Dang Level Winds and Braided Line

It was a beautiful day in the Bay yesterday. The guys caught plenty of fish including several sharks that they wanted. They also missed quite a few nice fish. The power pro got bound in their level wind reel so tight we couldn't get it out. The picture above isn't that clear, but if you look close you can see the bind on the left and the wind guide is to the right. Level winds and braid are great for losing big fish.

Some people love their braid and level wind reels. Here is some advice from a braid devotee:

captdallas2,

I have used braided lines for years and used to have some of the same issues you seem to be facing. Here are a few things I have learned about braided lines over the years:
1. Braided lines must be spooled on the reels very tightly. A good test is to press down on the spool with your thumb. If it feels at all soft, then the line is not tight enough. When respooling braided lines, I have someone hold the spool with enough tension so the rod bends. That way the line goes on tightly and the spool feels hard. No digging in that way.
2. Use braided lines based on line thickness and not strength rating. For instance, 65 lb braided line typically has the same thickness as 14 lb mono. So, if you normally use 14 lb mono, then use 65 lb braided line. 12 ln mono typically equals 50 lb braid and so on.
3. Braided lines need maintenance. Watch it for frays especially when fishing around weeds or rocks. I imagine this will apply more to in-shore fishing.
4. Its important to put at least 10 yards or so of mono backing on the spool before spooling with braided lines to keep the whole spool from slipping. A similar diameter usually works well and a blood knot does the trick.

When Muskie fishing, I use 80 or 100 lb braided lines, which typically are in the 18 to 20 lb diameter range. I put the lines on tight and check for frays before every outing. The heavier line allows smoother and longer casts, less dig-ins, and much better durability.

Based on your picture, it may be the line on your reel just needs to be re-spooled tighter.

Good fishing. =)

I still say level winds and braid sucks.
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's Christmas fishing Vacation

Chicago Joe spends his Christmas vacation in the Keys with his family. They had fished with me in the past at Seadog. I ran into Joe at the Kmart last year and he booked me for this season. Joe and crew like action and shot at big critters.

Doc and I took Joe and his sons Joey and Tom fishing the Bay Sunday on Flatlines. Joe has fished the Bay before, but we caught one of those magic days where bait was everywhere and you could see Mackerel skying in every direction. Needless to say we had plenty of action. Unfortunately the big fish won most of the battles. We did boat one smaller lemon shark.

Yesterday we set out on a 29 foot cat he rented from Vacation Boat Rentals. Sweet boat but it took me a while to get used to her. With the winds at 20 knots we went down to the seven mile bridge to get out of the wind. Again we had plenty of action and the big fish won. Three or four large sharks managed to pull hooks or break 60 braided line. This reinforces my opinion that braid on level wind reels is not the way to go for big sharks. When a big one takes off the line tends to get in awkward angles on the reel defeating the drag.

The wind is howling at 30 knots this morning so our options are limited. One good thing about spending a week or more in the Keys is that one or two butt ugly days won't ruin your whole trip. This weekend should be prime time for sailfishing which I think Chicago Joe might enjoy. Stay tuned.

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

Start of the New Season

Now that I had to put on long pants and a sweat shirt, that means the new season has started. It has been pretty slow for the past few months. Now I am looking forward to putting a few dollars in my pocket and a bunch of fish in the boat.

What's hot right now is Sailfish. They are pretty thick on the reef right now. Live bait is the ticket because there is bait everywhere. There also quite a few king mackerel in the same areas a still a few dolphin and wahoo.

The Bay is just now getting right for the big spanish mackerel. The bite starts about 8 miles back in the Bay. Plenty of good size mangrove snapper are in the tall grass back there too.

The yellow tail bite has been great if the current cooperates and some nice mutton snapper have been coming home for dinner. So everything is coming together for a fine season.

When you get a little tired of freezing your butt off, come on down and do a little 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

Scuffle at Porky's Bayside

Marathon is a sleepy little drinking town with fishing problems. Some vacationers don't realize that as drinkers they are rank amateurs.

Down on Vacation Back on Probation: Scuffle at Porky's Bayside
In a rare event, a fist fight slash wresting match with a touch of martial arts action briefly broke out at Porky's Bayside restaurant Monday night.
View more »

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

Rental Boat Humor

Working on the water in the Florida Keys has many moments. Many of those moments involve rental boat operators. One of the funniest happened recently. A rental boat operator calls in for help on the VHF radio. He complained that his boat was full of water and that alarms were sounding. While the rental boat company tried to calm the operator and talk him through the situation, there was no calming the rental boat operator.

The rental boat company sends a chase boat to help the operator. As the chase boat arrives, the captain sees the bright orange PFD clad boaters frantically bailing water. They had been bailing for nearly an hour and were making no headway. As the chase boat nears the stranded boat, the frantic boaters were screaming to get off their sinking vessel to board the chase boat. The frantic boaters were screaming, the engine alarm on the boat was blaring and the chase boat operator yelling at the top of his lungs for everyone to shut up and stay put where they were. The chase boat driver then tells the renters to stop trying to bailout the live well and put the kill switch in to stop the damned alarm.

Now if you are a boater right now you will be chuckling. If you aren’t chuckling here is a little explanation. The kill switch is a safety switch that will kill the boat motor should the boater fall out of the boat. It works well if the boat operator remembers to clip the kill switch lanyard to his life vest. If the kill switch is not plugged in the boat won’t start and loud alarms sound when the key is turned on, hopefully reminding the boaters that the kill switch is not plugged in. Still not chuckling?

The particular boat that was rented has a below deck live well. Most of the live well is below the water line, so if the boat is in the water, water freely flows into the live well. The boaters looked in the live well, saw water and thought the boat was sinking. If you didn’t start chuckling during the second paragraph, I highly recommend you hire a guide before venturing out on your own in any 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

Palermo? No Problem.

The season has not started in earnest, though a few captains are getting out. Hurricane Palermo is south of Cuba and should not pose a threat to the Keys. The fishing reports I have been getting are pretty good. Sailfish are showing up on the reef with two boats reporting sailfish while fishing for yellow tails. Along with the sailfish are good number of Cero Mackerel and a few nice size king mackerel.

Cobia have been spotted cruising the tide line in Hawks channel. Nice size fish from twenty to fifty pounds. You have to be a little lucky to spot them. The grouper and big mangrove snapper bite has been a bit slow. Mutton snapper are helping fill that void which is nice. Bayside reports are a little inconsistent. The Spanish mackerel are moving in, but they don't want to eat every trip. The next cold front should fire them up. So get ready to make tons of fish dip and fish cakes. You can check out my recipes in the cooking lable on the side bar.

The fish cleaning table is getting close. We had a shipping error so a few are wandering around the Midwest. Once we get a few more delivered we will start the testing program. The tiki drawing are approved for Monroe County. So I will be spending some time selling tikis and tables. I will try to keep fishing open three or four days a week. This is going to make my schedule pretty weird so book in advance if you can.

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