Chicago Joe's Christmas fishing Vacation

Chicago Joe spends his Christmas vacation in the Keys with his family. They had fished with me in the past at Seadog. I ran into Joe at the Kmart last year and he booked me for this season. Joe and crew like action and shot at big critters.

Doc and I took Joe and his sons Joey and Tom fishing the Bay Sunday on Flatlines. Joe has fished the Bay before, but we caught one of those magic days where bait was everywhere and you could see Mackerel skying in every direction. Needless to say we had plenty of action. Unfortunately the big fish won most of the battles. We did boat one smaller lemon shark.

Yesterday we set out on a 29 foot cat he rented from Vacation Boat Rentals. Sweet boat but it took me a while to get used to her. With the winds at 20 knots we went down to the seven mile bridge to get out of the wind. Again we had plenty of action and the big fish won. Three or four large sharks managed to pull hooks or break 60 braided line. This reinforces my opinion that braid on level wind reels is not the way to go for big sharks. When a big one takes off the line tends to get in awkward angles on the reel defeating the drag.

The wind is howling at 30 knots this morning so our options are limited. One good thing about spending a week or more in the Keys is that one or two butt ugly days won't ruin your whole trip. This weekend should be prime time for sailfishing which I think Chicago Joe might enjoy. Stay tuned.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas