I had these guys talked into a 3/4 day with wind predicted to be from the east at 7 to 8 knots... it wasn't! The wind was southeast at 15 to 20 and it was not at all pleasant on the edge of the reef. We chased some small bait showers early in the morning looking for another sailfish but knowing I had to get the job done quickly I sat down and we snapper fished. We caught 30 yellowtails before the guys called it and we headed back to the dock on a half day.

CP was in recovery mode this morning, crashing out on the couch for a few zz's while we caught bait, motored out over the edge, put out the spread all the while hoping to find a sail to start our day. An hour or so passed without a sighting when CP appeared in the cockpit, arising from his prone position on the couch, groggy but feeling much better after his short nap.
It didn't take 5 minutes, the bait showered, we raced over to the shower, the fish ate and there was CP hooked up to his sailfish. I must admit he did an excellent job catching that fish  and his timing definitely could not have been better.
We caught close to 20 snapper after catching the sail and then headed back on our half day excursion.

With the exception of two very large yellowtails and a mutton snapper we were not able to get much going on the reef this afternoon so we headed out to the deep woods. Caught a few vermillons at the little hump but the cudas were really hard on us today so I ventured out a little farther and found some good spots that were turned on. Ended up with close to our limit of vemillon snapper, a bunch of silk snapper (a couple size large) and jacks.
We lose Dick tomorrow, he is headed back to NJ but have heard rumors of a guest appearance by John, morning will tell the story.

Jo and her family just wanted enough for dinner  and to learn a little bit about fishing, we were able to accommodate them. Caught more then enough yellowtail snapper for their dinner and also saw so real understanding of how things work to get those fish into the fish box. Had a really good time with these folks, hope to see them again sometime in the future.

A great first day with the Jersey guys with perfect weather and good fishing. The yellowtail bite was slow but steady and the fish were  a good grade. Caught close to 20, chase a few sails around for a bit after pulling the anchor and then went deep for whatever the sharks would let us catch. To my surprise we were pretty much left alone by the sharks, losing a few but catching our limit of vermillon snapper in a couple hours.
Good to have the guys back and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate for them after this blow on Sunday. See you in a couple days guys.

That was the statement we heard after catching this sailfish. Not an easy fish to boat as the hook was not in the mouth but in the side which always makes boating a fish difficult. I think instructing with emphasis and enthusiasm may describe what happened better but no matter the take, the fish was in the boat.
Caught enough yellowtails before the sailfish ate the kite bait that once we got reanchored and realized the tails were done with us we decided to head out to wahoo fish and try some deep spots. Fought the sharks but did get some deep water snappers to the boat and that was our day.

It was not the transmission on my port engine but the damper plate that connects the engine to the transmission that failed last week. Yesterday we got it all back together and today we ran a charter.

Started with the yellowtails once again, caught 15 or so and while leaving the spot I realized my port transmission was not working. We continued down the reef, trying to determine if it was serious or very serious when a bait shower happened right behind the boat. Dave had some baits out and this sailfish ate the ballyhoo on the rigger. This was the first time I have ever caught a sailfish with one engine down and I must say it took a bit of rethinking as a boat designed to run on two engine just does not back up well on one. The fish put on a good show for Julie and her kids and after catching it I decided to head back on a half day as getting into my slip on one engine is also a challenge.

These guys crushed it today even though conditions were not as good as yesterday. The current was into the wind so we had to turn the boat sideways to the waves, but that didn't faze these two anglers, catching one snapper after another till they were worn out. Sailfished for a little while after that and did see one that didn't bite. See you again soon guys!!

Recently we have had a few wahoos on that we didn't get so it was very satisfying when Dave stuck the gaff  into this one and put it in the boat. The snapper bit well for Scott and his group and we had over 30 in a short time this morning along with one cero mackeral. Tried the deep stuff but the predators had us figured out and we couldn't get anything whole to the top. Caught the wahoo on the way back to the reef, did a little sailfishing and headed in.

A little more wind today then we have had and I thought the kids, Cooper or Brook might have a problem but it turn out that mom was the one that caused us to head to the dock. Things started slow but we were able to make it happen and ended up with 17  tails and a few blue runners before we had to head in. Brook and Cooper were great, really getting into the fishing and we hope we will see them again sometime.

We fished Kristy, Derek and their boys a couple week after the keys opened back up last year, had a great time with them and today they were back to do it again. The yellowtails were a perfect place to start the day with Lucas and Thomas catching over 20 tails in a short time. We spent some time trolling for the wahoos but eventually ended up in the deep water losing some vermillons to the cudas but also getting some nice ones through the gauntlet. Derek is talking about coming back this summer and we hope it works out, these little guys are great.

Every day is different in this business and today was no exception. Once again we started with the snapper, planning to catch enough for dinner and after that trolling for the wahoos.
We watched the sailfish shower the bait almost continually while we were yellowtailing and once we had over a dozen nice snapper we pulled the anchor started chasing the showers. As quickly as we caught one fish there was another opportunity. We caught three fish in less than an hour, one for dad John, one for his son Ben and last but not least, one for Riley. Awesome morning.
We did finally troll for the wahoos and after that we put out our live speedos to see if there were any big fish around but we had no bites and we were more than happy with our day already so Lisa and John decided to call it and we headed for the marina.

We came back early as one of our patrons was really not feeling well and we were worried about him. Needless to say, once he had the dock under his feet he was all smiles. The tails did not bite as well as yesterday in the morning or on our afternoon trip. Tomorrow we have a full day which will give us a lot more options to improve our catch.

Kylie, Adam and their two sons wanted fish they could put in the freezer and on a half day you hope you make the right move from the start so you can try meet their desires. Today we went to the right place first. They caught almost 40 snapper in a few hours and went home happy. Another quality family just enjoying their lives that we got to fish with for a few hours.

Doug had fished with us back in 2017 and he, his wife and two sons finally returned to fish with us this evening. The first shark we saw was a massive bull shark that showed himself when he was first hooked for just long enough to see his size and to i.d, him, we did not catch him.
Later after that excitement had died down everyone got a chance to catch at least one shark with a few missed opportunities along the way. Another good and fun family we hope to see again soon.

I almost left the hump because we were losing fish and tackle to the shark but decided to make one more drop after we had caught a few tunas. We got the next few vermillon snapper, lost a couple more, caught a few more and so on until we had close to 30 silk and vermillon snapper to put up on the hooks.
Ron's folks really enjoyed the dropping and with the exception of losing a big wahoo on the way out it was a great catching and weather day. See you all again soon.

We tried the deep stuff first and it kinda worked but the sharks were brutal once again so we went back inshore. Caught a few kings and fought a few more sharks and headed in

We went from an absolutely beautiful day yesterday to 20 knots of wind out of the south (my least favorite direction) today. Paul, Tiffany, Jessie, Jacqueline, Jack and Sarah kept there smiles throughout most of the morning even though the fishing was difficult. We did catch a few yellowtails but I couldn't keep my anchor in place which didn't help that bite and it ended quickly. After getting off the anchor I saw some frigate birds offshore and found a handful of mahi under them. The gang decided to make it a half day and they were all smiles once we got to the dock (Tiffany never lost hers). They will be back in February looking for a better weather day.

The sailfish bite was pretty good but Young was only interested in what they could eat so we started were we left off yesterday with the yellowtail snapper. The wind had come around to the north and the current was to the north and I quickly became disappointed with the lack of cooperation by the snapper and it became obvious we had to move on.
The deep water treated us OK although we covered a lot of miles to put together a decent catch. Dexter and Douglass did great while their dad looked on and helped make sure they followed Dave's directions. Young and his boys will be back next year to do it again and hopefully we will have as beautiful a day as we had today for them.

Pati and I were headed home after our morning fishing expedition when this group came up to Dave at the dock and said they wanted to go fishing. Dave let me know the situation, said  he had a mate lined up to fish in the afternoon  and off they went. An hour or so ago he sent me this picture of a great catch of yellowtail snapper they had put together this afternoon. Nice job Dave!

I actually said as we got to the reef "we were going back home" this morning as there were storms around and the waves were way more then I thought my crew could handle. Fortunately we stayed and the fish cooperated. In the two hours we fished Chris, Pam and Steve were able to put 30 yellowtails in the boat and at that point (although seas were getting much nicer) we decided to head in. Great Job everyone!! Take your seasick pills next time Riley Rose.

What started as a full day turned into a half day as Jack "the younger" was not doing well almost from the start of our day. He didn't complain but  Andy and Jen decided he wasn't going to recover without firm land under his feet and we headed in after a few hours but not before Andy had caught our limit of 30 yellowtail snapper. Andy will be back, not sure we will see jack again.