We were on a swordfish tournament adventure. We caught our first swordfish trolling a big lure on the surface at night. A 71 pound sword trolling at 4 knots. We also caught 3 yellowfin tuna, 2 blackfin tuna, a rainbow runner, a cuda, 2 sharks and the monster of the black lagoon. The tournament had 13 boats and caught 7 swordfish from 61 to 170 pounds. We also suffered through a fabulous 5 star gourmet dinner, a breath taking drive around Grand Cayman Island, a wonderful visit with Guy Harvey at his gallery, a visit with the turtles at their farm, a wonderful afternoon of snacks and drinks at Rum Point and another super awards dinner at Morgan's Harbor. We came in 4th.
We came back to find Miami fishing red hot. Friday the 16th we caught 7 sailfish, a 35 pound cobia, a tuna, 5 bonito, 2 kings, 15 dolphin, a 30 pound gray grouper on a vertical jig and a amberjack on a vertical jig with Taylor and Jeff.
Gary and his 40 Pound Mahi
The 17th we caught 7 dolphin to 40 pounds, 2 sailfish to 75 pounds, a king, 3 bonito and 2 tuna with Gary and his 3 sons. That night Steve, his son Cameron, 10, and two buddies celebrated his birthday with 5 tarpon hooked 4 great fights and 3 caught and released plus 4 ladyfish.
The 19th Paul , Erin and Josh caught 5 tarpon, a big jack and 4 spanish mackerel on live shrimp at Government Cut.
We have seminar at Dusky Sport Center on May 13th. We will be talking about going to the Bahamas and catching a bunch of fish. We should have a show appearing on Florida Sportsman TV sometime real soon. Dolphin, sails, tuna, kings and tarpon should be hot all the way through May. See you on the water.