For the past two weeks we have still enjoyed great mahi fishing. There have been quite a few fish around but the best part is that most of the fish where either gaffers or heavy lifters and almost daily we were catching mahis in the 20 to 35 pound class. I do think though that this great mahi run is almost over. The weedlines have been thinning out and moving farther offshore and we are seeing less and less fish, albeit the ones we are finding are big in size. This is pretty normal for this time of year and we have actually been extremely lucky this year as the mahis run was very, very good and it lasted a lot longer than normal. We still may see a late season push but regardless this is the time of year we start switching gears into other types of fishing. Soon we will be kite fishing almost on a daily basis. As cold fronts approach, and wind starts to pick up, we will be sailfishing with kites very soon. September through November though is when the fall daytime swordfishing really picks up. So far this September it has been extremely slow. The past 4 daytime sword trips for me have been brutally slow with 3 of those trips not even resulting in one bite. But I am extremely confident that that will change in the next two weeks as there have been some very good reports from up north and daytime swords are being caught almost daily up there. These fish will be pushing into our area I would venture to say in the next week or so and then it will be on fire. This same thing happened a couple of years ago when the swordfishing was slow in the beginning of September and exploded by October. If this is a fish on your bucket list, October and November are the two best months of the year. The next fishery that is almost here is the wahoo fishing in Bimini. Only 50 miles from home, Bimini can offer some great early season wahoo fishing and the seas are still relatively calm. We have caught up to our limit of 18 wahoo a day in Bimini in October and I have 4 wahoo trips already planned. If you have never experienced the bite from a wahoo while high speed trolling, you are missing out on one of the coolest bites in fishing. To top it off, they are also one of the best tasting fish in the ocean.
As most of you know or may have heard, I will be getting a new boat this upcoming season. The new boat is going to be a 37’ SeaVee openfisherman with triple Mercury Verado 350’s. It will have a tower just like my current boat, 20 ft. Lee carbon fiber one piece outriggers, and will have the latest and greatest electronics from Simrad including their new HALO radar, and Chirp echosounder. There will be a total of 4 livewells and the ability to have an external 100 gallon round well on deck while bait fishing. The boat is a stepped hull, which will give me better performance and better fuel efficiency, plus the legendary ride of a SeaVee. As usual there will be an abundance of rod holders. It is a true fishing machine but will have all the creature comforts including a fully enclosed head and as a new addition – it will also have a microwave on board. I am extremely eager to get my hands on her and start fishing. The boat is currently being built and is scheduled to be debuted at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show November 2015. This means that we will be sailfishing in this boat this year so if you haven’t made your winter sailfish plans yet, get your trips lined up and see what the new 37 can do. It’s going to be amazing!!
Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos