In the past two weeks we have had some good trips and some slow trips. The good trips were all on the edge. There has been blue water and strong north current. Even though it is only September and true sailfish season will start in a month or so, with clean water and north current there are sails here already. Both our trips on the edge produced sailfish and our last trip we caught three sailfish plus other species as well. Our last trip started off with a nice 30 pound wahoo. Even though wahoo have razor sharp teeth, this fish ate a leader with no wire and was hooked perfectly in the corner of the mouth. When we got the wahoo within gaffing range, you could see the fish shaking its head wildly and snapping its teeth, trying to cut us off. Luckily the hook was right in the corner and the angler kept great pressure on the line and we won that fight. Besides wahoo, we also caught a few kingfish, some bonitas and a few cudas. The action slowed and I made a move to the north and found cleaner water with a bit more current. Pretty soon after we set up, we hooked and caught a sailfish. We set up again and caught another sailfish and with our last set we hooked and caught our third sailfish of the day. It was a fun day with really nice guys from Chicago and we had a blast catching fish.
The slow part of these past two weeks has to do with the swords. Both the day and night swordfish bite has been off. This is typically an excellent time of year for swordfish and I'm sure that they will turn on very soon. We had two day trips and one night trip and between all three trips we never got a bite – OUCH! The two day trips, the current was smoking at almost 6mph. Even with that much current, the Sufix braid sinks like a champ and we were able to hold bottom fairly well. The only problem was the lack of bites. The night trip we had perfect conditions with calm seas and a nice drift, but again no bites. From the other guys I have been talking to, everyone has been seeing the same results. You do hear of a sword caught here and there, but not like what it should be this time of year. I have faith though as some of our best days and nights have always been in September and October. I definitely hope it picks up soon as we have a few day sword trips scheduled and are also booked for the Miami Swordfish Tournament.
I am already getting quite a few bookings for the upcoming sailfish season, so if you have plans already made, give me a call so we can get you the dates that you want. It should be a banner year for sails as the summer produced quite a few sailfish and the fall is starting off in the right track. I'll also keep you posted on the swords as I am sure they are going to show up very soon.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos
www.doubledcharters.com
(954)805-8231
