Fishing Reports
Can Lightning Strike Twice
Report Date: April 23, 2023
What a great sailfish season it has been. We have had a few double-digit days as well as another 15 sailfish day since our last report. Also, the sail fishing has been amazingly consistent. Even with the torrential rain last week which pushed green water offshore, we still were able to find a few sailfish. Besides the sailfish we have also been lucky to catch two White Marlin since the last report. Our first White Marlin was a huge one according to whites. It ate a thread fin herring on a flatline spinning rod. This whitey was easily over 110 lbs. it was a great fish on spinning tackle. Our second White Marlin was right in the middle of a bunch of tournament boats, and it ate a goggle eye on the long kite bait. It was an epic bite as we all could see the Marlin circling the kite bait. It was very evident to me that it was a white marlin right from the beginning. This fish put on an epic show jumping all over the place.
To top off the great sail fishing and the two white marlin this month, we also caught another yellowfin tuna. This yellowfin, like the first one, ate a goggle eye on the long kite bait. We hooked this tuna on 20-pound gear and hooked it in 130 get of water of the Miami Sea Buoy. Three hours later in 765 of water we landed this beauty. She weighed in at 108 pounds.
Our luck continued into our only swordfish trip this month. We had great conditions with light current and wind. We deployed the tip rod and the buoy rod. After 20 minutes of being set up, the buoy goes completely slack indicating you have a swordfish on and she is swimming the lead up. We reel on her and get tight. After 30 minutes or so we get to the lead, we remove it the lead,and another few feet we see the bait and hook dangling on the 150 ft wind on leader. The swordfish is still on but it’s apparent that she is merely tangled in the leader and there is no hook in her. She senses the boat and dives back at least 800 feet. At this point we are not sure if we are going to get her as she doesn’t even have a hook in her and can easily get untangled. We inch her back only for her to dive back. At this point it has become a stalemate as we are trying to pull her sideways. Since we haven’t lost her yet, my thinking is she is pretty tangled up and since we can’t gain on her, we put heavy drag on her. If she was to get untangled, hopefully the hook will still snag her. Now with a lot more drag, we get her back and into the boat. She was tangled around the pectoral fin, across the jaw, and around the tail. She was was never going to get untangled. This swordfish was a respectable 150 pounds and yes, we were lucky again!
We still have a month or so of good sail fishing left and the blackfin tunas fishing should be great from now till end of May. Also, the yellowfin tuna bite in the Bahamas will be the best it will be this month and until the end of June. it’s still good in July and August, but now I the best. So, whether it’s sailfish, tunas here or across, or swordfish, book your trips quick. We are fully booked until May 15 and then we have some open dates. Book now before all the dates get booked.
Tight Lines
Capt. Dean Panos