The month of December was a tough one. El Nino winds from California and the S. Pacific area have been blowing across the Gulf, keeping the cold fronts to the north of us. This has 2 effects on us. It gives us strong winds/seas and mild temperatures with cold fronts stalling out before reaching us. December saw the air temperatures in the 80's almost every day. The winds on the other hand have been anything but mild. Most everyday the past month, saw winds blowing sustained at 25 knots with gusts to 30 and the seas have been 5-6' average with short duration. Although the rougher sea state is the best time to get after the Sailfish, some have trouble keeping their stomach in place.
My last 2 trips before the New Year showed the Yin and Yang of fishing. I took Eric & Tony on a quest for Sailfish. They arrived at the dock on time and we shoved off, motoring down beautiful Biscayne Bay towards Key Largo. We arrived at the bait patch to find most of the patch filled up with Ocean Reef boats who were participating in a small tournament. We found a spot and caught a couple dozen baits in short order and I broke out the Calusa cast net and filled the livewells for the day. We jumped into the pack and began our day of fishing in the 6' seas. In less than 30 minutes we had a triple on (3 Sailfish at the same time) and the melee' began. I had to pick up the last fish and basically kept the fish on the line and untangled from the others. Tony lost his fish first when the line parted, so I gave him the rod I was tending. Eric had his fish close when the leader chafed through. Finally, Tony landed the third fish and we were on the boards with a chaotic start. As the day progressed we raised 5 more Sailfish. By afternoon the seas had subsided some to about 3-4' and the fishing slowed. The final tally included 5 Kingfish up to 10 lbs on the downrigger rod and a few (3) Dolphin as well. Overall we had a very enjoyable day.
The next day I had the pleasure of fishing with Alfredo and his crew. We met up and blasted off to the bait patch. These guys took to catching bait very easily and in no time we made our bait. The short run from there to the fishing grounds were easy with the seas down at 2-3'. We managed to get 10 Kingfish bites on the down rod but they only managed to catch 3 of these fish. We had 2 Sailfish rise in our spread, check it out, and swim on through without an attempt to feed. There was a report of some Dolphin hauling through the shallow 60' patches but we never encountered any of them. Overall the day was good but would have been better if those Sails would have eaten.
January is the month that begins our peak Sail fishing time and hopefully this year will be no different than past years. The Kingfish will be here in heavy concentration and an occasional Dolphin, or Bonito should show up as well. Bottom fishing for Grouper and Muttons should pick up in the shallower water as the water temperatures continue to cool. The "slob" Swordfish are here if mother nature gives you a window to venture into the "Darkside".
Capt. Jim
305-233-9996
beastcharters@aol.com
www.beastcharters.com