Dan brought his three sons to fish with us today and we kept them busy most of the day. The sharks hurt us at the hump only allowing us a few tunas. There were a few mahi caught  today but we did not see any so we went back to the reef were  the kingfish bit well and we caught some nice yellowtail snapper.

Shane and John were back again to grace our boat with their good natured presence. We pretty much wore John out today as Shane has some physical limitations that made her more moral support than angler.
We started by filling our wells with pilchards and going to the hump where the tunas were biting as well as the sharks. We caught our limit of tunas along with a few mahi and then headed back to the reef.
There was a slow pick on the kingfish but we were able to catch our limit of them also and since we still had pilchards left, we hit a few yellowtail snapper spots and caught over a dozen of them.
Shane and John will be back as soon as they eat up all the fish they caught today. Hopefully they will share with friends and family or it could be quite a while before we see them.

It was one of those day that balances out the days when things that should got right go wrong. The sailfish we caught was on a small bait, very small hook and very thin line but because he was hooked outside the mouth he did not chafe through that line.
The tunas did not bite for us but because we were not throwing baits and we were on the move we were the first to a frigate bird that showed us where there was school of nice mahi. Back on the reef when the kingfish stopped biting it forced me to move to another spot where we were catching yellowtails  on live bait and that is when we caught the sailfish. You just never know where the path will lead, you go right .....you go left....?
Mark and Doreen did a great job on everything including Marks sailfish. They assured me they will be back.

These poor folks from Atlanta had their plane delayed twice last evening and finally got to sleep at their lodging around four this morning. We didn't leave the dock till ten but even so it was a short night for them.
Tried the hump but the tuna bite was over by the time we got there so with a not great report from off shore we returned to the reef and found a decent bite of kings along with a couple muttons.
It all worked out as they went home with a few bags of fish and smiles on their faces.

Caught 14 solid mahi today and our limit of blackfin tunas with our GAF friends. Anthony has been with us many times and he brings his clients with him when he does.
Caught the tunas on the lures after catching a couple mahi on the way out to the 409 hump. We were pleasantly surprised to catch 6 mahi which swam up to us while at the hump catching the tunas and then later in the day we found a bucket that held another 6 mahi which we caught.
No rain today and the weather is getting nicer and nicer as we get later into the week.
Thanks Anthony and thanks Wendy.

The one missing today was Brian Wing, he did the Alligator lighthouse swim yesterday and with the sea conditions as they were today was not feeling up to going offshore, instead he sent Kyle, Nick and Chris with us to brave the high winds, heavy seas and frequent lightening.
It really wasn't all that bad today except when the cells would move through and the fishing was fairly good to off set the weather. Caught fish throughout the day, a few mahi to start, then the tunas and back to the mahi when the tuna slowed up. 
All in all a good day and hopefully we get to fish Brian the next time he comes to town.

We had a really good time with Wally and Mike yesterday, both are good anglers but Wally had the age and strength  advantage which helped him a lot when he hooked up that big tuna.
The tunas did not bite quite as well as the day before nor did we find those big packs of mahi as we had on Wednesday but we did find enough to keep the boys and their moms busy thru out the day and plenty for meals while they are here visiting the keys.
Still plenty of mahi around for the next month or so and I have a number of open days coming up this month so take advantage of the good weather, less traffic,  great fishing and give me a call.

Pati and I flew in last night from Jersey and I dragged myself out of bed this morning for my first day on the water in over a week. Dave has been doing a great job in my absence  and we feel fortunate to have him as part of our team.
We caught the pilchards this morning and headed for the hump where the tunas were biting and there were no sharks. Caught our limit and moved on to the mahi, finding several big schools and over the course of the morning we caught our limit of 20 fish. Spent the rest of the time looking for a center piece or a billfish but in the end we had to be satisfied with our 30 beautiful fish.
Nate and Preston had a great time and they have already spoken to their friends about their day and  pointed them in our direction.

Eugene Emory  has fished with me for 10 years or so, he is one of those guys that just shows up hoping for an open day but his timing is usual pretty good. Monday was one of those days, he showed up and Dave had an open day for him on Tuesday
They had an awesome day, catching their limit of tunas at the hump, a dozen or so mahi after that and assorted bonitas and kingfish on the reef.
Nice day Dave!

Sean and his folks caught some nice mahi and a triple tail yesterday with captain Dave in charge. I understand it was flat calm again yesterday  which is better then the wind we had last week. Dave is out there again today on another beautiful day.


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Captain Dave took joe and family out this evening for our evening shark/tarpon trip and along with a bunch of sharks, they caught this crevalle Jack, a barracuda and a red grouper. You just never know what will show in whale harbor channel.
A good time was had by all and Joe and his family will be back soon for a longer trip.
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The nicer mahi were here for a day and mostly gone the next but the beautiful weather has stayed and we are very thankful for that.
I am taking a few days off but captain Dave did a fine job yesterday catching fish for Joe and his better half. Dave told me the tuna bite was decent with a good show by the sharks and the mahi were there but they had to sort though them to get the ones that were legal.


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I hope this is not an aberration and the mahi are here to stay for a while because at 10 this morning we had 6 tunas (KK 6 / sharks 0) and 15 mahi in the boat and because of that, my stress levels were close to zero. We went on to catch another 15 or so mahi thru out the day turning a few back to grow up and maybe to be harvested next year.
Jeff, Jeff, Dave, Jeremy and Tom had a great time and will be back next year for another go, hopefully they won't forget everything Dave taught them today.

We had a really good time with Josh and his buds. Once again there was wind and the usual sharks at the hump but we caught a few tunas and then moved on finding single mahi under the birds for the most part. Tomorrow is supposed to be the start of our good weather hopefully.

The yellowtails bit well in the shallow water today. It was windy and standing was a little challenging but Jeff and his group did well catching close to our limit in a few hours. Our second day with this group is Sunday and the weather forecasters promise us a low wind day with plenty of sunshine, can't wait!

 Joe and CP brought Christopher (CP's son) down for a fishing trip this week to celebrate his 32(?) birthday. The day started with wind and rain but quickly got much better so off we went not realizing that that was not the last of the bad weather.
Caught the tunas at the hump ,beating the sharks by a fair margin and then headed off to find the mahi. A storm was building to the east just as I was getting to numerous sets of birds (and fish I hoped) and then the storm hit. The storm had 35 knot wind with rain in it and all the schools of fish we found (except for two) were small. We took a beating on the way home after the storm subsided but got home safely with no problems.
Chris was able to cleanse his upper digestive track on numerous occasions throughout the day and I'm sure he appreciates his physical renewal.
Always a pleasure having Joe and the Kalises on board.

A very good day on the water with another two couples, not from Texas this time but from our neighboring state of Georgia. The waves were a little rough on Brad but he hung in there for the 3/4 day and even participated in catching some of the many fish we hooked.
The sharks were bad once again, we fed too many tunas to them but once again we were able to catch our limit.
At the end a good time was had by most everyone, even Brad!

Last evening we took the two couples from the day before out on our shark/tarpon trip. It started slow but when the sharks started to bite it was non-stop game on. No tarpon bites but we did have a couple big sharks on that we could not stop.
The ladies did great, out fishing the guys 2 to 1 as so often happens and everyone said the would be back when the sailfish show.

A lot of captains will not leave the dock with bananas on board as they think they are bad luck. Today we had a nice bunch of bananas sitting in the galley on the counter and it did faze me at all. I am not a believer in the superstition and today we once again disproved the myth.
Caught the tunas at the hump losing  6 to the sharks but catching 6 also, we went out from there to 16 miles or so and started catching the mahi. Not huge numbers but ended up with some heavy lifters and schoolies for our folks from Texas to take back home with them.
They are fishing us again tomorrow night on the shark/tarpon trip and I think I'll ask them to bring some bananas again for good luck.

It was non-stop for the first hour and a half, lots of sharks, a sting ray and a big barracuda kept Tyler and Rivi very busy. It slowed down towards the end of the evening as the tide slackened but that was okay too because the conversation was good and the passing boats were  entertaining.
We really enjoyed our time with these folks and hope their plans to come back soon work out.

The tunas at the hump bit poorly (lots of traffic) but the first patch we came to at 20 miles had a  bunch of mahi on it and we were able to keep a dozen out of that school.  A few other patches and a weed line helped bring the total up to 20 which was our limit.
Tali and Tyler had a great time and quickly learned what is involved with catching a lot of mahi in a hurry! We are stay in close tomorrow and then doing a shark/tarpon trip in the afternoon with these two, should be fun.

We were able to get eight tunas passed them today but we took a beating getting those to the boat. Curtis and Malinda were overjoyed that they were able to catch tunas today but I just wish we didn't have to feed as many as we do to the sharks to catch the few that they allow us.

The sharks brought on their best catchers today and with the slow tuna bite we never got one passed them. We finally gave in and headed off shore where we ran into a big school of mahi and although  a lot were just undersized we were able to keep eight of them.
Brian and Cat had never caught a mahi before so getting to experience having 4 or more fish hooked up all the time, fish jumping, line tangles and all the rest that goes on with catching a school of mahi was exactly what they wanted.
Good people, we will see them again.