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Fishing Reports for Local Area - Location |
    
Captain Rich Smith (Captrichsmith)
New member
Username: Captrichsmith
Post Number: 4
Registered: 5-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008 - 6:04 am: | |
Snook and redfish fishing has significantly improved in the everglades. Large snook over 30 inches were eating Rapala X-raps in Whitewater Bay, Hells Bay and Pearl bay. Fly fishing, on the other hand, remained difficult. Unless, of course, you find a good spot out of the wind.
The same goes for Biscayne Bay, with wind posing a major problem on the flats. A few schools of bonefish in the seven to nine pound range have been entering the shallow flats from the deeper channel of Angelfish Creek. If you are looking for entertainment, barracuda up to four feet long are pounding artificial lures and making drags scream along the shorelines. |
Captain Rich Smith (Captrichsmith)
New member
Username: Captrichsmith
Post Number: 2
Registered: 5-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - 10:41 am: | |
Miami, FL If you are able to time the weather patterns to work in your advantage Biscayne Bay can be very productive working grounds for all your Bonefish chasing needs. The key to your success lies primarily on water temperature. Bonefish are most active in water temperatures above 72 Degrees. During these winter months cold fronts can drag the bay water temperatures below this critical number and force the Bonefish to refuge to deeper warmer water. This is why you will often see Bonefish in large schools waking in
2-4 feet of water. So what this means is if your temperature gauge is indicating colder water you should move toward the edge of the flat and begin your search. The majority of Permit are still hanging out on the offshore wreck located outside Biscayne Bay. However, there are a few lost schools hanging out on the West side of the bay. These are not out typical spring time numbers but if you are lucky to stumble across one a quarter sized crab will certainly entice him to do a little drag screaming action for ya like my buddy Blair often says on his television show Addictive Fishing. If its Tarpon you are after you should primarily turn your focus
north ward to Government Cut Canal. Most of the numbers will be found in areas like the cut due to deeper warmer water and a constant abundance of bait fish so they don’t have to travel far for their meals. Crabs, Mullet, and Pinfish, and Pilchards are the baits of choice for these Jurassic creatures. Tarpon can also be caught on Rapala X-Raps in bright colors in Flamingo and the Everglades National Park.
www.captainrichsmith.com |
CaptainIDS (Captainids)
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Username: Captainids
Post Number: 51
Registered: 9-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 10:19 am: | |
Are you a Licensed Coast Guard Captain?
This is for you
http://www.captainids.com/ |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 67
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 5:21 am: | |
New contact information for Bouncer;
Phone 305-573-8224 e-mail capt.bouncer@bellsouth.net
Hurricane season ends today. Hurrah!!! Now the winter fishing season starts. Thanksgiving morning we had fishing at it’s best. Good weather and family out for some fun action with light tackle and fly gear. We anchored on a county wreck in 45 feet of water and caught fish by the dozens on fly and spinning rods rigged with jigs or live bait. Live chumming with small pilchards, we had the blue runners, small amberjacks, juvenile kings and mackerel boiling behind the boat. Everyone had sore arms when we quit to head in for the family dinner and football games on the TV.
Friday it was back to big game fishing. With plans for sails and swordfish, we left the dock with hopes high after hearing about some sails caught between 11 and noon. By the time we caught bait, the bite was over. No action came our way over the afternoon.
The swordfish were a little more active. As the radio hummed with reports of action, we had a couple false starts as bites came better than hook-ups on both squid and runners. Finally around 9:30 we got a solid hook set. The fish jumped twice and charged the boat. My deckhand, Leo leader the fish along side the boat and when the fish offered a shot with the gaff, Leo took it. He now had a 160 pound swordfish, about as tired as a linebacker coming out of the tunnel at the start of a big game, gaffed through the lips with his one gloved hand holding the bill. I sank another gaff into the fish and we pulled it aboard before it knew what happened. Everyone ran for the bow as this enraged gladiator swam around the cockpit breaking it’s bill loose at the eyes and wearing it’s tail lobes off. The anglers were thrilled as it was John’s first swordfish and they were having swordfish steaks for Sunday’s cookout back in South Carolina.
The weekend brought rough weather. We trolled up a few mackerel in the ship channel on Saturday and cancelled Sundays trip.
Monday we fished with Cindy and Jeanne Pemberton. Seas were still rough and we had Government Cut to our selves. We trolled plugs and spoons for a couple hours and caught a dozen Spanish mackerel, a couple dozen small king mackerel and bunches of jack crevalle. We all had a riot of fun. We had to try the ocean for a couple hours. We should have stayed in the bay. It was rough and all we caught outside was a Spanish mackerel and a 14 pound king. We made a quick pass through the action area of the cut, and the fish were still feeding at will.
Sails, dolphin, kings and grouper should be very active through the end of the year. Mackerel should be wearing out anglers near shore and the swordfish will be thick if the weather ever let’s us get out there. LET’S GO FISHING!!!!! Contact me at 305-573-8224 or capt.bouncer@bellsouth.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 66
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 11, 2005 - 6:06 am: | |
Well we survived the hurricanes with no major problems. Just like last year, we lost most of two months of fishing to hurricane season. And, I don’t mean the football team. We had no damage. I think of those unfortunate people in the Gulf States, or those less lucky around here, I wish I could do something more for them.
We have gotten back into the fishing mode. We fished last Wednesday and caught a small tiger shark, a 100 pound Atlantic sharp nose shark, more dolphin than we could keep track of ( released all but 6 to eat) and a sailfish.
Last Thursday we caught 6 dolphin and a sailfish. We had tough luck, in missing more dolphin than we caught. Both days there were loads of mackerel and jacks at all the favorite bait spots. We wanted bigger things, and the sails filled that bill.
I worked the boat show over the weekend and saw a lot of good friends and made some new ones.
This week we have fished everyday. We wreck fished on Monday and caught a big African pompano, 25 pond black grouper, 2 amberjacks, a big barracuda, several small king mackerel and a few Spanish mackerel.
Tuesday we fished north Biscayne Bay for tarpon and jacks. We saw plenty of tarpon, but they had lock jaw. We fished a couple ocean wrecks on the way home and caught some big bar jacks.
Wednesday it was drifting the edge of the reef. We found good action in 50 to 100 feet of water. We caught kings to over 30 pounds, Spanish mackerel and a small shark. It was good fun. In the afternoon we tried out deep and caught a couple dolphin.
Early Thursday morning found those kings and mackerel hungry again. We fished numerous wrecks with no action. We then fished the color change in 500 feet of water and caught some dolphin. Our final move was into 70 to 90 feet of water and produced a couple nice kings and a sailfish to end a nice day on the water.
Sails, dolphin, kings and grouper should be very active through the end of the year. Mackerel should be wearing out anglers near shore and the swordfish will be thick if the weather ever let’s us get out there. LET’S GO FISHING!!!!! 305-945-5114 or capt.bouncer@att.net
We will be sharing 40 years of swordfish and sail fishing knowledge with you, if you come to our seminar at Dusky Sport Center 110 N. Bryan Road in Dania Beach on Thursday , November 17th. Call them at 954-922-8890. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 65
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - 7:03 am: | |
Boy! Have we been lazy with the reports. The truth is with storms and getting ready to move, I haven’t been thinking about fishing in my spare time. No we are not moving the boat, just the home. Since our last report we did one Bimini trip. It was very good and a lot of fun. We fished with a fleet of Dusky owners who caught yellowtail snapper, grouper, big king mackerel and plenty of other fine fish. Every afternoon ended in the pool at the Bimini Sands Beach Club where fish tales ran rampant.
We have done some swordfish trips. We fished 3 nights with 8 pound line. The first night we caught one about 40 pounds. You learn how tough these fish are when they are heavier than the line. It took 8 hours and 20 minutes to defeat this fish. When released, he swam away in good condition. The next night we fought one for about 45 minutes before he escaped and the last evening we fought one for about 20 minutes before we ran out of line. We will catch them on 8 pound line again in two weeks.
We fished a tournament this last Saturday night and caught 2 swordfish of about 50 and 65 pounds, a 100 pound hammerhead shark plus 3 night sharks from 10 to 140 pounds.
Yesterday we targeted bottom fish. We spent half the day going for mutton snapper and caught a 7 pound mutton and a 6 pound African pompano. The other half of the day was aimed at grouper and we caught 4 gray grouper from 8 to 15 pounds and a 8 pound red grouper. As a bonus we caught a 10 pound blackfin tuna on a flat lined herring in 200 feet of water.
Last evening we went after the grouper again. The bad news was that we went 0 for 4 on the good strikes. The good news was that we caught a nice sailfish on that flatlined herring. We snooked fished for about 90 minutes without any action.
Sailfish season is rapidly approaching and we will get pretty busy, so let’s stat planning those trips. We are still available for the Hydro Glow, Dark Side of the Moon tournament and the Fort Lauderdale billfish tournaments. There is a fly division in the Fort Lauderdale tournament if you want a special challenge. To plan your trip email me at capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 64
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 7:04 pm: | |
It has been a nice week after a rough weekend. We went looking for dolphin before setting up for swordfish on Tuesday night. We found numerous boards and lobster floats, but no mahi mahi. We scored big with a nice cobia under a board about 15 miles off. Our first bait out for swords was eaten by a beautiful 80 pound tiger shark, which we released.
We had 3 swordfish bites fought one a while and briefly fought another, but it was 3 outs for the night.
Mike Shapiro and his son had a good time with bonitos, kings and cudas on Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon and evening found Brooke and Joe catching snook to 25 pounds and a tarpon.
Thursday Brooke and Joe caught a bunch of cudas, bonito and hook a nice sailfish. For the first time in my 39 years of full time fishing, a huge mako shark came up and ate the sailfish about 50 feet from the boat. What a huge dorsal fin cut through the water when that beast rose to the surface. Later in the day, Joe caught and released his first whole sailfish.
Friday morning I got together with some class mates from my elementary school days at Norland. We had a lot of laughs and caught some bonito, a king and a super 50+ pound wahoo.
Friday afternoon the George Bubrick family caught 1 of 2 sailfish, a couple bonito, a couple barracuda and a couple nice snook.
We are sold out for September, so let’s start planning the months ahead. E-mail me at capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 63
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 9:01 am: | |
We have had some really good fishing the last two nights. We took out some guys from the MTV awards show on Tuesday night. They only had two and a half hours to fish. In that time we caught bait ( not very easy at the time), executed a rescue with EMS and the Coast Guard and caught a few nice fish. We targeted snook in the inlet. The first bait in the water was struck when it hit the water, but the fish got away. The second bait was a nice tarpon. With 3 or 4 breaks in the action to help a hooked angler on the jetty get rescued, we still ended up with that tarpon, 4 snook and a bunch of “big ones that got away”. The guy on the jetty had a plug with two big treble hooks rigged on his rod. He had a 5 pound jack on one hook and the other hook in his arm. He had no pliers to cut the line or hooks. Being out on the jetty’s rough terrain with no tools had him stuck in place. EMS couldn’t risk climbing out to him. We couldn’t drive into the rocks to get him. We convinced the Coast Guard to dispatch an inflatable to pull up to the rocks and pick up the poor guy. Always keep a pair of cutting pliers on you when your fishing. They need to be on you all the time. They may save your life.
Wednesday night we went sword fishing with Steve and Darin. On the way out, I spotted a 8 foot 2X4 floating 15 miles offshore. We caught 20 dolphin in short order. I was sure we had caught 8 or 10 and released a couple of those. You could have knocked me over with a sneeze when I learned we had put 18 dolphin in the box. It was a good lesson in staying in touch with your catch count. We never would have kept that many if we had realized how many we had caught.
We ran a couple more miles and put out the swordfish spread. We fished two rigged squid and two live baits. With no moon, we fished one bait with no lead other than the batteries in the blue light 30 feet above the bait. This bait hung 80 feet below a jug float. The other lines were down 100 to 300 feet. Fishing in 1140 to 1160 feet of water we caught 4 out of 5 swordfish. 4 of the fish were hooked on the same setup described above. The other swam up to the boat while we fought the first fish of the night and we fed him a live speedo. We saw one other swordfish in the glow of the Hydro Glow Fish Light. All the fish were 46 to 52 inch lower jaw to fork of tail length. One that was hooked deep down the throat was kept for dinner. Each time we caught a swordfish we ran back to the same numbers, set up another drift and caught another swordfish or a shark.
Our last action was catching one of two shark that struck about 11 PM. The shark was a night shark of about 125 to 150 pounds.
Prime swordfish season is over the next two months. We have a few dates left, so let’s plan a trip. E-mail capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 62
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2005 - 7:35 am: | |
August has produced above normal action for this time of year. We spent a few days in Bimini with Lee Lavery and Pat Flury from Dania. The yellowtail snapper were challenging, but we caught enough to have fun. We also caught some nice yellow eye and button snapper in the deep water. Lee scored big with her first cobia. This 30 pound fish found us on a shallow wreck east of the island.
When we got back from Bimini it was time to test the local bottom fishing. We fished for 4 days with Renny and his friends from Hong Kong. They caught a tagged 80 pound sailfish in 300 feet of water on a live herring. During their 4 days they caught a bunch of big vermillion snapper, dozens of porgy, a few snowy groupers, a couple black grouper, a kingfish and some almaco jacks. They had sore arms a couple times.
This past Thursday Bill and 8 year old Wyatt Rubin fished with us. Wyatt stole the show. He caught 3 kingfish, but the tail got bit off the biggest one. This 20 pound fish lost a race with a shark and turned into a 15 pound king mackerel. Wyatt also caught a nice barracuda and really showed off with a 25 pound wahoo and a sailfish. Bill was snake bit. After falling out of the boat, the fish were so Leary of him, that they spit the hook if he touched the rod.
Thursday night J Dawg, a.k.a. Jacob or Jake Reiner did something that I have feared, but not seen before. His first snook ever was a 15 pound beauty before a 40 pound barracuda bit it in half 20 feet behind the boat. That was a bummer. He and his dad did catch and release a couple nice ones, in whole condition.
Friday Jake and his dad, Mike joined us for a couple days in Bimini. We fished shallow wrecks for fast action the first half of Friday’s fishing. Gray snapper to 3 or 4 pounds were hot and heavy along with big blue runners. Jake used live pilchards while his father learned how to scored with the fly rod. The second half of the day was spent on wrecks in 90 feet of water and produced 6 big horse eye jacks and a 18 pound black grouper.
Saturday morning was back to shallow wreck fishing. We had a ball catching fish as fast as the baits hit the water. 2 cobia made both Jake and Mike instant heroes in the scoring department. They caught yellowtail snapper, big blue runners and sharks till the J Dawg collapsed on the bench with exhaustion. Mike is now a fly fishing master. His cast are long and straight. The sharks and big blue runners fear him. Mike caught a lot of fish on the fly rod, but there were a couple he wants a rematch with. That cobia that nibbled the back of the fly will bug him the rest of the year.
Needing a break, we ran to the drop off. We anchored in 60 feet of water and the fish were waiting for the chum to hit the water. Clouds of yellowtails fought the chubs for lunch. After missing a couple big grouper, catching several yellowtails and fighting a couple mackerel and barracuda, we moved to 100 feet of water in search of the missing giant shark. Jake had caught a couple 80 pound beauties on Friday and a bunch of 15 pound sharks in the morning, but he needed a monster. In 30 minutes three sharks answered our call. The first ripped 80 pound line from the reel like a north bound freight train, cutting our line on the drop off. The second abused Jake for several minutes before breaking the 100 leader. Finally Mike beat a 75 pound attacker as time ran out on our adventure. We sure had a lot of fun and action on this trip.
To join the fun e-mail capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 61
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 5:25 am: | |
Good bye July and hello August. July went out with a bang. We were so busy catching fish, that we did a bad job of updating our reports.
On the 17th we caught 6 mutton snappers, a black grouper, a big red grouper, a sailfish, king, 6 bonitos, a yellow jack and an amberjack for an action filled day. All these fish were caught while anchor fishing over reefs and wrecks in 90 to 120 feet of water with the Lyndon Fly party.
On the 18th we fished an evening trip with Brad and Drew Orvieto and caught 8 snook to 18 pounds, 3 jack crevalle, 2 barracuda and 2 out of 3 tarpon that we hooked. We fished around the inlet with live herring for bait.
On the 19th Gary and his guest fished from 5 to 9 PM around the inlet with us. They caught 20 snook, most of which were 12 to 21 pounds and 3 big jack crevalle. They used 71 live herring during the trip and had strikes on nearly every bait.
On the 20th Ziad Sultan fished with us by himself. He caught a sailfish, 4 grouper 12 to 20 pounds, a big porgy, a mutton snapper, a snook and 3 barracudas.
We took a little vacation till the 29th. On the 29th Mariano, his brother and sister Annie caught a 17 pound red grouper, a 13 pound genuine red snapper, a dozen almaco jacks, 6 bonito and a barracuda.
That evening Brian and his son Mitchell Adam caught 7 snook, 2 barracuda and 2 jack crevalle up to 15 pounds.
Saturday, the 30th, Armondo Montalvo and his son Eddie and I headed for Bimini. On the way across we caught 4 dolphin. The afternoon produced 25 yellowtail snapper, 2 big amberjack, a barracuda, a shark and black grouper of 24 and 28 pounds.
Sunday they caught 8 big yellowtails, a 16 pound red grouper, 6 school size dolphin, 6 barracuda, a wahoo over 30 pounds and a matching bull dolphin over 30 pounds.
Monday they finished their trip with a bunch of yellowtail snapper, 6 big horse eye jacks, some 5 pound blue runners and 5 sharks from 75 to 150 pounds.
Wednesday we were back to Miami fishing. Mike, Mike and Alex caught 4 sailfish. 3 of these sails ate baits that were at least 60 feet below the surface on weighted lines. The weighted lines also produced 4 king mackerel over 10 pounds each, 6 bonitos, 2 barracudas and a 35 pound African pompano.
That evening was slow at the inlet. We caught 2 small snook and 2 small barracuda.
Thursday George and Georgie caught 1 of 2 sailfish. We had a nice blue marlin eat a bait, but escape. 3 kings and 3 bonito filled out their day.
On the evening trip 11 year old Jamilea caught a blackfin tuna over 30 pounds plus a bonito. Her sister 12 year old Desiree caught a couple kings and a bonito and they let their dad, Gary, catch a bonito as well.
Friday, young men, Sam and Matt cashed in on their first prize from the Lighthouse Point Light Keeper’s Tournament. They caught 3 out of 6 sailfish, a big blackfin tuna, 4 kings, 4 bonitos and a jack crevalle.
Friday evening produced a snook, a jack crevalle, 3 kings and 2 bonitos.
It is swordfish time. Let’s go catch some. E mail me at capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 60
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 8:34 am: | |
Hey we finally did some more fishing off our home coast. As you all know, we normally fish off Miami Beach, Florida. As many of you know, we have been spending a lot of time in the Bahamas. We started this week there. It was raining every afternoon, along with 30 knot winds and lightning. We caught a few fish between the storms. We had barracudas, cero mackerel, yellowtails and small jacks on fly. We had plenty of yellowtails on light spinning tackle and plugs or bucktail and we even caught a few fish on live bait. We had a lot of fun, but none of the spectacular fish we have been spoiled by over the last couple months.
We fished with old friends and new on Thursday. They wanted dolphin for weekend barbeques, so off we went. We trolled lures at 10 knots as we searched for birds or other signs of fish. We hit a school of undersized fish at about 11 miles. We hit a single 6 pound fish at 14 miles. Thing were looking bad, when we were tipped off on a bunch of fish at 20 miles. We hurried out there and hit the jackpot. We caught dolphin from 5 to 12 pounds on pilchards. We caught a bunch of nice ones on fly as well. Jay Stafford caught our best catch with a 15 pound bull dolphin on fly. It was a great fish for a guy who started the day telling us about his previous best fly catch. That was a 20 inch brown trout in Montana.
Friday we fished the edge, in an effort to have all day action. Wrong, it was slow. A small barracuda from time to time, a nice king mackerel and some missed bites consumed most of our time. Knowing that the tide was perfect for the inlet in the afternoon saved our day. Both anglers, father and son, caught snook, jacks and barracuda before the day was over.
Saturday was back to the dolphin hunt. With 3 tournaments scheduled off Miami and beautiful weather, I thought it would be tough fishing. It turned out great. We had 3 generations of fishermen on board and the fishing was good. We hit a real good school under a bird picking in the grass at 16 miles. We caught a bunch of 5 to 8 pound fish and the 12 year old member of our anglers scored with a 21 pound bull. This fish was extra tough, being hooked in the tail. We hit a bunch of fish at 11 miles under a flock of birds. Half were under the 20 inch fork length required by law and the others were up to 6 or 8 pounds. One more school of under sized fish was spiced buy the 12 year old catching another 9 pound bull.
We ran back inshore and put out the live bait for a while. We were rewarded by a 19 pound tuna, before going home.
Saturday night was the Hydro Glow Summer Swordfish Slam tournament. They had 79 boats hunting the gladiator of the seas. We were fishing this event on Marty Arostegui’s Cabo, “Timely Sale” as the Hydro Glow Fishing Team. We had the baits out by 8 PM, but fishing was slow. About 10, the radio started to crackle with reports of swordfish catches. We were getting into shallow water, so I called for another set. We moved offshore and set up again. The fleet had several fish boated and released by midnight, when I called for another move. I stopped in 1776 feet of water off Haulover Cut. As we were setting out the lines, the one I was adjusting got hit. I called for 13 year old Martini to catch the fish. He locked up and the fight was on. It didn’t take long before he had a 52 inch fork length swordfish on the deck. It had swallowed a rigged squid down 225 feet on the long jug rod. We put the lines back out and about 25 minutes latter the same rod screamed for attention again. This acted like a bigger fish. At 1 hour on the rod, Martini was frustrated that no fish had ever made him work so hard and then ran off another hundred yards of line. It took a while, but finally the fish were in sight. The fish were? 1 bait, 1 hook 1 rod, what is this the fish were? Martini’s 137.8 pound beautiful swordfish was escorted by another bigger fish. Right up to the boat it came. Marty hit Martini’s fish with the gaff, handed the gaff to our mate Aaron and grabbed his fly rod to make a few cast at the following swordfish. It was gone and we headed for the weigh in. Second place in the tournament for the Hydro Glow Fishing Team pleased us all.
July is fast approaching. Bimini beckons and the prime months for swordfish are upon us. Snook will be filling the inlet Let’s plan some great fishing adventures. E-mail capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 59
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 4:06 am: | |
We just finished another super trip to Bimini. We were there with the Aizpuru family, dad Rick, sons Matt and Dan, and their friend John Mahoney. The weather was flat calm with 88 degree highs.
The first day we ran across the Gulf Stream, checked in with Bahamas Customs and our hotel and then went fishing. We tried a couple wrecks on the bank and caught small black grouper, tons of big blue runners, barracuda, yellowtails and a couple of nice sharks for the boys. We stopped on a ledge on the way back to the island and scored some 2 to 3 pound gray snapper for dinner.
Day two started with a 25 mile run to the south. We found the yellowtail snapper to be very hungry. You could catch them as fast as you baited your hook. For spice we added a few cero mackerel on pilchards and a barracuda on fly. About noon, the current picked up and the fishing slowed. This inspired us to run up on the bank and try another wreck.
At the wreck, Josh, my fellow crew member and I could not keep the guys rigged. They were catching sharks, barracudas, blue runners, groupers and who knows what. The action was non-stop. Rick got a shark on fly and John tricked a barracuda into eating his fly as well. It was obvious why everyone slept all the way back to the hotel pool.
Day three produced a couple big sharks for the boys. Matt got a 80 pound reef shark and Dan got a 150 pound hammerhead. When the current picked up the big yellowtail snapper turned on. It was fast action for them as well as cero mackerel and some sea monsters that would occasionally eat the yellowtails if you wound too slow.
Day four was planned as a slower pace as we continued an urgent search for a big grouper. The Aizpurus snorkeled a shallow wreck with nurse sharks and barracuda plus all the snappers and other reef fish. Then they explored a shallow ledge with beautiful reef fish and corals. In the afternoon we tried a deep drop north of the island with no results. I was beginning to worry that John would go home without his dream grouper. I ran 14 miles to a very good deep grouper spot. We dropped 1250 feet down and soon hooked up. The fight was on. 15 minutes latter the cat shark had been caught and released. The next drop produced some good snapper bites and we seemed to have one on, but the hooks came up empty. We dropped again. We had a good bite, but we were hung in the bottom. We jerked, we pulled with the boat, we pulled harder with the boat, we tightened the drag and pulled some more. The sinker broke off, but the rod stayed bent. We had a fish on. John pushed the button as the fish rose from 1290 feet below. It was his 25 pound mystic grouper. Smiles and cheers went up all around.
It was after 4 and the boys needed some action before hitting the pool. We tried one wreck, but nothing happened. We tried another wreck and as soon as the chum hit the water, the yellowtail snapper were solid behind the boat. It was fast action on light tackle. Suddenly the heavy deep rod was slammed. Matt jumped on it and caught a 24 pound black grouper. Another grouper ate the bait as it was going down on the very next drop. John scored with a 18 pound black grouper. The yellowtails were joined by rainbow runners and Dan got a good black grouper on the bottom before we headed to the pool.
The action for 4 days had been great. Fresh fish for dinner every night, plenty of fish for everyone to stock their freezers for great dinners over the next month, super memories, but it was time to head back to the real world. Day 5 would be passed by searching for dolphin, tuna and billfish while trolling west for home. Of course with this group, that would mean plenty of action. 10 miles from Bimini we found our first weeds, birds and fish. 3 to 6 pound dolphin surrounded the boat and were ready to eat. Just as action got hot and heavy, Matt hooked a monster on a light action bonefish rod with 12 pound line. I called for everyone to clear their lines as Matt went to work. 90 minutes latter Matt had beaten the biggest 35 pound bull dolphin anyone will ever see. It had the profile of a 45 pound fish, but the scale said 35. It was a spectacular battle, won by a fine angler.
Every ten miles we would find another little school of dolphin. We caught a couple on fly and plenty of catch and releases on bait as well. Then 16 miles off Miami Beach we found the dream floater. It was an Amazonian log. This piece of natural wood was at least 10 by 6 by 3 feet. It was surrounded by dolphin, a couple sharks and assorted other offshore fish. We finished our trip with nonstop action on fly rods and spinners catching and releasing fish from 4 to 14 pounds till the bait well was empty and the arms were tired.
July is fast approaching. Bimini beckons and the prime months for swordfish are upon us. Snook will be filling the inlet Let’s plan some great fishing adventures. E-mail capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 58
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 11:38 am: | |
Can you find us now? We have been to Germany and the Bahamas since our last report. Germany was great, but no fishing.
While I was gone, Capt. Josh produced 2 big tarpon and a cobia for our guest on his one evening trip.
On my first trip after Germany we caught 10 species’ of fish. We caught a 20 pound king and a cero mackerel. Then we caught a sailfish. The next spot produced 3 yellowtail snapper, ½ mutton snapper, a black grouper, a big rainbow runner and a big yellow jack. Finally we made a drift out deep and caught a dolphin fish and small tuna. It was a very interesting day.
We went to Bimini with Ron and Jina Crowder as well as John Nilson and Capt. Allan Engel. We were there from Wednesday till Sunday. With a tropical storm passing by we had plenty of wind and rain. Through it all we caught some very nice fish.
When all was tallied, we had several cero mackerel to 16 pounds. That is world record size. We had 4 mutton snapper to 10 pounds, a bunch of gray snapper from 3 to 4.5 pounds, 4 king mackerel, piles of yellowtail snapper, a mess of big blue runners and to many ocean tally. The biggest were, amberjack of 39, 42 and 42 pounds. The black grouper were 21, 19, 14, 11 and 23 pounds. We only caught a few barracuda and sharks this trip.
In the 22 boat tournament we were fishing, we won top male angler, top female angler, top amberjack, top gray snapper and top cero mackerel.
It is back to Bimini tomorrow. We have plenty of days available in July and August, so let’s go fishing. E-mail capt.bouncer@att.net . |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 57
Registered: 9-2003
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 29, 2005 - 8:31 am: | |
We have been having a ball in Bimini. We went over on May 15th with a bunch of friends from Wisconsin and caught fish till everyone collapsed on the deck. The 16th started slow with a long search for dolphin going dry. We saved the day with lots big yellowtails on fly and amberjack, sharks and ¾ of a 30 pound grouper on the heavy tackle.
The 17th was phenomenal. We fished 20 miles south of Bimini and when the dust settled we had caught a pending world record cero mackerel for Emmett. It was 10.5 pounds on 20 pound tippet fly. Emmett also caught a 17 pound king on fly, a bunch of yellowtails snapper on fly and several more cero mackerel on fly. Pat had a bunch of yellowtail and cero on the fly, plus a 16 pound dolphin and a 14 pound king on fly.
The BIG action was the 6 or 7 amberjack, in the 40 pound class, that ate their flies right behind the boat, abused them for 3 to 10 minutes each time and escaped. You have to see these brutes eat a popper to appreciate that strike.
The 18th was more of the same, more ceros, plenty of yellowtails and at least 8 or 9 amberjack that gave the boys a sense of hope before getting away.
Kip Kerr and his buddies were down for a few days when we got back to Miami. The fishing was a little slow, but on two days we got sailfish, tarpon and dolphin. We caught blackfin tuna, king mackerel, barracuda and bonito for spice and had a good time.
We caught a few tarpon on night trips and headed back to Bimini on the 24th.
Don and Sandy Blake were fishing with us and it was a ball. Day one was 2 to 4 pound snapper on fly, plug and spin for hours. Of course a bunch of assorted jacks and barracuda added to the game.
Late in the day, I decided to try one more spot. It was a dream come true as potential world record almaco jacks swarmed around the boat. When the day was called by approaching darkness, we had a couple possible records in the boat.
Don had a 10 pound fish on fly 15. Sandy had 14 pound fish on 12 spin. Both could be world records as well as Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club records.
Day two was off to the shallow wrecks. We caught snapper and assorted jacks for hours. Then Don and Sandy must have thought things were too slow. Sandy hooked a big fish on 8 pound spin. Don hooked a huge barracuda on 6 pound general. The two of them danced under, over, around and through each other for 25 minutes. Finally Sandy boated a beautiful 24 pound king mackerel on a little Tsunami rubber sand eel, rigged on 8 pound spin tackle. Don caught and released a whopping 26 pound barracuda on 6 pound general tackle. What a double header.
The day settled down with several more big barracuda on fly and tackle as light as 4 pound test.
Day three started slow. A sunken barge showed plenty of snapper and big runners, but they were slow to bite. A big amberjack showed up and while I tried to get it excited about Don’s fly, I hooked it on 12 pound tackle. It was a great fight, but I wanted Don or Sandy to catch that fish. Don scored with a nice cobia on fly as the tide changed and fishing got slow on this wreck.
We moved to where the almaco jack had been two days before. They were there and hungry. We missed 6 on fly and caught 4 of the 10 we hooked on tackle with 4 to 8 pound test line. We may have added 3 more world records. All this plus several cero mackerel and when they stopped biting, we were off to find more.
I ran 5 miles north to another spot when a feeling came over me to run another 4 mile east to a different reef. Sometimes you have to listen to your inner being.
This reef was full of yellowtail that were slow to eat, and I was starting to chew myself out when the action exploded. Schools of 6 to 12 pound amberjack invaded our waters. Don and Sandy were hooked up on anything as fast as it hit the water. More of the under and over, around and through dances raced around the cockpit. This one on fly, that one on 8 spin. What tackle was that? It was the best.
A couple barracuda and handsome pompanettes and we were headed back toward the falling sun and aspirin bottle. There were some sore arms to treat with big smiles to wash them down.
3 great ones fished with us the last two days. Larry Scheroder, Captain Sam Crutchfield and Captain Terry Shawnessy are well known in the fishing world. We spent 2 days chasing fish and fun around Bimini. We caught a bunch of yellowtail snapper, a slew of gray snapper, a couple of sharks, a cobia, some cudas, jacks and some I forgot.
Oh! Captain Sam caught a nice mutton snapper and a whopping 50 pound black grouper on a little plugging outfit. Larry won a old Pfleuger Supreme tournament with 3 strawberry grouper and a queen trigger fish.
It was some month of May. We will be on the water a lot over most of June, but we are available from the 27th through the 30th of June. Plan your trip for this summer or the distant future. E-mail capt.bouncer@att.net . Tight lines and good fishin’. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 56
Registered: 9-2003
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 5:28 am: | |
Boy, have we had some good fishing. Wednesday we fished with Patrick Fixter from New Jersey. He wanted his best chance for sailfish and tarpon, so we left the dock at 1 PM. This would give us some day fishing as well as the evening tarpon. I hope that by now he can use his arms. Pat fished alone because his daughter is too young for a day on the water and his wife stay with her. Pat caught 4 blackfin tuna up to 30 pounds, 3 out of 8 sailfish a king mackerel and 15 bonito. We missed a couple dolphin along the way. This was off Key Biscayne in 120 to 180 feet of water with live bait on flat lines and the kite. We did miss out on the tarpon as we ran out of time before we could get a hook up on the silver king.
Thursday we only fished the evening trip. Ben and Dominick were still trying to get Dom his first sailfish, so we started there. He got it, but it was tough. Dominick fought this sailfish for 70 minutes. It was one very tough 65 or 70 pound fish. After the sail, we headed back to the beach to catch Ben one more tarpon before he headed back north for the summer. Not to be out done, he caught a very tough 100 pound tarpon in another marathon battle.
Friday we fished with John Kunz and one of his friends. It was a good day of action. We caught 15 dolphin up to 15 pounds, 6 king mackerel all around 12 to 15 pounds, a bonito, a sailfish and a blackfin tuna in waters from 100 to 250 feet deep of Miami Beach. Friday evening we were treated to the presents of the Pemberton family. Tom and Cindy with daughter Jeanne. Tom started things going with a nice tarpon. Jeanne followed with a 29 inch snook. Then it was Cindy with a 45 inch barracuda. Here was a slow down in the action, so we changed locations and Cindy scored with a 100 pound tarpon on a live crab. After she had brought the fish to the leader in 15 minutes, she let Tom fight it for 25 minutes. Then Tom turned the rod over to Jeanne who fought it for another 20 minutes before the tarpon finally surrendered.
Saturday we fished a 15 boat tournament for Avborne Corporation. Our angler was Phil Fields from Seattle Washington. Phil was the hottest hand in town. We left late, and came in early, but Phil caught a load of fish. Phil caught 4 blackfin tuna up to 36 pounds. He caught a king and a bonito. And along with all that he caught 4 sailfish, his first sails ever. Unconfirmed reports indicated that Phil won this event.
Saturday night Nick Santori fished with his son Nick and friend Tom. They all were called upon to battle a magnificent 175 pound tarpon that ate a crab at Government Cut. This big lady took them on a guided tour of the area off Miami Beach for over an hour before releasing them to return to the safety of shore. The sight of this lady jumping clear of the water half a dozen times will stick with all of us through many fish stories.
May should bring plenty of dolphin into our waters. Blackfin tuna, sailfish and king mackerel should keep smiles on anglers faces daily. Tarpon and snook will be hot near shore. We will be presenting a seminar on dolphin fishing at Dusky Sport Center 110 N. Bryan Road Dania Beach at 6 PM on May 19th. Call 954-922-8890 for details. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 55
Registered: 9-2003
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:20 am: | |
Rain, rain ,rain. What a way to start the month. We had some serious rain to start the month of May. At least it quit after a few days. With the rain and stalled front that brought it, fishing was a little slow for a few days. We missed a couple trips and caught just a couple fish over the first few days of the month. Friday, that all changed for the better. The front got through, the wind came up from the northeast and the Gulf Stream current moved near the reef. This brought a day with 4 sailfish, a 25 pound king and a tarpon for Dick Dolloff and his guest from Seattle Washington.
Friday night we fished with a couple fellows nad jumped a sailfish before going for tarpon. The tarpon have been a little slow to start at night, but after dark the action has been good. As soon as darkness fell the guys caught a couple tarpon before going home.
Saturday was extra special as a mother took several friends of her family fishing for a Mother’s Day sailfish. Carrie Ferguson of Lake Worth, Fl. Brought Matt Mills, Claes Bell and Nick Freeman out on her adventure. They caught 6 sailfish, 2 dolphin, 2 barracuda, 2 bonito and a king mackerel. For a great day on the water. They fished from 100 to 200 feet of water off Key Biscayne with kite and flatline herring and sardines.
May should bring plenty of dolphin into our waters. Blackfin tuna, sailfish and king mackerel should keep smiles on anglers faces daily. Tarpon and snook will be hot near shore. We will be presenting a seminar on dolphin fishing at Dusky Sport Center 110 N. Bryan Road Dania Beach at 6 PM on May 19th. Call 954-922-8890 for details. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 54
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 7:00 am: | |
April is coming to an end with a bang. We fished Friday with Tom and 11 year old Peter Kane. They had heard that permit might be found around the full moon in April as well as hoping that they could match their friend Ben Cohen at catching a “Gold Coast Grand Slam”. Friday broke with no wind and no current. That meant that catching sails and dolphin might be tough, but it was good conditions for permit. It was a good call. Peter lost a couple permit before he landed a 20 pound beauty. Then it was Tom’s turn. Luck was not coming his way as several fish got away. Peter thought another lesson was called for. Peter proceeded to catch our best permit in a couple years. He scored with a 38 pound slab of power and handsome looks. That was enough for Tom. He then caught a permit around 20 pounds and we went searching for new game.
As the afternoon progressed, Peter and Tom both caught king mackerel. A small dolphin escaped from the kite bait and unfortunately, Peter did a great job fighting a sailfish before the hook pulled. Don’t worry the boys will be back Saturday night.
Friday night Ben Escanazi and his buddy Dominick entertained a couple of friends with some tarpon fishing. Things were slow till the sun went down, but then the tarpon went on a shrimp hunt. 4 tarpon found our shrimp, and 2 fought their way along side the boat for photos and releases.
Amanda and Steve Nichols, her father, decided to follow the Kane’s lead and try those permit. It was a good move as they caught 4 permit up to 32 pounds over a few hours. With no wind and thousands of boats out for the beautiful day, the other fish were in hiding. We caught 1 barracuda the rest of the trip. That was spending 2 hours running around looking for dolphin and anchoring on 3 wrecks.
Back to Tom and Peter. They joined us for the evening trip. The sails have bit just about every day between 5 and 7 PM. The Kane boys decided to give them a try before going for tarpon at dark. It was a great call as Peter caught and released a 35 to 40 pound sailfish and Tom did the same with a estimated 75 pound sailfish. Both fish fought very hard and long, so the boys were ready for some relaxing tarpon fishing. WRONG!!!
Just after dark a tarpon found our shrimp and Tom took the rod. 1 hour and 40 minutes latter, we released one very tough 120 pound tarpon. Rumor has it that Peter had to hold a straw to Tom’s lips for him to drink an ice tea the next day.
Hey we have some more fish to tell about. Sunday was a little slow, but we got 2 king mackerel and 3 bonito.
Sunday night found Jeremy and Genienne Hockensmith fishing with us. Genienne had a sailfish threaten to make her day before dark, but it never felt the hook. Even before dark, Jeremy was hooked up with a crazy tarpon. It jumped all around the area and other boats were running for cover. Next it tried to attack a cruise ship. After about 40 minutes of wild battle this 140 pound lady was worn out. A bunch of photos were taken and she was released to fight another day.
Monday Alan Clapp joined us to celebrate his 70th birthday while visiting his daughter. Alan has come from England to Florida every couple of years for 25 years to visit his family and fish with us. Monday he caught 3 of 4 sailfish, 4 dolphin, 4 bonitos, 2 barracudas and a kingfish. What a nice trip.
Monday evening Genienne and Jeremy were back. Genienne caught a beautiful sailfish and Jeremy missed a couple. They both caught 25 pound blackfin tuna at the same time and Genienne caught a tarpon while Jeremy caught a monster ladyfish.
Tuesday Alan Clapp was back for more. This spry young 70 year old scored with 4 of 4 sailfish, 3 blackfin tuna up to 28 pounds, 2 kings, 4 bonito and then fought a tarpon for a while, before it jumped off and then caught his first snook.
Tuesday night Jay Hanson caught 2 bonito, an 18 pound king and then did long battle with a spectacular 140 pound tarpon that towed us back to the marina.
If your ready to try and have a day like these, we have 5 days left in May. Let’s go catch some. E-mail capt.bouncer@att.net |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 53
Registered: 9-2003
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 7:44 am: | |
The action has stayed hot in April. We tarpon fished with live shrimp the other night and caught 3 out of 3 strikes on live shrimp. These fish were 100, 120 and 75 pounds and were released as always. The next night we had the same anglers, but they wanted to try sailfish. We fished from 4 to 8 PM. with live herring and caught 2 out of 3 sailfish plus a couple dolphin fish.
Friday we fished with light tackle experts, Don and Sandy Blake from Homestead, Florida. We started with Don catching a 5 pound Spanish mackerel on 8 pound test with a bucktail jig. Sandy made the next catch. She caught a beautiful 35 pound amberjack on 20 pound tackle. That opened the floodgates of fish. We soon had 3 more amberjacks on 20 pound tackle. Don added 3 on 15 pound plug tackle and a Tsunami rubber minnow. Then Don caught a 16 pound gray grouper on his minnow. Sandy added 2 amberjacks on 10 pound spin with a jig and worm combo. Worn out from jigging in deep water, we went hunting some surface action. Sandy soon caught a 12 pound dolphin under a frigate bird. While trying to entice a following 15 pound dolphin to eat a rubber minnow, a sailfish ate a herring behind the boat and Don made short work of it. 20 minutes latter Don scored again with a 15 pound bull dolphin released from under another frigate. When the birds retired we set up the kite in 130 to 170 feet of water off Government Cut and produced a king, another sailfish and a couple more dolphin, all caught and released, before calling it a day.
Saturday was a little tough. It was blowing 25 to 30 so we were forced to do our fishing in the bay. Mathew Azipuru had flown down from Minnesota to celebrate his 14th birthday by catching a tarpon and anything else that would bite. We fished the bay for several hours. We had a lot of chances at several tarpon over 100 pounds each, but they were driving us nuts. We had a couple that took the bait and burst into the air to throw the hook. We had a couple that bent the rod over, ran drag rose to the surface and spit the bait out. Then we hooked one. He raced across Biscayne Bay jumping and running as he covered 150 yards. He was in the air half the time. BANG! The line had broken. It was fairly new, but for some reason it had failed. The next 45 minutes brought no more bites, so it was time to try the beach south of Government Cut. Fishing with live shrimp we caught a couple nice jack crevalles. Then we had a 50 pound tarpon on for several jumps before he threw the hook. Finally just after dark we hook a tarpon over 100 pounds. It ran, it jumped and it fought, but it was no match for Mathew. He finally caught his tarpon and went home smiling.
Monday and Tuesday we fished with Brooke and Joe from Connecticut. Monday we started late so we could finish with evening tarpon. It worked out well as we caught a 25 pound blackfin tuna, several dolphin, a 15 pound kingfish, a sailfish and 2 90 pound class tarpon. Brooke scored a “Gold Coast Grand Slam”. Tuesday was perfect fishing conditions for this time of year. We had a east wind about 15 to 20 and a light north current. The water was blue right up to the reef. We had solid action for 5 hours as we caught and released over 25 dolphin from 7 to 14 pounds in water from 120 to 200 feet deep. We spiced our catch with a kingfish, a barracuda and a bonito. The only thing that shocked us was our lack of sailfish. It turn out that they started feeding about 30 minutes after we headed for the inlet. Well we sure had a colorful fun day anyway.
The kind of action we had this week will be common all the way through May. We have a few days left in April and May, so e-mail us at capt.bouncer@att.net to plan your trip. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 52
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 8:33 am: | |
Spring fishing is off and running. This is a great time of year to be out fishing. Two weeks ago we made three evening tarpon trips. The first was two young ladies, a boy friend and their dad. They caught 8 tarpon from 40 to 70 pounds while having a ball. The second trip was three young men and their uncle. The boys had a lot of tough breaks, but caught 4 out of 8 tarpon up to 100 pounds. Then the third night we stopped for an hour on the way home from offshore and caught 3 out of 4. Two of these were one hundred pound tarpon, producing some wild action.
Day trips were so good As well. The kingfish were so thick, that they sometimes made sailfish tough. 4 to 12 pound fish are eating the bait on a regular basis. Some big blackfin tuna and a few yellowfin tuna were crashing the party along the coast. Our only visit was a big yellowfin that emptied a 20 pound spin outfit and broke the line just above the leader.
Then we got sick. A super cold or something put us down. We have struggled through a few days of regular fishing and the Miami Billfish Tournament. 500+ sails and we only went 5 for 7. We fished great looking water with all the right appearance and did not see many fish. We’ll get ‘em next year.
Since the tournament we have fished 2 days. Rick and John did the sailfish thing on Monday and caught 2 out of 3 plus a dolphin. We went back to the dock at 4 to switch charters and the boats that stayed out caught 4 or 5 sails over the next two hours. But by the same token we picked up Myron Ware and his daughter Melita, and they caught 2 out of 5 tarpon over 80 pounds each. A lot of laughing and cheering went on during those fights.
Tuesday we fished with JR and Rachel from Michigan. The tarpon really schooled us over the day. We fished 5 locations found tarpon in 4 (both bay and ocean side). The first we saw was on and jumping before he threw the hook. The second was over one hundred pounds and we got the leader on her. We wore her down till she was starting to lay over on her side, but the hook came out before JR got his dream picture. Still a great release catch. We had a bunch that came up and looked at the bait, but did not bite. Finally late in the day Rachel caught a tarpon of about 50 pounds. We jumped one more at the whistle and called it a day. Great people dealing with some tough fish.
The evening trip was once again with Rick and John. Those tarpon have been slow to eat anything but live mullet the last couple days. That has made the hookups tougher. Again tonight we had several on before one finally ate a shrimp. As is the way with shrimp, we caught that 80 pound tarpon after a good fight, but the hook was in there solid. Those mullet produce great strikes, but they are harder to land.
April offers some super fishing as does May. We have several openings for a day of sails, dolphin, tuna and kings. We also have a few evening tarpon trips open. E mail us at capt.bouncer@att.net and let’s go catch a great day. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Post Number: 51
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Well we survived the Boat Show and are back to some red hot fishing. Tuesday we did pretty good with the bottom fish. We caught a couple big amberjacks and a couple nice gray grouper over some wrecks. The surface fishing produced 2 barracuda, 3 dolphin and a double header of missed sails.
The evening found us searching for swordfish. We caught a very aggressive 70 pound swordfish to release and lost another. The tinker mackerel were thick in most places.
The breeze came up on Wednesday, and the fish came up with it. We caught 4 big amberjack, a nice gray grouper and a big red grouper on the bottom. The surface action produced 3 sailfish releases and a nice king mackerel. The evening fishing around the inlet produced two snook and a one tarpon.
Thursday the wind continued to rise and the fishing got even better. We hosted a bachelor party and caught 5 out of 10 sailfish and 3 dolphin between the party pranks. The evening action remained slow, producing 1 of 2 tarpon.
You guessed it, Friday found stronger wind and still better fishing. Now the wind is around 20 knots from the south. The current is a knot or two toward the north and fishing with live herring on the kites in around 120 to 150 feet of water is hot. The day ends with 13 sails caught and released. 7 more broke lines or threw hooks in the confusion. I guess the 12 dolphin to ten pounds, 6 kings to 15 pounds and a couple bonitos added to the fast action.
Saturday the wind quit and we targeted bottom fish with the same group as Friday. Jeff Lapnow and his buddies caught 2 amberjacks and a nice gray grouper for their efforts.
Jeff, Tom and Craig were back on Sunday, and the wind came with them. With a strong south wind and a little current, 13 more sailfish releases, plus a couple dolphin and a bonito made a great 3 day weekend for the guys from Connecticut.
We are sold out for March, but April and May offer very good fishing too. Get your reservations in soon. We will be at a Dusky Seminar on March 24th at 6 PM. The topic is what you can catch after work as daylight savings time arrives in early April. Learn to catch those tuna, big kings, snook, tarpon and swordfish after work. For seminar details call 954-922-8890. For fishing info call 305-945-5114 or e-mail capt.bouncer@att.net . |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 4:55 am: | |
Boy are we getting slow. I can’t believe it has been at least 3 weeks since the last fishing report. I guess it is fishing 12 hours a day, plus boat shows and all. This week fishing was as hot and as cold as fishing can get.
We fished three days with Don Dietrich, Mark Brecher and Jon Colton. The first day we started out for tarpon late in the afternoon. With no fish showing on the sonar, and none rolling on the surface we threw in the towel after about 45 minutes. We ran back to the dock and grabbed the swordfish gear.
A mad dash 18 miles offshore got us to the swordfish grounds just as darkness started to take command of the world around us. It was a nice night with calm seas a a good piece of the moon surrounded with stars. It wasn’t long before Jon was hooked to a swordfish of about 50 pounds. A quick photo and Jon’s swordfish was back on the prowl. By evenings end we saw Don catch a matching swordfish and Jon fill the well with tinker mackerel, but no big fish for Mark.
Day two started with hopes of afternoon daytime action. We were not lucky enough to find much of that action. A couple good bottom fish escaped our hooks. One 6 pound grouper looked awful lonely in the fish box as we headed offshore toward swordfish town. On the way out, a tree branch floating in 800 feet of water gave us a 5 pound dolphin to join the fish box crowd.
We set out the swordfish spread as darkness feel. 4 strikes kept us on our toes over the next couple hours. The bait set at 150 feet was the hot rod. We had a shark bite off one bait. Then it was a beautiful 130 pound swordfish for Mark. While we photographed this fish, the same rod got struck again. Don leaped into action and soon had a wild 90 pound swordfish up to the boat and trying for all it was worth to assault Ron. It jumped and thrashed around the boat in the glow of the Hydro Glow Light for several minutes before we could get close enough to cut it loose. Half an hour latter Jon scored with a swordfish about 70 pounds and we headed home with smiles all around the boat.
Wednesday produced a little better day fishing as we caught a sailfish for Mark, a couple nice dolphin around 15 pounds each and a couple big blue runners on fly for Jon. The evening trip produced a lot of action, but not enough catches. Over 3 hours of fishing we had 5 swordfish strikes on live speedos and got one fish in the boat for quick photos and another up to the leader to allow a “legal” release before he slipped off the hook. Another strike on a squid never even bent the rod.
Now back to the bummer day time fishing. Thursday we fished from 7 AM till 8 PM. We took 2 hours off at mid day to change charter parties. The total days catch was a double header of barracudas and two gray snappers.
And then the wind blew. Friday morning we were greeted by north winds of about 15 knots as we left the inlet. That combined with a current running about a knot to the north offered great sailfish conditions. Steve, Jill and little Taylor Mote proved “what a difference a day makes” as they caught 6 out of 7 sailfish that ate the baits, plus a couple dolphin and a couple bonitas. The evening trip produced 1 of 2 tarpon, 4 big bluefish, 4 large ladyfish and a small king mackerel for some fun action with the guys from TR-1 Gladiator auto pilots.
We are working at the boat show while we hear about plenty of sailfish caught Saturday. And head back to the show today (Sunday).
Tune in to The Outdoor Channel at 9 PM on Monday Feb. 21st to watch “Mark Sosin’s Saltwater Journal” with Mark and I enjoying sailfish, grouper and jacks off Miami Beach.
February is sold out and there are 3 trips left in March. Fishing is at it’s best in April and May, so you better get those reservations in. E-mail me at capt.bouncer@att.net to make your fishing plans. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
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Bouncer’s Dusky 33
Capt. Bouncer Smith
16850-112 Collins Ave. #291
Sunny Isles, Fl. 33160
305-945-5114
capt.bouncer@att.net
www.captbouncer.com
Boy has this been a hectic month! Certainly no lack of wind around here lately. Of course that wind can add up to some great sailfish action. We had one trip without a sailfish. That trip we caught a 35 pound wahoo and spent a lot of time fishing for them and wreck fishing.
Early in the month, the sailfish were frequently in very shallow water and very small in size. Some were 8 to 12 pounds. Then last week the sails were out in 200 to 400 feet of water. Now they are back where we expect them. That is around 120 feet.
That wahoo wasn’t the only nice bonus this month. We caught a 35 pound yellowfin tuna on the kite one trip. Some of the boats fishing a little further north have caught quite a few trolling in 400 to 600 feet of water this month. We have had some very nice dolphin as well. Rick Azipuru and John Mahoney caught a double header of dolphin that were a 28 pound bull and 23 pound cow. Yesterday a school of dolphin invaded our kite spread and produced 5 fish about 8 pounds each. A few big amberjacks have been found on the wrecks. Lots of small kings have been feeding off South Beach the last few days.
Yesterday we fished with Brett Gelber and a friend of his, Jan from New Jersey. We spent the morning searching from 180 feet of water out to 400 feet. We had that dolphin invasion and a couple remoras to show for our efforts by 2 PM. We relocated off South Beach in 100 feet of water. In 2 hours we caught 3 king mackerel and 7 out of 8 sailfish that ate our flat line herrings. One of these fish was tagged 369 days ago off Key Largo Florida. When you see a 6 inch growth hanging off the side of a fish you catch, you should bill the fish, get a firm grip on the growth and cut it as close to the fish as possible. Release the fish. Clean off the tag and follow the instructions on the tag. There was a time when sailfish were thought to live 3 to 5 years. A fish recaptured after 12 years at large changed all the thinking along those lines. That was very instrumental in encouraging catch and release for sailfish.
If you know me, you know I am a major advocate for circle hooks. We are involved in a hook study for NMFS. We were asked to use J hooks to capture 30 sailfish, so the results could be compared to our circle hook catches. Out of the first 15 fish we caught on the J hooks, we felt that 8 were severely injured. 4 were gushing blood and 4 more were gut hooked. If you enjoy catching fish, USE CIRCLE HOOKS to allow some fish for tomorrow.
We are booked for all the major sailfish tournaments except the Miami Billfish Tournament. We have won this one twice. Let’s make it 3 times. Call to book the tournament, your dream trip to Chub Cay in May or a day off Miami. The schedule is filling up. We want to fish with you, so get those reservations in. E mail capt.bouncer@att.net today. |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 48
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 8:26 pm: | |
What a start to the new year! Although it has been windy, the fishing has been great. We started the year with Gary Friedman. He and his guest caught 4 sailfish, 2 dolphin and a 35 pound barracuda. On the 2nd, we caught 3 sails, king mackerel of 20 and 30 pounds, 3 school size kings and a couple dolphin. That night Brad Vince and a friend, Kevin caught tarpon of 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 pounds.
On the 3rd, the John Folker family fished the morning with us and caught 4 dolphin fish and 6 king mackerel.
The 4th produced 8 sailfish, 3 African pompano of about 30 pounds each, ½ of a 50 pound amberjack (Fan Fan thought it was a big bait), 6 barracuda, 1 king and 2 dolphin for the boys from Calder.
The 5th it was 2 sailfish, 6 kings, 4 dolphin and a 30 pound wahoo.
Lee Goodrick fished with some of his buddies on the 7th and they caught 6 sailfish, a king, a big whole amberjack, a barracuda and a scamp grouper.
The 8th we used rubber hooks. We managed to catch 1 of 5 sailfish and a small shark. We did have Drew Orvieto catch a tarpon of over 120 pounds that evening.
The 9th Cindy and Jeanne Pemberton, two great lady anglers, caught 6 sailfish and a dolphin. We caught 2 tarpon that evening.
The 10th was 3 sails and 4 dolphin for the Irwin Appel group.
The 11th was awful good. Sam Gable and Jason Dennis, both from Georgia, caught 6 sailfish, a 30 pound yellowfin tuna, 2 dolphin, 1 king mackerel and 2 tarpon. Both anglers captured the coveted “Gold Coast Grand Slam”s.
The reservation book is filling fast for the winter/spring season. Please get your reservations in soon. We are still available for the Miami Billfish Tournament. We have won it a couple times, and are ready to win again. For reservations e mail Bouncer at capt.bouncer@att.net . |
Bouncer (Bouncer)
New member
Username: Bouncer
Post Number: 47
Registered: 9-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 30, 2004 - 7:40 pm: | |
Somebody turn off the fan. Windy is the word for the last week of the year. The fish are around, but it is tough catching them. Sunday the wind blew up to 40 knots from the west. We anchored in 90 feet of water and the Adam family caught 4 king mackerel and 2 sailfish before throwing in the windblown towel at noon.
Monday was the nicest day of the week. It only blew 15 to 20 the first couple hours with sails chasing ballyhoo all over the ocean. By the time 13 year old Eric Hamilton told his grandfather Gill it was time to go home, Eric had caught and released 4 sailfish and a 30 pound amberjack.
Wednesday George and Guillermo Rodriguez released a sailfish and boated 3 school dolphin plus 15, 20 and 25 pound dolphin. Wednesday night Joe Lobianco, his wife Diana and Glen Tatem caught and released 13 tarpon and a 30 pound permit. Winds 20 to 30 knots.
Thursday The Spencer Pepe party caught 2 sailfish, a dolphin, a cero mackerel, a king mackerel and a small shark. Winds 25 to 32 knots.
Well the year is coming to a close. We started the year with a tournament victory, suffered family tragedy and four near misses with hurricanes, caught some great fish, gained some fantastic new friends and clients and lost others. The year went out with a big blow. May 2005 be a great one for all of us.
We are available for the Billfish Masters and the Miami Billfish Tournament. We look forward to many days and nights of fun fishing trips. Give us a call at 305-945-5114 or e-mail at capt.bouncer@att.net to join the fun. Tight lines, Bouncer |
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