The mahi fishing was a little more challenging for us and for a lot of the charter fleet today. We struggled to catch them as the were moving fast and when we did find a big school we were only able to get a few of them to eat. Fortunately  we were able to put a decent catch of mahi together by the end of the day and caught enough tuna for the guys tuna appetizer tonight. Redly, Hayden, Adrian and Dave were great and we will see them again in the future.

We started at the hump trying the tunas on the troll but they were not cooperating so I was about to start live baiting for them when I saw a set of birds under which we found 8 schoolie mahi. We continues on in the same depth catching a few here and there and by 9:30 we had almost 20 fish. It got a bit more difficult after that but by noon we had our limit of 30 mahi and it was time to start heading that way.
John and his father Tom are repeat customers and although Richard is also he hasn't fish with us since 2013. Don't know why he waited so long to come back but we are glad he did.

Adrian brought his two boys but Dave was the one that had never caught a tarpon and so was the one to get the first shot. He had many on but had never got one to the boat, this evening he got his first tarpon catch. Lots of boat traffic and we had both anchors out so the first few minutes were very intense but we survived that, chased him down the channel and finally caught him about half way to the headpin. The second fish was easier and we didn't have to come off the anchor for Hayden to catch that one.
Tomorrow we have an off shore trip with this group and it should be fun.

Most everything we tried today worked, some better than other as usual. We Started with the yellowtails, there was not much current where we were and the sharks were brutal but we we still caught some. Next we tried the vermillon snapper, the first spot had only red snapper but the second had more of the big vermillons we have been catching over the last week or so. One spot we tried had legal silk snapper and we took a half a dozen of those to add to our catch. The guys wanted to try the mahi again today so we headed out and found 6 schoolies on birds in 500 ft. I was just starting to look again when another boat invited us to come in on a school he had found and we caught another 9 or 10 to finish up the day.
The guys loved the catches both today and yesterday and of course will be back to do it again perhaps even this year. We were missing one of our regulars on this trip but we look forward to seeing our friend Curtis  on the next one.

Been a while since we caught a wahoo and the funny thing was that just this morning Duncan was asking about wahoos and the best time of the year to catch them. I guess August is the best time, at least for this group! Duncan brings his guys down a few times a year, although this year he has had to reschedule a once or twice due to the virus.
The tunas bit fairly well and we found a few nice mahi but the wahoo was the icing. We have one more day with the guys tomorrow and probably try the reef to start off, we will see how it goes.

Conner and Cameron  returned to fish with us today. It's been about a year since we have fished with the both of them and Cameron did a lot better today then last year because of the light winds. Mike did catch the grouper first thing in the morning while we were at the mangrove spot but after that it was pretty much the twins doing the catching. We limited out on snapper, caught a few bottom sharks and reluctantly fed the aggressive bulls sharks a few of the nicer snapper, all in all a great morning half.
Mike says this will be an annual event for him and the kids. Looking forward to it Mike!

This was not the first time I've met people that had connections to my family and today was another of those unlikely connections that happen in life. Larry (Dr Walters) was the school administrator that hired my daughter at Lee County High School to teach special needs kids. Had never met the gentlemen before but I know we will be seeing more of him and his family in the future as we had a great time with them today.
Sam (Larry's grandson) was the star today, catching  almost all the yellowtail and mangroves snapper and half of the vermillon snapper. He also caught an 80 lb shark and a bunch of other fish that were released. Another one of those great kids, like Logan from last night's trip that just love to fish and are good at it.

Emory hadn't fish with  us for a number of years but today he was back. His request was for mahi and yellowtail but the vermillons were biting so well that we never got to the tails. Caught mahi first  but struggled to catch the last few that we needed so knowing Emory really wanted the snapper we headed back toward the reef and found that great bite of verms, We also tried the hump for tuna but they were very small and we let them live.
It was good to have Emory back on the boat and look forward to seeing him again soon.

Kelly's kids got to catch a bunch of sharks this evening and they were as  strong at the end as they were in the beginning, although they were appreciably better anglers at the end of the evening with all that practice.  Good kids , good times!

Tim and his boys have been fishing with us for 8 years and we always have a great time with them all. Josalyn (mom) is the cheerleader and organizer making sure everyone gets his or her  turn to catch fish.
Knowing we had a short day I started at the hump with the tunas and after catching our ten we moved on to the mahi. We got a lot better cooperation out of the mahi today than we did yesterday with the fish tracking better and If we had more time to spent  at it I'm sure we could have caught a bunch. What we did have was several meals worth of fillets for Tim's group  and enough extra for some of their friends.
Next year they will be back again to make it nine years in a row.

Will caught this 23 lb cow today while we were out 22 miles. The mahi were not cooperating again for us today and we pulled the hooks on a few fish that ruined our chances at the 3 big schools of mahi that we did find. The 10 nice gaffer size fish and this cow that we caught helped relieve some of the frustration of the day and the wind was slowly lessening which really brightened the day. Looking forward to tomorrow and the light winds they are predicting along with some good fishing.

Devon and his son wanted to catch a few mahi and tunas and we were able to accommodate them but the mahi fishing was especially frustrating today.
Lots of mahi but also lots of flying fish which was a lot more interesting to the mahi then what we had to offer them. Most of the charter fleet was having the same experience as we were from the reports I heard on the VHF. Yesterday was much easier fishing and tomorrow will be better....  although we still don't get a break from this wind until Sunday. Dave and I are both looking forward to not getting beat up in rough seas.

Trent and his wife Jessica experienced a different day today with lots of wind and rain, not our normal keys summer weather.
The bite was on as we sat at anchor just inside the reef line with the mangroves and yellowtail snapper up in the chum slick and the sharks down below waiting for an opportunity for a free meal. Trent got to catch 2 sharks in between snapper bites, Jessica was along for moral support and camera work but they both handle everything well even with the high surf and rain
Great morning, thanks again folks!

The mahi fishing has been slowly getting better over the last few days and today we decided to test the waters so to speak. It was a little bit rough today and the winds grew more fierce as the day progressed, our anglers did pretty well for a good part of the day but eventually a few succumbed to rocking and rolling and we lost them as anglers for a little while. We found our mahi fairly shallow today at 13 to 14 miles, which was good as the ride home was not that long.
A good time was still had by all and we look forward to fishing with this group again.

It was supposed to be a 3/4 but Neal didn't have the sea legs he thought he did and voted to come in on a half day. Amanda did have her sea legs and because she did she caught 90 % of the fish.
The mangroves bit well again (better size then yesterday) and although the yellowtails were finicky Amanda did catch some big ones. We also caught a legal mutton of the bottom at the mangrove spot. See you next time folks!

We had wind and we had rain, we also had a great bite of snapper. The mangrove bit well, they averaged a slightly smaller size than yesterday but there was plenty of them. Went yellowtail fishing next and they started out nice but quickly got smaller so we changed locations and found nicer size fish at another spot. 
Had another great day fishing with Manny and Chris, the guys from GAF, lots of fun once again. See you again soon guys.

We fished with Anthony from GAF a few days ago and today we had his boss Russ on board with 3 of his clients. Started out with the mangroves and stayed there longer then usual as the mangroves kept biting along with a few decent yellowtails, also had a few sharks on and caught 3 muttons, one of which was legal.
After leaving that spot we went out and caught the four red snapper we were allowed today and then headed for the hump to catch tunas. The weather turned bad with rain, wind and lightening so Russ decided to shorten the day and we headed back.
The guys decided they wanted to go again tomorrow and as I had been cancelled for this Saturday a couple days ago, I was more than willing to say yes.

Dave and I had a great time with Jason and his family today and the fish cooperated which is always a bonus. Stared with the mangroves which bit well, then moved on to the red snapper (which was on Harrison bucket list) which we caught and released. Next we found a few mahi on a weed line in 280 ft and we finished up the day bay catching a dozen fat vermillon snapper with a few yelloweye snapper mixed in.
Fun day with a lot of laughter, good times!

Mat started on the big shark but it ended up being a 3 team member effort. Pretty sure we had a nice bottom fish on up until a shark decided to eat it and got it's self hooked. Bruce, Eric and Mat fought the shark for 40 minutes and got it up close enough for a look see before Dave tightened the drag and turned it loose.
We also caught a few yellowtails, nice vermillons and mangrove snapper for the guy's dinner tonight. Hope to see you Saturday Rick!

Mat call me last night wanting to do an evening trip and ask if there would be plenty of action. I told him the truth as I always tell folks, it was good last time we did an evening trip  but there is no way to know if it will be great on your night,
Fortunately there was plenty of action, we kept the guys very busy with sharks and a few tarpon and they love it. We probably caught 12 to 14 shark and that one tarpon for the icing. Good job guys, see you next time.

With the lack of mahi it is nice to have a fall back and the mangrove and yellowtail snppers have really been helping us put together a catch these days. Caught 40 snapper and one big king for Anthony and his GAF associates. Looking forward to fishing a few more of the GAF group in just a few days, we have a good time with these guys.

The yellowtails bit well today and Hayden and Cruz had to do a lot of hard reeling to get them to the boat, as we had a bull shark that wanted them as badly as they did. The Dads took their turns but it was really about the boys and their fun. We missed a few nice fish on the little hump and were only able to get one almacco and a bonito up while there.
Plenty of fillets to feed the gang tonight, enjoy guys.

Christian's mom, dad and brother took off to get a cooler leaving Christian and his grandad Bill to be stars in the fishing reports but then they did most of the catching today anyway so perhaps it was appropriate.
Caught the mangroves first , tried the almacco jacks but there was too much current, caught our limit of red snapper and then a few yellowtails before the current got too strong there also.
Dr Bill is talking about coming back this fall with his brother and hopefully the mahi will be around then. Thanks Guys.