August is the time for the "dog days of summer" . That means HOT weather and some slow fishing. But, not all the fishing is slow.
We fished with Frank and Oswaldo on the first and had a super day of bottom fishing. Using cut squid and bonito in 300 to 400 feet of water, they caught 20 yelloweye snappers up to about 6 pounds, 4 kitty mitchell groupers, a scamp grouper and 4 almaco jacks to over 30 pounds. Now that is some great dinner fishing.
That evening we went swordfishing, but the swordfish forgot to come out to play.
We fished with Paul and Heidi on Sunday and had another great day of fishing. By late morning they were fighting over who's turn it was not. Their arms were burning from catch so many fish. By days end they had caught 2 big spinner sharks, 6 king mackerel, 14 bonito, a barracuda, 2 mutton snappers and for the grand finally they caught a 35 pound black grouper.
Our next trip was an evening snook trip with Wayne and his lovely lady. They caught 5 snook, a tarpon and 2 jacks for a good evening of action in Government Cut.
The next day was one of those we try to forget. We searched up to 20 miles offshore with no dolphin in sight. We fished 8 wrecks and caught 1 barracuda. Finally we found some spinner sharks and landed one of three of these high jumping buzz saws.
The next day we had a couple of young men for just a couple hours and scored with 2 snapper, 2 porgy, a grouper and 4 bonito.
But as hard times were still with us, we went for swordfish that evening and caught an 18 inch dolphin. The same party fished with us on Saturday and struggled to catch 2 bonito, a mutton snapper and 2 amberjack of about 8 and 12 pounds.
Heather and I with her 19.5 lb snook
To prove that there is still hope of great fishing, we had a banner day last Sunday. Heather Harkavy and her dad joined us for another record hunt for Heather. Our primary goal was a world record snook for junior females. The standing record was 16 pounds and August is a good time of year to top that. We wanted to fish the bottom of the out going tide and then at the end of the trip hit the incoming tide after dark. We loaded the well with big pilchards and hit the jetties. We quickly caught 2 snook around 8 pounds. Then a couple jack crevalles. We jumped a tarpon and then action slowed. We moved to a new spot and soon caught a jack crevalle. As we released the jack, the other rod bent toward the jetty with a pounding strike. Heather rushed to the rod and went to work on her foe. A big snook rose to the surface and thrashed the water in an effort to dislodge the hook. Her efforts fail as the circle hook was firmly in the corner of this big snooks jaws. Soon this big line side was throwing water everywhere as she was entrapped in the landing net. Heather, Jeff and I held our breath as Sherman read the scales. A cheer went up as Sherman announced that this snook pulled the scale down to 19.5 pounds. Quick photos were followed by a gentle release of this beautiful snook. And the trip was far from over. Heather and Jeff went on the catch a sailfish, a bonito and 7 more snook. That was how fishing trips should go.
Two days latter we had a hard time catching 4 snook, a jack and a barracuda on an evening trip.
Yesterday the fish thought it was spring again. We had a raging north current and deep blue water into less than 75 feet of water. Action was great for Frank Oswaldo and 8 year old Daniel. We caught 6 kings on the bottom rod baited with live pilchards. The top lines baited with live pilchards produced at least 15 bonitos and 2 sailfish. Daniel, as is true of all young men, wanted a monster, so we baited a big rod with a big strip of bonito. It took about 10 minutes for a 60 pound spinner shark to find the bait. Of course it took Daniel and his grandfather 20 minutes to bring the shark boatside for the photos and release. With those 2 sails, a 150 pound stingray earlier in the trip and finally the shark, I think Daniel was off to great start as a big game hunter.
As you can see, not all trips in the "dog days" are good, but there not all bad either. We are sold out for August, and September is filling up with anglers ready to catch the swordfish that will be very active through all of September and October. The last few year, these late summer months have been prime for swordfish action. Don't miss this action. Call 305-573-8224 or e-mail captbouncer@bellsouth.net to make a reservation.
Check out Spike TV on September 3rd at 10 PM EDT. Rumor has it that we may have made the big time as minor stars of the Oak Bluff Monster Shark Tournament.
Steve with the big mako
