Weirdness

I was going to fish with some friends this morning, but issues totally beyond my control resulted in a no go. There is something about Duval Street and drinking that eludes many touristas. Most Keys residents are trained drinking professionals. I would not approach Tiger Woods and tell him I am going to kick his butt on the golf course. Now if Tiger agreed that a shot of Scotch per hole had to be downed, I am pretty sure the back nine would be mine. You have to be smarter than what you are messing with. So if you come to the Keys thinking you know how to drink, reconsider that thought. I still have a drivers license and can put away a liter of brown liquor in two hours. After the liter of brown liquor, I have the where with all to walk or cab home because, well, I know my limits.

So how is the fishing going for people that don't over serve themselves? Pretty good actually. The Dolphin bite is still a bit spotty, the tuna bite is well, hey, that is what I am eating tonight. Snapper is great if the current is right. The mini lobster guys are gone so I am ready to get real. Unfortunately, this time of the year you have to put in the bucks for fuel to catch the sexy fish. Snapper no problem, but the tuna, dolphin and bill fish you have to stretch your legs.

Most of my regulars are blue collar kinda guys that can't spend the bucks for a great fishing trip. Then some of my more well healed guys have found out that their 401K is now a 101K. It is all about the Benjimans. Scat flows down hill and I am a flat lander.

That doesn't mean that there aren't a few high rollers still kicking around the Keys. There are, just not enough to spread the love. So I may have to go into survival mode. What is that you ask? Living off the land/sea. It is not that bad really, smoked Manatee is nearly as good as Key Deer and much better than Osprey and Bald Eagle. Though Spotted Owl has a unique flavor.

Since the opening price for Florida lobster (Spiny Lobster) is less than chicken breasts, boneless of course, I may have to get into some bartering to get the real deal to the real people without dealing with the middle butt holes er men.

Don't get me started on smokes. Sorry I didn't mean to vent. Screw that I meant to vent. Look around you and see who is getting screwed by the no new taxes.

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 Dallas Dart Manufacture

Some of you have wondered how Dallas Darts are made. They are all hand made in the Florida Keys within twenty feet of water so they know how to catch fish. My buddy Doc took some pictures of the complicated manufacturing process. Note that alcohol, in this case beer is required to keep the worker motivated. Here is the link to the photos

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

July 09 Update

The tuna are the name of the game offshore right now and they are eating my Dallas Darts up. I gave out a few to different captains and mates so there are a lot of guys pulling them. There are still dolphin offshore along with wahoo but the bite is erratic. The hero or the goat kinda thing.

Mangroves are still biting at night and the muttons are still out there. Yellowtail are biting and good sized if you can get the wind with the current. The Gulf wrecks have been pretty hot with still some permit and cobia around along with nice tails and mangroves. Of course the ever present Jewfish is there to keep you company.

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

Sign of the Times

The day before yesterday I officially quit buying cigarettes. Now before you all start getting all crazy with joy, I said I quit buying not smoking. I still smoke like a stack, I just ain't going to give the government two bucks a pack for my habit. Thanks to third world countries, the internet and my rigging skills, clandestine bartering is keeping me supplied with coffin nails.

Fishing wise it could not get much better. Now my last couple of trips sucked but that was a Karma thing. Steve, mister bad Karma, went fishing own his own and called me with tales of losing tarpon. I don't know what Steve did to piss the fish gods off, but he did one hell of a job. Hopefully, he will get rid of his bad Mojo by next year so I can put him on good fish again.

Back to fishing. With the crappy economy I am planning some fun trips for my regulars. Mutton mania is on the agenda for August with not one but three captains all trying to out do the other. Little Chris, that used to mate for me, Bucko the young guy that is insanely good and myself will all try to put together the trip of a lifetime for one of my regulars. Also in August some of the fam is coming down for a fishing and buggin' get away. It should be a fun time.

Oh, by the way, the Dallas Darts are getting a bit of a write up in the local paper. The little suckers have always caught fish, now they may catch the eye of more fishermen. Right now they are in two tackle stores. The Tackle Box in Old Town Marathon and Big Time Bait and Tackle up by Vaca cut. You can get them direct from me by calling (305) 395-1923 or find me at the 7 Mile Marina, Castaways, Porky's where ever I am hanging out when I am not fishing.

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 Karma

I had a trip Sunday that started off as a hump trip. The weather first thing in the morning was perfect. Seven knot winds out of the Southeast and nothing on the radar. We load the boat and set off for what we hoped would be a tuna and billfish adventure. As we get ready to leave the dock the winds pick up to 12 knots or so. Ofshore it was a bit choppy, 2 to 3 footers but a little sloppy. So we start trolling in 350 foot of water to keep from pounding myself and the crew. By the time we hit 600 feet about 15 miles offshore, one of the crew is violently ill. We were in the Gulf stream with 15 knot winds quartering the current so the seas had kicked up to 2 to 4 foot with the very sloppy water in many current eddies. Weed was everywhere and birds were working. It looked good but we had to come back to the dock.

So we offload the ill crew member and head back to the reef to catch a few snapper. The yellowtails didn't want to cooperate, but I netted some ballyhoo for bottom dropping. We hit a beautiful spot in ninety foot of water that was marking to beat the band. Each of our first 5 drops was hammered within a minute of hitting the bottom. Each resulted in a brief fight and a pulled hook. Five very strong fish lost in five drifts was frustrating to say the least. We tried to anchor but the anchor line looked like a Gordian knot. With time running out we head back in with plans of a rematch the next day.

Day two we catch ballys which took longer than normal and added a few Mangrove to the box while we waited. Tons of legal but not larges Mangrove snapper everywhere in the slick which made it hard to get to the larger snapper. Still we had some dinner in the box. Then we head back to the 90 foot spot to had at the brutes that we had tangled with the day before.

The spot marked up nice but the current was in the opposite direction from the day before. After an hour of fishing without a bite, not a single bite with perfect live ballyhoo on the bottom, we move to another wreck. Same story for two more wrecks. No action at all. We move back to the shallower patches to try the mangs that were so cooperative earlier only to find the devil current. The devil current is a wind current that takes the chum one direction with a deeper tidal current that takes the baits in the opposite direction.

Desperate, we head into Hawks Channel to get a fishable current. We find our current, mark fish and lose two plus the ill crew member from the day drops a $300 dollar digital camera in the drink.

Sometimes Murphy's law takes over and you just can't win. We will take a couple days off to drown our sorrows in adult beverages and try to regain the good Karma we used to have.

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

how is Fishing?

It is fishing. I haven't been out in a few days thanks to this robust economy. I have been weighing my options. Dave Navarro weighed his and put a gun to his head. I am a little more conservative and decided it was time to break out the last of my Cuban cigars. Nothing like a 20 dollar, oh now that the morality police are in office, a hundred dollar cigar to make life a little more tolerable in tough times. Just a few years ago I used to pass out Monte Christo Numero Unos to the crew. How times change. Now the poor have to pay for the research to help the wealthy avoid paying taxes for health care. What a wonderful world.

I am still here fishing and will put you onto fish. Unfortunately, I appeal to the blue collar guys that have been hurt worst by the economy. I will hang in there as long as I can. If you can afford to go I will take you. If you can't, I am always there to help you do it on your own.

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 Change of Scenery

I am taking a break from Captain Pips to decompress for a while. I will be hanging out at the Seven Mile Marina if you want to stop by and shoot the breeze about fishing, charters, whatever. Dan at the Seven Mile said he has no problem with me working on my lures in the mornings. I will probably get a coffee pot so you can get a free cup of Joe.

Now this doesn't mean that I will not be fishing out of Captain Pips. If you are staying at Pips and want to book me, just book me through my blog or "cringe" call me at 305 394-3472 or 305 395-1923. I cringe because I hate getting phone calls all the time when I am trying to fish. So you will probably get the voice mail. I am pretty good about returning calls though. This is not a bad thing because I can better advise you about which boat and gear is better for your desired fishing adventure.

I do request that if you book a trip, room or visit a local restaurant because of something you read on my blog that you mention it to the proprietor. Not that I will get anything for the mention. Just that some folks may become better aware of what I do for the community with stuff I write.

I am trying to make this post a sticky so new fishing reports and other stuff will show up after this post for a while. Y'all have a good one and come on down to do some fishing.

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 Mini-Season Update

The Florida mini lobster season is the last Wednesday and Thursday of July. This is a big time of the year for being in and one the water in the Florida Keys. It seems that every year someone over does it and gets into trouble. So don't leave your common sense at home, be safe.

For those of you planning a late trip for bug season, you may be too late. Most of the rental boat companies are sold out for the mini season week. If you are trailering your own boat down, don't forget to grease those bearings, check those tires and trailer breaks.

To help locate rental boats if some are available check my General Rental Information

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 Moon is Waning

The July full moon was pretty brutal for the offshore fishermen. The dolphin bite dropped off to nearly nothing. There were football tuna and a few billfish to fill the void. This time of year though many Florida residents come down to fill their cooler with dolphin fillets.

The yellowtail bite on the reef has been strong as well as mangrove snapper mainly at night, but good numbers in the daytime. The average size has dropped a little. That is not uncommon with a full moon so the sizes should be better as we approach the new moon.

Gulf trips to the far wrecks has pretty good action. Goliath grouper are out in force, the permit and a few cobia are still around. If you chum hard enough you can get the yellowtail and mangroves going on the surface which is required to get them away from the Goliaths.

A few morning tarpon bites were reported. These are mainly resident fish that are smaller but a few big girls are getting jumped. The flats guys are in their glory with tarpon, bonefish and permit all available.

One thing that is great for you vacationers is that you will have no problem finding charters or guides. This is the slowest tourist season I can remember. So if you can afford a weekend getaway, come on down.

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

July is Here

One thing about July fishing is that the Dallas Darts pictured will catch a bunch of dolphin and tuna. With the calm winds hump trips will be on most people's minds and the dart are great for blackfin tuna, especially the darker colors. More than once I have filled the box with nice sized tuna in July and never used anything but the darts. Dolphin and sailfish are not uncommon by catches when hunting the tuna.

The snapper bite is pretty phenomenal and should stay that way for a while, probably through the next full moon in August, maybe a little longer. Night mangrove and muttons in the daytime are the main event which plenty of Yellowtail action to round out any trip.

The flats reports are very good but I doubt many folks this time of year want to pass up on the other action. The flats action is good around Marathon and just gets better the further west you go.

Viewing the fireworks tomorrow without getting caught in the traffic on land or on water is good at Burdine's and Rumbum. It is so much easier than fighting the crowds and both have good food. Rumbum is planning a pig roast for the event so there should be a fun crowd.

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