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