I get a break for a day or two

Joe and crew from Maryland are on their way home and I am chillin'.  We never did get offshore thanks to the winds and never hooked that tarpon on Joe's bucket list.  We did at least see a tarpon, but on the whole it was a weird bite on the back side of the full moon with winds averaging close to 20 knots.  Fishing the bridge was a major PITA due to the grass and water conditions associated with the higher current and winds.  That made the rock piles and bay side wrecks the most productive place to fish for my crew.

I was surprised we din't get more mangrove snapper and keeper mutton snapper.  The main fish in the box were porgies, lots of nice size fish up to a couple of pounds and hogfish with a few yellowtails, triggerfish, yellow jacks, but the barracuda got the muttons.  Great eating but not exactly what we had envisioned at the start of the week.

It appears is wasn't just me.   A good number of the better captains had slow trips and there were of course the captains that hit the right spot at the right time and kicked butt.  Sailfish bit well for a couple of boats while we were chasing tarpon.  If you guess right you are a hero, guess wrong and your are a goat.  Of the four days with Joe I was a goat on one, a hero on one and just so so the other two, but we did catch fish every day.

Now that all the components have arrived, I have my sharp looking, crap outfits ready to fish.  I have two 15 pound spinning outfits with graphite rods and Chinese knock off reels.  Other than one cheesy flash chrome bit that serves no useful purpose, the reels look like they will make pretty good yellow tail catchers.  15 pounds is a little on the light side, but can be a lot of fun and if some kids (age 0 to 80) happens to drop the outfit overboard I won't lose any sleep.

I have always had fun catching big fish on cheap crap gear so hopefully a few of my customers will as well.  The main thing with the reel is drag and line capacity.  These have a drag similar to to the Daiwa BG series which is okay if you keep them clean and close to 200 yards of 15 pound CLEAR Berkley big game.  The Contour rods are rated for 8 to 17 pound line so the combo actually has a nice balance with a light weight.  Of course they may break the first time out, but what the heck.

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