Plenty of Snapper but Sailfish Were Missing

Friday was a great day with Dan a fairly regular client. Dan wanted to learn a few things like how to throw a castnet and catch sailfish. The plan was to catch balleyhoo on the reef then hit the 100 to 200 foot range for sailfish. That was the plan anyway.

Well the wind was against the current so we couldn't get the balley hoo behind the boat at the first spot. We tried another with the same results. balleyhoo were everywhere except where I could get a net on them. Finally, I moved further to the west where we had a little more forgiving current. Dan wasn't into catching mangrove snapper but did enjoy playing with a good size Goliath Group AKA Jewfish. So I caught nice size mangroves for bait.

Dan hooked the Jewfish up twice but couldn't get him off the bottom. The first time the Jewfish pull his mangrove off the hook and a small amberjack hit the bear hook. Dan was pretty amazed at the bear hook thing and the fact we could have caught nice size mangroves all day long if he had wanted to. Anyway we finally caught a few live balley hoo and headed for the sailfish zone. We had an almost immediate strike but didn't hook up. With the cloud cover we could not identify what kind of fish it was but the bait was still intact. Then another strike on the same bait. The second strike was a toothy critter.

We finished that drift with no more action then came back for another drift after seeing a Frigate bird working on the edge of the reef. No strikes this time until we got ready to try another drift. Then Dan spotted something behind one of the baits. It turned out to be a Mola Mola or sunfish trying to eat the balley hoo. This was the smallest Mola I have ever seen only about 20 inches long. It was pretty comical watching the Mola try to catch the live bait. Dan got a picture which I hope he will email me.

After a couple more fruitless drifts we called it a day and headed back to the barn. After getting in I got some reports that the sails were biting good way to the West and way to the East. So Marathon got the short end of the bite on Friday. Things change every day so with any luck Dan should get a shot at a sail this week. I just hope they move into the sand again for him. It is a pretty amazing sight seeing sails busting bait in 30 foot of water.

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