Fishing Reports
Cold Fronts and Great Sailfishing
Report Date: December 14, 2010
I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. This is the time of year to spend with family and friends and what a better way to spend the day with them than to go fishing. We have had some really decent cold fonts roll through South Florida, but cold fronts mean one thing and that is very good sailfishing and that is exactly what we have had. We have averaged 5 to 6 sailfish per trip and the sailfishing has been very consistent with us catching at least a few sailfish on every single trip. The consistency is the best part as we have caught sailfish on the very calmest of days were we had to resort to double helium balloons to the windy days flying the new 40 hole SFE kites. We have caught the vast majority of the sails on the kite baits and have been using everything from goggle eyes, threadfin herring and sardines as bait. We have also enjoyed a very successful hook up ratio and most days have been at 100 percent or very close. I have changed a few things on the tackle and bait side and will keep monitoring it to see if that has been the reason for the better hook up ratio. As most of my previous charters know, kite fishing for sails is one of the types of fishing that I enjoy a lot. Watching a sailfish come up to the bait on the surface, eat it and then jump all over the horizon is quite the thrill. After all these years of fishing, it still gets me going!
Besides sailfish, there have also been some decent kingfish and some decent dolphin on the edge. There have also been some cobias around especially in Hawks channel. I haven’t done as much swordfishing as the previous month, but there are definitely some swords around. I did do a 12 hour trip were we got a bite on our first day drop for swords, but unfortunately didn’t get tight. Then on the night portion of the trip we hooked a sword and fought him and got him all the way to the boat and had the hook pull. It was heartbreaking but at least we got to fight one and get a release on it. The reports from some of the private boats going out have been good.
Also for the holiday season, I am offering gift certificates that may be the perfect gift for someone you know that loves to go fishing. It will be a gift that any fisherman would love to get. From now until a bit after New Years is usually a busy time as we get a lot of people who come to town to visit friends and family and take the opportunity to go fishing. I still have plenty of open dates and hope to fill them soon so if you are coming to town or have friends and family that are coming in, spend the day on the water and enjoy the great fishing we are having.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos