It is what it is!

Last Friday I was down at the dock doing some maintenance and prepping The BEAST for our trip on Saturday. The day was sunny with a very light breeze and pleasant temperatures in the 80’s. By evening some cloud cover had moved in. Saturday morning Devon and I arrived at the dock to find 20 knot winds. As daylight broke we saw gray skies that threatened rain. What’s with this? I thought the forecast was for this front to push through overnight and winds of 13-18 knots. Well… It is what it is!

Matt and Ryan Briggle arrived at the dock with their Dad, Jack, and Uncle Forest. Forest told me that he was the photographer on the first photo shoot in which World Cat used The BEAST. That was 1999. Small world, huh? I told Forest that he was going to experience, first hand, what the catamaran hype was all about.

I fired up The BEAST and we headed off into the gloom. Our first agenda was to stop for a few Hardtail baits. We hit 2 spots and all we could find were a couple of cupcakes, very small Blue Runners. I pushed the juice to the outboards and off we go for some Ballyhoo. The reef area was choppy with solid 3 footers but we never slowed down. I realized that the wind was bucking the currents so our favorite ballyhoo spot was not possible. I turned the wheel south toward another good spot. We arrived a few minutes later and set out a chum block. We spent a good while finally caught about 3 or 4 Bally’s. No more in sight anywhere. I’m not waiting this one out! Reel ‘em in boys and let’s head farther south and more inshore. Reaching that spot, I freshened the chum pot and waited what seemed like an agonizing eternity. The ’hoo had finally found the scent and were coming up in good numbers. Unfortunately, the Moon Jellies were coming in large groups with each passing wave. The guys were picking off the ’hoo with hook and line as the ballyhoo were dipping and diving to dodge the jellyfish. I was itching to get a net on them. They were in good numbers behind the boat but so were the moons. If I toss the net and get a few jellies in it, they will fry the baits as we gather the net. I loaded the net as Devon kept a visual on the bait and jellies. When we had a group of ’hoo in range and clear of the jellies, he gave me the green light. I pancaked the Calusa net and we hauled in about 3 dozen baits. Teamwork paid off. We caught a few more on the hook and then bagged the bait ritual to head offshore.

Our starting point looked like a blue water washing machine with 5’ waves. The winds seemed to be increasing and the clouds were getting heavy with moisture. Devon and I opted for a 3 up and 1 down set on this blustery day. We had 2 bites on the top rods but when we retrieved the lines we found the telltale mackerel bite. Our next bite resulted in a hook up for Matt. He worked the small fish in and as we expected it was a nice Cero Mackerel. A light rain began to fall. It wasn’t enough to get out the rain gear but it was just enough to be annoying. We missed another couple of bites and these baits came back in looking more like some sort of tuna bite. Finally the left rigger pops off and we have a solid fish ripping line off the reel. I was anticipating a Sailfish to go airborne but it didn’t happen. This fish wanted to stay deeper so I began bringing the boat around so Ryan could fight the fish off the bow quarter. Suddenly the line went limp. Ryan didn’t make a mistake, no slack line. When he brought the bait back to the boat, it appeared we had a tuna bite again. The problem was that the hook had turned and went back through the bait. This left only the point of the hook visible and obviously the hook never passed the barb. That’s a tough break. We spent another half hour with nothing happening. I suggested we try some wreck fishing with the speed jigs. Matt and Ryan agreed because they wanted to see our speed jigging techniques.

As we pulled up on the chosen wreck the wind was blowing in excess of 25 knots. The wind push on the boat was defeating the current which allowed me to keep the boat in good position with little drift. We dropped 2 lines. Devon was working one rod, showing Ryan the rhythm. Matt, on the other rod, was doing a pretty good job of mimicking Devon’s style. Ryan was watching Devon when the jig gets hit and Devon passes the rod over to Ryan. A few seconds later, Matt’s jig gets whacked too! The Briggle Brothers were on a double and working their fish toward the surface. At the snap of your fingers, Matt;s fish is gone. Judging by the cut off hook and scraped up leader, it was a dang shark! Ryan brought his fish up and it was a fine specimen of a Yellow Jack. Nothing was marking on the sonar so after a few more drops with nothing happening, I suggested we try something else. Before Devon and I could get everything squared away to move on, I got the WORD! “Let’s head in.” Ryan said. It’s only 1:15 and I tried to get them to hang on until the major feed time or at least until we set lines and chummed out all the live bait we had left. Ryan had been fighting off seas sickness for a good bit and everyone in his crew had forgotten to bring rain gear, except Forest. The conditions had taken their toll on my guys and turning green was definitely not on Ryan’s agenda. They passed on my suggestions.

I pointed The BEAST toward home and grabbed a handful of throttles. We arrived as the rain began coming down now, light but steady. I realized that no one had taken a single picture. None of us wanted to pull out our cameras, in the rain, to take pictures of this stellar catch. At this point in time I think we were all really glad that we had come in early. Matt and Ryan said they had a good time learning some of our techniques and they wanted to do it again. I explained to them that my experience has shown that a cloudy, low pressure pre-frontal condition has always seemed to be slow fishing. We give 100% effort and can control most everything but we can’t control the weather. It is what it is!

I’m not the kind of Captain that only reports on my good trips. However… Writing reports about our less productive trips is definitely not my favorite item on the “Things to do” list. Thankfully these trips don’t happen very often!

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

Too Nice!

The other day we had a trip with a very good repeat customer, Ed Conway, a.k.a. Gimpy. Of course he brought along our amigo, Julio Sr (78) a.k.a. Poppi A lot of our customers earn a nickname when fishing on The BEAST. It’s like a badge of honor! Ed got his a.k.a. on his first trip when he arrived sporting a full leg cast and a limp. This time he brought along his nephew Jeff and Poppi’s friend Anthony.

The foursome was waiting at the dock when I arrived. They had already been there for 30 minutes. Anxious? Devon and I loaded our gear and let them onboard to arrange their lunch, drinks, and personal items. We turned The BEAST out and made our way into the Bay.

Gimpy and I picked a gorgeous day, following 2 days of rain, but there was not a breath of wind, slick calm water, and it was getting hot quick. I hoped my choice, when picking this day for Gimpy, turned out to be a good one. I hit 2 Hardtail spots and only put one small Jack and 2 large Runners in the well. Off we go for some Ballyhoo. We pulled up to our spot of choice for this day and the ’hoos were showing up before the chum bag was in the water. The crew started catching them and putting them into the other well. We had about 2-3 dozen in the well and I decided to toss the net. The bulk of the bait was tight against the motors making it difficult to throw the net without lassoing the motors. The day was so clear that they spooked as soon as I let go of the net. I got 4. Man, that sucked! 3 more tosses and nothing, so we spent a few more minutes with the rods to fill the wells. If you have the time the hookers last a lot longer than the netters do in the wells.

We strolled across the reef in crystal clear, flat calm water. You could see the fish and corals on the bottom in 45 feet of water. Uh oh! This makes for good boat riding but is usually a recipe for disaster when it comes to catching fish. We eased out into the blue water and set out some lines. 10 minutes later and Gimpy had a small Cuda on the line. We reset the down line and moved slowly about the area when the down rod sings out again. Not another Cuda, please. Jeff was working this fish but it wasn’t thumping the rod like we expected. As the fish got closer, about 50’ down, Devon notices it is an African Pompano and happily pulled the 31” fish aboard for Jeff. Nice!

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This is a pretty good start with 2 fish caught in less than 30 minutes. Devon reset the rod again. Yes! 10 minutes later and the line is ripping off the reel this time. I think this is one of our “Spotted Caribbean Mackerel” Yup, sure enough! Good job Poppi! Anthony wants to keep all of the Barracuda, so we tossed it in the box for him too.

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We were in the process of resetting the down rod when the long rigger popped the clip. Jeff jumped on the rod and a Sailfish took to the air. Unfortunately the fish was heading toward the boat and Jeff never got the hook set into the fish. I worked that area in and out for another hour but the bite had turned off. I made the decision to go hit the Grunt & Sweat wreck to see if the Big’uns are still around. Let’s try it and see if we can keep these guys busy while we watch them sweat. Devon dropped the bigger Hardtail and in less than a minute the rod doubled over. They’re still here! Anthony jumps on the rod and I think this fish was a bit stronger than he had anticipated. Meanwhile Devon had tossed a speed jig and was working it to the top. Bam… it gets hit and he hands the rod to Jeff. This was not a Wreck Donkey like Anthony was trying his best to just hold on to. This had a fast tail beat. A nice football sized Blackfin appears and Devon quickly dispatches it to the ice. Anthony is still on his fish and asks someone to take over, so Jeff grabs that rod. This 30+ Amberjack had no chance with this big, young dude.

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We made 2 more drops and Gimpy hooked up to a bruiser for 10-15 minutes when it finally broke off. The hook was missing and Devon inspected the remaining roughed up leader and surmised it to be a shark. Since we are out of deep baits now, I headed for another spot to try for some Muttons. We made several drift/drops and ended up with 2 nice fish.

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The afternoon was growing long and my group was hot, tired, and getting very quiet. When Gimpy gets quiet, that is the cue to try and get one more fish and call it a day. We set out a spread for some surface fish and hopefully another Sail. Time is dwindling and we get the word to wrap it up. Devon had 3 rods in when I see a Sailfish rapidly tail walking toward the boat. Sailfish! Sailfish! Devon thought I was joking until he sensed the urgency in my voice. He’s on the down rod. This sneak had taken the bait down deep and surfaced without the slightest indication. Gimpy grabs the rod and he’s hooked up. As usual with Sailfish, there is always a fire drill. Devon notices the line has wrapped around the down rigger line and the fish is pulling the weight up. OMG! I don’t know how, but Devon takes the rod and with 2 quick passes around the d/line, he frees up the fish. That was too close! Gimpy works the fish in and Devon bills the fish for a quick photo op and release.

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Now that is the way to end a day! We buttoned up the boat, grabbed a drink, and I headed west. As always, it was fun fishing with Gimpy, Poppi, and his crew. We tallied 1 for 2 on Sailfish, 2 Barracuda, 2 Mutton Snaps, 1 African, 1 Blackfin, and an Amberjack.

The second front of the season will be here this weekend. The bait is arriving in mass as we evidenced that morning seeing huge schools of finger mullet, pilchards, sardines, and ballyhoo. The arrival of baitfish means the predators are only a tail beat behind.

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