The sailfish action has definitely picked up these past few weeks. We have been averaging from 4 to 8 sailfish per day, but we did have two trips were we hooked sails, but didn't get them to the boat. Unfortunately one of those days was the first day of the Miami Billfish Tournament. We fished it with Anders from Finland, who fished it with us a couple of years back. Last time we fished that tourney with Anders, we caught 14 or 15 sails, but did not place in the money. This year we started slow but ended up strong. The first day we decided to fish north and although the bite was to the north I was a few miles past it. In the afternoon the bite shifted way to the south and out deep, and although I did run down south, apparently I didn't run south enough or had just missed the bite. The second day the conditions changed and my gut instinct was to fish south by Triumph Reef to Pacific Light. Apparently we made the right move as that is where the bite was and we ended up getting 2nd Place Outboard Daily and also 3rd place Mahi. Anders was happy as was the whole team.
Mixed in with the sailfish, there has been an unbelievable number of white marlin for South Florida. In the last two weeks, I would say that there have been over 30 white marlin caught and that is just the amount I have heard about. We didn't get a shot at one, but maybe we will this week. Most of the whiteys have been from 60 to 100 pounds and all have been caught with live bait on kites.
Earlier in the month there were also quite a few nice fun fish caught. There were some big kingfish around and we caught one that bottomed out the 50 pound hand scale. It wasn't much over fifty pounds, but it was definitely a big fish. We also had some luck with bigger blackfin tunas all the way up to 25 pounds and also a few more wahoo. The mahis have been a bit inconsistent on the edge, but I did here from the guys in the Keys that are already starting to catch them. That's good as those fish are heading this way. There were also quite a few cobias around. The cobias were leaving the reef and tailing down sea where it was easier to spot them in the tower and go after them. We did catch a few cobias kite fishing as well.
I haven't gone swordfishing since the last report, but I have heard of a few very nice fish being caught. One fish caught was over 600 pounds and a few were in the 250 to 350 pound range. These were all daytime swords as I have not gotten a good night report in a while.
Spring is here or just knocking on the door and this is my favorite time of year to fish. Variety is the key word with mahi, big kingfish, blackfn tuna, wahoo, cobia, and sailfish the key players. With springtime here, now is the time to reserve your trip on the edge and enjoy South Florida's best fishing season. Come out with friends and family and spend the day on the Double D.
P.S. It looks good for Venice Louisiana this June and July so give me a call and lets book that as well
Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos
www.doubledcharters.com
