The calendar says that it is winter but the fish and i aren’t so sure! We have had some days of traditionally great winter time fishing but warm water species are still around. On January 4th while running a private boat “Weez in the Keys” we caught 44 sails in one day (a best day for all on board), of course that happened THE DAY BEFORE the Silver Sailfish Derby
We went on to catch 28 sails the next day but fishing slowed considerably each day after that. Sailfishing has been good but not great since then but believe it or not the dolphin (mahi) fishing has remained strong since last summer. Yesterday , aboard the Miss Britt, the catch on a full charter was 15 dolphin to 40 lbs, several skipjack tunas and 2 muttons on the reef to 18 lbs. There have been cobias on the rays in 20 feet of water on the days we can see the bottom and there have been wahoos around near the full moons. Overall it has been a great winter so far and I have to say that i can’t complain about the weather or the fishing!
Thanks for checking in—Ray
Feb
15
Aug
29
Fortunately we weren’t impacted here in Miami from the hurricane and hope for a quick recovery to all of those who were. One positive thing comes out of the hurricane season for offshore fishermen and that is the increased abundance of floating debris out in the dolpin waters. It seems that after a storm passes, especially if it travels near cuba and into the gulf, we will see lots of floating bamboo, trees and more. Last week I saw a tree so big that when the waves would wash over it the tree never moved, the waves simply rose and fell. This kind of debris usually houses an entire ecosystem around it. This ecosystem fortunately usuall includes dolphin (mahis), wahoos and tripletails. They hang around primarily because of the abundance of bait fish that will surround this kind of debris. For about the next month or two we will find this kind of debris fairly regularly and enjoy some of the best offshore fishing for nice sized dolphin, tripletails and wahoo. The second part of the equation that helps us locate this debris as well as creating very comfortable fishing conditions is calm weather. THe next two months are generally known for calm weather. These conditions allow us to fish what we call a “combo trip”. That is where we fish for dolphin… during the day, maybe make a drop or two for swordfish during the day, then stay out a few hours into the night and drift for swords near the surface. These trips are usually productive for several species.
If you ever get the chance to join us for one of these trips in September or October, i think you will enjoy it. Good fishing to you wherever you are—Ray Rosher