Today was a quick trip to the Bay to catch a mess of Spanish Mackerel with the part of Joe's crew that rare venture out on the boat.  Joey is holding one of the usual suspects and Porky's Bay Side converted 20 pounds of the Spanish fillets into smoked fish dip just like magic.  Another 5 or 10 pounds of fillets are likely to become fish cakes.   With cousin Frank being in culinary school I am curious what he comes up with.

The renewed Seven Mile Grill is open with a new look outside,

and inside, well except for a few things that didn't change.  Like those gorgeous Croissant Rolls in the the back :)

Tomorrow will be another fishing day with a little trip to Bahia Honda planned if the weather holds.

Merry Christmas and happy fishing guys!

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

The Gang is Back in Town

Chicago Joee and the whole gang are back for this year's Christmas holidays fishing vacation.  We managed a short half day yesterday, but it was still  chilly and windy.  Plenty of fish, but not much in bragging size.  Today we tried to get a few snapper that are photo worthy.

This father son pair of Mangrove Snapper are pretty photogenic.  Not as many as I would have liked, but good quality fish.  The Bay Side Spanish Mackerel with Black Tip shark expedition is planned for the AM.

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

Sinking Feeling

This is supposed to be a post on some kick butt reef fishing during some of the most beautiful December fishing weather I can remember, but the boat tried to sink.

No, I was not on the boat.  I was not near the boat.  The boat and I have never met, the owner of the boat called me in the AM with the "Houston! We have a problem.", voice.  I haven't heard back from the owner, but sink the boat was at the dock, that is understandable.

News  Well, I start tomorrow as the assistant to the assistant to the dock master at Pancho's Fuel Dock.  I have been thoroughly trained in sticking the fuel tanks, checkout on the cash register and have new ice basket fetching shoes.  Some folks think I may even have some clue what I am doing, which is a good thing I hear.  It is a two day a week gig so I am scheduling guide trips round Thursdays and Fridays.  I only have a few conflicts so far.

More news  The Seven Mile Grill, under new management  is scheduled to reopen in a grand way around the 15th.  That is a secret though, so don't tell nobody.  I hear that I will be one of the official tasters and will report on that when available.

Even more news  Harbor Point Marine which had a higher end rental boat business for a while before it went under is no longer under.  That is also under new management.   I will make a post on the new operation once I actually see the new operation.

It is mighty nice reporting on openings instead of closing.

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

Smoked Mackerel

Yes, it is that time of year again, Smoked Mackerel time!  Mrs. Lisa shows off one of her first of the day from Marathon's Bay Side.  On the whole, the bite was a little slow, but there was more than enough action and adventure when the Black Tip sharks crashed the party.  Some very respectable sized Black Tips as well, with one brute that push 100 pounds pretty hard.

The crew manage to come close to filling the fish box with healthy size Spanish and a good number of Yellow Jacks.  While not everyone's favorite, Yellow Jack can taste just as good as they fight.

We are watching the winds to see if we can plan a trip to the reef in a couple days.  So I should have another report 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

Iguana the Another White Meat Adventures

My first Iguana the Another White Meat post gets quite a bit of attention.  While the local rules, regulations and sympathies tend to favor the reptilian invasive species, Puerto Rico tends to side more on the  native species that Iguana tend to displace.  Matt Davis, offers Iguana Safaris in Puerto Rico where you can be one with suburban nature in a tropical setting and enjoy fresh Iguana for dinner and even have Iguana meat shipped to your door.

As you can see, Matt and crew do a fine job of cleaning your catch.  Matt also has all those silly permits, licenses and certifications required to humanly dispatch and process not only Iguana but Caiman.

Caiman are a miniature version of Alligator like reptiles also found in the islands.   Caiman taste like gator, BTW.

Matt can even handle pretty large orders for folks looking for Iguana or Caiman meat if you live in an area you are not constantly tripping over exotic invasive reptiles.

Matt's e-mail address is dvsdavis84@yahoo.com   Just mention Capt. Dallas and Matt will do his best show you a good Iguana/Caiman adventure in his corner of Paradise.

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

Miss Penny fights Amberjack.

Miss Penny's significant Fireman Erin other shows off his small Amberjack.

Yes, the bragging fish were slow today, but a fishing 101 starts with not tearing up the boat, digging out the right gear and taking a tour of fishing spots and watering holes.  There were quite a few snapper, mainly Mangroves that didn't get photos plus some of the usual suspects.;  Anywho, Fireman Erin now is comfortable operating a 26 foot twin engine boat upon the local Marathon waters after a bit of a whirlwind tour of the reef, patches, rockpiles and bay.

About time?  Heck yeah!  With all the wild and crazy stuff going on else where, Marathon is the place to be.

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