Day One with Chicago Joe

Today we headed to the reef instead of the bay because the weather was beautiful. Ten to 15 knots winds, in the mid 70s for both the air and the water. I had more trouble finding bait that usual. That tends to lead to more hunting than catching. We moved back to the channel around noon because things were slow on the reef and settled for a couple dozen 15 inch average, lane snapper for dinner. For some reason, lanes were everywhere. On one of my yellowtail spots, it was loaded with smallish lanes instead of 'tail. That is the reason I decided to go with the flow and hit the larger lanes, which were more than happy to cooperate.

On the whole is was a beautiful slow day. We (I) saw a large sailfish in our slick on the reed with no bait ready to pitch. Lots of parrot fish and other critters everywhere. The bite was just slow until I found the Lanes.

So in the morning we will stock up on more pinfish and hopefully net some ballyhoo or pilchards for serious grouper catching. I will try to remember to bring the camera, since the cellphone video is very grainy.

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