A Friendly Challenge

The past few days I haven't been fishing I have been teaching a new 38 foot boat owner how to maintain and operate his new vessel. Call it boating 101. Since I haven't been fishing and the last few trips I have had were catch and release, I get a lot of that by the way, one of the more successful local charter captains has issued me a challenge. He wants me to throw fish on the dock to back up my mouth.

I was brought up not to kill anything you don't eat and king mackerel is a fish I really don't care to eat anymore as do most of my customers. Still bringing big fish to the dock sells trips. Not a pretty part of the job, but something that has to be done on occasion. My quandary is that I need someone that actually likes King mackerel in fairly large quantities so that I can tighten this young gun up a touch. So I am willing to make a sweet heart deal to anyone with a taste for Kingfish just to make a point.

So here is the deal. First the fish have to be appreciated and not sold. I think anyone that sells their catch without a commercial license is a cheap scape prick. Second there is no charge for the trip, only any gratuity that the angler feels appropriate. Third the angler must have a digital camera so that I can download photos for my blog. Finally, no fish are cleaned until the youngster and all God's children in the neighborhood get a chance to do some oohs and awes. If you are up to the challenge let's rock this young gun's world.

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

Finally a Warming Trend!

It has been pure hell for the local fishing guides in the colder than normal temperatures. I have been fishing in six or more layers of clothes while my northern customers are in t-shirts. Though I have to admit there were days they had multi-layers on as well at least in the morning. This cold has changed the way many charters are doing business. Instead of the normal 8:00 start most are starting at 9:00 to let the sun get up a bit.

This brings me to another point about charter and guide trips. How long is a full day? Generally, 7 to 9 hours. For meat fishermen that can be a little less when the bite is exceptionally hot. Once the box is full or the crew has limited out it is time to head back to the dock. The trip can be a bit longer when the bite sucks early and picks up late. When conditions change like the current dies, the wind gets wicked or storms move in it is time to head for the barn. When this happens the charter captain will normally cut you some slack if the trip is less than 5 hours long. Over that it is generally considered a full day based on the catch.

When a trip sucks most captains try to schedule a do over at a reduced rate. We don't like refunding because most of us can't afford to eat the fuel, bait, tackle and crew costs. Luckily, it is very rare that we schedule trips when it is likely to be boring without letting the customers know in advance. We all have had trips when we knew it would be less than a chamber of commerce kinda out come before we hit the water. The only reason we run them is because vacations don't last forever and people start Jonesing to get on the water. Even on these trips we normally have enough action to satisfy most customers. So if you are a clock watcher, make sure you discuss things with your captain.

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

So What's Happening?

I haven't fished for a few days due to weather and I am helping a new boat owner learn the ropes of driving and maintaining a much larger boat than he is used to. A lot more guys are fishing now with the spring break crowd in town. They have been doing well on both sides of the island. The only thing that is a little slow is the tarpon at the bridge.

Captain pips has started their own stimulus package offering a 20% discount on lodging if you book a charter with any of the boats in the marina. That includes Pips 36, Papa Pips, Catch'em all, Beckoning and the flats guides. Sorry no discount for me. Also Captain Pips is offering discounts to the Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum guys and maybe soon my blog followers.

The Captain Dallas approved Fillet Pro fishing cleaning tables are definitely ready to ship. I will be getting a discount code soon so my blog followers can get a pretty good discount. Don't know how long the introductory discount will be going on, but for at least a few months you can save $30 to $50 off the table cost.

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

Macks, Macks, Macks!

The weatherman kinda blew his call for the winds laying down so we did the bay thing. Plenty of Spanish Mackerel for any that want so dip or fish cakes. Remember that Porky's will smoke your macks for you and give you fish dip in exchange or smoked fish back.

The crew was Ted and Harold again out of Captain Pips. They had a ball catching a releasing Spanish to nearly six pounds. Lots of fun on light tackle. The mangrove bite was fast and furious but the fish were smaller than I like. Then we didn't spend much time looking for the bigger fish with all the mackerel action.

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

A Fun Day of Catch and Release

Sunday was a lovely day of catching. My crew Ted and Harold from Ohio just wanted to catch and release a lot of fish. So after loading up with shrimp and pinfish while the winds where still a bit high we moved to one of my favorite rock piles in Hawks channel. Nearly every drop was a hook up with those pesky grouper that are closed being the number one bite followed by Mangrove, Lanes, Porgies, Black tip sharks and mackerel. Several of the Grouper were more than legal length and all were released unharmed.

After about 60 released fish and two fat Mangs kept for dinner we moved to the reef to get a few 'tails for appetizers. While the crew bumped the bottom for Porgies and such I used one of their pinfish rods to check for the 'tails in the slick. What was hooked up was not a 'tail. After several 100 plus yard runs, three trips around the boat and 30 minutes the fish finally was identified as a King Mackerel of about 30 pounds. On six pound test with no leader and a size two hook there was no way we were boating the fish. The crew though had a ball watching the king have its way with me on the light tackle while they enjoyed adult refreshments.

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

Mack Attack!

I wanted to hit the ocean side yesterday but my crew couldn't find their sea legs so it was Bay Side. Pretty constant Mackerel bite all day. The crew wanted action and some bigger fish so a few sharks rounded out their day. The mangrove bite was a bit off with the dirty water but there was still plenty of legal but not very impressive mangs available. The bait situation is pretty sucky. Haven't seen ballyhoo the last two weeks.

The weather looks great for this weekend and I have a trip for tomorrow that I may push back to Sunday to take advantage of the better weather which includes not freezing my butt off and lower winds. If you are a spur of the moment angler, put your spurs on and get down here.

In other news Porky's Bayside now has a website. So you can keep up on what the specials are and all that good stuff. Porky's also has a Facebook and Twitter pages.

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