3 "Tough" Days

We did another 3 days with our good friends from New York City, the Harbor Club. It’s always nice to see Chief, Yalkin, Frank, and this time they brought along Rich. They are the guys that brought the bananas last year and we dubbed them the Banana Club. Yalkin is not an early riser so I knew when he called Thursday night that they wouldn’t be there before 9 AM. It turns out that their plane was late and they didn’t make it to the hotel until 4:45 AM. They arrived at the dock at 11 AM. Oh Boy! Not a good start, but it is what it is, and Devon and I will make the best of it.

We made way to catch bait. We hit a couple of spots and had a good number of Hardtails. Let’s get some Ballyhoo. The conditions weren’t great but the Ballyhoo did come up and we scored plenty to do the day. It’s almost 1 PM and we made our way offshore into the 15 knot ENE winds. The seas weren’t as big as the Bonito Bonanza trip but they were 3 feet or larger. The blue water was actually a little on the green side. Devon put out a spread. About 5 minutes into it and the down rod sounds off. Rich puts on a valiant effort, for a few minutes, but the fish manages to spit the hook. Devon quickly resets the line and after a few go rounds, the down rod is screaming. Franky, a.k.a. Soulie, jumps on it this time to give Rich a lesson in how to catch a 30+ pound Barracuda.

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The spread is reset and we give it a concerted effort but the surface action was dead. Time is of the essence as the seas are rising. I suggested that we head over to the “Grunt & Sweat” to let the crew pull on some donkeys for a little bit. We arrived at the site and I made a quick drift to get my bearings. A light current at 1/2 knot made it too easy. Drop’em Devon! As we passed over a portion of the wreck the bait was ignored. Give it time. Let the baits get down current of the wreck before we pull them. Kapow! Down goes the bait rod and we are hooked up. There is just something about going up against these bruisers.

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As we worked the wreck, it came alive with each, successive pass. We spent the rest of the afternoon giving them a couple of rumbles each. We backed off from the area even though the sonar was lit up with these agitated and hungry fish.

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We tried the surface bite for another hour and called it a day. The guys were spent from tussling with the AJ’s and the lack of sleep the night before. They vowed to come back the next day renewed, refreshed, and ready.

The “better late than never” guys said they would be there at 9-9:30 AM. Yeah right! Devon an I know them too well by now. At 10:05 they came rolling in. Well, that’s an hour earlier than yesterday. The BEAST was chewing at the dock lines, so we hurriedly loaded their gear and shoved off. The Hardtails were hard to come by so we grabbed about 8 or 10 and headed out for some ‘hoos. They weren’t on fire either but they did get stupid enough for me to get a good throw on them with the net. We’re outa here.

The seas were much calmer than the day before and we had the dreaded, south current. I decided to try an hour of surface fishing before the sun got too hot. Too late, nothing going on! The day before, Chief had expressed his desire (about 20 times) to try and catch a Hammerhead. Let’s give it a go. Devon set up 2 of the rods they brought and we put a down rod out to catch a Barracuda for bait. I slowly motored over the ‘Cuda hole and we quickly picked up a monster. Devon tossed it in the box while he finished readying the lines. Devon cut the Cuda into baits and used the rest of it for chum. We set a live bait out on the surface as well. 20-30 minutes into the set, when Devon yells out, “Sailfish on the flat line!” Sure enough. Rich grabs the line and we instruct him to reel hard until the line comes tight. Hook up! Rich is loving the scene as the Sail goes airborne. This goes on for several minutes. The fish sounds for a few seconds and comes skyward about 6 feet out of the water and we see the bait go flying in the opposite direction. Crap! A big disappointment but as we all know, you can’t catch them all. Another 30 minutes passes. We are about to pull the shark baits up and try something else when Devon spots a dorsal fin approaching the surface bait. Gulp! Yalkin jumps on the rod (his rod) and I looked around wondering why the Chief didn’t get it. Oh well. Yalkin is putting the heat to this shark with his fancy harness, and expensive, 4 piece, 50-80# custom travel rod with an accurate twin drag winch. 10 minutes, the fish is below the boat, and suddenly we hear a SNAP!

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The boat is full of laughs, chides, and short one line comments. The Chief helps Yalkin by holding the rod so the line doesn’t bind in any of the “leftover” parts. Believe it or not, we got the fish.

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The general consensus was to finish the day working the surface for Sails, Dolphin, Tuna, or whatever. We worked the waters northward and had a few bites but no solid hook ups. The tip of the down rod pops up and it immediately makes a deliberate power run. The Chief takes this one and it goes into a slow and steady tug o’ war. I think you got your shark Chief! 5, 10, 15 minutes and the Chief has his hands full on 20# test. After another 10 minutes we see color. OK, Chief, it’s not a Hammer, but it is a shark.

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We fished a little while longer and the group called it a day. They told us that tomorrow they would arrive at a better time to tackle a full day for a change.

The last day and the Banana Boys arrived “almost” at their decided time. What is the term… fashionably late! Devon and I were ready. We unleashed The BEAST and made a beeline for the bait but it was a tough bait morning. I had to hit 3 different spots to get enough for this quasi full day trip. After we left the bait patches, they opted to troll awhile for some Dolphin, etc., looking for some food fish. I ran out to 1400 feet and we didn’t see anything that looked the least bit fishy, so I made a turn more to the south and inward toward an area of scattered weeds in 1000 feet. I really hate calm days. We put the lines in and worked the scattered stuff until we saw a mat, using the term loosely. Nothing. About a ¼ mile north of the mat the lines went down. 4 Dolphin and everyone is engaged in the proverbial fire drill. We picked away at a small school and ended up with 3 legal fish. Ugh. We played around offshore for a while longer and nothing much was happening. Very little weeds, no debris, no flying fish, no birds, nada, zilch, nothing! That brings out the prankster in Devon and I. Rich has a bucket list, but does he have a bucket fish. He does now!

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Alright, enough already, we’ve wasted a good part of the day, so lets bag this and go drop on the bottom for some groceries. Arriving at our new destination, Devon readied 2 rods, one bait and one speed jig. The first drop and the bait rod goes thump, thump. I quickly take up the slack and Franky removes the rod from the holder. C’mon Soulie, move it. There are fish down there that want to eat him as much as you do. Get him in the boat, then play with it. I see PINK, it’s a nice Mutton. The weight is aboard and as I grabbed the leader, a flash comes from nowhere. Our catch just became a Barracuda snack. The remainder was still a legal length but we just lost 1/3 of a good 9-10 # Snapper.

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Several unproductive drifts and nothing was going on especially with the speed jig. Yalkin is slowly bringing up a bait from an unsuccessful drop when, WHAM, the rod doubles over and he says “This is an AJ… Want it Chief?” The Chief takes the rod and feels the power of the fish. It’s not an AJ. Now we see color and it is definitely not an AJ. Grouper? No. It’s a CUBERA! It’s not just a Cubera, it’s a 43 # Cubera Snapper. Sorry Yalkin, that’ll teach you to hand off the rod. Good job Chief!

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After the excitement died down on the boat and the “We’ll be back for Cubera in August” comments subsided, we got back to dropping. The guys missed a couple of bites. Not too much longer and Rich gets another thump on the rod tip. I told him to crank it up as fast as he can so it doesn’t get halved. He is working the fish and suddenly feels a temporary weight. Not this time. The rod is still showing the tail beat. Devon takes the leader on a beautiful 14 # Mutton that almost lost his tail.

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With enough fish for a few meals and anticipating the time to clean/bag the catch, the guys called it a day. They had packing to do for their flights home to New York. Will we see them again this August or September? I don’t know the answer to that one but I will venture a guess we will see them again next year.

Cubera season is fast approaching. Weekend nights book quickly and 2 are already reserved. So… If fishing Cubera with us, is in your plans this year, you might want to drop an email or give us a call.

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

Bonito Bonanza

Steffen and Silmara Jahn from Munich Germany returned to fish with us again this year. They decided to book 3 days of fishing (6/3,4,+5) before heading off for the rest of their vacation. Steffen has fished in many places throughout the world but ultimately loves fishing with us in S. Florida.

The duo arrived about a half hour late due to the rental car GPS being set on city streets. I guess the rental company wants to avoid the automatic “by license plate” toll charges. We loaded their gear and headed out. Winds were blowing 20 knots out of the ENE. The waters were a bit on the rough side but The BEAST can handle it

The bait was excellent and we had several dozen Hardtails and several dozen Ballyhoo in the live wells. In short order we were headed out for the blue water to get them hooked up. The first bite of the day was on the down rod and it came unpinned. Apparently a large fish by the way the line peeled off and the terminal rig was mangled. Devon re-rigged and dropped the down rod again. A few scant minutes later and the line is off to the races again. This time Steffen keeps the fish hooked up and in short order Devon puts the steel to a nice 12# Kingfish.

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Devon readjusted the cockpit and reset all lines. I made a few passes around the area to see if we could pick up another King. The down rod pops off again and we are on a big fish. Uh oh! To many head shakes to be a Kingfish. Several minutes passed by and we see color. Look at the size of that “Caribbean Spotted Mackerel” (Cuda). This Barracuda was of the larger variety. Devon removed the hooks and made a good release on the fish.

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Once again we reset lines and I moved from the area looking for more desirable fish. We managed to get into a school of “Grasshoppers” (schoolie Dolphin) and caught 2 keepers out of 4 fish. Then we got nailed by 2 “Boneheads” (Bonito).

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The action was a bit slow and the seas are up to 5+feet. We decided to do the wrecks for a little while. Several drops produced 2 Almaco Jacks on the speed jigs and 1 Amberjack on the live bait. We left the wrecks to finish the day off doing some more live baits on the surface. A Sailfish came up and ate the long rigger bait. Before Steffen could get tight, the Sail sensed something, went skyward, and spit the bait. Well, almost a fitting end to a good day.

Day 2 and our dynamic duo arrived at 7 AM and we pulled away from the dock in good time. We began bait fishing but the bait was slower this morning. What a difference a day can make out there. We managed to grab enough bait for the entire day and headed off to the deep blue.

The day was non stop action. We could barely keep the baits in the water. We got nailed by a small school of “micro” Dolphin. The Boneheads were out in record numbers, a virtual Bonito Bonanza. They were all full grown, very large fish. We hooked up so many that we lost count and actually boated 18 of them. During the day we made a quick stop at a wreck to take a break from the Bonito Barrage. We got 2 of 3 big Barracuda, and a nice Almie on the speed jig.

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We spent the final hours working the surface water to the north. The Bonito were everywhere, and you could see huge schools of them tailing in the 5’ waves. During the Bonitofest, we did manage to hook up a shark on the down rod. Unfortunately after a lengthy fight the trace wire finally broke. As time wound down and running low on bait, we saw 2 Sailfish tailing. They wouldn’t take a bait. We had 3 more Sails come up in the spread but they were just window shopping.

Day 3 arrived. The winds had come down quite a bit and the bait was even slower than Day 2. We did get enough for the day and off we went. Devon put out his spread and the action wasn’t as hot as the day before. We got into a school of small Dolphin but “eagle eye” Devon spots a larger fish in the mix. He casts a bait to the fish and it eats. Get’em Steffen! A few minutes later and our German couple have a nice little bull dolphin for dinner.

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The Bonito Bonanza was still going on but not as hot as it was the previous day. We boated about a dozen or so.

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We were working a nice current rip and at one point we had 3 fish on. A shark was on the down rod. Steffen took the shark at first but suddenly 4 Sails came up on the top baits. A Bonito plunges in and takes one bait from a Sailfish. Silmara takes that rod and Devon and I try to bait up the remaining 3 Sails. 2 of the Sails lost interest but we managed to get the last one to eat. Steffen switches over to the Sailfish. Silmara is still on the Bonito and we left the shark rod in the rod holder.

Steffen, was hooked up to the Sailfish and the fish went deep. LOOK! The shark is getting awful close to Steffen’s line. As the shark neared the 20# fluorescent line, it parted without a tug. Are you kidding me? That shark just cut the line. Steffen, switches back to the shark on 20# line. Silmara boats the Bonito and Steffen, with much effort, wins his battle. We pulled the shark close for a photo op and release.

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The day progresses and it’s well after quitting time. We have had some good excitement but it finally went stale. I announced that we’d give it 15 more minutes. At the 14 minute mark I spot a pallet floating a few hundred feet off the rip. I maneuver The BEAST over to put the baits around the pallet. Devon is tossing a speed jig hoping that a Wahoo may be lurking below. At 14 Minutes and 59 seconds we notice the long rigger line is going out. Grab it, Steffen, and reel until your tight. Bada Bing! The line comes tight and a Sailfish goes skyward. Steffen is nervous because he has tried all weekend to get his Sailfish again this year. This time he succeeds and we have a good release on his fish. Good job Steffen.

What a weekend! We had many hookups and boated a wide variety of fish. The smiles on Steffen and Silmara’s faces were priceless. I also want to give credit where credit is due. A well deserved shout out to Devon who, in my book, is one of the best mates in S. Florida.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST
beastcharters@aol.com
www.beastcharters.com

Show me your Permit

I’m a little behind in my reports so I’m going to double this one up and make it short and sweet.

David Aurbach and his friend Jarrett had fished Cubera’s with us before. This time they brought some new blood in Gayle and Gayle Jr. We made bait quickly and headed out. During this trip the Permit were still working good so we also took 10 crab with us.

Our first stop was to hit the Permit. We couldn’t get a visual on them so I had to find them with the electronics and drift the baits to them. 1 missed queue and hung on the bottom (????). I guess the angler was feeding his line out a little too liberally. The other 9 crab got eaten but every one of the Permit found some structure to cut them off.

OK… off to try some live baits on top. The seas were too calm, almost like a lake so the action was dead. We worked it hard for a couple hours then decided to head to the “Grunt & Sweat” wreck to put some hurt on these boys. That is just what we did.

We spent a few hours dropping some very large baits down and speed jigging as well. David and his crew got bit by some respectable AJ‘s.

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We still had about another hour or so left in the day. Since Devon had brought along some dead crab that he had in his freezer. We decided to give the Permit a try again. Nothing beats a live crab, but those garbage can lids had a hearty appetite earlier and maybe they would still be hungry enough to eat a dead one. We made a few drifts to locate fish and suddenly David came tight on a fish. This fish made a mistake and headed away from the structure so I followed him. When the fish tried to double back I had the boat in position and we put the heat on him. I love it when a plan comes together. Several minutes passed as David and the fish played give and take, but the game was drawing to an end. OMG! Nice fish! We just beat one of the older wiser ones.

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An awesome end to a fun day! I believe they had a good time, once again.

We also had our repeat friend from Gibraltar Spain, Ivan Alman, who brought his son this time. The last time he came to see us he had booked 5 days but this time he had time constraints and only had time for 2 days. Sweet… Let’s do this.

We blasted out and caught bait. The water was a bit choppy but not too bad by Beast standards. As we were finishing up catching bait I noticed the boy was getting a bit green around the gills. UH OH!

Ivan had read some of last years Permit reports so this was on his agenda. We gave it a try and they were there but a bit slower to chew. A few drifts and nothing happening. I was manning one rod while Devon did some jigging and Ivan was attempting to man a crab while checking on his son who was getting a lighter shade of pale by the minute. Tap, tap, tap, and my line started moving off. Bam… here ya go Ivan! He was hooked up and I’m not sure who had who for the first several minutes. He worked the fish to the boat and we had a catch.

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I had to get the boat moving in hopes to revive his son, so we left that area and headed for the House of AJ. Let’s get the boy pulling on something. We made a few drops with the speed jig while I set up my drift. I located my drift line and we sent down some baits. Double Bam! Devon grunts as a fish strikes his speed jig and he hands it off to Ivan. Less than 5 seconds later the live bait gets whacked. I begged the boy to just come over and crank it in from the rod holder. He rose from the dead long enough to bring in this good fish. He stood by while his Dad finished off his fish.

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The poor kid gave it his all. Shortly after catching that fish, the extra adrenaline pumping through his body made holding his stomach impossible. UH OH! In record time, Ivan whirls around and lets go of his lunch as well. Some people can’t watch another hurl and it turns them sour as well. It doesn’t bother Devon or I because we see it quite frequently. After a few sips of water, the father son team give me the word. We’re headed home early. As we idled down the home channel we got the second word. Ivan decided that this vacation was for his boy and he didn’t want to make him do it again the next day. We told him that we could go outside just long enough to catch a Cuda or 2 and then go shark fishing on the inside if he wanted. Ivan decided against that. He paid me and tipped Devon out, telling us to enjoy our day off! Thanks again to Ivan, that was very generous and refreshingly out of the ordinary.

Stay tuned for the next report from this past weekends 3 day event with our German friends Steffen and Silmara.

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