Hogfish closure

Because Hogfish landings hit the magic ACL, Hogfish are closed in federal waters until the first of the year.  The State of Florida hasn't closed Hogfish in state waters.  State waters extend three nautical miles from any land into the Atlantic and nine nautical miles from any land into the Gulf of Mexico.  So you can still keep Hogfish inside those boundaries.  You should stick with State limits on other species if you plan to keep Hogfish.  For example the Federal limit on Mangroves is 10 per person per day and the State limit is five per person per day.

American Red Snapper are open year around in the Atlantic State Waters and closed all year in federal waters.  On the Gulf side you both State and Federal closures that most of the time tend to agree.  Right now Saturdays and Sundays are open until someone changes their mind.

I normally try to stay away from the loophole fishing, but given the highly skilled and ultra intelligent elected powers at be we have to deal with, I have to.  However, for the average visitor trying to have a somewhat stress free vacation, sticking with the Florida Saltwater fishing regulations is the easiest way to go.  Of course, any time you try to stick with State laws someone is liable to make a Federal case out of 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

Dolphin are Still Biting

Manny has been trying to fish with me a few years but things hadn't worked out.  This week he hunted me down to learn the "secrets" of dolphin catching.  Well, I guess the secret is perseverance.  We found a few dozen frigate birds out in 1000 foot of water working over smallish Skipjack tuna but nada on the dolphin.

So we ran back in to a spot on the Ups and Down I can general count on a bit of a rip or eddy current.  There was a trickle of weeds and a few floaters loaded with the cursed mini Almaco Jacks and micro triggers.  We decided to troll a bout further from the weed trickle to avoid the Jacks and managed to entice a few decent Mahi out that way.  The best tactic turn out to be patience.  We let all the Jacks and other baits make themselves to home under the boat until we were the dominate floater in the neighborhood and end up close to our limit in mixed swinger and gaffers.

Not the most impressive catch I have ever produced, but considering bananas in the ice chest pretty remarkable.  I have been known to use the banana myth on occasion and after the ceremonial flinging of the bananas into the sea, we managed a couple of the more respectable fish on live Pinfish.

Now I have to find my Queen Snapper crystal ball.  I hardly ever deep drop down here because it falls into the PITA fishing category a lot like deep jigging. Since most of my reasonable deepish drop numbers are loaded with the endangered genuine America Red Snapper, which are always closed since they are on the brink of extinction somewhere near the University of Northern South Dakota, I rarely even do the Mutton dropping thing.  However, if I can relocate some of those nearly lost brain cells I may have a deep drop post in a few weeks.

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

Nothing but Mangroves

Kind of rare really, fishing for Mangroves and putting nothing in the box but Mangroves.  I guided a crew back into the Bay today to see how the Mangrove bite was doing.  I expected to see a Sea Trout or two and a few Cero mackerel, but we boated nothing but Mangroves.  We did have one nice Cero to the boat, but swinging was picked instead of the gaff so that one got away.  Not a bad size Cero, but hey, pooh pooh occurs.

Anywho, the Mangrove bite was a bit slow but steady using chucks of fresh ballyhoo.  All the fish in the box are respectable with an average size of about 15 inches or close to two pounds.  There were a couple of mystery fish, I suspect large Mangroves for a couple along with a few sharks and more than enough pesky Needlefish.  The Needlefish are most likely the reason for no trout and only the one Cero.  Tons of Ballyhoo showed up in the slick and we of course had plenty of Pinfish for bait, though Ballyhoo chucks got the most use.

The crew really wants to do the Dolphin thing but the bay boat passengers require calmer conditions.  We will shot for a Thursday offshore if the weather cooperates.  Until then the crew has Mangrove to munch on, lobster to chase, cocktails to sip on by the pool  and your typical relaxing stuff to do.

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