Jacob and the Bull Shark

It is not everyday I see something new fishing but today I did. While showing a crew from Jacksonville a few spots today at the Seven Mile Bridge Jacob hooked into a a trade up Bull Shark.  A fish ate his pinfish the the Bull Shark ate that fish and since we had wire leaders for the toothy critters the game was on.  After following the shark for about an hour still without a look at the big fellow, the shark did a a rare straight out of the water leap.  It came up about 25 yards for the boat and with what appeared to be a toothy grin spin and broke the line.  Estimated at 200 to 400 pounds, the respectable size critter didn't clear the water instead doing a Flipper kind of tail stand which of course no one had a camera ready for since the fish had been on for an hour.  I have never seen a Bull Shark trying to do a tail walk.  Pretty interesting.

 What the shark probably ate was one of these Yellow Jacks which really don't get the press they deserve.  They are good fighters and most find they are one of the tastier jacks.  So tasty that they are becoming a Sushi species for some of the locals in the know.  I still prefer them lightly smoked but they do make good sushi rolls in the right hands. 

This Black Grouper just missed a dinner invitation and there were a few mystery fish that had potential, but while there were plenty of Mangroves in the slick, the bait situation and Jack/Shark presence determined the plot line for today's quickly put together fishing 101. 

The weather looks like it will be pretty nice for the next few days so I will have more reports.  The video from last week didn't turn out all that great so I will give that another shot on the patches or rock piles in a few days.

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

Chicago Joe is Back in the Fishing Spirit Again

Chicago Joe and the Fam are back for another fish filled Christmas.  This year he brought some fine weather with him which I much appreciate.  Day one was the typical running around trying to get the boat checkout, gear figured out and making do with what we got considering water clarity.

For a quick trip my no brainer is the bay side which can be a crowd pleaser this time of year if you like steady action.  Even with conditions less that perfect Jimmy, Joe's young male child managed to make sure there were plenty of Mangrove Snapper for dinner while Joe spent most of his time agrivating fairly large Black Tip Sharks some call spinners due to their acrobatic leaps.  Joey, Joe's oldest male no longer a child mainly kept the boat supplied with Blue Runner baits plus quite a few Bluefish that were not particular welcome for dinner.

The Mangroves were respectable but not monsters.  This one is in the 15inch range or about 1.5 to 2 pounds.

 The Spanish Mackerel were also respectable but not monsters.  Thanks to the Blacktips and the desire for more Mangroves we only boated and kept a few of the Spanish which are now on their way to becoming my first batch of Spanish Mackerel Jerky.  This batch is more a temperature test batch so they got a limited brine time, but they should be ready around 5:30 in the morning after 11 hours in the sauna.  If they turn out okay I will give a batch the full day brine treatment with whatever appears to be the optimum dehydration time.


For the non-fishing Aunt Kathy, a warm sunny day with plenty of sea turtles to watch plus a few pretty exciting shark encounters seem to have been just about a perfect first day on the water.  Kathy tried one video attempt that after revue I will try to upload later.  If the water clears up we may hit the bridge which has been very hot lately for large Mangroves plus the usual suspects.

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

Almost

With customers in town and the fish biting it is a bit frustrating to be sitting and waiting on "ideal" weather.  There are plenty of fishing opportunities available but I get customers that want a little more specialized fishing instruction experience.  With smaller boats that means the ocean side is closed to some of the more interesting adventures.  So it may be Thursday or Friday before I can provide an on the water report.

The season so far looks good.  Today the winds are manageable in the 15 knot range which shouldn't close the ocean side but my client has a few weeks and opted for the wait.  Hawk Channel is very fishy and fishable for the grouper/snapper guys and the bay side Spanish Mackerel bite is about as hot as it gets.  Since Grouper closes again the first of January down here due to fish stocks that may be under pressure somewhere else, the last two weeks of December will be dedicated to them and the Spanish more likely to be targeted after Grouper closes.  I am working on a few new recipes for the Spanish after experiencing Chum Salmon Jerky.  In fact I have a new to me Brinkman monster grill that I am planning to modify for drying/curing Spanish fillets for the Jerky instead on the standard smoked fish dip.

Sexy sport fish like the Sails and Tarpon are doing a very good job of entertaining folks right now.  How long that will last is anyone's guess, but the number of "resident" tarpon appears to have more than doubled over the last few years.  Along with that, Cobia, one of my favorites have been a lot more reliable than say 5 years ago, in the bay.   That means that there can be some spots in the bay that I haven't used in a few years due to algae issues following Wilma that should be hot as a firecracker again. 

So sorry for the low number of posts but that should change pretty soon from the looks of things

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

Season is in the Air

I have been getting a few calls about blog neglect.  I did take a much longer break than normal this year since I have been slow and trying to get some body work done with the VA.  I am still getting around and fishing when someone and the weather cooperates, but not having trips between September and November is not that unusual for me.  The guys with the road frontage and the big ad budgets ahve been doing fair for the off season.  Working at Ponchos I see a few going out now and again plus last month I did a wicked weather lobster guide trip.  Since the winds stirred up the bottom and killed the visibility I turned out to be the lousy weather guy to show the very nice young couple a few sheltered dive spots that actually had a shot at holding bugs.  My diver managed to run a few "huge" bugs off, at least huge by his standards, so it was more of a sight seeing trip than fill the cooler trip.  That's why I didn't write it up, though I should have taken a few photos of his lovely bride and posted anyway. 

Most of the guides in walking distance are doing near shore snapper trips and doing quite well with above average sized mangroves and some very respectable yellow tails.  Even at the docks the large mangroves are thick with my diver jonesing because he couldn't shoot a few because they were near the docks.  Large meaning they are mixed but I have seen a few that are in the five to seven pound range more than happy to finish off some of my breakfast sandwich crumbs at the dock.

For whatever reason, there seems to be about fifty times more resident tarpon patrolling the creek this year than I can remember.  I tend to leave them alone but the kids camping at Knights Key have been having fun.  The lobster and stone crab fishermen are bitching as usual about low prices and big catches after having to run too far while paying too much for fuel this year instead of bitching about high prices but small catches after having to run too far after paying too much for fuel.  So the lobster complaino index is good for the shell fish.

Surprisingly, they lobster guys are not finding as many octopi in their traps this year.  Having Greeks running the Seven Mile Grill I was kind of hoping for some serious Greek Octopus main courses.  I my have to dig around and find some jugs to make octopus traps if that hasn't be regulated so far. 

With the cold front passing through I guess there must be  colder fronts passing through up North inspiring the recent calls.  Early winter tends to be pretty good for my business so knock on wood I may see a few of my regulars that didn't make it down last year. 

I will try to get out on the water here after this blow for a Mangrove trip which should get me in good with the Greeks for a while.  Plus Fonz, the former line cook at the Seven Mile seems to be ready for some catching instead of 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

The Boat Time Share - Finangler

 A few years back I had a number of regular customers that had become addicted to fishing in the Florida Keys.  These were customers that would spend two to four weeks per year on extended vacation.  A few mentioned they were getting a little turned off by issues with boats.  They would schedule to have a rental boat for so many days, but something would happen to the boat adding complications to their stay which is not the reason they were here to begin with.  They were in the Keys to fish and avoid complications.

After telling them what BOAT stands for, Broke Or About To aka Break Out Another Thousand, I mention that the first time share property I know of in the world was the Hawk's Nest here in Marathon.  Time shares for real estate or fractional ownership for planes, trains, boats and automobiles, is a way to have the use of something without paying full fare. 

The problems with fractional ownerships are similar to any business, stuff breaks, insurance has to be paid, registrations (dang taxes) have to be dealt with, clean-up, maintenance, storage etc. etc etc.  To offset those cost and make sure that the boat is actually functional when one of the owners wanted to use it, I recommended that the boat be part of a business, like charter or commercial fishing, so it would be used and maintained regularly.

Without going into much detail, I selected a Panga Style hull in the 24 to 27 foot range without a great deal of bells and whistles to brake for a comfortable, fishable and affordable vessel.  The reason was that the vessel would be affordable and fishable more than the comfortable. 

In the Marathon area the fishing opportunities range from back country, flats, bridge, bay, reef, channel patches near shore wrecks, Gulf wrecks and offshore plus Bahama/Cuba runs.  That is a lot of fishing within 100 nautical miles of the dock that can be done in a 24 to 27 foot Panga style boat. 

Panga Style is nothing but a flatish stern dead rise with a high bow dead rise.  The beam of a classic panga is very small relative to its length, but panga "style" is about an 8 foot beam for a 25 foot length, 7' -7" with a 25"-6" LOA was the more exact dimensions of the two I recommended, the Angler Panga - low cost and the Andros Panga - sexy custom.  At the time a 26' Angler Panga demo boat was about $35K and the Andros Panga about $60K.  They both would have a cruising speed of around 30 knots with a 200 HP outboard and get around 3.8 MPG.  Unlike some boats, the panga would also stay on a plane at 2000 RPM making about 10 knots in sporty seas without beating your brains out and scaring your crew to death while getting about 3.8 MPG. 

The Panga I recommended was to be powered by a Yamaha four stroke engine.  Not because I an a particular fan of Yamaha over anyone else, but because you can't throw a stick in Marathon without hitting a Yamaha.  Parts, mechanics and replacements are readily available so there is no lengthy down time should the pooh pooh you know is going to occur, occur.  The motor plan also included either re-powering the boat or trading the boat in on a newer model every two years.  That way you get roughly the maximum trade-in on the boat or motor and someone else gets the potential headache. 

The plan fell by the wayside with a couple of the potential investors buying larger boats with cabins, refrigerators that never were used,  toilets that were used a few times then use prohibited or strongly discouraged, large fuel tanks for the large motors that required home improvement loans to fill and general so much liability that no one really wanted to use the boats other than the out right owners. 

 I am bringing all this up again because one of my newer customers is a tax attorney that likes to spend a month or two a year in the Keys well after tax time.  I  told him that I would look around for boat options so if he likes he could revive Finangler in some form, so here is another boat brand I would recommend.

Old Pro 2004 is a custom 24 foot 5 inch Proline hull based open fisherman built in Chiefland, Florida by Coarsy Fiberglass.  The hull drafts just a few inches and has a little bit wider beam than Panga style, but the performance and fuel economy is very close to the same.  Coarsy doesn't have a website, but you can Google "Old Pro 2400" and read a review or two.  They build the Old Pro's as they would work boats, substantial hull, transom, stingers and deck, but do extremely clean finish work and gelcoat.  They also, from what I hear, would not mind having a boat or two in the area to help advertise their business. 

I am not going to revise the Finagler prospectus/ Business Plan right now but the basic information is all there in the highlighted link.  The plan still is not to get filthy rich, but to have a legitimate reason to write off vacation expenses and enjoy fishing the Florida Keys with less drama, if you are into multi-week fishing vacations.  There is always the potential to expand into something larger if you are so inclined, but thar be headaches.  Whichever way, there are quite a few people that read my blog that may want to hook up with the right boat.

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

Pretty Day Anyway

Elijah of mutton snapper fame was back down for the summer and his dad called me for another guide trip.  After reading of me complaining about the weather this year, yesterday was just a fine day on the water in that respect.  The bite though was slow, probably because it was so pretty.  The game plan was to do the lazy angler thing on the reef in a little deeper water to see what kind of big stuff might want to play.  Now you might be wondering why I have a photo of Elijah with a regular old 15 inch yellowtail.

The lazy angler thing is just chumming heavy and not getting too crazy about yellowtailing.  Catch enough for dinner, like the one in the photo, but put out some live baits on the surface and near the bottom to see what else the chum brings to the party.  The live bait this time of year is generally ballyhoo which are normally very easy to catch.  Well yesterday the ballyhoo wanted absolutely nothing to do with our plan.  They wouldn't even look at the small baits we had on hair hooks and never got right to cast net had we have had the common sense to not leave it at the dock.  Yep, that is right sports fans, I forgot my net and Elijah's dad who normally keeps his net in the boat forgot his. The only live bait action we had was a trade up from a yellow tail to a monsterous fish that likely never realized he was hooked.  Elijah fought him for a spell but the small yellowtail hook straighten out ending that part of the show.  So after catching a few yellow tails and not catching ballyhoo we moved into the shallower patches to look for Mangroves and other stuff.

More of the same really.  There were tons of Mangrove in the bearly legal range with a good number of larger fish that we could never get a bait to.  Had we had smaller live baits we would have probably tangled with a few, but we didn't so we didn't.

Next stop was the hawk channel rockpiles with not much time left in the day for fishing.  Right off the bat we had a cut off on a dead ballyhoo then Elijah hooked into what was likely a pretty large Jewfish AKA Goliath Grouper.  That battle produce some nice action photos of Elijah on the rod, but the Jew Fish aka Goliath Grouper turned back toward the boat and opened its mouth resulting in an end of that part of the show.  Some small blue runners showed up so we put one out and within 30 seconds Elijah's dad was hooked up on a 20 to 30 pound barracuda.  On one of their lighter spinning outfits it was a good match and dad appeared to have a pretty good time.  Elijah was promoted to videographer during the barracuda battle and deserves extra credit since he caught the bait.  Dad seemed to have had a pretty good time as he posed for photos which somehow never made it to my email, so they are not in the post. 

Another barracuda showed up and ate Elijah's blue runner.  Unfortunately, the barracuda also ate all of the wire leader and cut the main line before ever feeling a hook.  We manage to catch three live baits and all three produced some action within minutes of hitting the water.  Unfortunately, the bait disappeared.  With the bait no longer wanting to play we headed back to the dock.

There are a couple of morals to this story.  First, never assume that your buddy brought the cast net.  Second, never underestimate the value of those pinfish that you left at the dock.  Third, even when you forget the first and second you can still catch dinner and find something that will pull a drag fishing in the Florida Keys.

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

Bye-Bye Buggers Phase I

The first wave of Florida Spiny Lobster gathers are headed back home.  I do my best to stay off the water during the two day sportsman season.  It gets to look like a parking lot out there.  This year it seems they all played nice and had a productive trip.  Next week the traps will start going back in the water then the regular season will start the second week of August.

Fishing wise, the full moon is waning so day fishing on the reef will be a lot easier.  Offshore Tuna should be good with larger dolphin a bit hard to find among all the smaller peanuts.   The peanuts make great bait for Marlin and such, so this is the time of the year when the big fish stories become more regular.

While the main tarpon run is past, there are plenty of resident fish that fall for some of the old school tactics like dolphin bellies soaked on the bottom.  Sea trout should be in the bay along with the Mangroves returning from the spawn.  Some of the Gulf wrecks should be producing a mixed bag of everything from snapper to permit to cobia if you have the weather and the gas money to make the run.

Looking at the weather, it is hard to say what the heck is going on.  This week the weather was beautiful and last week it was wicked.  When it is a little more predictable, summer can be a great time to run to Cay Sal for some serious fishing adventuring.  When it is not predictable, doing a back country out offshore home two day trip can be a lot of fun.  That way you can get to some shelter if things get too sporty or camp near some of the back country Keys if you have plenty of bug spray should the wind calm.  Late summer is best suited for two or three day get-a-ways for Florida residents that can drive down.  After next week the room availability will free up and the off season rates start kicking in at various places.  That is a great time for sneaking in for good fishing at more affordable prices. 

One thing good about all the bad weather is that the fishing has picked up.  The weather reduces some of the pressure and get things mixed up enough make things interesting.  I am going to try and sneak out for some scouting in a week or so of the bay wrecks that are not too far back to see if pre-Wilma mix is back.  Before Wilma stirred the Bay up there was some serious trout fishing fairly close with the occasional grouper,  big mangrove and legal cobia without having to run all the way to the Gulf.  It can be hit or miss, but on a hit it is amazing.  Add some Florida Lobster to the mix and the box can look mighty impressive.

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

Yellowtail Bite

Yes, those are Yellowtail Snapper, the smiling faces of Andrew and his dad and sun shine!.  Yes, the clouds parted, the rain is on pause, life is good again.

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

Snapper Time

Hobbs and crew are back in town for a few days.  The weather wasn't that great today but we were able to get out to the patches for some snapper fishing.  The Mangroves are pretty think on the reef right now.  Though bite better at night, you can still get some nice three pound fish plus in the lower photo nice Schoolmaster Snapper.  Weather permitting, we plan a mixed bag morning with a Grouper/Mutton Snapper afternoon.  

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

Jakes and Macks, plus a few other critters

As is often the case, a beautiful day is not always super productive.  Still, Fishing 101 Oceanside for the Jakes was not too bad.  With no bird action to speak of and only one dolphin and one skipjack in the box, we hit the reef for intro Yellowtail which turned into whack the macks.  The Jakes and Dave had fun using their various fresh water chuggers to fire up surface strikes from the mack while I tried to entice a mutton snapper out of a swarm of nice yellow tails. The water was clear and flat so you had to really let the lines back for the 'tails.  That is boring compared to surface striking Cero Mackerel, so the Macks became the main event

With the clear water though, they could see all the fish they weren't catching as well as the ones that they did catch.  More than enough for dinner, but no monsters today.

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

Niles Channel with the Jakes

The pair of Jakes looking forward to a fishing adventure in the back country of Big Torch Key.  This was billed as a tour more than a catching trip.  Niles channel is not really that hard to navigate, but Dave, dad of one of the Jakes thought it was worth inviting me along.  Thanks to wind against current, the first couple of fishing spots I tried along the tour were not all that productive.  With the wind and current lined up or in the same general direction, chumming is much more productive. 

I did find a little island that will remain nameless with a nice drop off right next to the Mangroves.  Not the son of Dave Jake, found this Baracuda which up until today is his largest catch Evah!  I am pretty confident that will change since that 'cuda and the nice size Jack that the Dave's son Jake caught will make primo shark bait this evening or in the morning. 

I am take the day off tomorrow, but if the winds cut us some slack, the Jakes should experience a bit of offshore dolphin and tuna action the day after.  That will be a fishing trip not a back country tour.

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

Deposits - Refunds and other Bidness Stuff

Now that the weather has improved I am getting more reliable bookings.  Since I have never done a real post on my business policies, such that they are, here ya go.

Deposits:  To confirm a date I request a small deposit on Paypal, the Captain's tip jar button on the blog.  When you make a deposit, include a brief note on the date(s).  This deposit automatically provides me with your email, address, full name or the credit card holder and phone number if available.  It makes my life simple.  I only ask for a small deposit for two reasons, first, Paypal takes their cut.  Second, if there is a cancellation for whatever reason it simplifies refunds.

Refunds:  Paypal policy allows simple refunds for 60 days from the time of the deposit.  I am into simple so I have the same policy.  I am also forgetful.  If you think you should get a refund, let me know, but with the small deposit amounts, ~$20 US, my forgetfulness generally doesn't create much heartburn on the deposit side.

Payments:  I don't much care how you pay.  Since I am basically a day laborer or glorified mate with local experience in your temporary employ, cash is nice, checks dandy and credit cards via Paypal hunky dory also.   Both checks and Paypal have some added expense, but not enough to write home about, provided the checks don't bounce.  Paypal is very convenient though for most folks and even has policies where if you think I am some kind of scammer, you can get your money back.  It is a bit tough to get cash out of my hands, just ask anyone that knows me, so if you have concerns, Paypal is a great option.

Extended Dates:  Since there is a lot to learn down here in the Keys I get a lot of requests for an extra day or two.  That is a first come first served kind of thing.  In the winter I generally try to keep a few days open for weather delays and extended dates.  That works most of the time, but can create issues when I have late bookings trying to fit one day in here or there.  This can come down to what kind of fishing you will accept instead of what you want.  Dedicated offshore anglers have the smallest weather window so I often take inshore and bridges guys when offshore is closed due to sportier than normal conditions.  The boat size and type is a factor as is crew stamina, so sometimes we just have to wing it. 

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

 After doing something to change his rotten weather luck, I believe he performed a Sage cleansing or some other ritual, Mark finally was able to brave the 20 plus knot winds with some hope that the rains had stopped and the winds would drop as the day progressed.  We dipped the bow of the boat about 20 times while trolling out to 400 foot of water, missed the first chance with line tangle cluster, then struck Dorado!

Another nice gaffer around twenty pounds with lock jawed companions.  Even the small legal size swingers (about 4 pounds) were not into a bailing mood, so we had troll up all the fish with lures, mainly the blue/silver Dallas Darts (similar to jet heads but cheaper since I know the guy that makes them).  Along with the dolphin, a trio of Black Fin Tuna mugged us on one pass.  Then the Little Tunny took over making it difficult to find anymore fish for the freezer.

The fish were all in the 320 to 400 foot range after the fairly stiff South to SouthWest winds for the past two days.  Weed lines were completely broken up with only tiny patches here and there which seemed to be enough for the fish.  The Sooty Terns were working over time spotting fish though, which makes life easier.

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. not

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas

Andrea, the Tropical Storm

The tropical depression that never got any respect finally has a  name, Andrea.  For the past two weeks we have been watching the weather radar close to find gaps of good weather to sneak out for some fishing.  Now that there is a little circulation, that weather is predicted to move out fast which should mean a week or so of great fishing weather.  The winds right now are near 20 with gusts to 25 and according to windfinder, should drop to the 10 to 15 range tonight and tomorrow and stay below 20 for a while. 

I think windfinder will get a pretty good test this afternoon because I am planning a half day starting around 11:00 am once more of the nastier stuff heads North.  The strong south winds for the last day or so should have the fish pushed in close which would make life easier. 

This year, in case you haven't noticed, has had a bit more unpredictable weather than normal.  The fishing has been pretty much above normal, provided your timing is right.  So I have been trying to get people to roll with the flow more than normal and get into other types of fishing than they are used to this time of year.  That includes the bridges, Hawk Channel and some of the back country for bad weather days and being ready to head offshore at the drop of a hat. 

Named storms generally turn people off when it comes to longer term vacation planning  They aren't a lot of fun while they are in your area, but once they pass through they can kick the reef fishing and offshore action up several notches if you can take advantage of a quick fishing getaway.  There are still a couple of weeks left that are limited due to the buggers, the last week of July and the first two weeks of August are booked solid as far as accommodations and rental boats.  From now to the middle of July is prime time for the reef and offshore Dolphin/Tuna.  There is a little shift after that where the reef bite gets a little more inconsistent and the peanuts or small dolphin move in, but still a lot of respectable to larger fish to be had.  The hard part is planning your off time with the catching on time.  So weather (whether) or not something exciting is happening, this is the time of the year when I tend to be more active blogging just to let folks know what to expect.

To that end, Windfinder.com for the Marathon area and the NOAA Gulf Water Vapor Loop are two links that you might want to add to your favorites in case you haven't all ready. 

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

Respectable Dolphin in Close

Here is tony with a nice Dolphin.  With great weather and the last day in town, he just could not resist the urge to get offshore.  Luckily, the fish are in close so we were able to put together a whirl wind trip with some sight seeing to round out the end of their rainy but fun vacation.

Nick on the left and Anthony holding the 'fin pose with the fresh catch of the day.  Every boat was getting a fish or two in this size range, but not much in the way of "bailing" was heard today other than black fin at the humps for the brave of heart.  Some of the charters have been heading way south and bagging more and bigger fish.

Next week will there will be different crews and what looks like much better weather.  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

Yellowtail Please

The weather broke long enough to get the kids out to the reef for some Yellowtail Snapper fishing.  This is Anthony with one of his 'tails.  Brother Nick was too busy catching to pose for the photo op.  Since there was not much time between the thunder clouds, we set up in about 35 feet of water for a fast bite with legal but not large 'tails. I am not sure what the final count was, but Nick and Anthony had plenty in the box for fish sammies all around. 

They were hoping for a fishing adventure with Dolphin, aka Dorado aka Mahi Mahi, but that looks like it will have to be next trip. 


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

 Tarpon and Martinis were the story for today's trip.  We had about 2 hours of overcast skies with light rain this morning.  We found a school of Tarpon that looked like they might be hungry but went bagels on bites.  In the photo I am photographing the fishermen photographing the fish while we start getting soaked to the bone.   Getting soaked with water, fresh or salt, is not uncommon while fishing, but it a lot more tolerable when the fish bite or at least show themselves.  Several hundred Tarpon did show themselves, rolling all around the boat, but they were busy doing other things than feeding when we made it to the bridge.  That is not going to last long.  They will start biting and the weather will clear, today we just had to settle on fish photos and wet Martinis. 

 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

Mom Takes the Pot

Mom, aka Wendy, shows the boys Anthony and Nick what a fish looks like, Dad is left holding the Grouper.

The weatherman was wrong in the right direction so we were able to fish without getting any new bruises.  The trip started slow with all the stuff needed for a fishing 101.  Not a great bite today.  Plenty of Mangroves in the chum slick but they had serious lock jaw.  We lost a few respectable fish, Grouper most likely, due to some questionable line, on a day when every bite needed to count.  On the whole, Mom and the kids had fun, but I was a bit grumpy with all the fish eating for free and not wanting to play. 

Tomorrow is another fishing day so perhaps I will have better fish pictures, but I doubt I could have a much happier crew.

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

What Happened to the Grouper Post?

With Grouper season opening just a couple of days ago I be you were expecting a Grouper post right?  Well, no can do.  With the opening of Grouper Season there was also an opening of the skys.  We had some spectacular lightning and torrential rain.  that all that unusual for the Keys.

What was unusual was the computer failures following the lightning.  At Pancho's Fuel Dock ther was a nice 80 foot or so yatch that spent the night and fueled up in the morning.  When they prepare to head out, they noticed that their ship's/yatch's computer system would not start any of the bildge pumps.  So they had to jump out the computer system and install manual switches for the pumps.  Boring boat stuff right?

Well across the canal, Burdine's Marina had a complete computer failure an could not pump fuel.  Two computer fairly close together with simultaneous major malfunctions during a kick butt thunderstorm.  No, lightning did not strike both of the computers.  So what happened?

Dark Ligthning  Dark lightning is also known as a terrestrial gamma ray burst.  The super high static electrical energy of the Thunder clouds produces not only Electrons but their anti-matter counter part, Positrons.  When the two collide they mutually annihilate producing high energy gamma rays.  Gamma rays are the type of nuclear radiation that requires the thick lead shielding to prevent damage.  With the cloud gamma ray burst directly over head, it is a likely cause of the computer failures.  

Moral of the story; have manual back-ups for critical systems. 

Since I was a bit busy avoid both the Dark and white lightning, plus dealing with horizontal rain finding every possible opening into the RV, today was a clothes washing and hunt up missing stuff day.  So any of you want to risk a quick fishing vacation between weird weather events, give me a call, I think the worst of it is over for this week.

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

Wahoo at the Seven Mile Bridge

I took Pete, the new owner of the Seven Mile Grill, fishing the other day to show him basic windy day fishing stuff.  We fished the Seven Mile Bridge and caught a fair amount of Mangrove Snapper and yellow jacks.  While fishing I told him some of the stories about big smoker king mackerel that will move close to the brige on ocassion, big porgies, cobia, permit, pompano and all the other things that I have caught at the bridge but are not real target fish since they tend to move around a lot.

Pete caught on pretty well and took one of his buddies to the same are a couple of days ago.  They caught plent for dinner but also hook a wahoo up twice.  I know, they must have been drinking right? 

Well, when the Gulf Stream gets really close, like it was last week, it is not all that unusual for offshore fish to come up in the sand or shallow water.  I have seen sailfish and even tiny marlin in the Hawk Channel along with a 200 plus pound YellowFin Tuna on the patches under these kind of conditions.  It is rare, but does happen.  That adds a lot of credibility to their story along with the fact they are sticking to it while catching a lot of grief for having such an outrageous tale. 

The winds btw still suck, but the fishing is great.  The few days that a boat can get offshore, the dolphin and tuna are biting and you don't have to go much past 600 feet to catch them.  The tarpon are doing their thing mainly on the first half of the outgoing tide and the yellow tail guys are bringing in  more flags than normal.  Since Grouper season opens in a few days, FINALLY!, there will be a lot better reports then.

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

Finally, Really Nice Weather.

The past two trips have been a pleasure, just like old times.  They were patch reef and bridge short half days with the new owner of the 7 Mile Grill. The trips were just quick afternoons when he could get away from business.  YellowTail Snapper, Margrove Snapper, Cero Mackerel and Yellow Jacks were the main menu items for the guys at the grill, but we did miss a few pretty interesting fish that may need another visit when Grouper Season opens up at the first of the month.

I have heard a few reports from offshore that seem to be getting better.  Not very many slammer dolphin yet to report, but there are more heavy swingers/light gaffers being brought to the dock.  Sam Nelson and Jeff Knapp are both back into the Tarpon thing.  We watch Sam release a nice fish Monday afternoon on the first half of the outgoing tide.  That is typical for this time of the year as most fish tend to chew a little better at the first of the outgoing at the bridge.

There are tons of Mangroves at the bridge, but unfortunately there are tons of small mangroves at the bridge.  That means that the right bait and a little patience is required to catch the larger fish.  Small Pinfish and Pilchards, if you can find them, are the best baits.  The live shrimp are too tasty for the little guys, but if you want a mess of pan sized fish quick, they will do the trick.

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

Is it Spring Yet?

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted much on fishing lately.  That is mainly due to weather.  I had a trip about 10 days ago.  The weather report was not great, but sounded doable.  Had the weather report been right, it would have been a fun day.  Instead, we experienced 30 knots winds out of the due south from 10 O'clock to 2 O'clock.  That sucked for me, but for the crew that trusted the weather report for their vaction, it really sucked.  That was probably the worst 7 day forecast I have ever seen.

I should have been a weather forecaster.  Now you can be right only 70% of the time and still get paid.

I have been holding off on posts so that I can pick times when it would be great to come down to enjoy the Florida Keys Fishing Experience instead of the Florida Keys Weather Experience.  However this post is just to let folks know I am still kickin'.

MM	DD	TIME (EDT)		WDIR	WSPD kts	GST kts	WVHT ft	DPD sec	APD sec	MWD	PRES in	PTDY in	ATMP °F	WTMP °F	DEWP °F	SAL psu	VIS nmi	TIDE ft
04	06	7:00 am		N	17	19	-	-	-	-	29.99	+0.03	65.8	-	61.9	-	-	1.37
04	06	6:00 am		N	19	21	-	-	-	-	29.97	+0.00	67.3	-	59.9	-	-	1.32
04	06	5:00 am		NNW	20	22	-	-	-	-	29.97	+0.00	66.9	-	59.4	-	-	1.05
04	06	4:00 am		NNW	23	25	-	-	-	-	29.96	-0.02	67.5	-	60.1	-	-	0.72
04	06	3:00 am		NNW	25	26	-	-	-	-	29.97	-0.01	67.3	-	61.9	-	-	0.42
04	06	2:00 am		NNW	21	22	-	-	-	-	29.97	+0.01	68.4	-	62.6	-	-	0.16
04	06	1:00 am		NNW	20	22	-	-	-	-	29.98	+0.03	68.7	-	63.5	-	-	-0.03
04	06	12:00 am		NNW	22	24	-	-	-	-	29.98	+0.05	69.4	-	64.2	-	-	0.02
04	05	11:00 pm		NNW	26	27	-	-	-	-	29.96	+0.07	69.6	-	65.5	-	-	0.25
04	05	10:00 pm		NNW	17	20	-	-	-	-	29.96	+0.08	70.0	-	69.6	-	-	0.60
04	05	9:00 pm		NW	14	15	-	-	-	-	29.93	+0.06	71.2	-	70.9	-	-	1.03
04	05	8:00 pm		WNW	9	10	-	-	-	-	29.89	+0.09	70.9	-	69.4	-	-	1.39
04	05	7:00 pm		W	9	10	-	-	-	-	29.87	+0.00	68.5	-	68.2	-	-	1.60
04	05	6:00 pm		NW	13	14	-	-	-	-	29.86	-0.02	65.8	-	65.5	-	-	1.67
04	05	5:00 pm		NNE	32	34	-	-	-	-	29.81	-0.07	69.8	-	69.6	-	-	1.60
04	05	4:00 pm		ENE	2	2	-	-	-	-	29.87	-0.06	74.5	-	71.6	-	-	1.26
04	05	3:00 pm		SW	5	5	-	-	-	-	29.89	-0.08	74.8	-	72.9	-	-	0.98
04	05	2:00 pm		S	14	16	-	-	-	-	29.88	-0.13	73.9	-	69.4	-	-	0.62
04	05	1:00 pm		SSE	18	19	-	-	-	-	29.94	-0.05	72.1	-	71.2	-	-	0.37
04	05	12:00 pm		SE	5	6	-	-	-	-	29.97	-0.01	70.9	-	69.6	-	-	0.19

 That is the kind of wind patterns we are having.  So I am not going to be providing much weather advice until there is more of one color or the other.  I will joint any petitions to incarcerate Puxitawney Phil that are being pasted 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

Come on Down

Since my usual Dec. Jan. spurt, it has been slow down here.  Not all that unusual, though with 3 foot of snow falling in some areas I was expecting more visitors.  I got out yesterday on a boating 101 more than a fishing 101, but I did have to take a rod and a little bait, so there was Mangrove Snapper for dinner like it or not.

I get a few of the Boating 101 type trips which are sometimes a Real Estate 101, folks thinking about buying vacation homes or lining up larger family reunion type vacations like to take a water front tour before getting serious.  A few places have actually been sold and a good number are getting spruced up, which is always a good sign.

Bait in the area has been tough to find until recently.  Yesterday, there were plenty of balleyhoo and I saw a good number of cigar minnows and a few thread fin herring in the bay.    As far as the other guys, in general most have been on the slow side, so I don't feel all that bad.  There have been some nice catches, Cobia, Mutton, Mangrove, Yellowtails and such, but grouper season is still closed thanks to out incredibly intelligent marine fisheries commission.

I am at Pancho's tommorrow then if the weather is okay have a fishing 101 on Saturday.  That is scheduled to be a Bay trip so the weather is a little less of a factor.  The Mackerel are still pretty thick and with the Balleyhoo, I think there should be some bigger King or Cobia around to play with.

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 Backyard

I could have had a trip today if I had wanted to blow some smoke up a butt.  I didn't and my customer found a guide with a flats boat on a trailer so he could fish the backyard even with the wind up a bit.  Well folks, that's why I settled in Marathon, the Heart of the Florida Keys.  I don't have any heartburn at all with one of my customers having a good time with another guide.  Had I had a flats or a bay boat on a trailer, I would have taken him, but I don't.  Working on that :)

The image above is part of the Backyard that you can see using Google Earth.  There is a lot of Backyard!  Lots of critters to play with and the scenery is not too shabby.  Since I have a customer planning on coming down in a few months with a 17 foot Boston Whaler, I thought this was a fine time for this post.  I have guided the back country from Marathon and Key West and the fishing is truly world class.  So I recommended that my new customer think about keeping his boat on the trailer so we can explore more of the Keys.  I don't know every nook and cranny in the back country, but a lot of the adventure is in the exploration.  Plus I know enough good spots to generally look pretty good.

Where he is staying is close to a lot of excellent action.  If the weather cooperates, we can stay right in the area and have a great time.  If the wind is up a touch, we can throw the boat on the trailer and avoid getting our butts handed to us on the way to a sheltered fishing hole.  To figure out where one of those sheltered fishing holes might be, take a look at Google Earth.

I haven't sprung for the higher resolution version, but just the normal version shows channels pretty well and some of the deep holes and drop offs by flats and islands.  So if you are a back country kinda guy that likes spinning a fly gear with enough patience to hunt for adventure, this is a good start.

Just to wet our appetite, this was taken in the Backyard.

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

Tough Day with the Wind

Silvia and dad Mike with one of the plentiful Black Tips at the Bridge.

After showing Mike a good Cobia time a few days earlier, it was tough when this and a few mangroves was the best I could do yesterday.  The wind shifted and picked up just enough to limit the opportunities and my old friend the Seven Mile Bridge was not a nice as usual.  Had the mutton snapper we caught been  larger and the wind not against the current, things would have been more interesting.  Not every day is a winner though.  The blow continued today so my first day at Pancho's was also slow.

Tuesday, I took Justin and Sally from Colorado out for a fishing 101.  They learned most of what they wanted plus caught a fair mess of Spanish Mackerel during the sight seeing, bait catching and fishing tour, but the wind that day was just enough to keep us on the Bay side.  The wind is supposed to lay down a little during the weekend to a more reasonable 15 to 20 than the 20 plus than makes anchoring and fishing a lot less fun.


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 Mike and Brian Fishing Day

Mike and Brian are down from Maryland for some more fishing with Capt. Dallas. Last year, Mike had some angling issues.  He could hook fish, but not all that many of the big one wanted to pose for the camera.  After spending a little time on Ebay, he has a few new weapons for the fish.

So this year, Mike actually has fish dinner to go with his fish stories.  A 37 pound Cobia on his 20 pound level wind with brand new Ugly stick.

Brain, did catch a few mackerel on the fly rod which was his main goal, but I forgot to take pictures of him with his fly rod caught fish.

I did snap a picture of Brian with one pretty dang big green puffer fish.  So the gang caught fish and had fun.  The Bay Spanish bite is still a little iffy.  They are still partial to shrimp which means lots of blue runners, blue fish and small stuff that also are partial to shrimp.  But is is still worth a trip since you never know who will show up in the slick.

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

When the Sharks Bite, with their Teeth- Yeah

Frank with BlackTip about 25#

Jimmy with Black Tip about 15#

Joey with Black Tip about 20#

This is one of those ho hums for some fishermen and Hot Dang! for others.  Black Tip sharks of the smaller persuasion on light spinning tackle less than two miles from the dock. Normally, there would be a bunch of Mangrove Snapper to boot, but the Yellow Jacks kinda over whelmed the snapper bite.  The Yellow Jacks, which are supposed to taste a bit like the California Yellowtail according to a few of my left coast clients, mke a good dinner for both people and sharks.  So we traded in the yellow jacks on some pretty fast action as long as the tide ran.  Nothing for a local to bragg about, but Frank, Jimmy and Joey (from top) all seemed to enjoy that part of the show.  The largest weighted roughly 25 to 30 pounds and was caught on 15 pound test.  There were a couple of less photogenic fish that would have required a tad heavier line or a faster captain.

Joey with Red Grouper 

Joey shows that there are grouper biting during the closed season. ARRGH!

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