Fishing Report

[Stein]

Well, to ease the pain of so few fishing reports, here is a bit different of a report.

 

For my brother's bachelor party, several of us from Nebraska and Illinois went to Miami Florida for four days of fun and sun Thurday through Sunday. Temps were between 84-84 degrees F with lows of 70-72 F. One day was set aside for a deep sea fishing charter.

 

OK, here are the particulars with a couple of photos...

 

Started off with four of us going out at 8:00 am on Friday. Headed out into the harbor for bait. Caught 120 herring on these six hook rigs on spinning rods. Hooks were dressed like mayflies. Just drop to the depth that they were on the finder and lift immediately. You would have 4-6 fish on each time. Ten minutes later we were heading out.

 

Winds were 20-25 knots and we were in 6-8 foot seas. Pretty big water for a 33' boat. Went out about 6 miles until we hit 200' of water. All fish were caught on kites. This was the first time I had ever fished this way. Kites were fed out and flown behind the boat which was on a sea anchor, allowing a very slow drift. Two lines were clipped on quick releases on the kite string and spaced 20 yards apart. The baitfish was suspended from the kite string and fished 1-15 feet below the surface.

 

We hit a triple on Mahi Mahi 10 minutes after setting up. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of them fresh. When you put them on ice like in the pic, they loose all of their vibrant blue, green and yellow colors.

 

 

Shortly after that, we had our first episode of chumming the water via gastro intestinal expulsion. Yes, my brother in law hurled. They were out at the strip clubs until 2:00, then they consumed a couple of large pizzas before turning in around 4:00. Myself, I passed on the strip clubs as a matter of personal preference and turned in around 10:30, as I really wanted to enjoy this fishing excursion.

 

About 9:00 we had on and lost a nice King Mackerel and a barracuda. Later, my bother had on a 3" shark that he got to the boat before it got off.

 

Things slowed down for about an hour, until my brother's buddy decided to do a little chumming himself. You couldn't even tell he was sunburned as white as he was. It was really rough out there.

 

About 11:30 we had drifted into 120' of water and the captain said that if anyone wanted to get off, now was the time to speak up. My brother and I stayed and the other two were delivered to the dock.

 

We went back out and set up again. My sailfish came about 45 minutes later in 170'. After a nice battle, we got it along side for pics. This shot was when the fish was on. You can see how high the water is, as we were in the bottom of the swell.

 

 

The fish was 82", just shy of a "seven footer" as they like to say. Fish of this size are tagged but not brought on board. Sorry about the bad pics.

 

 

 

After tagging and while setting up again, as all lines are pulled when a sail is on, my brother hit his while holding the pole before it was on the kite. It hit close and spooled about 200 yards as he was fishing with a lighter spinning reel.

 

He ended up around the boat twice, passing the rod under the kite lines and the sea anchor each time around.

 

As this was a juvenile fish, it was not lifted by the bill, as you can crack the skull, so it is gripped by the tail and under the belly and brought on board for pictures. The colors of the young ones is much nicer than the adults.

 

 

Kind of sucks that they won't let someone that musky fishes handle their own fish.

 

After the battle my brother was winded and proceeded to chum the line for the next fish. Yes, all of the late nighters blew chow. There may be a lesson here.

 

We hit a dead patch with only a couple of Mahi over the next two hours. Our trip was over at 4:00 and with literally two minutes left, we hit a double on Mahis. As soon as my brother got his to the boat the last rod that was in that hadn't been pulled went off on a sail. He battled it for about five minutes but the fish was lost. It was a good fish.

 

All in all, an outstanding trip.

 

Stein (newbie again-but not enough posts to whine about moving them)

[ccmtcanada]

WOW!!! Awesome report and pics!!!! Thanks for sharing the story....Great job!

[douG]

Wow, a great report with amazing photos, Stein. Thanks very much.

[Joey]

Great report. Was starting to go through report withdrawal. Nice to see the great weather and awesome fish for sure.

 

Joey

[setomonkey]

Great report & pics, and much appreciated as winter is descending upon us.

 

Congrats on being a non-chummer as well.

 

Mike

[dustink]

Great report....and a breath of fresh air around here! Nice to see a fishing report! And from sunny FL to boot!

 

Thanks.

dk

[irishfield]

GREAT report...terrible what "sins" can do to a guy. LOL You were rewarded nicely for being a good boy.

[Bly]

Thanks for sharing! I cannot decide what part I liked best, hearing about the fishing or the great temperatures!

Good for you having the proper priority.....Fishing!!

 

blyght

[kennyman]

Sounds like you had a ball. What an experience that would have been. I am humbled by your mere presence LOL. I'm not worthy. All hail king Stein . Thanks for sharing the story and making us all completely jealous.

Edited December 5, 2006 by kennyman

[TJQ]

Super report and pics... man...

[bpsbassman]

Fantastic Report especially this time of year.

Thanks

[b2kptbo]

Beauty report, musta been a great time...

[trapshooter]

Aewsome report!! Thanks for the great read.

[glen]

Good report. I am going to have to try that.

[tjsa]

Welcome, and great report and pictures.

 

Whats wrong with the horizon in the 2nd pic.............I..............think.........Im

getting.............sic...............brb.

[Jigger]

I'm not jealous

 

Yes I am.

 

Congrats, looks like a wicked good time !

[danc]

Sorry about the bad pics.

 

 

Bad pics? They're fantastic and the entire report was very refreshing. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Rich Clemens]

Yes ... WOW !! What a dream trip and must have been a whale of a time. Great to see a nice report such as this.

[mattyk]

Sweet Fish!

[mepps]

Great report!

 

I love the salt water reports!

[fishindevil]

WOW....thanks for the report.i wish i was in the nice warm sun catching those awsome fish..way to go

[jeffw]

Wow beautiful dorado and sail. I've been out offshore fishing a few times and never caught a sail.

cheers jeff

[Stein]

Thanks for all of the king words guys. My comment of bad pics was related to the fact that we sould have gotten some pics of the dolphin before they were on ice. They have such great blues, greens and yellows and lose it so fast. Also, would have liked a better shot of the sail out of the water. Hard to get a good perspective of what it really was.

 

It was a good time. I have been offshore fishing a couple of times and, while the fish are nice, it's hard to fish that way when you are a muskie guy who is used to doing everything--picking the spot, choosing the bait, controlling the boat, casting, working the bait, setting the hook, working the fish, landing the fish, holding the fish.

 

Here, you pay the man, they do everything, you wait for a bait to go off, fight the fish and stand next to it for a picture. Kind of bittersweet, if you can relate. Not to sound arrogant or unappreciative. It's just different. I understand that if I didn't do this, I would have never seen a fish like this. Does this make any sense? Feel free to chime in. Won't hurt my feelings at all.