Have a Banana!

This past Thursday, Friday and Saturday the weathermen said we were in for a big blow. I had repeat customers flying in from New York so I filled the fuel tanks on The BEAST so she would sit heavy and stable in the rough waters they had forecasted. We had booked, the Harbor Club again this year, for 3 days. Harbor #1 Charlie, #3 Yalkin and #7 Frank are regulars but this time, with plenty of forewarning, they brought along #6 Wally. Oh Lord, it didn’t take long to see why 1, 3, & 7 warned us! Let me make this short… Have you ever heard Andrew “Dice” Clay?

We met Thursday and the forecast was for 4-6’ seas. We took off and while we were catching some Hardtails, the 3 days of chiding, laughter, and antagonism, had begun. We loaded up one live well with Blue Runners and then powered up to cruise to a bait patch to collect some hoo’s. We arrived on a patch we had wanted to try and the hoo’s came up so thick we didn’t have to use the hook and line. A few throws of the net and the second live well was full.

I made the short jaunt out to the edge and the seas were lumpy. An occasional ground set of 5 footers but mostly a solid 3 foot chop. The winds were brisk out of the East. Devon set out a good spread and we began the day. The first fish came on the down rod and it was a nice 10# Blackfin. We reset and shortly thereafter we were covered up in schoolie Dolphin. We boated 3 out of 4 of these chubby lifters. The long rigger raised a Sailfish that was only window shopping. We missed several bites on the down rod for some reason and caught a small Barracuda. Then things slowed down. I took the guys to the “Grunt & Sweat” wreck, to let them wrestle a few AJ’s during the lull. The first drop was a triple header. 7 Amberjacks later and the guys were spent.

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I saw a Sailfish flopper and minutes later it was surfing the waves off the bow. We pitched a bait in front of the Sailfish but he ignored it. After several attempts to entice it to feed, the Sail sounded into the depths. This prompted us to end the “time filler” fishing and get back in the game. A Sailfish rises to the left rigger and it is game on for Charlie. One jump and the Sail is free. Devon hurriedly reset the lines, a brief minute or 2 passes, and we have another Sailfish on. Wally jumps on the rod and loses the fish on the second jump! WOW! The cloud that hung over his head was incredible, as was the joking and laughing by his group. As the day closed, I saw a school of Tuna passing in the wave face. Devon heaved a small speed jig and got and strike but no hook up.

As we made our way home the laughter was flying from gunnel to gunnel. Frank, said it was the banana he ate for breakfast. We told him that we really didn’t believe in that superstitious stuff.

Day 2 and the Harbor Club arrives as usual, at 8:30. Oh My God, the day is starting off with a bang. As I am explaining to Yalkin, that it was going to be sporty because the conditions were going to be rougher than the previous day. I turned my eyes back toward the bow to see the Wally, Frank and Charlie, standing there eating bananas. OK guys… let’s test that superstition!

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Well the bait was easy and the seas were rough. They were easily 6-7’ with recurring ground swells. I took my time getting across the rough, sloppy “edge”. I told Devon to set ’em up! A lone Frigate bird approaches the boat as Devon casts out the first bait. In a New York second, he feels the pick up. FISH ON! Frank, takes the rod, flips the bail and we are off to the races. This is a good fish! About 15 minutes later we see it is a nice Blackie. Yes sir. Devon wields a good gaff shot and Frank has a nice 30# Blackfin in the box.

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We put out the baits and this time we manage to get all 4 surface lines going when a rigger sounds off. Yalkin takes his turn and this fish is a hoss. Time goes by before we see color. This is the big brother to the previous tuna. The fish feels the steel and Yalkin is on the boards with a very respectable 34# Blackfin.

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I stayed in the area for a while but the school had moved on, so I worked deeper in search of some Dorado. We get teased by 2 micro schoolies that just tore up our baits. Just as we get readjusted, the flat line goes down and Frank once again gets the nod. Then the rigger goes down and Wally is at bat. Frank’s fish breaks the water and it’s a nice Cow. That must mean that Wally has the Bull. Yes he does! We landed both and we have a 20# Cow and a 30# Bull joining our Tuna in the fish box.

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During the afternoon, we raised 5 Sailfish and hooked up 2. Charlie’s Sailfish came on the down rod. He fought his fish to the boat for the tag. The release came only a few seconds later when the leader broke. Shortly afterwards, Frank hooked up and he completed his catch for the tag, photo op, and release.

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That pretty much summed up Day 2 with only one question remaining. How did Frank get so many turns on the rod? We laughed the whole day. There is never a lack of humor or conversation, with this crew!

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Day 3, Saturday, and the weather is breezy but the seas laid down a foot or two. The Harbor Club arrives at the crack of 8:30 and start the day off by eating bananas. We did the same bait scenario and are off to the blue water. On all 3 days of fishing the water was clean and blue just off the edge.

First fish of the day came on the down rod and Wally brings up a 4’ Silky shark. We worked the area a bit more and made our way out to the Dolphin zone. 15 minutes in the area and a pair of schoolies come to visit. The fight was short and the fish were boxed. We continued on our hunt. Charlie wants a nice Dolphin to top off his trip, after catching a Sailfish the day before. As if on cue, the rigger goes down and we are on a good fish. Charlie takes the rod and it breaks the surface revealing itself. We think we have another one on when we realize the Dolphin is caught up in the other rigger. I told Devon to cut the line. As Charlie works the fish closer we see that we have cut the wrong line. Holy Crap! The line is tangled and knotted on Charlie’s hook! The fish is on the line we cut! OK. We pulled the hook up, grab the other line and quickly tie it to Charlie’s leader. Thankfully the fish was tired and posed little fight during this process. Charlie cranked the fish in and Devon struck her with the gaff. Charlie has his respectable 22# Cow!

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I worked in towards the edge and then back out, time after time. The down rod goes off and Yalkin is working for several long minutes when we see color. What the heck is it? We are in 140’ and had the bait down to 70’. Yalkin just caught a 10# Mutton Snapper.

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The down rod gets the nod again. This time it is a very strong fish and Wally is up. Several minutes later we’re still in a major battle. Finally, we see color! It’s a 37 pound “Donkey”. Give me a break. Wally is totally spent from fighting the fish and his nerves. Too funny!

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The day continued on as we caught an 8# Skipjack, and the down rod found 3 Kingfish.

I throttled up The BEAST and headed for the barn. The Harbor Club had 3 good days of fishing and trust me when I tell you, there was never a dull moment while fishing with this crew!

I have to finish by saying thank you, to World Cat, for building such a capable, stable, fishing machine. That 3 day trip could’ve been miserable, instead, it will go down in the books as one of our most memorable.

Capt. Jim
305-233-9996
beastcharters@aol.com
http://www.beastcharters.com

Tired Muscles?

On our last 2 trips we saw relatively calm seas, light winds, and warm ambient air temperatures. So far we haven’t been subject to those nasty afternoon thunder boomers but I’m sure it is only a matter of time.

Our trip with Homestead local, Brian Morris, included his business associate and son, Dan and Denver. We met up at the dock at the usual time and cast off our lines. This day we decided to forego the usual bait stop and take our chances with a few Hardtails we had caught on the way out.

I immediately made my way offshore and into the deeper blue water to search for some Dolphin. We found some scattered weeds and Devon dropped our spread and we began to “do work”! We worked the area for a short time as we headed for deeper water. Bonk, Bam, Zing! Lines were ripped out of the riggers and flats! Green and yellow flashes let us know we had found our mark. We were hit by some decent sized school fish. This scenario played out a time or two again and we boxed 6 Dolphin in total. As things settled down and we lost track of the fish, we spotted birds working on the horizon. I made the turn and in a few minutes we were on them. Looks like Skippies to me. We had a long shotgun line out and I made a few wide turns. To my surprise the short flat line takes a hit. Dan worked the fish to the boat and judging by the fight it was definitely a tuna. Yes sir! A nice football Blackfin greets us. Devon snatches it out of the sea and quickly preps it, to preserve the flesh, then dispatches it the ice. We continued to worked the birds for a while and never got another bite. Those Skipjacks can be frustrating, to say the least!

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We packed it in and I took a cruise heading for the wreck. Dan and Denver are from Minnesota. Once again we had someone aboard who was discussing walleye and salmon. OK boys, get a load of these back breakers. We worked the wrecks and gave each one of them a shot at some AJ’s to 40 pounds or so. Done deal. The guys tapped out in the second round!

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I had Devon pull lines and we made our way toward the Permit hole. Permit are not quite the bruisers that our local Amberjack are, but they do take a place on the tough fish list. We worked the area and conditions were not helping us. As the fat lady was warming up her vocals to end the day, we managed to get young Denver hooked up and he boated a 15 pounder.

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Brad Essick has fished with us several times over the years, and he was here in Miami on a business/busman’s holiday. He decided he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go fishing with us again. He came alone. We met at the dock at 7 and we asked him what fish or type of fishing was his preference. He said, “It doesn’t matter, just keep me busy!“ I made way for an area to catch some Blue Runners and we managed to quickly catch a half dozen or so. Off we go!

Considering the Dolphin bite of yesterday, I decided to head out into the general vicinity of our previous catches. Holy Cow! What a difference a day makes. That area was void of life. No birds, no weeds, no debris, nothing! After the boredom set in on us, I hollered to pull lines and let’s get this guy on some fish. We ran in from our position in the inky blue depths and as we approached the 500’ line we found birds working Skipjacks. Once again I made the wide turns and to my surprise the 2 flats and a rigger get popped. Dolphin! They must’ve been working the fringes of that school of Skipjacks. Brad managed to catch and boat them all. We stayed on the birds and pitched small speed jigs at them and Brad caught 2 Skippies on this 15# spinning setup. A short while later we attracted too much attention and boats began running up into the school, splitting them and sending ‘em down. The schools would pop up a good distance away and it began to get tedious. I left them to the other boats. I put The BEAST on plane and made our way to the AJ’s.

Now you’re going to get busy Brad. Each drift produced a fish and Brad didn’t cry uncle, not once, not even close. He backed his words with a smile on his face. 10 fish later, he had caught them with live bait on heavier bottom tackle as well as speed jigs on 30# spinning tackle. We vent/released all of these wreck donkeys to fight another day!

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He wanted more, so I suggested a try at some Permit also. A smile and a nod and we were off. As we approached the Permit spot, it was as congested as a public boat ramp on Memorial Day. There was a sportfish there and a spotter in his Tuna tower telling his anglers where the fish were. Other boats crowded him to within inches, as if they had no idea how to catch these fish without his direction. That might just be the case. A very short while after we arrived, the big boat pulled out of the area. A few short minutes later and all the other boats were gone too. There were only 2 of us left there! COOL! We worked the fish and Brad went 3 for 4 with the largest fish being 18 pounds. We released the 3 Permits also, to continue the rituals that had brought them there.

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With a half hour or so left, we pulled out from these fish and tried to top off the day with a Sailfish. We put out the last of our live baits. Nothing came of that and I pointed The BEAST for the barn. On the ride in, Devon and I couldn’t believe that Brad had caught 3 Dolphin, 2 Skipjacks, 3 Permit, and last but surely not least, 10 Amberjack, all by himself. He was a fishing animal, a glutton for punishment! However, Brad did confide in us, that his muscles would be feeling it in the morning!

Speaking of muscles! You guys have just enough time to hit the gym and tone up for Cubera Snapper season. That time is fast approaching again and several days have already been reserved.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST
305-233-9996
beastcharters@aol.com
www.beastcharters.com

The Extra Mile!

We finally got a break in the weather as the winds laid back this past weekend. Saturday we met “Walleye Mike“, of Nassau Vision Lenses, who is a Florida transplant from Minnesota. He brought along his friends, Mary and Manny. “Walleye Mike” and crew were all newbie’s to offshore fishing and we wanted to make their day!

We unleashed The BEAST at 7AM and made our way towards the Bay. I throttled up the twin 300 Suzukis and made a quick cruise to the bait patches. Conditions looked good even though we had almost a week of 25-30 knot winds out of the east. The water was clear and clean and the seas were light to moderate. We set out the chum and the bait was slow in coming. When the ballyhoo finally arrived, they were finicky, beyond belief, swimming up to the baited hooks and turning their nose up to it. Now isn’t this a peach? The crew managed to catch about 15 or so and I was about to pull the plug on the deal when a few ‘hoo’s got stupid, passing within the limits of a long toss of the net. I loaded up the 10’ Calusa and heaved it at the passing baits. The timing was right, the net opened perfectly, and I caught a few more as they made a dash to elude the net. Now we had enough bait, considering this is the time of year where we do several types of fishing in a day.

We made the short run to the blue water and set out our spread of live bait. Conditions offshore were beautiful with clean, blue water, all the way into the edge. “Walleye Mike“ had been telling us about his BIG Salmon and how hard it fought. I told him that his Salmon doesn’t hold a candle to our offshore fish. Now, with that being said, I have to make him a believer! Minute after minute rolls by and we have absolutely no action. Not today, guys! Precious time is ticking away. I gave Devon the nod to pull the lines so we could get Mike, Mary, and Manny, the Triple M crew, on some fish.

I took a heading for some Permit. We arrived in the area and immediately marked fish on the sounder but they didn’t want our offerings. Devon and I worked hard but it wasn’t to be. What in the world is going on? I backed out of that area and made a short run to another prime spot for some Amberjack. I have to get these guys on some fish. We dropped a live ’hoo and Devon and I worked 2 speed jigs. Bam, Boom, Bam, we have a triple going! This scenario played out several more times. Mary and Manny were spent! “Walleye Mike” learned quickly, how to use the speed jig and he finessed his fish to the boat as if he was catching those, bad to the bone (ha-ha), walleye. I suggested we try for some Dolphin and Wahoo as it appeared they had enough of these bruisers. We boated 3 fish, and vented/released that many or more. I think “Walleye Mike” has a newfound respect for the fight of our AJ’s and that BIG Salmon of yesteryear, now takes a back seat!

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I pointed the boat offshore and we began a trolling search. Devon had 5 lines up and 2 down as we made our way out to 500+ feet. The water color and clarity was perfect, but there was little in the way of weeds, debris, birds, flying fish, etc. The further out we went the less we saw. It was a liquid desert! I made the turn and headed for the “edge” and our Mutton spot. It’s getting to that time of year for them and they should be hot and heavy. We arrived, pulled our gear, and immediately made a drop. Nothing! We set up several more drifts and all we could muster was a couple of cut offs. Those dreaded “Caribbean Spotted Mackerel” had taken the area. This has been one tough day and the time was gone.

The fat lady was singing and I didn’t want to end the day like this. On this note, I made the run back, for one last ditch attempt to catch a Permit. We arrived and once again, I marked fish. Devon was perched on the bow and could see them deep below, but not in great numbers. After several attempts, I told “Walleye” to keep feeding line because the drift was fast. He would know if he got a bite. Our offshore fish don’t nibble! About 30 seconds later, “Walleye” says he feels the bite and I instructed him to close the bail and come tight on the fish! Game on, boys and girls! “Walleye Mike” hooked this fish well away from any obstruction and once again, worked the rod gingerly. Good thing! After about 10 minutes we got this “garbage can lid” to the boat. To quote Devon, “That’s a nugget!” WOW! Nice fish! “Walleye Mike” just boated a 32 pound Permit and the hook was almost straightened out, looking like a comma. Now THAT is the way to end the day.

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Way over time, I pointed The BEAST for the barn. The Triple M crew, Mike, Mary, and Manny seemed very satisfied with the day and definitely happy with our determination to make it so! Sometimes you have to go that extra mile. Right?

NOTE: Please abide all manatee idle zones! For those who complain about, or don’t obey the law of MANATEE IDLE ZONES in your area! This is why these laws exist! Honestly, isn’t this what it’s really all about folks?!?

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Capt. Jim
305-233-9996
beastcharters@aol.com
www.beastcharters.com