Saturday, December 31, 2011

Bridge Fishing is Pretty Hot


This is Chicago Joe with one of his bridge Mangroves. That fish is in the three pound range. We limited or at least came close enough to limiting out is about 2 hours this morning after spending a little more time than normal getting the right size bait. The bait that fish fell for was a candy size pin fish about two inches long. Pilchard and the larger live shrimp also caught quite a few fish, the candy pin fish though always seem to find the bigger mangs.

Since Joe is tired of filleting fish, tomorrow should be a shark expedition.

Bridge charters are a good way to get on the water, learn basic techniques and catch dinner without breaking your vacation budget.

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

Friday, December 30, 2011

What Day is it?


I think today was Day 5 with Chicago Joe. Anyway, the photo is of the catch of Lane, Mangrove and Mutton Snapper. These were mainly caught in the channel, but we hit the bridge for a while and picked up the larger mangroves and a few stories about big fish that got away.

Yesterday, the fish won. We got covered up with King Mackerel trying to yellowtail plus Amberjack and a shark or three.

I did fit in a trip the day before that with Dan and his daughter Katelynn. That was supposed to be a sailfish trip but turned into dolphin without a gaff trip. We managed to get two in the box for dinner but the rest broke off trying t5o convince them to come aboard. They were not big, but big enough that a gaff would have been handy. Those fish were inside of 300 foot. We did stop at the kiddie pool to play with the blue parrot fish, which Katelynn seemed to enjoy.

The Dolphin trip started out a bit bumpy but finished with nearly flat seas. The last two days have been 5 to 10 and great weather though I did break out my long pants.

It looks like tomorrow will be a big critter at the bridge day since they have plenty of fish for a few days, though a few more fat mangroves will always be welcome.

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

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Day 3 with Chicago Joe and Nebraska Deer Jerky!

Day 3 with Joe was a struggle. The winds were just strong enough to keep the bait away and the anchor tripping. The fish we did get were nice. One Lane was 20 inches long about 3 pounds and we got a keeper red grouper. Lost nice fish to the bottom again.

Yesterday was fishing with the guys from Nebraska. I started them off at Kmart doing the basic tackle thing, then the tackle shop for chum, live bait and the things Kmart doesn't have, then we stopped by water at another tackle shop to get the things that Kmart and the first tackle shop didn't have. Christmas must have been fun since no one was back to normal yet. Then finally we set off to the Bay for some Spanish mackerel. It is a shame that Spanish have a bad reputation on the table because everyone caught plenty of fish.

Then we gave the Long Key bridge a shot, caught the tide wrong so I headed out to a channel hump to finish the day. I think they got enough ideas to have plenty of fun for the rest of the week.

They didn't break out the Nebraska grain fed deer jerky until near the end of the trip. I am a jerky junkie so I will remember that part of the trip for a while. They even had kippered jerky, YUM! Shame I am booked into next year. I might convince them they need a refresher course on sailfish or something that goes well with jerky munching :)

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

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Day Two with Chicago Joe and Crew

Bait is still a little bit of an issue. Plenty of pinfish of course, but I have not seen any ballyhoo in net range nor my thread fin herring I was expecting. So with just live shrimp and pinfish, we managed a fair catch of lane and mangrove snapper and on 22 inch red grouper.

As usual, jacks are everywhere, plenty of throw back grouper and a few big ones that got away. We started in the Bay mainly to find white bait, the jacks were wo thick that it was hard to find anything else. We hit the bridge for a while and the current and anchor didn't play well. We did get a few nice mangroves but decided to head back out to the rock piles once the current really started ripping.

On the rock piles the lanes were still thick and hungry plus a few more decent size mangroves wanted to play. The 22 inch red we got to the box was nice, but we lost one big brute to the rocks and another to a shark. The crew had an okay time, but we have done much better in the past so I had better get on the bait tomorrow so I can get some good pictures. So far though, nearly forty snapper and one keeper red.

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

Friday, December 23, 2011

Day One with Chicago Joe

Today we headed to the reef instead of the bay because the weather was beautiful. Ten to 15 knots winds, in the mid 70s for both the air and the water. I had more trouble finding bait that usual. That tends to lead to more hunting than catching. We moved back to the channel around noon because things were slow on the reef and settled for a couple dozen 15 inch average, lane snapper for dinner. For some reason, lanes were everywhere. On one of my yellowtail spots, it was loaded with smallish lanes instead of 'tail. That is the reason I decided to go with the flow and hit the larger lanes, which were more than happy to cooperate.

On the whole is was a beautiful slow day. We (I) saw a large sailfish in our slick on the reed with no bait ready to pitch. Lots of parrot fish and other critters everywhere. The bite was just slow until I found the Lanes.

So in the morning we will stock up on more pinfish and hopefully net some ballyhoo or pilchards for serious grouper catching. I will try to remember to bring the camera, since the cellphone video is very grainy.

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

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Its Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Season

Let's see, a half day of mackerel fishing in the bay and 10 phone calls. Yep, its season. That means boys and girls that you may get my voice mail a little more often.

Today it was the guys down from around the Miami area to catch Spanish Mackerel for the smoker. It was a little slow, but they brought about a hundred pounds of fish back to the dock, so that is about 40 of 50 pounds for the smoker plus a couple pompano for the steamer.

The school of pompano was pretty good sized but they were mixed in with tons of jack crevalle and blue runners. I am thinking that this will be a pretty good year for pompano fishing which requires less chum, more shrimp and a little more patience.

Chicago Joe and crew are in town for the holidays. We picked up his rental boat and got it squared away for the next few days of fishing. We will probably hit the bay pretty hard tomorrow to get that out of his system, then turn to kicking some grouper butt before the season closes.

Last year, Tommy and Joey were his grouper slaying partners. They have a few new recruits that looked hungry for serious seafood. Anyway, the forecast for the next few days looks great with only 10 to 15 knot winds called for and not much chance of rain.

If you happen to get my machine, try Chris at (305) 481-1009, that is Walk About Charters. Captain Jeff Knapp will have his Beckoning Tarpon boat in the water soon for all you nocturnal types. I may also try some night snapper fishing this season around June when the snapper move to the reef to spawn.

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

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

New Discount Code for the Fish Cleaning Table


I had a nice lady stop by the other day to check out the Captain Dallas approved fish cleaning get mo' money off the price. table. As promised, just in almost time for Christmas, we have a new discount code to save folks a little money. Remember DAL0402 to save another 20 bucks. The total price for the table top is $379 including everything, no tax, shipping or any other aggravation. Base mounts still have to be custom made to match your chosen locations using any of the factory mounting system. You can make it the table match any fish cleaning dream you can dream up.

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

Monday, December 19, 2011

Yellowtail For Dinner


This is trying out the new camera on the phone. As promised, Jake and Austin are headless. I started the day dropping my reading glasses in the water so I will use that as an excuse. The seagulls kept the ballyhoo away from the boat so we never got the bite going real hot. Still pretty nice size 'tails for a windy day.

Got most of their heads second time around :)

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

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Climate Change Fishing Summit

Happy December 15th 2011 everyone. I have set aside this day for a climate change summit with emphasis on fishing. The reason fishing is emphasized is because while climate change is real, the guys in charge are about the most corrupt and ethically bankrupt bast%#ds I have ever seen.

Ooooh, thems getting sued words! Possibly, most were probably born of wedded parents :)

As most of you probably do not know, someone has leaked confidential emails and per-publication drafts of the United Nations report on climate change. These leaks have been pretty revealing of the political motivation of "scientists".

Now before I get started, there are real problems in the world with pollution, over development, political corruption, weak economies and whole enchilada. Carbon dioxide produced by burning fuel is just a part of the problem. Unfortunately, it is being used as an umbrella issue with Climate Change, to push for solutions based on political ideology. No one wins when this happens but politicians and lawyers.

To solve problems that are complex you have to break them down to smaller issues that work toward an overall solution. Things change, so the approach has to be flexible to allow for new discoveries, good or bad, that have an impact on the proper course towards an equitable solution. In other words, shit happens, you know it, be ready for it. The ideologically motivated course selected by the climate change wizards is called, putting all your eggs in one basket.

Who to trust?

The first test in any bullshit detector should be trustworthiness. Can you believe what is being said? Certainty in the midst of complexity is a dead give away. We all have been around the block and know that when experts are certain, bad things are about to happen. Most of the time the exact opposite of what the experts say. The experts call these things Black Swans. Things that no one can predict. The climate science guys are predicting "Black Swans". In their opinion, we have to prepare for the absolute worst that can happen now because it "May" happen. Preparing for an uncertain future does not mean putting all your eggs in one basket because something "May" happen. You prepare as best you can considering everything. Everyone should know that anyone with "THE" solution is blowing smoke up your ass.

Following the debate for the past few years, it is obvious that the "experts" that are confident that things have to be done "now" are over confident in their "beliefs". So on my redneck physics blog, I have started putting together a few examples of how ideology motivates people to become lying bast%#ds. Sorry for the strong language, but I don't want my science tainted with political backroom dirty tricks.

I will post any more "science" related stuff on the Redneck Physics blog and fishing related stuff on this one. I encourage everyone to think about who they should believe on both issues. Depending own your views, I recommend sending something to your local congress person whether you agree with me or not.

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

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Pictures of Boats and Stuff


This the the new to Chris Sea Vee that I will be fishing from time to time. We fished four guys the other day and there was plenty of room. The boat run fine. With twin 150 Yamaha it can cover a lot of ground pretty quick. So I am looking forward to some of my old Gulf Wreck fishing adventures and a Cay Sal run or two in the summer.


This is the Blackfin, Walkabout. Still pretty quick with a lot better fuel economy with a single straight inboard Yanmar diesel . It is more family friendly, potty wise and weather wise with the enclosure.

Both are docked at the Seven Mile Marina where I plan to do most of my fishing. The Seven Mile Marina has been building stuff left and right!


North side Chiki Tiki to the point which will have its own bar in season.

View from the main dining area and stage.


This will be the new down stairs bar area.




New down stairs restrooms with Chiki Tiki extention.


I sure picked a bad time to quit drinking with all the options available within staggering distance of my new digs :)

As I mentioned before I have access to a couple other boats that I may uses for flats fishing and Flamingo trips for the back country lovers. I like mixing it up which is the reason I settle in Marathon. So much fishing, so little time.

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

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Just a Half Day in the Bay

We had a half day trip this afternoon to check out the new to Chris Sea Vee 25 center console. The boat just got a new tee top with an upper station for fish spotting. The new fly by wire controls need a little fine tuning, but the boat ran great and fished fine. As always, I have a tweak or two in mind to get my proper blend of organized disorganization. I love having a spot to stash stuff so I can get to it quick.

The Mackerel were the main story. Plenty of Spanish with the average size in the 2 to 3 pound range, though these are fatter fish than normal in my opinion. Mangroves were awfully finicky today for some reason. Lots of the usual Jacks and Bluefish with a few ladyfish. Still no sign of the black tip sharks in the near shore spots I tend to fish on shorter days. I am kinda Jonesing for a long bay run find the kings and cobia I am pretty sure are to the west a little further.

I did talk to another captain this morning that has a flats boat for some of my fly guys later in the season.

As a reminder, Porky's Bay Side does a great job of smoking your catch and they will swap smoked fish dip for the fresh fillets, when available for you guys in a hurry. They will not take whole fish though, make sure they are fillet and iced down right before taking them over.

There is still a good bit of sewer construction going on down at this end of town. So parking spaces are getting swapped around a bit from day to day. Most of this should be finished by Christmas.

I am starting to get pretty well booked up the last of December through the middle of February. I stuck the moon phase thingie on the left side of the blog. Remember that for snapper and dolphin, the days around the full moon can be pretty slow. The Mackerel don't care much about the moon though, so don't let that stop you for a Bay Side trip.

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

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Beer and Wine Climate Change and Fishing Summit

This guy must be related to me somehow, Beer and Wine Climate Change Summit. So in a show of solidarity, I am going to throw my own Beer and Wine Climate Change and Fishing Summit at Salty's Waterfront Grill at the Seven Mile Marina on December 15th myself. Being a teetotaler at the moment, I reckon I should mention non adult refreshment drinkers are welcome as well. I will drink vicariously along with the folks stuck preserving their livers. I am still amazed that I have one that functions.

For the dedicated warmers, coolers, or who carers, we can have a kick off breakfast at the Seven Mile Grill (I made some kick butt popovers this morning BTW)and after summit happy hour at Lazy Days, all within staggering distance of summit headquarters.

We do ask that if you must discuss politics, do so prior to imbibing.

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,

Col. (Capt.) Dallas

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Bait! Lots of Bait!

One of the great things about hooking up with young guys is that they are basically insomniacs. Chris and George have taken to night time bait fishing for Goggle Eyes. Probably one of the most expensive live baits you can get for sailfishing since they are so nocturnal. Old guys like me enjoy our nap time and resort to more mundane baits like pilchards and ballyhoo for our live baits. With George getting his Conch 27 in the water and his 3 billion gallon live well, now we have access to more goggle eyes than you can shake a stick at.

So what we really need is an angler or two that would like to catch their first half dozen or so sail fish. Any of you Miami guys that can swing down, bring a 4 to 6 foot diameter sea anchor for a tip and/or discount can enjoy a sailfish trip with the Cadillac of live baits.

They work for Grouper and Muttons too if you happen to be a meat fisherman, BTW 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

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Okay Already! Here is a New Post


Michigan Jim and Family in the photo about caught some fish. Lots of mackerel with enough snapper volunteering for a meal. Mom caught the biggest fish even though she was stuck with video duty most of the trip. Other than a few, "Are we there yets?", the kids seem to have enjoyed spending the day in my backyard with me and Chris. I did mess up and leave fish biting in hopes of bigger critters, which was not my smartest idea of the week, but was able to redeem myself with another fast mackerel bite and the ever present mystery fish that got away.

We fished on the yellow boat since the new to Chris Sea Vee is still getting a topside helm rigged. The yellow boat, Walkabout, fishes fine, but its maneuverability is a little limited for chasing those mystery fishes.

Chicago Joe motivated my post by busting my chops for delaying his reading material. He is scheduled for the last of December and is looking for anybody that may want to split a trip or two while he is down. Since his kids have discovered the opposite sex, his fishing partners are beginning to get scheduled for fun adventures like shopping and other less masculine endeavors like napping on the beach.

My designated videographer, Michigan Rachael, slayer of the larger Mackerel, promised to post her video evidence on Youtube so I can embed them in this or a new post. So you video fan have hopes of videos with something more entertaining than my thumb and the deck to watch.

For Mackerel lovers, the bite is good, not red hot, but you can limit out on fish up to six pounds with the average around 2 pounds. Bait is getting thicker in the Bay but still no sign of the Black Tip sharks that follow the big bait push. So thing are getting close to the peak.

The new young captains out of the Seven Mile Marina had a play day yesterday and released 8 sailfish. So that bite is pretty hot. The reef is doing its thing and the braver souls that venture well offshore are bring in good catches of dolphin for this time of year. Tarpon are still slow, which is normal, they start more toward mid January, but you still have a decent shot with the resident fish.

The 7-milemarina webcamis available for anyone wishing to snoop or verify catches. I couldn't get the link to work, but it does most of the time. I will be posting boat pictures with rates for various fishing adventures pretty soon. 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

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Ticket Has Arrived!

Ladies and Gentlemen, after swearing to do my best not to expire while in command of a vessel and that I will notify the United States Coast Guard prior to my expiration, I am now considered to be capable of operating a motor vessel for hire. With all the privileges and responsibilities associated with my merchant mariners credential.

My regular customers know that opens the doors to vast opportunities to kick mo fish butt!

I have nearly finalized negotiations with one charter, Walkabout Charters Inc., here in Marathon to operate one of Chris' new boats. It is a ~25 foot sea Vee with twin four stroke Yamaha power. Very similar to the type of boat most suited to my diverse fishing pleasures.

After taking care of a few odds and ends here, I can now renew my off season Key Weird fishing expeditions which once upon a time, placed considerable change in my dead season pockets.

To summarize: I am back and out to kick some fish butt!

Since I absolutely giddy with joy, I will knock a hundred bucks off any charter through December 20th 2011. After that I am booked for at least 4 weeks!!!!!


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,
Colonel (USCG certified Capt.) Dallas

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Demoted!!!

No sooner than I promote myself to Colonel Dallas, I get demoted by the Coast Guard to Captain Tisdale again. I don't understand the Navy and Coast Guard way. In the Army, Colonel is a pretty big deal. The Navy guys say that Captain is just as big a deal. Well, at least I didn't get promoted to Rear Admiral. Who would want to be a REAR admiral?

Lots of guys down here call their wives Admiral. Some I have seen might not appreciate the REAR tacked on, if you know what I mean.

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 (no longer Colonel and luckily not REAR Admiral)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Biscuits!

While I do have some fishing reports, I have something better! Biscuits!!

I have been playing with making the ultimate biscuits ever made. The biscuits to end all biscuits. Biscuits so light, fluffy and buttery they float off the plate unless you weight them down with homemade sausage gravy! It think I did it!


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

Friday, November 11, 2011

Texting for Information?

I don't do texting on the phone. I do respond to comments on the blog and will actually answer my phone on occasion. But I don't do texting, fat fingers.

Robert, unless it is blowing over 25 knots, Bay Side fishing is fine, just carry a bigger anchor. 25 to 30 knots is doable, over 30 is cocktail time. So this weekend should be fine, but always check the forecast first thing in the morning.

On anchoring, I like to carry a larger Danfort and a rock anchor. If worse comes to worse you can tag the two together to hold bottom. By larger Danfort, I mean twice the size that would be recommend for your boat and use lots of scope (that's lots and lots of anchor line). Try to find clean water with bait, ballyhoo, and have at the Mackerel. Fresh ballyhoo chucks will also produce a few very nice size mangroves if you have some patience.

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,

Colonel Dallas,

I promoted myself on the radio show this morning :)

Good job Robert! The Macks are still not as thick as they will be but as you found out you can still have a pretty good day of fishing anyway. Try again in about three weeks, (the moon can have a little impact on the macks) and you should be able to fill the smoker.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Good News Sports Fans - the Macks are Back!

While no where near a peak, the Spanish Mackerel are showing in the Bay for those that want to enjoy a day of fishing in windy weather without getting your butts kicked. It took much long that it should yesterday to locate the fish, but it was worth the wait for my crew from the UK, Larry, Moe and Curly. Or was it Abbot, Costello and Oslo? Anyway, I always having fun fishing with this group of Brits.

Mangroves were also available in the 16" range if you wanted to wade through the 10 inch fish. A few jacks showed for cut bait and one bluefish that will be Omar's birthday dinner.

If the wind lays down, I should have a reef nearshore report after fishing tommorrow, but the winds are still a bit sporty at the moment.

Come on down for some fishing in the Balmy Florida Keys!


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

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Silly Assed Coast Guard Wants Proof I Ain't Dead!

Lord have mercy. After nearly four years of fighting health problems and the Coast Guard, they now want my doctor to verify that I am not dead!

Yes, sports fans, after taking a half dozen urine tests, being finger printed four times, paying fro a Twic card I will never use, having to retake the captain's course and spending over a thousand dollars I could used for other things, the Coast Guard wants me to spend another hundred bucks so my doctor can check my pulse.

Ain't America grand?

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

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Yes, I Have Been Neglecting My Fishing Blog

While the season is slow and the weather sucks thanks to all the rain, I have been trapped inside doing the weird things I enjoy. Cooking, Blogging, Theoretical Physics and pissing the science world off.

While my other little blog doesn't get many hits, it gets interesting hits from major universities and governments. That is kinda cool. I didn't even know the Dutch had a National Aerospace Laboratory. Most of the readers of the other blog have no clue what I am talking about, that is cool too.

But physics ain't fishin'. That is what I am really good at and I can't wait for the season to start again!


Food and money wise, I am building a little social network thing for the Seven Mile Grill. Since my HTML coding is poor because of my last computer crash, it is slow going, but coming along. The money per hour sucks, but hey, I have to take pictures of food and somebody has to eat it :) I am getting them to think about WiFi access which would make my life simpler.

Some of you may remember Joel Prick, the Dutch heir that got lost in the Keys which I found and reunited with his family thanks to blogging. You never can tell what a little blogging may do.

So Enjoy the weather you have while it lasts, then get your butts back down here for some serious or not so serious fishing, I do both.

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

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Fishing for Fame

Normally, I do try to keep this silly science nonsense off my good blog, dumping stuff nobody understands on my trash blog, but this is a little special.

The IPCC Down Welling Radiation Violates the Law

Catchy title, if I had someone that could proof read technical stuff, it could even be published is a high quality journal like Energy and Environment, where the concept came from, though I never got to read all of Dr. Kimoto's excellent paper, thanks doc! If it weren't for those pay walls, I could have done this a year ago.


The pretty part of the drawing is thanks to NASA and our tax dollars at work. Good job NASA, the data appears to dead on. Well, I can find a few stray Wm-2 here and there :)

Any tips from new visitors would be appreciated, the ~72 hours it took me to solve this was mentally draining.

BTW, Will cipher for food. It is a big step from fishing to atmospheric physics, but in this economy, ya takes whats ya gets. Any job openings out there for a wild and crazy science guy?



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

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Fishing for Missing Heat.


The wind blew my trip out yesterday so I figured I would aggravate some of the online climate change gurus. What started as a simple math problem developed into a lot more issues. Needless to say, with nothing making too much sense, no one cared to help me with my little issue. So I published a little post on my other blog trying to explain the situation in, Back to Baking Bacon Bread. Then I posted a short blurb on what my potential discovery may imply in Trenberth, Monckton and Lucia - Are They Missing the Heat?


Just in case you were wondering what I do when I can't fish. The Bacon Bread, rolls really, were crusty and full of bacon bits, like a bagel on steroids without the hole. Tasty!

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

Friday, September 23, 2011

Monte Hall

I am bored so I thought I would baffle you guys with a little statistical BS. If you remember the Monte Hall game show, you know about the tree doors. Believe it or not, that is a statistical or as I prefer, a probability exercise, figuring out the best odds for a player.

With three doors it is pretty easy, you have a one in three chance to pick the right door and drive off in a new car. Behind the other two doors are goats. Down here in the Keys, goat is not a booby prize, it's good eats, but I will save that for another post. Monte was a fun guy, so once you picked your door, he would open another door and show you some goats. What do you do?

It is kinda trick question, but it is statistical correct, you switch doors. Why? Well, you had a 1/3 chance of picking the right door, so there was a 2/3 chance that the car was behind the other doors. If you think it doesn't matter whether you switch or not, since you have a 50/50 chance with two doors now, you need to remember there is only a 1/3 chance you have picked the right door, unless you want goats for dinner.

So why would I bring this statistical game up on my blog? Well, I have been online solving all the world's problems. Global Warming has turned into a Monte Hall problem. When all this mess started there were three guys. Hansen said the warming would be 4 degrees, Manabe said the warming would be 2 degrees and Charney compromised and said it will be three degrees. All three of these gentlemen can't be right. Since global warming is not warming up to expectations, it looks like the Hansen door has goats. That would mean there is a 2/3 chance that Manabe or Charney have the car behind their door. So what does that mean? Well, Hansen had the fat tail door. That means if it got real warm, it could get a lot warmer. That is probably a good thing, that Hansen appears to be wrong.

This little post is just to show some people that probability is a good thing to know, especially for people with fat tails that like to play poker.

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

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The Radio Show

This morning I am on the radio show with C.J. Geotis, at least I think that is how he spells his name, at the Seven Mile Grill. Just made Black Fin Tuna with grits for breakfast. Kinda torn between a Cuban Reuben or Dolphin Reuben for lunch.

C.J.'s show is on 1300 AM or 101.7 FM if you are in the Keys. Back home you can get the delayed streaming audio on ... Hum? that's not there anymore, so you have to take my word for it.

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

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Tasty Tuna

I had trip today out of Tavernier. Chuck and his bride Nancy from Cincinatti, Ohio, were down for a little R&R. With the usual delays getting started, we did a Tavernier style fishing 101.

The usual delays are finishing the boat paperwork stuff and me trying to read street signs through leaves. We managed to throw enough stuff together to get out and catch some fish.

Fishing out of Tavernier on a weekend is a little different. You can just look for boat parking lots offshore and know where just about everyone is fishing. Parking lot number 1 was the Islamarada hump.

There was only seven boats there when we arrived around 11:30. We saw one bird, a lost seagull, which is not a sign of a killer bite. Since I was teaching Chuck and Nancy how to make fishing simple, we only had two lines out and left the outriggers tucked in store mode. I tend to be fond of Dallas Darts, since I make them, so that was my selected lure of the day.

On our second troll of the upside of the hump, we score a double of Black fin tuna. Not big but respectable 5 to 6 pounders. After spending some time trying to find a clear path to that spot, we scored a single that was a little smaller. The next pass we pulled the hook on one. Of the boats that we saw fishing the hump, one hooked up twice and the rest nada. One boat was deep jigging pretty steady, but we never saw a rod bend.

The next parking lot was a weed line a couple miles inshore of the Hump. One of the best weed lines I have seen in a while. Probably one of the best the 20 some odd boats fishing it had seen as well. I trolled down this line more to show Chuck what to look for than actually fish, we still managed a couple of six pound school dolphin and jumped another off.

We went back to the reef so I could show them the chum thing. This was not a parking lot. Since the current was pretty weak, I imagine most everyone had given up on yellowtail fishing. The Ballyhoo did show up, which was part of the program and we caught one short tail.

Not too exciting huh? Well, for about 45 minutes of tuna fishing, about 45 minutes of dolphin kinda fishing and about 45 minutes of chumming on the reef, we are all eating pretty good. Chuck and Nancy have the basics they need to catch fish, so now all they have to do is figure out how many to keep. After some fresh tuna on the grill, they may decide to take some home.

Oh, the weekends do get a bit crowded with the South Florida guys running down for some fishing. During the week, it is not so crowded, though the Islamarada hump does get a work out anytime the weather is good and the fish are biting.

Marathon or Tavernier, 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

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Yellow Tail Snapper Fishing Techniques: An Over View.

I am revising my Yellowtail post for the guys on the Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum. Like many a good thing, the FSFF under went some changes not for the better. A lot of valuable information was lost when the forum changed its format or software or whatever. Anyway, a once great fishing forum got nearly destroyed. In the Florida Keys General category, there is a FAQ post with plenty of great links to great information that no longer work, bummer. One of those was on yellow tail snapper fishing.

What we call yellowtail fishing is anchored chum fishing on the reef using a free line technique. The chum melts out of the chum bag and drifts with the current. The free line method is to drop your bait in the water by the chum and let it drift with the chum. So rule 1 is if the bail is closed or you are holding your line to feel the bite, you are not free lining. As we say in the South, "I don't care how you do it up North, you ain't up North." So the two basics of yellowtail fishing on the reef is chum and free lining.

Now things can change depending who you are fishing with. I tend to be frugal. That is another word for cheap. Chum costs money, so I prefer to catch the most fish with the least amount of chum since I can only keep so many fish. A commercial snapper fisherman wants to pay the rent so since they don't have to stop at ten fish per person they use lots and lots of chum. It's a profit thing.

To be a frugal snapper fisherman, shallower water is where you can catch more fish with less chum. Shallow water generally means smaller fish, but not always. Commercial snapper fishing with lots of chum is normally done in deeper water where the fish are generally bigger, but not always. It is the not always that makes things interesting or hard on the wallet.

30 to 70 feet is the frugal fishing depth with 70 to 100 the commercial depth. This is of course general. I know quite a few commercial guys that fish the 45 to 60 range looking for 16 to 20 inch fish. Not flags by any means, but there is a good market for them. I tend to prefer the 14 to 18 inch fish in the shallower water for the first part of my bag limit then try to be a hero after some of the pressure is off. If I have a regular crew that knows the ropes, then we mix it up a bit.

Trained Fish: After fishing the same spots for years, the fish seem to recognize me and pop up to say hello before I even start chumming. Unlike most honey holes where you want to guard you numbers with your life, some yellowtail spots are better shared to keep the fish happy or trained if you prefer. So if you stop into a tackle shop on vacation they will likely give you some decent numbers for a yellowtail. This can lead to a little predicament since there is likely a boat on the spot when you get there. Since they are chum fishing, don't get close to their chum slick. If you do a single finger wave is likely. Sometimes they take it real personal. Most of the yellow tail spots though are not little structure areas, they are large coral fields. So several boats can fish the area if they work together by not getting too close or anchoring up or down current of each other. On these trained spots you can limit out in less than two hours most of the time. Giving other boats about 200 yard space is generally good manners in Marathon for 'tailing. In the Tortugas, two miles is a good gap. I don't like fishing up other people's butts nor do I like them fishing up mine, but it is tolerated for yellowtail fishing on "public" numbers. Public is important. If you know that everyone and his brother knows the numbers, you are welcome to join the fun. If you just want to steal some numbers, things can get pretty testy. So use your best judgement.

Patience Pays: Most of my customers want to have a bait in the water from the time they leave the dock until they get back. For yellowtailing it is better to let the chum do its job and get the fish up before putting a free line in the water. In shallow water that may be just a few minutes or in deep water that may be 20 minutes. When the time to catch begins, try to work like a team. Sometimes one or two lines in the water at a time is more productive. Some times three or four lines started at the same time is more productive. Five or six lines at a time with four or five of them getting tangled is generally least productive. As a fishing consultant on your boat or rental boat, my job is to teach, and people learn from their mistakes so I am perfectly happy to let you learn from your mistakes if you prefer to not listen to me.

Tackle: I definitely recommend a spinning rod for yellow tail. The line comes off the spool much smoother with less effort. You can use a baitcaster, but it requires a lot more attention and tends to be backlashed when a big mackerel crashes the yellowtail party. Hook size ranges from size 4 for a slow bite to 2/0 for a killer flag bite. Bait size varies with the hook size. Leader material is not required if you have new or clean clear monofilament line. In very clear water with spooky fish, flourocarbon can make a big difference, so I always carry 12 pound flouro. Most of the time no weight is required. Small pinch weights, size seven and smaller are useful if you line does want to flow off the reel right. Some people prefer to use small 1/8 ounce jigs or smaller with yellow a popular color. If something works for you stick with it until someone else starts showing you up. I normally will use a barrel swivel about five feet from the hook if I need weight. It also helps cut down on line twist where there aren't enough mackerel in the area.

Snapper Don't Like Wire: Speaking of mackerel. If you get tired of them cutting your hooks off, you can use a light wire leader, number 2 to number 4 about 6 inches long to catch these guys. You will probably find that since you are ready for mackerel, that you start catching yellowtails. Fish love to make a liar out of people, so don't believe everything you hear, sometimes wire works like magic.

Flag Fishing: Flag yellowtail are fish over 20 inches or close to three pounds. For their size, yellowtail are pretty good scrappers. So flags can be a challenge. With a good flag bite you will need fifteen pound line minimum with twenty a good idea unless loosing fish is not big deal to you. Flags take off for the bottom as soon as they feel the hook so you will need a heavier drag setting than normal, about 50% of line test. The heavier line and the heavier drag setting means larger or stronger hooks. Size 2 to 2/0 depending on things.

Bait: Fresh is best. Yellowtail are not all that finicky. They will eat nearly anything. Some baits are better though. Fresh ballyhoo fillets are great. You can cut them into just about any size you like. You can get all fancy and stuff a little chum in a roll of fillet. You can also catch fresh ballyhoo most to the time you have a chum slick going. Silver side minnows are also a great bait. They are in the right size range, the right shape and they smell like fish. Since they are small fish, you don't have to slice them up. Just stick one or two on a hook and get to fishing. Fresh pilchard are a great bait alive or dead. You will probably have to cut some down to size, but if you have the two to three inch pilchards, just stick 'em on the hook. In the winter, it is a good idea to have live shrimp. Not that you need them for yellowtail, they just can increase the variety of fish that take you line for a ride. Squid is the bait of last resort in my opinion, messy and smelly, but it does work. Size is the thing with the baits. try 1 1/2" to 2 inch strips and adjust as needed.

Chum: There are quite a few "secret" recipes. I know one guy that cooks elbow macaroni for his chum bag. Others have a blend of ground bait fish, menhaden normally, rolled oats, Purina Shrimp Chow, dry dog food, dry cat food and/or anything they may have read about. Ground baitfish, menhaden or sardines, works fine with some oats not a bad idea.

Chum Bag: Small mesh bay, medium mesh channel and landing net deep. With a small mesh bag a 7 pound block of chum will last nearly three hours. With a medium mesh a 7 pound block will last about an hour. With a landing net mesh bag, a seven pound block of chum is nearly a waste of time, get the 25 pound block. At a buck a pound average, you can figure out how long you want to fish and how much you are willing to pay for snapper.

The Bite: If you are free lining properly you may never feel a bite. You will just see the line start to peal off faster or sometimes slow down. When it does, just close your bail and reel. Nothing to it. Anytime you close your bail, you may as well reel in and check your bait. The 'tails will almost always bite while the line is drifting with the chum. They only bite with the bail set to make me look like a liar.

Starting The Drift: No casting is generally required, just drop the line in the water and let it go. If you have birds or trash fish bothering you, casting may help. Some like to shake the bag at the start of the drift. Fishing shallow with a medium mesh bag that is not a bad idea, neither is a splash of oats with your bait. Watch the fish to see what works best. Deep water fishing you should have a steady chum flow, so no shaking required.

Conditions: Wind with the current is best. If the chum is flowing out of the back of the boat things are looking good. If the chum is flowing up the anchor line, things will be slow. If the chum is falling straight to the bottom, no current, things can be interesting. I catch most of my hogfish and larger porgies with no current, but most of the time the 'tail bite is very slow. Cloudy water normally means a better bite with shallower better than normal. Crystal clear water normally means a slower bite with deeper water better.

One of the great things about yellowtail fishing in the Keys is all the other critters that may show up in the slick. Have a rod ready to pitch a big bait to a big fish. Having a bottom rod down with a big live bait is also a good idea. The main thing is to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.

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

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Deep Water Grouper Ban Lifted

After just hearing this on the radio I am about giddy with excitement. I don't know if my posts calling for everyone to contact the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission help, but I am pretty sure it didn't hurt. There was and article in the Keynoter on August 31st saying in may be lifted. The actual decision is supposed to be made on the 9th of this month, but rumor has it it is a go. This is very unusual because the fisheries commission is supposedly admitting they made a mistake. I have never had a problem with people making mistakes, its just owning up to them that is a problem.

This could be a very good sign for a little more reasonable fisheries management. I don't know of anyone that doesn't want to protect our resources down here. It is just keeping track of the impact to both the fisheries and the fisher people in enacting and reviewing rules that gets me a little flustered. Maybe someday we will get a responsible revision to the Goliath Grouper regulation?

I would love to tell y'all a fishing story, but all I have right now is boat fixing stories. Maybe in a few weeks I will have a catching fish while running a new charter boat story?

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

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Hurricanes and Predicting Their Path

As Irene keeps heading north I have had several people ask why I was not worried because it was going to stay east of Marathon. It is pretty simple really because the models have an average based on historical data and the ensemble of the models. Averages are a great thing, but hardly anything is exactly average. So if you compare the models that are based on the actually conditions that the storm is/will encountering to the "average" you have an idea which side of the cone the track will favor. Storms rarely hit the center of the cone three to five days after they are projected. So you can get a pretty good idea what the track will likely be. The intensity though is a different critter. The intensity models are totally out to lunch, so you can only use experience to get a general idea. There is a lot of neat stuff you can pick up when your life and livelihood depend on it.

The news guys generally think the Keys residents are nuts for staying put for a storm the news guys think will be the "Big One". I have slept through a few "big ones" in my motor home because news guys were wrong and evacuated for one when the news guys didn't think it would be the "big one", turned out to be a big one, at least for me.

Now Irene will cause a few things to change down here. With the higher winds and the new moon, critters in the local waters will move around a bit. That normally means there will be some pretty good fishing. On the reef the dirtier water will kick the yellowtail bite up and some flags will be caught in the shallower waters. The mangroves that have been moving to the bay will tend to congregate a little thicker waiting to see what happens. That may be at the bridge or further back in the bay, but with a little looking, you should be able to catch some larger fish. The lobster guys will find that a good deal of the bugs have moved to deeper water. Off shore, the bay grass pushed south by the winds will screw things up for a day or two then the bite should pick up nicely.

So if you ain't scared of no tropical weather, 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

Fishing Consultant

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Ah, The Off Season in the Florida Keys

This is the time of the year when my thoughts turn to other things like money and solving all the worlds problems. As some of you know I dabble in atmospheric physics and alternate energy which I find entertaining but pays squat. So I have another blog where I irritate real scientists that actually get paid to scare the hell out of us. That blog is Our Energy Future: Hydrogen. Both of these blogs have little links that if you click them I magically make money. So if you have the least amount of interest in any of the ads that Google thinks might interest you, click away.


Moving the Motor Coach to its new location inspired me to make some repairs and improvements. The photo above is a poor image of the new wainscot in the dining area used to cover the gaping hole in the wall required to repair a water leak in the shower. That project plus the new floor in the bedroom to replace the water damaged carpet led to some painting, a new microwave shelf, mongo spice rack and a taller than my cabinets likes cereal/oil/condiment rack. Now I can turn my thoughts more fully to solving all the world's problems which gives me a warm feeling similar to peeing my pants and is just as beneficial.

That means that fishing reports will be on the slow side unless something really interesting pops up. With the moon phase, I doubt that will happen for a week or so then things should be interesting again. Until then click away and amuse yourselves with my warped view of the world we live in.

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

Friday, August 05, 2011

Can't Wait to get Back to Fishing!

With lobster mini season and fear of Emily I have been spending way too much time working on the bus instead of fishing. I should have four day of fishing next week as long as the weather holds and it should.

It is August so it is hot. Compared to many places in the US right now it no where near as steamy. On the water it is not bad except for between about 1 and 4 when it is the hottest. That is a good time to do some fast trolling or run to another spot while blow drying. When you get back to the dock it feels ten degrees hotter.

Most of the buggers had good luck last week even though the water was dirty thanks to a little extra wind. Offshore the fishing has been pretty steady with nice size dolphin and a good many black fin tuna. The bite on the reef has been great though the fish are a little smaller than normal. The mutton bite on the deeper wrecks has be hot because of the spawn which is now tapering off. It is still worth a shot if you have good numbers and live bait.

Since it is pretty toasty outside, I switched my work on the bus to inside stuff. I replaced the flooring in the bed room with that Pergo stuff. That stuff is so cheap now that I am thinking about getting creative and using it for a wainscot and trim around the bed frame.

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

Fishing Consultant

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Buggers for Bugs!

The mini-season for Florida Lobster is this week! The Keys will be invaded by many thousands of Florida Lobster fans searching everywhere for the bugs as they are called. I normally stay out of the madness during mini-season. There are way too many people in, on and under the water. That normally means that a few people perish hunting bugs. Not a good thing.

As a reminder for the mini-season visitors, Florida Lobster are tasty but not to die for. So play nice and don't do anything stupid. Make sure you have your diver down flag up when your divers are down and not vice versa. Even if you don't see a flag, pretend you do and slow down just in case. Stay in your limits or you may be down on a lobster vacation and going back on probation. Before you shoot that grouper with a spear gun make sure you know what kind and how big first.

Also remember that seawalls are off limits. There are a lot of locals that don't take from their seawalls, canals and boat basins because it is kinda neat seeing all the critters that like to live there if you don't kill everything. So respect the no fishing, swimming or diving signs, please.

Have fun, catch bugs and stay safe.

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

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum

The Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum has undergone quite a few changes. Unfortunately, it looks like they lost most of the information for the Florida Keys they had built up over the years. Drastic changes, but it looks like it is back up for a while, anyway.

Since the changes all of the old links to stuff on the forum not longer work on this blog. Shame, plenty of good stuff lost. At least my blog is still kicking, so some of the information is alive here.

August looks like a mess with five groups coming and none of them setting a firm schedule. The family will get their trips and one of my regulars will have his four days, but everyone else will just have to hope that I am free. I have several other guides I can recommend, but they are subject to be booked and one is heading up north on vacation. So I will just have to deal with it the best I can.

The Bus is looking nice. I still have a list of things I want to do, but nothing that has to be done right now. That's a good thing! The new location is across the street from the Seven Mile Marina. One of the Captains there has me boat sitting the first week of August and has another boat that he wants me to run. I am still thinking about that, but the boat looks pretty good.

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

Friday, July 15, 2011

Dolphin Mugging



I didn't try to edit this video of Cole and father Clint getting mugged by dolphin. I think it is pretty funny.

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

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Saved by the Girls!

Just when I was forcing myself to climb on top of the bus and start mopping white elastopolymeric roofing membrane Clint called for a fishing half day with the rest of his crew. Clint and son Cole had a ball offshore chasing dolphin. Now it was the girl's turn. Wife Kim wanted to fish but Mia was a bit more into jet skiing. So I too them to the kiddy pool for mangrove snapper and fish petting.

That's right fish petting. The midnight blue parrot fish at this spot are so tame that you can actually pet them while they munch at the chum bag. The mangroves were legal but not very big today and we missed a few larger fish, but when you have entertain a mixed audience, some times the kiddy pool is just the ticket.

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 - Fishing Consultant

P.S. Since someone called be condescending and insulting I combined the two, now I am into consulting. :)

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

The Big Move!

The off season in the Keys is known for craziness. Not that sanity reigns the rest of the year, just more weird stuff happens in the off season. This off season my land lord decided to piss of the code enforcement lady from the city. He did a remarkable job! Now he is evicted, the old neighborhood is in turmoil and the bus has a new home until things get back to normal.


Above is a picture of the bus. The bus has been enjoying life under a large ficus tree since November of 2005. Since she was sitting a while, it took a little work to convince her that she needed to move. Most of the convincing was typical repair of belts and hoses. She threw in a new wrinkle this time wanting a new custom made drive shaft. I have never built a drive shaft before, but I can no longer say that.


So while playing mechanic I have not been posting much. I did fish last week and today. The photo above is our catch today with Clint and son Cole. Cole is 6 years old and a pleasure to fish with. The tuna bite was a little disappointing today but the freezer filling size dolphin were thick once we hit the wall. We kept these, released a few on purpose and a bunch more because we had more fish on than anglers. Cole and dad had a great time. I may get in another half day tomorrow, then back to bus pampering.

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

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Dolphin are Nuts but the Wind is a Little High

Everybody that is braving the seas is bringing home nice catches of good size dolphin even a few very nice slammers. The bigger fish have moved closer inshore and starting next week it looks like the winds will lay down. It is freezer filling time if you are so inclined.

The winds have not been too bad most days, it is just hard to pick a good day in advance. For the bigger boat guys, over 25 foot, it is very fishable as is with 15 to 20 knot winds. A little sporty for most of my regular guys in the 19 to 23 footers. Last week I was able to get in to decent size fish close, but those fish are now running about twice the size. Most of the schoolies now are right at the gaffer border with plenty of legitimate gaffer size, over 10 pound fish.

The snapper are starting to move to the reef for the spawn. There are plenty more yellowtail ready to bite than last month and a lot better average size. Remember grouper are legal again. So if the wind kicks up some switching to grouper/snapper is a good way to save a trip.

I am still trying to figure out how to edit videos and get them to load properly. The raw video will load just fine, but after editing something is not playing well with youtube. I have several older videos parts from earlier this year that I want to get online. Most is not that impressive because when a good fish is hooked up I am a little bit more concerned with getting the fish than the video. I do have some bay side mackerel fishing that got interrupted by a bunch of black tip sharks and an easy yellow tailing trip with lots of action but no monsters.

Anyway, watch the weather and try to get down next week if you can for the bigger dolphin. About the end of the month it will be full swing snapper catching time.

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

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Dolphin in Close with a Tuna Appetizer



I tried to take a video of the dolphin we caught. They were not big. The big slammers are about 25 miles off the beach. Since my crew included three older guys (I'm one) we opted to stay close and play with the smaller fish. Skeeter (Dave), Pops, (Mike) and LeRoy (Tom) didn't want to leep many fish so we only kept a half dozen schoolies in the 23 to 26 inch range, plus one tasty blackfin tuna which I did get a decent picture of.

While Blackfin may not get to the size of Yellowfin, they are mighty tasty. So I am not embarrassed keeping Blackfin this size. The fillets weighed about a pound and a half, which is plenty of dinner for me. We found the schooies in about 350 foot which is maybe 8 miles from the dock.

Blogger still has not turned the video thing back on so I may play with Youtube and see if I can post it some how.



I think this will work. Now I did not edit this and the cameraman (me) sucks, but let's see how it looks.

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

Friday, May 20, 2011

Yes, There are Still Mackerel Around


Mike shows that they are still around. Today was a fishing 101 to show Dave's Crew from Pennsylvania where to find some bigger fish. While offshore is the main event this time of year, the deep edge of the reef and artificial reefs have plenty of big critters. After playing with some Jacks, we hit the sixty foot line of the reef and put a keeper red grouper in the box, the king mackerel and tussled with a few things that didn't what to be photographed.


Dave's crew was not into eating fish so I have a nice dinner of grouper and fat lane snapper coming off the grill pretty soon.

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

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Hurricane Season 2011 Predictions


NOAA has a neat hurricane track history page for all you storm fans. This is the time of the year all the hurricane predictions come out. This year is supposed to be above normal, whatever that is. I am not all that concerned with normal, I am more concerned with where, when and how strong. They can't predict that.

Some of the forecasters do give you similar years. This year is supposed to be similar to 1950, 1955, 1996, 1999 and 2008. The national hurricane center has a neat map of past hurricane tracks you can pick your years to see how they were. Of the years listed as being similar, only 2008 has a storm that pasted our way.

The 2008 storm was tropical storm Fay. Fay I think is the only tropical storm to have its name retired. She made landfall in Florida 4 times and dumped more rain than most hurricanes. So if this year is that kind of above normal year I am all for it. I firmly believe that the more you prepare for a hurricane season, the less chance you have of needing to. So I have pruned the trees and most of the normal stuff already. That way I can fish longer before a storm if one does point this way.

Anyway, the predictions make it look pretty good for the spur of the moment guys this year. Guys that want to take off for a long weekend have a good shot of getting some good fishing in. The winds will be getting more predictable for the small boat guys (me) to run offshore or hit the reef. The dolphin run for bigger fish has started a little later than normal so maybe it will last a little longer. Last year the snapper bite on the reef was pretty awesome, it should be about the same this year. Most everything is looking good for a make up for last season's oil scare.

After a weather delay, I should be fishing tomorrow. It is a fishing 101 for fun fish so maybe I can get another shot at a video. I blew it with the dolphin on the fly rod

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

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Well Shucks

I was all ready for a fun day of fishing for the freezer but the weather is a little iffy today. Since I have enjoyed all the wild and crazy offshore rides I want, unless of course the pay is right, we are sitting it out today with semi plans for Tuesday or Thursday. I have plenty of freezer bags stocked up just in case.

The only reason I am posting anything today is because Blogger, the company that I use for my blog, has had a few issues. Comments the past few days have been lost in cyber space and access has been limited. Blogger has also gotten rid of the video Icon for the blog, which makes it even more challenging to post videos should I do happen to figure how to do that.

So I will play online and may sneak out this afternoon for some snapper if the front moves through. Some good news (to me anyway) is I figured out how to create a virtual RS232 com port to download the numbers from the old GPS and up load into the new GPS. I only have a couple hundred of numbers locally, but a few of those are pretty sweet and somewhat unknown. Now I just have to remember to make a new hard copy before something else happens.

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

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

They're Here


Not them, that's sage rubbed pork butt cooked to perfection for 4 hours on my newly repaired gas grill. They're here refers to the big dolphin AKA Mahi Mahi aka what's for dinner next week. The big fish were a little slow showing up this year thanks to the La Nina weather pattern. Anyway that's my story and I am sticking to it. Just talked to the captain of the Snap Shot out of Duck Key. Forty something pound fish yesterday. The other guys that have been out offshore instead of tarpon fishing are bringing in more high teens with a few slammers. If the weather holds, you should be able to fill your freezer the next few weeks without playing with too many schoolies. About mid June, the schoolies should become a pest, so the next coupla weeks should be prime time. I am planning a meat trip for my little freezer Sunday on the Flatlines.

So next weeks food for thought photo should be big chucks of fresh Dolphin wrapped with bacon, grilled to perfection served on a bed of baby spinach, with grilled corn on the cob and rosemary roast potatoes. Maybe I will get fancy and stuff the kabobs with surimi stuffing and asparagus. Tough life with so many decisions to make.

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

Sunday, May 01, 2011

It's Grouper Time Again!

The number of grouper I have been getting without being able to keep any has been a major bummer. So I tried to change tactics so I wouldn't catch so many, so maybe more should be around when the Grouper season opened. Tomorrow I will find out if that worked.

I have been fishing but not posting much. The catch has been so so. My crews have had fun and caught fish for dinner. Unfortunately, we have to let go a few of these:


And had to settle for these:



The porgie with Devon was a by-catch while playing with the sharks and the dolphin with Bob was invited home after searching for dolphin on the fly rod. If my crews don't what to kill a bunch of fish, I don't. Not so good for the blog since my pictures on the water don't come out too great, but as long as they have a good time, it's fine with me. Speaking of bad on the water photography, I thought I was videoing Bob's dolphin on the fly battle, but didn't punch record. Great shots I thought. When I got the video going, I managed to get a few jumps, but now the blog doesn't want to upload the video. Oh, well. Ya shoulda been there. Bob got all the good out of the fish. It took almost 30 minutes for an estimated eight pound schoolie.

Up to today, Tarpon have been the main story. They are thick and stupid this year. Now there will be more big bottom fish showing at the docks with Grouper back open. Seems most of the guides have avoided the deeper mutton/grouper spots to avoid killing grouper needlessly. So now the 90 to 150 foot wrecks and ledges will be visited more often.

While the tourista season is winding down following Easter, the serious fishing season is just getting going. Offshore is looking a bit odd so far. The dolphin are out there, but the big brutes are a bit thin for this time of the year. There were a few larger fish brought in last week, but nothing like normal. That should mean that the bigger run should start a little later which normally means better days to fish for them. I have been through a few May/June bites that were awesome, so that may be the deal this year. Tuna at the hump are getting a bit bigger, so that should get crazy soon. Of course we have the annual snapper spawn coming in May through July/August. The water is already fairly warm so we may have one of the long spawns. I have caught monster 'tails and 'Grovers on the long spawns, fish over 24". If that is the case this year, plan on a quick weekend trip to fill the freezer.

I have to add this short video of Bob with his dolphin on the fly rod.



Anyway, I will try to post a quick Grouper report tomorrow.

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

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Eric Catches Fish Too!


He caught this nice 22 inch red grouper. If he was here next month he could have kept it. But thanks to all those wonderful, caring people that don't know where the Keys are, he couldn't keep it today.


So he and his crew had to settle for snapper like this Lane, a fair number of 14 inch mangrove and a few porgies. Not that stellar a half day, since I have to try to figure out what is biting that we can actually keep. It has been slow the past few days. Lots of small fish getting in the way of the bigger ones. I took Joe, Jim, Mrs. D and Mrs. Lori out a couple times. They caught fish too, just nothing that blew wind up my skirt. Dolphin are still a little thin on some days, we found one school of legal fish, but no size to them, fishing out of Cudjoe Key.

They all had fun and learned stuff, so I don't feel that bad, but I hate it when the bite dies. The moon is passing and the winds are back to normal, so things will pick up.

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

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Sue and Bob Catch Fish

Sue, with the large of the two dolphin, and hubby Bob caught fish.  I only say it that way because some of their back home crowd have begun to doubt their catching ability.  Now they got proof.

While these dolphin are not wall hangers, on Sue's light spinning rod it was a bit of a challenge.  Anywho, they got dinner for a few nights and learned how to find dolphin on their own.  For the diehard dolphin crowd, it is still a little early to count on whacking the big ones, but the bite is picking up.  The three we caught today where in 450 foot of water.  Sue's larger fish has odd vee shaped bite marks on the top and bottom.  Wonder what that might have been?  We never saw the fish that attacked hers, but it was a pretty big one.

I would say that after the next moon might just be prime time to come down and fill your freezer.  Most of the reports I heard today were slow, but we were done catching and headed back in by 11:00.

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

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

More on the Captain Dallas Approved Fish Cleaning Table

Call 305 304-8656
In between naps, solving all the world's problems and playing lumber jack, I have been fiddling with the fish cleaning table.  The new cypress base stand has been tested and photographed by a real semi-professional photographer.  Unfortunately, the semi-professional photographer and I were not able to get some scantily clad young lovely to pose with the table.  At least my fat butt is not in these photos which may help sales.





This is what the Cypress Kit will look like when you get one.  It will be packaged of course and include  fasteners for assembly.  With the pre-drilled holes for fasteners it goes together very easily.  Here is another view.




Assembled, the table and cypress base look fantastic!




I am pretty proud with how it came out.  Good looking, easy to assemble and pre-stained to last a long time, estimated 20 plus years.  While the design is simple, it is rock solid.  I am a wood fan but many prefer stainless or aluminum.  Those are next on the agenda along with the mother of all custom bases.


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