The Slammer Dolphin search continues

We worked all the way out to the wall, over 1000 feet of water yesterday and nary a sign of big dolphin.   I noticed that a few charter boats found one or two in close while fishing for other things but I didn't see enough weeds and floaters offshore to really target the big fish quite yet.

We hit the Marathon hump again with two boats pulling darts and combined for about 20 tuna.  The Blackfin are mixed in with the Skippies.  There were around 30 boats fishing the Hump and yesterday most were hooking up.  I worked the top of the Hump for a while since the boats out there yesterday were a bit more organized and the other boat worked the outside.  We did a little better but not enough to write home about.  We also found tuna a few miles west of the Hump under birds so if you don't want to fight the crowd you can do your own thing and save a little fuel.

I noticed that all the tuna caught were filled with krill so it might be fun to drift some shrimp on light spinning gear if you  want some exercise.  If you are really looking for a workout, yesterday you could have hooked up with a fly rod without too much trouble.  For bigger fish though, live white bait in 200 to 300 foot of water is probably your best bet.  I am a fan of easy so unless I can get bait quick, dragging lures works just fine.

Since we have an iffy weather forecast and the gang will be here all week, I probably won't fish today.  A number of the crew have tarpon on their bucket lists and right now the tarpon bite is pretty spectacular, so they are likely to give that a shot this evening.  Pinfish have hooked most of the tarpon from what I hear but there are mullet around which are never a bad thing to have tarpon fishing.

As usual, I managed to not get any good photos and as usual I have been promised plenty, but time will tell.

 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

Offshore - Tuna

I was really hoping to find a nice big Dolphin aka mahi, but I must have zigged when I should have zagged.  In any case, the tuna bite was pretty good and we lost a couple of bragging size fish to either sharks or tail wrap.

Most of the bite was at or near the hump and we put a baker's dozen in the box mainly, skippies with black fin and a few were most likely skippies but had very faded markings.  A bit different and I should have taken a few photos, but forgot.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another calm day so we may do another hump trip or play around closer in looking for sails etc.

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

Busy again

This season is definitely holiday driven so far.  I have been on the water the past few days doing Bay half days and sight seeing/snorkeling trips.  Today I finally got a half day on the reef and patches with a family from LA, lower Alabama that didn't have much fishing experience.  This trip was last minute booking on the lil Lady Catherine so I had to act like a real captain and everything.  Mom showed 'em how to git 'er done with some nice Lane Snapper to 18 inches and released a 23" black grouper.  Bit slow on the reef with mainly just undersized 'tail and then a Needle fish invasion. Did manage a couple of respectable Progies, but I think we missed the main bite a little earlier in the morning.

Offshore has been interesting with a few big dolphin caught in close along with a good Wahoo here and there.  Hit the right day and sailfish have been tailing which is always fun.  Tarpon have also fired off early this year.  I will be fishing the next four or five days on larger boats so maybe I will get some first hand offshore info.

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 lil Lady Catherine

With the Island Hopper bound for Hawaii, the 26 foot sailfish is the new Lady Cathrine.  David and I fished with 5 anglers today and she done good.  Of course you don't really need a captain and mate on a 26 footer, but 5 and 6 anglers can be pretty tough on one guy.

I considered today as kind of a check out for the sailfish.  With 7 pretty hefty guys, full of fuel and loaded with gear, she ran great and rode nice and stable.  The bite was a bit slow with the current being very weak, but after finding a friendlier current when caught a nice mess of yeloowtail snapper and big eye snapper or toro.  The toro isn't in the same family as snapper, but they do eat about as well.  We also kept enough good sized grunts for an appetizer.

The pork fish in the photo is the only picture I took on my phone, but the crew took quite a few and might share them later.  I probably need to take more photos of the sailfish center console for my next post.  I am not sure what all the rates are going to be or what kind of discounts I can finangle.,but I will try to set up something for the off season.

Most everyone is doing good fishing and there are some good offshore reports for tuna and dolphin.  I noticed that Bucko boated his first Tarpon of the season and the Lil Lady Catherine will be available for Tarpon trips.
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

Looks like the Lady Catherine is headed to Hawaii

Yesterday may have been the last two trips for the Lady Catherine 30 foot Island Hopper in the Florida Keys.  She done good if if was with a nice mess of Hogfish, Mangroves, Yellowtail, one nice mutton, a load of Yellowjacks, a Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) and Gag Grouper release plus a few others.

It seems that thanks to regulation it is easier for a dive operator in Hawaii to by a certified boat in the Keys, build a trailer to haul it to California then ship it to Hawaii than it is to find a boat locally.  Once there, the Lady Catherine should be a shark cage dive boat.

 Kinda fitting that the last day started with a morning half and ended with a combined fishing and sunset cruise and a profit for a change.  As is usual, it ain't over until the check clears, but it looks like the Sailfish center console will be the new charter boat.

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 and Getting Hooked

I was asked by one young couple to perform their wedding and I get asked that from time to time.  To make a union legal in most states all that is required is a notary to stamp the license with the appropriate signatures.  Now if you happen to be a member of some religious groups, things get a bit more complicated.

Different religious organizations can have lots of rules and regulations based on their traditions.  If one family is a member of one group and the other a different group, one of the two groups is going to lay claim to the union.  If that is your thing you need to stick with a traditional ceremony.

More people are getting away from "tradition" in order to get traditional.  If a man a woman wants to get married all that is required is consent from the brides family but it never hurts to have consent from both.  Then they can exchange their promises and tokens if they like, in front of a witness and in the eyes of the people really involved, they are hitched.  Most like to have some written record of the event which in the US most often were family bibles.

In the US, marriage licenses were not widely available until the mid 19th century.  Some cities and states started issuing marriage licenses as early as the 1600s, but those required "Church" approval in most cases.  If you wanted to marry outside of the Church, you were on your own.

Once the State got involved, you had to have a license if you wanted to be recognized as joined in the legal bonds of matrimony.  If you opted not to get a license, most states have common law marriage laws so if either party has some issues, you are hitched anyway.

In Florida, to be legally married you just need a license and a Notary Public plus one witness and you are hitched as soon as the license is filed.  You can have any kind of ceremony you like or none at all and you are still hitched.

Where I come in is some like to have a different kind of ceremony.  You can use Vic Dunaway's Baits Tackle and Rigging as your "bible", make up your own vows, use traditional vows, hand signals whatever you like then jump brooms, stomp glasses, jump into the ocean, whatever you like to commemorate your day, as long as you file the legal paperwork you are legally married.  You can also get in a bit of fishing before during and after or just enjoy a day in the tropics.

Some captains have paid their fees so they can be a recognized Notary Public and some are even ordained by some organization of sorts to add a bit of legal looking pomp to the circumstance, but I am not yet institutionalized and hope not to be any time soon.  I tend to believe it is a personal thing and as long as two people of age want to get hitched and have the support of at least one family, it really shouldn't be anyone else's business.  If they file papers, then they are legal outside their circle of friends and family meaning health insurance companies, IRS and all those other parasites are happy.

On the fishing side, the bite is a bit irregular.  It has been just windy enough that I haven't ventured out front much but Bay Side has legal but not impressive mangroves along with a steady Spanish Mackerel bite.  Pilchards are not to hard to find, we chummed some up in less than an hour the other day though Bluefish ate most of them.  Live Shrimp and fresh bait strips have been producing most of the better quality fish we have been getting.  Bigger boats have been doing well on the wrecks but even they are fishing rock piles more than normal because of the East wind.

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

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas