Quantity vs Quality

We’ve had fun on our last 2 trips. The Dolphin have been plentiful but the majority of the fish have been ½ - 1 inch short of legal size. In other words, plenty of “schoolies” to keep you busy but nothing much in the way of notoriety. When the ocean only gives up limes, The BEAST crew does its best to turn the day into a Mojito!

We took Brian Mitchell and his crew out to fish the 26th annual Dick Fuhr Memorial Dolphin Tournament. We picked them up at Homestead Marina and took off. We planned to run and gun along with some trolling on any debris or weed lines we might find. Well, the best laid plans do not always come together. We ran and trolled every flock of birds we found, picking up 19 inch “schoolies” with regularity. We didn’t find any debris and only scattered weeds at best, covering almost 200 miles of ocean. We managed to catch 3 legal Dolphin, out of 15 or more that we caught. We were running away from them in hopes that the next flock of birds would yield a big fish. We even dropped 2 planer rods when deploying a spread and only ended up with 3 Barracuda. Yep, Barracuda in 1000’+ of water. The results at the end of the day showed 1st place - 21#… 2nd place - 13#... 3rd place - 10#. We took 6th place with a 4½ # fish. Since this heat wave descended on us, there have been plenty of fish around but nothing impressive.

Thursday we did a ½ day morning trip with Mike McCann, his wife, and twin 10yr old boys, Mike and Shane. We left the channel and made our way out to a Hardtail spot and collected up 8 baits for this quick trip. As we broke out of the islands we found the seas were comfortable at 1-2 feet. Our first goal was to try and get some Dolphin and/or Blackfins before the late morning sun began to heat up. We found a decent weed line in about 300’ of water and within minutes of putting out a spread, we had a hookup on the right rigger. Little Mike took the rod and we ended up with a nice little 5½ # “schoolie”! We reset that line and worked our way up the weed line. The planer rod trips but we only get a weak click or two of the drag. A better Dolphin takes to the air and Shane throws a leg over the gunnel to “ride the pony” and crank. The little cow is a long and skinny fish weighing around 9 pounds. Hey… with all the little grasshoppers swimming around, we were very happy with this one.

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Devon reset and we trolled north a bit then crossed over to go south. After 10 minutes I crossed back over to go north on the other side again. 15 minutes without a strike and I got the word that little Mike and Shane were bored. Wow! The Xbox/PS3 generation is so spoiled by the instant gratification of video games that they have no patience. This is no reflection on little Mike and Shane. This is not the first time we’ve had young boys complain of being bored if they aren’t bailing fish one after another. Mike asked if we could go catch some little fish that would be more action for them. I suggested we do a wreck and at least they could get some bigger ‘Cudas that would impress them while keeping them busy as well. So we put the Dolphin gear away and broke out the down rigger and live bait.

We went to our top action wreck and put down a live Runner! While we bumped around the area, Mike worked a speed jig and got bit. He worked the fish to the boat and we were surprised to see a Horse Eye Jack.

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We released the fish and continued working the area. The downrigger goes off and little Mike works the fish but grows tired quickly and Shane takes over to land this “Snaggletooth”.

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OK… we put the d/rigger down again and it keeps getting tapped by these “Caribbean Spotted Mackerel“. The boys are having a ball now catching these big ‘Cudas! The line goes off and this is a better fish. Shane is working the fish when Devon suddenly spots a big school of Permit, well below the boat. While Shane is pressuring his fish, Devon readies a jig. Wow, it’s a nice sized ‘Cuda for a young 10 year old boy! Good job!

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We release the toothy one and turn our gazes for the “rubber lips”. As I begin to make my way back to where we saw them, Mike tells me they had enough. His wife is not feeling well. Really? OK… put ‘em away Devon, we’re done for the day. Although Mike pulled the plug only a few minutes before actual quitting time, we were ready to stay a while and give the Permit a shot. Oh well, there is always another day, God willing! I turned the bow west and throttled up. As we ran the creek between the islands I spotted a dead turtle. What happened to him? I banged a U-turn to investigate. As I approached we could see that this turtle was a good 36 - 40” across the shell and it’s death was conspicuously apparent. He ran into a Tiger shark that was looking for a turtle dinner!

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The raw power and bite pressure from those sharks must be incredible. The bite was completely through both sides of the shell and everything in between. This turtle was done in with 2 massive bites and the only remains were his hind legs. Take a good look at the size of those bites!

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I don’t know about you, but I sure wouldn’t want to bump into that critter while in the water!

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

It doesn't get much better!

We celebrated Memorial Day weekend with a day of fun fishing with the regular “fun crew”! Uncle Al, Devon, Amy, and I met at the dock at 7 AM. Well let’s call it 7-ish as everyone was running a bit behind except Al. We loaded up and fired up The BEAST. We didn’t know what we were going to fish for so we ended up with 26 rods on board! Winds were calm and the seas were flat. Oh Boy!

Our first stop was to try and get some Hardtails but they were a bit slow and we only put 5 or 6 in the well. Next stop was to see if we could coax some Ballyhoo into riding along with the Hardtails. Only 4 would succumb to the baited hooks, so I threw the Calusa net until we had about 18 or so in the well. OK… we took a vote and the first stop was to try for some Permit.

Arriving at the wreck and no one is around. So much for the crowded holiday weekend we had anticipated! First drop and Uncle Al has a hook up, and Amy too! Amy’s fish gets totally sharked and Al’s fish is running to the surface. It’s either a Permit racing away from a shark or a Cobia! After a few more minutes the fish gives up and rises to the boat. Cobia it is!

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Next drop and Allen again gets a hook up and Devon gets a strong bite on the speed jig. Both of them are dancing around the boat and Al’s fish gets heavy. Uh Oh! Yup. Devon brings his fish up about the same time as Al and we have 2 more Cobia. Well, Al had a small piece of his left. We released Devon’s fish and tossed the remains of Al’s fish over as well, hoping to satisfy the toothy fish below.

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Back at it again and the action is HOT! Amy gets a hook up and loses the fish to the wreck! She’s getting frustrated so I lowered the underwater camera and she and I were enjoying ourselves watching the occasional Bar Jack swim by. Amy look quick, a Sailfish just swam through. She saw the last half of it as it moved out of frame. Crap, there goes a Sandbar shark. Looks like we are going to be in for more chewed up fish. Meanwhile Devon gets hooked up again and works the fish up to find it is another Cobia. This one is only 32” so we released it as well. Al gets another fish on a speed jig and it is the dreaded Barracuda. Another drift and Devon gets a bang on his speed jig again. Nice fish! This has some weight and after a few more runs it gains about 300 pounds. Maybe not, it’s still there. There’s that extra weight again and now he is pulling up a lot less dead weight. Crap! A beautiful African Pompano became brunch for one of those sharks.

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OK, enough of that! We donned the trolling gear and began a quick hunt for some Dolphin or Wahoo. With a full moon occurring just 2 days before, we were not counting on this as a productive deal. I headed for deep water and then circled into another wreck to try for some Mutton’s. On the way, one of the deep rods goes off. Wahoo? No, another Barracuda.

A fruitless troll led us to the wreck and we stowed that gear and got out the bottom rods. Dropped a live Ballyhoo and Bada boom, I’m hooked up! If this is a Mutton, it has some shoulders. Finally we see some color about 100’ below and it sure doesn’t look like our target. Maybe a Grouper? Not even close. It’s a small Amberjack. We rarely catch wreck donkeys on a live ‘hoo! We made a few more drops and nothing much was happening on the Mutton bite. What’s next? Let’s give one of our deeper wrecks a try.

A few minutes run time and we arrive on site. 2 rods go over with bait and Devon flips over his speed jig. One, two, three…Triple hookup! These are wreck donkeys for sure. After several fire drills we manage to get all 3 aboard, vented and released 2 of them. Ok! No more of that! Let’s go back and see if the Permit want to play.

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Back at our morning spot we begin to get excited. Only one boat on site and we can overhear them telling each other they see them. We found them, 100 yards away. Amy drops the cam… Yup, she saw them! A nice tight school and feeding! I’ve hooked up many Permit but always pass the rod off to one of my customers, so the crew want to see the Captain get one. Chomp chomp! Hooked up! The fish is racing to the surface with a shark hot on its butt! With the drag at max pressure I muscled the fish to the boat and Al takes a gaff shot! As the announcer says at the soccer game. SCORE! It’s not a big one, but it IS a Permit.

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Next drift and Devon hooks up and tries to get Amy to take the rod. She’s not in the mood, I guess, so Devon fights the fish. Done deal. So far we have managed to boat 2 for 2.

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Once again, another drift, and Uncle Al is grunting. The fish runs for the surface and suddenly a massive splash. Missed him! Al is muscling the fish and the shark makes another attempt. Almost, but not quite! We boat the fish and find that the Permit barely escaped the jaws of death.

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A few more drifts and things slow down a bit. We had 2 more hook ups but no catches. No sense in playing with these guys only to feed the sharks. The vote goes to try some live baiting as the afternoon draws toward evening. We put the gear away and break out the live bait tackle. Devon and AL put out our normal 4 line top spread with one down rod, so off we go. Time passes by and nothing is happening on the surface. Devon and Al stayed busy on the speed jigs, boating a small Bonito and a Bullet Bonito. The down rod goes off! About time! Uncle Al takes control of the rod and works the fish up. A sport model Kingfish comes boat side and catches some steel.

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This group is tired. We had a Memorial Weekend Potpourri. I guess you could say we had a Wreck Grand Slam. I must tell you, that was a “FUN” day and well worth the price of admission! We turned The BEAST toward the barn and made the run. Another good point to this day… We had 2 cleaning the fish and 2 cleaning the boat. NICE!

By the way Folks… We will be taking reservations now for Cubera season. Book early and often!

There is NO oil in S. Florida!!!!!

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