Conditional Cuberas

We did 2 more follow up trips to “Nastyville”. El Nasty had made a chump out of us on the last trip and we were into these trips for redemption. Of course we wanted to get our customers on Cubera Snapper as well. The last 2 trips were a struggle with heavy current and foul weather.

Ryan and Matt met us at the dock at the usual time and they were pumped up to get after them. I warned them of the 2 previous trips but let them know that the conditions were much better and no matter what, we would give it 100% effort as always. The Briggle Brothers had fished with us before so they already knew that about us. Even though we had a fairly rocky start to the season we were exuding confidence as we unleashed The BEAST and made our way out for bait.

We began collecting “crickets” and Matt was throwing a very small speed jig. He had a good hook up and dragged in a very nice Mangrove Snapper, which he put in the livewell. The bug collection went off without a hitch and we took our time to make sure they reached their limit. This is the main focus when preparing for a successful night of hunting Cubera Snapper.

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We stowed all the gear and I headed for some Yellowtail. We arrived and set out the chum while we readied the baits. The current was like the winds on that night… light. It was nice to see this soft leisurely current for a change. The B Brothers had a little fish wager going on and I believe they tied at 4 nice Yellowtail apiece (8 total) and they also boated 2 nice Cero Mac’s. With darkness settling in, we pulled anchor and headed out to deal with this Cubera issue.

Arriving at the spot, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we were alone. That was especially nice that nobody was anchored up making it harder to affect a good drift. The current was 1 knot or less. Awesome! We began our drifts and 30-40 minutes passed by when suddenly the rod tip thumps hard and then bends over violently. FISH ON! Ryan grabs the rod and we are counting our chickens before they hatched. Shhhh! Too late! We got the leader to the rod tip and the fish is just under the surface as Devon reaches for the leader. Ryan lets out a shout, “IT’S GONE! @#$%^&*()_+ !!!!” Devon grabs the leader and sure enough. No fish! Not a good start!

Time passes by extremely slow when the bite comes late. This night was exactly that, especially since we already blew a shot on a good fish right at the boat. 11:00 PM and I can see severe dejection in Ryan’s face. I asked him what he was feeling and he said something like “Here I am on The BEAST and I can’t get another bite. Bad luck just seems to follow me.” I told him that we weren’t done yet and sometimes it just takes more time. About 15 minutes later Devon saw the rod thump and called out to Ryan. By the time he got to the rod it had doubled over and the fish was straining to get away. To keep from repeating the outcome of the first bite that night, he remained intent on not giving the fish a split second of slack. This worked out very well for him as he boated a respectable fish.

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The bite had fired up now and we ended up missing one or two more before Matt had his turn on a solid hook up. He and his brother Ryan witnessed this bite and Matt jumped on the rod. He was working up a sweat while working up the fish. Ryan and Matt now have had a crash course in how tough these fish really are. He managed the rod and negotiated the fish to boat side. Nice fish… pretty work!

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We kept working but missed another bite or two and then the feeding mode shut down. A few more drifts and nothing. Unfortunately, we realized that we had our chances and now it was over as the fish went back to doing what Cubera do in August. We ended up the night, catching 2 fish out of 3 that were hooked up and missed 4 more bites. The best night out this season so far, both in conditions and active bites. We packed it in and I turned The BEAST for the barn. The B Bros were happy and considered the outing a success.

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Our next trip out was with a very regular customer from New York. His Mother and his friends call him Eddie but we call him “Gimpy”. It’s a long story! To book this trip he must’ve made 37 phone calls to me and many of those calls were non-specific. I think he’s just getting lonely and wants someone to talk to! Devon and I are trying real hard to like Gimpy!!! I’m just kidding y’all. I know he is watching intently and waiting patiently for this report of his trip. I figured I’d take this chance to bust his chops, once again. If you knew the Gimp you would understand fully.

He and his mates met us at the dock, exchanged pleasantries, discussed the previous trip, loaded up and pulled out. Everyone was hoping for a repeat of the last trip, at least in the form of good conditions. We blasted straight out to get our crickets and that we did. We had plenty of them in the live well and then headed for a nice Yellowtail area. We anchored up and began the chum slick, tossing in some Glass minnows to sweeten the chum line. We didn’t have a stellar night on the hook but we did manage to catch about 8 or 10 nice Tails. When it got dark we closed up the chum and small rods and broke out the heavy gear. I cracked open the throttles and headed for Nastyville.

Arriving in Cubera City I quickly noticed that 2 boats were anchored on either side of the main drifts. It appeared that they were working together in some way or another and were fishing for Mutton or Vermillion Snapper, not Cubera’s. This was bad for us because the current was once again rolling through the area at over 2.2 knots. Not good, not good at all! I couldn’t get a drift line that would split in between the other boats because of their anchor rode, so I worked all around the town, from shallow to deep. There were times that I actually passed really close to the anchored boats trying to sniggle a bite out of the mass of fish I saw on the sonar in that area. Nothing was working very well. The anchored boats didn’t seem to be doing so great on their mission either.

Finally around midnight, they simultaneously pulled anchors and left. I took advantage of this and immediately moved into that area. I desperately wanted to contact some of those fish that I knew were there but couldn’t reach until the boats left. The screen was lit up with a good aggregation of these Snappers. On the second drift the rod doubled over and Big Tom began getting a lesson in Cubera Snapper fishing. Tom was remarking about the power of these Pit Bull Snappers. He took command and in short order, it’s a done deal. Tom is on the boards.

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Well it appears the bite is on but for how long. I hoped we didn’t miss too much while we tried to outlast the other 2 boats. A few more drifts and the screen is getting lighter as the fish are disappearing from the sonar. Oh Crap! A couple more drifts and Kerplooey! Da’ Gimp knocks everyone out of the way as he busts a move towards the doubled over rod. Every man for himself is the way he rolls! He’s on it. Oh Lord… This may be too much for the Gimperella. I had to turn my head away as he is fishing with Rodney (rod holder) and double handing the reel crank. Folks, this was not pretty! A few minutes later and Gimpster finally puts the old Marine Corp manhandle on this fish. Well… He says he is a US Marine from New York, but I’m thinking he is actually a retired Merchant Marine from Jersey! Ok… He muscled his way through his friends and regardless of how ugly it was; in the end he had his first Cubera. Sorry… I had to get a couple more shots in on him! I can’t help myself!

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OK… That’s 2 fish for 2 bites! We made a few more drifts and the large congregation of fish is all but gone now. We stayed and plugged away at it for another hour or so, and then I threw in the towel. Could we have done better if we hadn’t had to contend with the 2 anchored boats? Maybe yes, maybe no. It is what it is and we dealt with the situation the best we could. The guys had plenty of groceries to take home with them including lots of lobster tails. Oh Yeah! Hey Gimpy! Where are those special New York bagels you said you were going to bring down to me! Hey… that’s how he rolls!

Hopefully T.S. Isaac will not mess things up for the remainder of the season. We still have some availability for the upcoming full moon period if anyone is interested in giving it a try.

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

Trips to "Nastyville"

Devon and I were excited to begin our Cubera charters. We were fired up and ready to go. All reports we had heard from friends who had been out there previously, were that the fish were not there or not biting. Several reports came to us of guys fishing 2 straight nights to catch 1 fish. Oh Boy, this does not sound good.

Brian and his friends, Mike, Brett, and Phillip met us at the dock at 3 PM for our scheduled start. Our hopes were high even though we had those very pessimistic fishing reports and the skies were filled with rain cells and strong wind. We unleashed The BEAST and made our way out to a bait spot to grab a couple of Blue Runners to take with us. We got a bonus as Devon spotted a massive Crocodile sitting on the bank in the mangroves.

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We quickly boated a couple of Hardtails. I pushed the throttles down and headed for the reef so we could catch some “crickets” for the night. We picked out a generic spot and began the collection process. An hour and a bit later, we had 15 legal bugs on board. Good deal! That was almost too easy. The boys had decided to do some Yellowtail fishing so I turned toward the south and throttled up.

We arrived at our favorite ‘tailing spot and anchored up. The chum went over and they began fishing. The area came alive and Cero Macks were flying out of the water. As a matter of fact, we had one Cero that cleared both motors as it nailed some Ballyhoo that were eating at the chum bag. We had a good time and the fishing was pretty good. As the sun began to set, we wrapped it up with 10 nice Yellowtail and 2 good sized Cero in the box. Alright! Let’s get after those “Nasties”!

We arrived at Nastyville and I did a quick scout. The marks on the sounder were not any where close to normal as in years past. The wind was howling at about 15-18 knots and the seas were reaching 4’ at times. To go with those conditions the current was blasting at 2.5-2.7 knots. This is crummy! Oh well, it is what it is! I got my drift set up and we dropped our first “cricket” down into the inky black depths. Nada! Drift after drift with Nada damn thing happening! This scenario played out for over an hour. Going on a hunch I moved in very shallow and found more fish marking on the sounder. It took me a couple of drifts to get a good starting point. As we made the next drift, I was watching the rod tip when suddenly I see the bite. As I ran over to the rod it doubled over, so I quickly made about 10 cranks on it to hook up the fish. There he is, no doubt about it! Phillip jumped on the rod and began working the fish up. After a grueling fight the fish broke the surface and we had "El Nasty" in the boat.

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Yahoo! The BEAST is on the boards with the first "Nasty" of the 2012 season. We continued on and several drifts later we got another bite but missed the hook up. The lobster came up split in half and the carapace looked like someone drove an F-250 over it. No worries! Well get ’em! We made a few more drifts and Mike (I think) got a bite. Bada BOOM! Hooked up, Buddy! He worked the fish and we now had "Nasty" #2 on board.

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We worked this area to death without another bite, As time grew thin, I decided to go to another area well to the north that holds fish as well. We marked fish but they were not chewing. Overdue on time with a huge rain cell closing in on us, we called it a night. I turned to the west and made my way for home. The outing was far from fantastic catching 2 smaller male Cubera Snapper out of 3 bites. The guys had Lobster, Yellowtail, and Cero Mackerel in the box, as well, and I think their smiles were genuine!

The next trip out was with a Cubera regular, Jorge, and he brought along Ricardo. The conditions were much better with less threat of rain and much lighter winds around 12-13 knots. The seas were light at about 2 feet. We tried for some Blue Runners but struggled to catch 3 this time. Jorge said “Let’s go.” I bagged the Runner spot and headed offshore to grab some bugs for the night. After catching 10 bugs Jorge was getting antsy and when the 11th cricket came aboard he once again said “Let’s go.” You can still catch one more for your limit but, OK. He opted to go for AJ’s rather than Yellowtail fishing.

I ran out to the “Grunt & Sweat” wreck and set up our drifts. The current was, once again, a fast 2.2 knots out there. Devon was demonstrating how to work the speed jigs when he hooked up a fish and passed the rod over to Ricardo. He almost had it to the boat when a humongous ‘Cuda hit it, but didn’t take it. The fish was small, less than the legal 28” size limit. We regretted having to release this wounded fish even though the wounds were slight. It swam down and away. Within minutes the fish was hauling butt to the surface with the ‘Cuda in hot pursuit. A huge splash and it was over. Jorge got a hook up on his speed jig and this was a much better fish. The fish grew larger as the fight went on and then got lighter. When Jorge got the fish to the boat there was only a large head left on the hook. This one was eaten by very big shark. It was very apparent by the size of the bite. “Mother Nature‘s” ocean is hard and cruel. Even though we had another 45 minutes to an hour before dark, Jorge said “Let’s go catch Cubera!” OK, it‘s not really time yet but we’ll head out and give it a shot.

Devon got the big rods ready as I milled around looking for the fish. The current was a stiff 2.2 knots. We made our first drift & drop well before dark. This scenario went on and on. I worked in and out, shallow to deep, and nothing at all was happening. Jorge began saying that there were no fish there. I kept showing him the sounder and telling him that it would happen but only when THEY were ready for it to happen. The drifts added up and the time ran down without a bite. It was more evident now that Jorge had given up. I suggested that we try a few drifts at the other spot. We made the run northward to see if they were biting. The current was somewhat better there, about 1.7-1.9 knots. We weren’t even 2 minutes into the 1st drift and Jorge pulled the plug on the trip.

Could it be possible that someone had spiked Jorge’s rum bottle with “Impatience”? Devon and I were still game because we don’t take defeat easily. Jorge has had 5 or more incredibly successful trips with us in the past. Matter of fact, it was his group that caught our boat record, 76 ¼ pounder. I really don’t understand what went on that night and have replayed that trip in my mind, over and over. Maybe it was simply, bad conditions… OR… could it be that, Jorge and The BEAST, had to pay their dues at Nastyville.

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

2 recent day trips!

The last 2 of our day trips were right before “Bug” season opened. They were pretty productive and had our guests smiling. John brought his wife Vicki, son Cam, and daughter Katie along for a ¾ day trip. We blasted out at 7 AM and made our way immediately for some bait. We caught plenty of Hardtails but the Ballyhoo were trouble. We stayed a bit longer than usual because there were some really nice Mangrove Snapper in the chum. We did manage to catch 5 of them before we left.

The Dolphin (Mahi) bite was on the slow side from the reports we had heard so the crew decided to pull on some wreck fish instead of wasting the short day hunting Mahi. The current was dead slow, the fish were marking on the sounder but they were slow on the bite. Our first hook up was Katie on a nice Almaco Jack.

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The waters were very calm to go along with the dead current. We worked the area for a couple of hours, sparking up some bites. We did have a good time wrestling 3 big Amberjack out of the 5 or 6 bites we had.

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I noticed that they were smiling hard through all the sweat and tired muscles. I suggested we go try for some Mutton Snapper to finish the day out. That was not as productive as I had hoped. It was easy to cover the spot on the slow drift and our live ballyhoo were perfect baits. The lack of current, however, had the Mutton‘s on lock down. We did manage to sniggle out 1 small fish of about 18 inches that we tossed into the box with the 5 nice Mangroves.

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The day was nice and easy but the smooth water and slow current made it a good day for a boat ride. We did manage to eek out some fish on a slow day. They thoroughly enjoyed their family day on The BEAST.

Another day trip we did was with Manny of MD Turbines. He brought along his friends Alex, Linda, Etta, and Mike, who I knew through the World Cat owner’s forum. Dolphin(fish) were on the menu since we were doing a full day. We left the dock around 7 AM and headed for our bait spot where we caught 3 or 4 Hardtails. I took an easterly heading and blasted off to the deep water to hunt some Mahi. We spotted some weed lines in 550 and 660-foot depths but I continued on. I kept a mental note of them in case we needed to return to them later. I found a beautiful weed line in 1200 feet and it looked good and alive. We put out a spread and started our leisurely troll. Wow! We live bait so much that it felt really good to troll for a change. 15 minutes down the weeds and a reel sounded off, then another, and another. There is something about that sound.

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We worked this path of weeds and the bites were there but the size began to diminish after a while. I pulled up and made that run back to the other weed lines on my mental notepad. We hooked up a big “Bonehead” (Bonito) and then I finally said enough is enough when we caught one of the smallest Mahi I’ve ever caught.

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We had caught a dozen Dolphin so Manny was happy and we all decided to switch it up and let them pull on some Wreck Donkeys. Mike is from the Left Coast of Florida and we wanted to show him some of our really big, bruiser AJ’s. The best we could pull out for him was a 39#er. We caught a couple of good Almaco Jacks to throw into this mixed bag day.

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We made one more stop before the day was over to try and get a Mutton Snap or two. The wind was blowing across the current and anchoring would have been a tedious process so we made a few drifts with the slack current. The drift was wrong also and although we had a few bites all we caught was 1 Sand Tilefish. OK! Stick a fork in us… we’re done! Plenty of fish in a mixed bag, a lot of World Cat talk, and beautiful weather, made for a really nice day!

We have begun our Cubera Snapper season and I will be writing those reports as soon as I get some time. If you want to give it a try we do have some openings around the next full moon.

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