I had Conor and J.P. from N.Y. this morning that just wanted to catch fish. So, with warming water temps in the 70 degree mark I had high hopes. After catching a few mackerel I decided to make a move and it paid off. The guys smoked through 6 dozen baits in no time catching jacks, snappers, and a goliath grouper. Yes, a goliath grouper, only the second one ever caught on my boat! Wow. We tried for bull sharks afterward but they were MIA, probably too cold for them. But, I'm still in shock over that goliath!
Burr, it's been cold with night time lows in the 40's and by Miami standards that's really cold. That was not an issue for Kent and Alex from Texas as they jumped aboard bundled up and off we went. Hitting a few tarpon spots that should have held fish was a swing and a miss. More concerning was that the schools we did find were hunkered down on the bottom, a sure sign they are stressed. A quick glance at the Raymarine told the story, cold water temperatures, in the mid 60's. Ouch! We moved on and caught a few mackerel, lady fish, snappers and jacks but it was definitely slow. Running south at the right tide for bonefish I was concerned but optimistic about the warmer water flushing in with the incoming tide. This is when Kent got a nice bonefish and missed another bite but it was not what it should've been. To add to the troubles, there were no pelicans diving on bait schools and not bait to be found, no surprise as by now the water temps were between 63 and 65 degrees. The day ended on a flat with the incoming tide for sharks but that also drew a blank. So, it was slow, we caught fish and Kent got a nice bonefish. Hmmm, I'm not quite certain how this day turned out.
This was Zach's first fishing trip and Bob had told me the bar was set low since Zach just needed to catch one fish. Well, I think I can handle that. As we set off I looked for bait in a few places but they were MIA so off we went with plenty of live shrimp. Bob has fished me with me before several times and this time we were not going to chase bonefish and tarpon like before. So, I got to a spot that was perfect for what we wanted to do and Zach lit it up landing a snapper on his first cast and he was rolling after that. He kept track of the count and he said he was up to 25 not including losing a number of really nice fish. Well, mission accomplished, Zach is hooked and it's time to burn off the Thanksgiving delights from last night. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Ken loves to fish and we've been fishing for years together. The last time he brought his 6 year old little girl Gianna and she was back, 2 years later, much bigger and ready to fish. Ken really wanted her to catch her first bonefish and with 20 MPH winds it would be a challenge. Other than the visibility being perfect, just about all the other variables were not to my liking but I had a mission before me. Working hard and putting in the time, Gianna behaved really well and not long into the trip she was on her first bonefish, a 9lber! Wow, what a way to get started! Some time later another bonefish is one and this one is about 5 lbs. Then a third one, this one giving us a long blistering run. Several really long runs later we had about an 11lb bonefish in the boat. Wow, what a way to get Gianna her first bonefish, and second and third! Congrats girl, you rock!
Jim and Annie flew in from Texas and Jim, being an avid fisherman, really wanted to try fishing in Miami. We had a gorgeous day and with the live well loaded up we got on fish right away. Using live pilchards the jacks and mangrove snappers kept Jim busy. Then came the bull sharks and tossing out a bait in front of one of them guaranteed a hook up but then a spit hook, he never had the hook in him. Then came another bite and Jim was on for about 15 minutes until the hook straightened. Hmmm, that's odd. We changed spots and hit a finger channel where we wrapped up the 4 hour trip catching more jacks and snappers including a nice mutton and some horse eye jacks.
Jake usually fishes with his friend Henry but today Jake brought his two little boys ages 7 and 11 to see of they would enjoy fishing from a boat. Well, one of them did and the other not so much but we kept it light, close to the marina and targeted smaller fish they could handle. At the end of the 3 hour trip, one of them wants to come back already!
George from the U.K. was back but this time he was with daughter and wife. He booked a full day and wanted to keep the girls busy with different species and a boat tour as well so we did just that. We caught bait and then we were off. We hit a few spots and caught fish including some nice mutton snappers, mangrove snappers and more while showing the ladies around the bay and all the interesting and historical areas. This was a very cool trip and it was great seeing George again and his family.
