Captain Pip'sBoat Info

I didn't fish today which is a good thing for my back but not my wallet. I am fishing tomorrow, but until then I figured I might need to write something. The subject is Captain Pips boats.

Captain Pips provides some very clean and comfortable rooms with a guest boat included. The guest boats are not the cream of the crop. It is a profit thing after all, so the guest boats are the smallest and oldest boats in the fleet. Compared to other locations that offer free boats with lodging, Captain Pips rocks! But let's be realistic.

If you are spending a few grand for a Keys vacation, why not consider spending a little more to get a better boat for the trip? The pro series boats have better electronics, bigger live wells and are more comfortable to fish out of in seas. But they do cost more. With more fuel efficient engines, that cost is not as much as it seems once you get the final bill. Factor in the days you can fish and where you can fish, and it is a no brainer.

Then there are booze cruisers and snow birds that want maximum sun protection and minimum cost. As long as they exist, there will be Gotcha class Bimini equipped Cobia boats that are a pain in the butt to fish out of. They will continue to be a Pips option because snow birds that have no clue how to fish down here want them.

So it is let the renter beware. Can you catch good fish out of the older boats? Sure but you limit your options. It is your vacation, plan it your way, but don't blame your financial choices on the purveyor. They offer options, you have to make the informed decision.

ETA: There is a Pips customer that has never fished with me that regularly talks bad about the new boats. He of course knows everything about fishing the Keys and never has booked me or consulted another guide. He is very vocal though on the net.

That is why I am here guys. To do a little teaching. If you already know everything don't bother calling me. If you want to learn, I am available, either as a guide that costs or just to shoot the breeze that doesn't.

Here is a run down of the Pips guest boats:

Lil Chris, a 19 foot Chris Craft cc with tee top, below deck live well and pedestal mounted seats. Depth finder and VHF only, no GPS.

Century, a 19 century with Bimini top, pedestal seats small square live well in rear port corner. Depth Finder and VHF only.

The Gotcha Class Cobias includes; Gotcha, butterfly and J-bird. 20 foot Cobias with Bimini tops, pedestal seats, small square live wells in rear port corner. Depth finder and VHF only. Note: One or two have had new four stroke engines added. Those got a GPS with the new power.

These boats have carborated two cycle engines that can be hard to start and burn more fuel. They also burn oil which is an additional expense. With only two anglers they run fine. With more than two or lots of gear they tend to be under powered. Pedestal seats must have been designed by small Asian people. Portly anglers tend to break the seats. The Bimini top models have limited rod holders/storage.

The Gotcha class boats are popular with fly fishermen. With the Bimini removed they have a pretty clean casting deck. They are also light boats that are pretty easy to push off flats. Canadians especially like the Bimini tops for sun protection even though they are a pain to fish around. In shore and near shore, they are quite fishable. Offshore trolling though fuel/oil costs tend to be nearly three times that of the four strokes.

Another guest boat is Mackerel Smoker, a 21 foot Mako with tee top, below deck live well, full electronics and an older HPDI Yamaha two cycle. This boat fishes up to four comfortably and is well powered. It is an older boat so it is not very attractive but functional. The motor is possessed by the devil. About once a month it decides to not want to start. After it sits for 15 minutes or so it starts just fine again. The not starting thing happens most often when you want to chase a big fish or want to get away from the rain. When the mechanic looks at the boat it starts just fine. (do do do do, do do do do.)

I will go over the pro series boats in another post. Remember though that older boats crave attention from Mark the mechanic. Minor problems like electrical issues occur more often on these boats but are easy to repair. Let someone know what is an issue and they will fix it pronto. Live well pumps tend to have more issues in the winter due to bay grass clogging the strainer. So if you are a serious live bait user get with the dock master so you know were everything is.


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

Dealing with Sea Birds Stealing Your Bait and Getting Hooked or Tangled

If you fish in the Keys sooner or later you either hook or get a sea bird wrapped up in your line. Kelly Grinter, of the Marathon Wild Bird Center, consented to a short interview this morning to explain how to handle sea birds while fishing. When you hook a pelican or seagull just reel them in slowly and get control of them so you can remove the hook. Pelicans have large bills that make a perfect handle for holding them. Just grab and hold the top beak or both and gentlely control the bird.

Seagulls have smaller beaks but are handled much the same way. The first thing a seagull will do is try to bite you when you reel them in close. Just extend your finger and let gull bite then grab the top beak between your thumb and finger.

Once you have control of the bird remove the hook and unwrap and remove any fishing line. If the hook is buried to the barb, you may need to push the hook through and snip the barb off to get the hook out. Then release the bird. If the bird was hooked in the leg, it may need antibiotic treatment to prevent infection. In that case, give your local wild bird rescue center a call for more instructions.

In the photo Kelly has just removed a jig head from a juvenile pelican. She calls pelicans that hang out around the dock moochers because they are always looking for a hand out. While feeding these birds can be fun, it is one of the worst things you can do for them. Kelly said these pelicans are like 16 year olds that want a beer, they don't need to have a beer, but someone will give them a beer. So feeding pelicans is like giving alcohol to a minor, not a good thing.

Pelicans have eyes much larger than their stomachs. They will eat fish that are much too large for them to digest often ending up in trouble. So when you are cleaning fish make sure that the pelicans don't get to your fish or the carcasses. To my surprise, you may need to start watching out for your fillet knives as well.

"I got a call from one of the captains at Keys Fisheries that a pelican had swallowed his fillet knife. I drove down there knowing that could never have happened. The captain showed me the bird. When I reached my hand down its throat, sure enough there was the fillet knife," said Kelly.

So when you are fishing in the Keys watch out for the sea birds, especially the brown headed, juvenile pelicans. They are not the sharpest tacks in the box.

For more information on the Marathon Wild Bird Center follow this link, marathonwildbird.org


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

Have Your Ground Tackle Ready for the Job

The reef bite has been slow so I tried to fish the Hawk Channel rock piles to get the eating fish. Only one problem with that plan, both the Danforth and the rock anchors were tweaked. If you can't hold anchor where you want you are not going to catch the fish you want. Many private boat guides like myself have a variety of anchors and anchoring methods to get the job done. They only work if your gear is in working order. So here are a few tips for anchoring in the Keys.

Make sure you have the right Danforth. Yachting is one thing, but for fishing you want an anchor over-sized for your boat. Yep, it is a bit of a pain to pull in, but you want something that will hold in high winds and not break loose in confused seas. The Danforth is for sandy and grassy bottom only. So that means that it is for fishing the Bay and Hawk Channel. The Danforth we had was the right size, but had been tweaked on a previous trip so it could not get a good bite.

Depending on the conditions you want plenty of scope. In twenty plus knot winds 10 to one scope is not uncommon. Scope by the way in the amount of line out for the depth of water. So that means you need plenty of anchor line.

On the reef you want a grappling hook also known as a rock anchor. Preferably one with a break away so you can retrieve your ground tackle from a rocky coral hook-up. Today the rock anchor had four of its five hooks bent.

In really strong winds I have to resort to using both anchors on the same line just to hold. By tagging the Danforth to the back of the rock anchor you can hold in the Bay in nearly any wind you are silly enough to fish.

Normally, I check this stuff before I head out, but I was fishing with a friend that normally has top notch stuff. So I got a not so subtle reminder to never assume. Always make sure your ground tackle is up to the task and never forget to bring a back-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

Handcuffed by Smoker Kings

I would much rather post a successful trip with plenty of photos, but fishing doesn't always go as planned. I picked up an afternoon half day. The mission was just to show one of the guests where he could fish his small boat in the winds coming the next few days. I show him a spot south of the new seven mile bridge where you can normally get a good catch of snapper for dinner and a few Spanish Mackerel.

Things seem to start well, we hooked Spanish but couldn't get a whole one to the boat. I was thinking Barracuda, but it turned out to be smoker king mackerel that were eating our fish. After his light 12 pound spinning outfit got smoked and spooled, we shifted to his 25 pound spinner. That one didn't get spooled, but a few hundred yards of line disappeared quickly several times. Between the crab buoys, wire rigs breaking due to violent strikes and pulled hooks, we didn't boat a single King. Chris from Canada though will remember three hours of fishing by the Seven Mile Bridge for a long while.

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

Home Rentals

Just a quick list of Realtors that have weekly vacation rentals.

Key Colony Beach Realty

www.keysproperties.com

Exit Realty

www.flkeysrentals.com

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Glenndevon, Sounds like a Fine Scotch.

Dad Glenn and son Devon were my crew for the day. The goal was tight lines, a little dinner and hopefully a shark or two for 14 year old Devon. The morning started out just as I planned. Thousands of good sized Jack Crevalle were terrorizing balleyhoo at the seven mile bridge. We hooked five on light tackle and boated one for shark bait. Then they disappeared. It was like I was trapped in the twilight zone. Here I have the easiest trip imaginable and the Jacks disappear.

The winds that were supposed to be near 15 and decreasing stayed at 20 ruling out my honey holes due to a very confused seas. I fall back on plan D to get dinner before taking on the shark encounter. The half dozen yellowtail for dinner take three times as long as normal to get on ice.

With only an hour of fishing left we shoot for Devon's favorite target shark. We hook a four foot Brownie a couple of minutes after putting the bait in the water. Since the video camera malfunctioned, we had no problem getting that one to the leader. The second much larger shark spit the bait as soon as the video camera got fired up.

There has to be a photography spiritual cleansing ritual that doesn't involve virgins some where to simplify my life.

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 Call for Porky's Bayside Support

Every customer I have ever taken out has had at least a beer or coffee in the morning at Porky's Bayside. On tripadviser.com someone dissed Porky's as having dry pork. Hey, they have dry beef BBQ, but the pork rocks. If you get a chance express your views of Porky's on the trip adviser web site. If you had a bad trip with me, you can express yourself as well. All both of you.

I would say something about fishing but I tweaked my back and have had to stay heavily medicated the last two days. Tough job but someone has to do it. I will tough it out tomorrow for another fishing report.

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.

ETA: Oh and if you didn't like the BBQ beans at Porky's blame me, that is my recipe.
Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Texas Mackerel Half Day

I took out Austin and Amy-rillo fishing for Spanish Mackerel today. Austin's significant other isn't really named Amy-rillo, but come on! Austin, Amy-rillo and Dallas on the same boat sounds like a Texas fishing adventure. They write a few articles for the Long Island Fisherman which actually has several publications in the great white Atlantic North.

Most times you take sports writers fishing something happens to make the trip a bit more challenging. Today of course the winds were stiff and the current limp. We caught fish but the bite was well below normal. That never deters outdoors writers because you can always take plenty of photos of the same fish from different angles. After telling the crew that the bite could be pretty slow, the first mac in the boat got the royal photo treatment. Luckily the bite picked up to a slow but steady pace. Plenty of fish, but nothing outrageously exciting.

One of the things about these trips is that a lot of time is dedicated to taking pictures. Each decent fish or mediocre fish that happens to be in the right light stops angling for photo op time. They had fun though and caught more than enough for dinner and dip. A couple of decent Mangroves were the main course with a bunch of Michael Jackson's released.

They were quite impressed with Captain Pips' accommodations, Porky's food including their lunch cook your catch and thought their guide for the half day was adequate. They had more than enough photos, so the article should be pretty good. Look for it in the near future in one of the Long Island Fisherman publications.

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

Just Another Fishing 101

Monday was just another fishing 101. Really nice crew from Canada by way of South Africa. One couple loves to fish the other could care less. I told the couple that could care less that I planned to get them addicted to fishing. Did the tour first thing in the morning to show the non fishing crew a nice beach near some good fishing so they could split up and enjoy doing their own thing. One of the non fishing crew is a kite boarder and diver. There are plenty of spots around the island to do both.

Then I took the crew to a spot in Hawk Channel. One of my fishing crew likes to hand line, this spot is perfect for bottom fishing with a hand line or rod. They caught a ton of fish though there was a lull during slack tide. Not many keepers, but a few just short grouper, a Jewfish, a good number of lane snapper and the ever present grunts you have to wade through. I thought it was slow as hell, but the crew had never seen so many kinds of fish or so many fish in a couple hours of fishing.

The afternoon though sucked. The wind picked up and turned against the current. That canned my plans for some time on the reef or offshore so we headed back to the Bay. The Mackerel had lock jaw. I could see them swimming around but they wouldn't hit anything we offered. We hit another of my spots and caught a few lanes that were legal but too small for me to bring back to the dock. To me a lane needs to be 14 inches or better to even think about keeping.

When we get back to the dock all I am thinking about is how crappie the afternoon was. The crew though, both the fishers and the non fishers, said they had a hell of a good time. I guess I am just spoiled by all the great trips I have had. Slow to me is fast and furious to most.

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

Foggy in the Keys a bit Abby Normal

I could just taste the fresh seared Cobia as we headed out for our first Gulf Wreck trip in a while. Visions of a box full of 50 pound Cobia got lost in a fog bank 10 miles back in the bay. We bravely continued to one of my better close in spots another four miles back to catch a few fish and wait for the fog to lift. A nice Mangrove Snapper and decent Spanish Mackerel went in the box giving me hopes for a respectable trip. Then blue runners, bluefish and sharks move in like the fog to dash that thought.

Then I tried another spot were I always get into respectable Jewfish just for some fun. Managed to catch the tide perfectly slack. We had lunch and waited for the tide to start moving. One cutoff and I decided to move to a safer area since the fog was getting thicker. My soaked and freezing crew decided to surrender and we made the 14 mile run to the dock in 100 to 150 yard visibility. A long, cold and nerve racking boat ride.

This was the first time I have ever seen fog last all day long down here in the Keys. Friday the 13th provided a trip and conditions that were a horror.

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

Rod Bustin' Action

I like nothing better than introducing people to fish that will whip their butt. So busted rods, smoked reels and rapid line loss is not all that uncommon. The past two weeks fish have claimed three of my customers rods. The multi-piece traveling rods most commonly fall victim to Keys fish. The one pictured above was classic. The rod broke in three places.

As for the fishing it was a little off today. The yellowtail trip quickly turned into what ever the heck we could catch trip with no current on the reef. A few big Jacks and a couple of smoker Kings provided the big fish action. Porgies, big Lane Snapper, a few Mangroves and about a dozen tails provided dinner for 30 or more.. Anyhow, we filled the box and there were smiling faces. The suspected rod busting culprit is a cobia. Not that I saw the fish, just that it acted like a cobe with big shoulders.

Now that the wind has laid down we have a Gulf wreck trip in the works for tomorrow. Bubba, my 100 pound outfit with the drag delicately adjusted with a hammer is making the trip. While the main goal of the trip is big Cobia, a little pain may be in the forecast. I tell everyone that when Bubba bents over double be careful. You may be opening a can of whupp ass you can't close if you pick it 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

Bayside Mack Attack

My crew from Virginia had me hustling most of the day Monday. We went through at least thirty wire rigs. I ran out of wire about two hours before the normal end of the trip. But that wasn't a big deal because the fish box was full. It was almost all macs with one nice Mangrove snapper. We lost one very nice seatrout and a few bigger fish on the light tackle during chaotic bite. With three or four fish on at a time. I don't know what the final count was but we hooked up at least 100 fish in about five hours.

If you want to load your freezer with Mackerel, right now is a good time to do it. After the crew tried my fish dip recipe, they are planning on doing just that. If you check my cooking label you can find the fish dip and fish cake recipes that are pretty tasty. I recommend grilling or smoking the mackerel before freezing. The meat keeps a lot better that way. The crew should email me some pictures pretty soon then I will post them up.

In other fishing the sail bite has been slow but seems to be improving. Dolphin and wahoo along with a few Blackfin tuna are off shore. The reef has been red hot when the wind is with the current. Bridge fishing has been a little slow but the rock piles in Hawk Channel have been very productive. Come on down and do a little catching.

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