Chicago Joe and Detroit Dave

Updated to add a photo of one of the larger Cero Mackerel with Joe.

My Christmas season regular Chicago Joe is bake in town and we fished on a Detroit Dave rental boat.  With Chicago, Detroit and Dallas all on deck, by standers might have though a poker game was about to start.

Due to winds over 20 knots we fished in a few of my spots that are sheltered and caught a lot of fish thanks to having anglers that were real hungry for getting back on the water so they could forget about the snow.  While Mangroves and Porgies were the primary target, the Cero Mackerel proved to be the main event.  Unlike some of my other regulars, Chicago Joe and crew don't have to be convinced that fresh Mackerel is good eats.

Mangroves were a bit disappointing, but we did manage about ten nice sized fish and the only porgy we kept was a solid three pounds, also nice.  Frank, the chef in Joe's crew, also opted to keep plenty of grunts that were over 12 inches long and big enough to filet.

Frank also wanted to tangle with a big shark which proved to be more difficult than normal.  He had one shot at a big girl, but after that Ceros and smaller sharks took over.  We saw a few big ones passing through but for some reason they just didn't want to hang around.

Detroit Dave bought All Aboard boat rentals not too long ago which was news to me.  When we got back with a cooler overly filled with fish, Dave and everyone on the dock was pretty impressed so a lot of my cards got distributed.   Fishing in high winds can be pretty tough and we did have a pretty good day.

My phone played tricks on me so I have to hope the crew posts some they took so I can add a few to the post. 

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