Gulf Stream
Sword Fish, Sailfish, and Dolphin
When Captain Tommy William returned from his Gulf Stream fishing trip with Stan Strickland on his boat 'MOJITO,' there was a lot to report. Please find listed below the fishing team of the 55-foot boat 'MOJITO:' Captain Buck, Lou Boyd, Mike Sloan, Stan Strickland, and Tommy. They had a plan and they pretty much stuck to it. Their goal was to head out to deepwater and do some nighttime fishing for swordfish, which they did. The drift set was started in 1,700 feet of water, which was located east of the Triple Ledge. While drifting with the current of the Gulf Stream the lines were put out being rigged with large squid, which were placed at around 350, 220, 100, and 50 feet. There first and only hit turned out to be a 70-pound swordfish. The drift took them to the north where they found themselves east of the Deli Ledge. At this time one of those pop up storms moved in and ruin what was left of the sword fishing set. Since the storm persisted they moved inshore to shallower water.
Daylight arrived with rough sea conditions subsiding a bit. As they made their way inshore the group found a half floating pallet, which probably fell off or was discarded from a ship. As they watched the pallet move with the 'motion of the ocean' they noticed numerous tight bait balls located under and near it. As they watched hundreds of 5 to 10 pound dolphin worked their way around their 'great find!' The crew all got together and quickly put together some sabiki rigs (gold hook bait rigs) and caught some of those baits that were schooling around the floating pallet. While the bait catching was taking place those not fishing rigged up the 20 pound test light tackle rod and reels. All on board knew without speaking that the catching fun was just about to begin. As soon as bait was made available the fishing bonanza started with dolphin after dolphin being pulled aboard.
Normally when I fish for dolphin especially in this situation I always leave the 'last fish caught in the water.' This act insures that the schooling dolphin will stay close, because when it comes to feeding all are affected. In this case, the finding of such a 'target rich environment' (floating pallet) it probably wasn't necessary. It seems from what Captain Tommy reported that the dolphin had already set the feeding stage by rounding up not one, but several bait balls. He also reported seeing what looked like 'red bait balls' holding down below the upper schools of bait. Red bait balls are usually 'angry schooling squid!' So therefore this area where the pallet was floating was 'Red Hot' with action!
After this action 'slowed' it was time for the crew of the 'MOJITO' to decide to make a move to another fishery, which was 'deep water bottom fishing.' The rule of thumb when doing this especially at this time of the year is that you really don't know what might bite your hook. In there case, bottom fishing was good with them hauling in 1/2 dozen snowy grouper, large football size vermilion, and red porgy also known as silver snapper. They marked plenty of bottom fish on the large color finder. However, the fish down under didn't seem too interested in anything that was dropped down to them.
I have seen times when I was in 200 feet of water where we would mark all kinds of bottom fish and yet none would even hit our baited hooks. It's could be due to pressure or the bait might not ever really get delivered properly to the awaiting fish. This happened to me a few times before I realized my drift was one way and the wind turn out to be another. This basically meant that when I dropped by baited hooks they never really got delivered to where the fish were in the first place. It can be confusing for those that don't fish a lot. Heck, it confuses me and I fish all of the time. The bottom line is that you have to figure out exactly where the drift is taking you and then move the boat up above the drift pattern. I know that sounds easy enough, but believe me when it's not straightforward even I have to think about it. Quite often drift patterns can cause 'bagging' in your line. This doesn't help in feeling any sort of bite at all. Bagging also keeps your bait from dropping straight to the bottom.
The reason the crew from the 'MOJITO' fishing trip turned out so well is that they fished for what was biting and took advantage by looking for every fish catching opportunity available. The blue waters of the stream offer much in the way of catching especially if something happens to float into the scheme of things. All fish migrate in this area looking for places to get a potential meal, which can come in my forms. Your 'target rich environment' can just float in on the surface or it can be delivered by something that is semi-sunk. Whatever the case may be these suggestions listed are great areas to find holding fish. The smallest to the largest jetsam/flotsam can provide some unbelievable shads for fish to be fish. This all boils down to going with what you have while looking for what might come by, which definitely brings in the attentions all size fish.
Sail Fish Released!
Captain Tommy also reported that Geno Sauers, which was fishing the same area with his crew, caught dolphin and released a fine Atlantic sailfish!
This Gulf Stream report just goes to show you that blue water fishing is good year around off the coast of Georgia!
Thanks for Reading!
Captain Judy
'Fishing Physic!'