Windy and Cold but a Nice Day

Yesterday started out windy and cold. I am not a cold weather guy anymore. I bit the bullet and put on the parka to get a payday. While I was freezing my arse off in sub 60 degree weather The fish were in hibernation mode. Slow as Christmas there for a while. Then I move south to find a little warmer water and the magic begins. Lane snapper, Mangroves, yellow tails and muttons plus a few porgies.

It was one of those days that the high dollar charters was calling me for hints. Nothing better than whipping a little arse on the water. With only one customer on the boat and a snapper limit I had to find some lane snapper that are not included in the aggregate snapper limit to round out my day. Doubling up meant that it was an early trip back to the dock. I love it when a plan comes together.

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

Good Day on the Water

Yesterday started off rainy but a gap in the weather started around 9:00 O'clock that let us get out and do some fishing. We started ocean side where the dang grouper would not let us catch much of the snapper we wanted. After a brief stop at the bridge proved unproductive we headed back in the bay.

Despite a weak current we caught enough Spanish mackerel for dip and limited out on nice size mangrove snapper. Nice meaning that most were over two pounds. I had to resort to a little trickery to get the bigger Grovers since the bay is full mini mangs. Bait size and presentation was the trick plus a little bait and switch with the chum bag. I should explain all the details but nah. It is worth at least a face to face with some brown liquor involved and possibly a guide trip to truly illustrate the technique.

By the way, the hogfish we brought to the dock last week generated a bit of a stir in Key Colony. Many of the professional fishing guides out of there have caught few or none hook and line. There may be another brown liquor seminar in the works.

Today the wind is blowing a gale so an early start is out of the question. Possibly around noon things will lay down to about 20 knots so we may get in a half day in the bay. Keep your fingers crossed.

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 Like Living in the Keys Again!

It was a beautiful day on the water yesterday! Temps in the 70's for both the air and the water. The bite was a little slow early because of little to no current so we hit the bottom with knocker rigs and caught some fat porgies while waiting on the current. When the current started flowing we managed a nice catch of 'tails. I started the day with visions of Cobia swimming through my head but such was not to be. Found out back at the dock they were a few miles further west than we made it to.

Today is starting with a light ran and chance of thunderstorms. The radar looks like it will clear for a few hours after nine so we are having an extra cup of coffee and planning a nine o'clock take off. We haven't fished the bay side in a while so we may just have to stock up on mackerel today for dip now that Doug has a taste for smoked fish dip. I may even turn him on to my fish cake recipe.

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

Rainy Day so it is Time to Update the Blog

What to do on a rainy day? Get caught up on my blog. First the restaurant situation.

What was once Rum Bums is now Fat Buoyz. With the new Tiki at the Seven Mile Marina Fat Buoyz has plenty of seating and shade. Their menu includes a lot of stuff you won't find anywhere in the Keys like Buffalo ribs and burgers. The Rocky Mountain Road Kill Burger is ground Elk, Buffalo and antelope on a pretzel roll. They also have a buffalo Ruben made with buffalo pastrami. I am a big fan of wild game sausages so rabbit and rattlesnake sausage looks interesting and the elk bratwurst has to be yummy. They offer a good variety of appetizers with the classic wings, peel and eat shrimp, nachos along with wild game stuff mushrooms, wild game sausage sampler, Blacken alligator medallions wrapped in bacon, Deep fried chicken,chipotle and potato fritters and cold water lobster side cars. Their website is www.fatbuoyz.com.

Edited to add: The Fat buoyz link was down for a while so just keep trying. Also they have a happy hour from 4 to 6 with dollar off drinks and half price appetizers.

What used to be Frosty's is now Lazy Days and the former Chappy's that was a bit of a disaster is now The Sunset Grill. I haven't stopped by to check them out but have heard good things about both. All three are at the west end of Marathon between 11th street and the bridge. There is also a new Cuban Restaurant open in the Gulf Side Village shopping center that I have been hearing good things about.

More visitors than ever are taking advantage of rental houses due to the depressed real estate market. So I am adding a few links under the General Rental Info label. Some houses are starting to sell so I don't know how long these cut rate deals will be around.

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

Windy and Chilly Fishing

With the wind against the current and the cold water temperatures fishing the past few days was a bit more of a challenge than normal. Free lining was nearly a total waste of time so the patches and bottom bumping was the ticket for dinner. Hog fish like the one above caught by my best angler Jess, is a nice bonus you get bottom bumping the patches. We manage four fat hogs and a few fat porgies including on four pound Sheeps Head. A few mackerel were added to the box with a frustrating amount of no longer keeper grouper released. Mangrove action was fast but the dinks move back out to the reef making catching of the fat girls very difficult.

We waded through about a hundred fish a day just to get a bucket of respectable keepers. For those in touch with their Michael Jackson side there are plenty of legal but small mangroves. I don't like people pointing and laughing at me at the fish cleaning table so I try to cull big. Still a gut hooked smaller fish will make it to the box once in a while, but not often.

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 The Fillet Pro Fish Cleaning Table

Despite the winds we got a half day of fishing in yesterday. Not a chamber of commerce kinda bite but at least we caught fish. Today the winds have laid down but it is really chilly. Should be able to get out to the warm water on the reef and catch a good mixed bag of fish. A water temperature read out is very helpful under these conditions. Look for temps over 68 degrees to get a respectable bite.

The Fillet Pro got some really good comments at the Miami Boat Show. Ship Shape TV is interested in doing a show on the table because it has so many do it yourself applications. I have already designed an inexpensive wooden base that can stand up to heavy use. As soon as I get a break from fishing I will start working on a more versatile base with enclosed storage and a lockable cabinet.

I don't have a definitive shipping date yet, but it should be pretty soon. Once that happens DIY type blog readers and Florida Sportsman Fishing Forum Members can get a good discount ordering through my blog.

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

Beautiful Day on the Water

Yesterday started off a bit chilly, but the afternoon was beautiful with light winds, flat seas and plenty of sun. Unfortunately I didn't have a trip. I had to twist the arms of some of the guest at Captain Pips to get them off their butts and on the water. Carry and Terri had spent a week at Pips and had not gotten on the water a single day. Since I need to get the Flatlines off the dock, I invited them and Doug my Venison bearing customer for the next two weeks out on the boat.

The Flatlines is not a charter boat so the trip was gratis. Not something that I normally do. But hey! The weather was fantastic. The bite for big keepers was slow after the latest cold front. We managed a good dinner for C and T with lane snapper appetizers and a fat hogfish main course. Lots of action with various species, just not many sexy keepers. Hey, ya get what ya pay for :) Everyone had fun though and the Flatlines got the algae blown off her hull and a nice scrubbing.

Haven't talked to Doc much about how the boat show went. He did say there was a lot of traffic which is a good sign things may be headed in the right direction.

C and T did give me a little Monkey money so a good time was had by all at the Brass Monkey. Sobriety is over rated by the way. 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 the Filet Pro

Jeff Knapp gave me a good tarpon report yesterday. He went two for seven. Mainly small fish around 30 pounds but they had a shot at a big girl. Bay side the Spanish Mackerel bite is getting better every day, Ron limited out in a couple hours. The snapper are still chewing strong with the usual suspects. Sailfish is fairly steady but not on fire. Still two or three shots a day with kings, mahi and tuna throw in is not a bad time.

The capt. Dallas inspired Fillet Pro fish cleaning table is making its debut at the Miami Boat Show this week. I'll be interested in seeing the reaction over the new fish cleaning table.

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 Winds Have Picked Up but the Bridge is Hot

Yesterday was beautiful weather with great fishing for the few guys that had trips. Today it is blowing 25 with gusts to 27 so that limits most smaller boats to the bridge or Bay. The bridge is loaded with Ballyhoo which means the predators with be thick. Cero, King Mackerel and a few Spanish along with a variety of jacks plus the other usual bridge suspects.

With so much bait your job is to make your bait on the line look stupider than the others. A little trick when fishing live ballyhoo is to reverse hook your live bally. Wire leader say size 4 Monel with a 2/0 to 4/0 hook depending on the size of your bait is the ticket. Since there are some smoker kings at the bridge a longer (12 to 18 inches) wire leader/mono leader is in order. Total length should be over 4 foot. I rig one rod for the smokers to start and then go with the flow. If the big kings are feeding you will need to rig an anchor ball to cut away and chase the fish. Don't actually cut your line, have the line clear so you can unhitch quickly with the ball tied to keep the line floating.

I normally anchor and chum up bait for the live well and fish the slick as is normal. However, if there are plenty of bait sprays break out the light stuff and sight cast to them. Just about any lure or bait will work, but I have this 6 inch red head white body bomber long A that has been beat to hell the last two years that works just fine. Flyrodders, if you have a 10 weight or better to fight the breeze you can have possibly the time of your 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