Good Summertime Fishing

July and August has brought us mostly calm and warm days. We've been able to catch Dolphin, plenty of Bonito and a few Wahoo.
Most of the Dolphin we were catching in July were at least 5 mile offshore. We saw some nice sized fish in some of the schools, but there was an abundance of small ones, too small to keep. The size minimum is 20 inches, measured from the head to the fork in the tail.

Years ago I would see some fishermen get into a school of small Dolphin and throw a net on them. There are still some people who kill babies!

August brought us more and more small Dolphin. We were finding them a little further offshore. The action was real good but too many had to go back in the water to get bigger.

Bonitos, Bonitos and more Bonitos just 2 miles from shore. All you want, come and get 'em!


To sum it up, we had some pretty good fun filled days.

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From Bonitos to Dolphin

 We had to wait until summer to get our springtime run of Dolphin!
We caught so many Bonitos in May. It seemed like no matter which way we went or what we put out, we caught Bonitos, Bonitos and more Bonitos. Don't get me wrong, they are a great fighting fish and some people eat them, but where were the Dolphin?

Finally, it took a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico   to bring us stormy days and schools of Dolphin!

                                                             www.oldhat.com

A New First Mate

After ten years of fishing with the same first mate I find myself trying to teach a new first mate how to be better at his job! 
Charlie fished with me for a long time. He took care of the boat, he was great with the customers, we were friends (more like father & son at times). We had a lot of fun fishing together. Now, Captain Charlie has landed a great job in the Virgin Islands. He is captaining a new 43' Cabo with twin 800 hp Manns for a 'world record holding lady' that's looking for more world record fish. Good luck Charlie and have fun!
Alex has been fishing with me for a short time and is learning how to take care of my boat and how to fish on my boat (we'll be working on that for a while). I like him and I think in time it will get to be more and more fun. He's great with the customers, they leave with a smile!

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Springtime Fishing

The warm weather came early this year. We've been catching Dolphin, Kingfish just started biting and the Wahoo fishing aboard "Old Hat" has been extremely good!

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"A New Knife"

My new Bubba Blade

 I received a surprise in the mail. It was a knife! Not just any knife, it had this handle that looked like a hunting knife and a dive knife, the blade was razor sharp and the sides of the blade were coated with something dark. I didn't order it, so I went online to find out some information. It's a high carbon steel, Teflon coated blade.
A couple days later I called a friend in Alabama, suspecting he was the one that sent the knife and he answered the phone "Did you get something in the mail?". He thought it was something I could use! 

So far I've filleted 3 fish, a Dolphin, a Wahoo and a Blackfin Tuna. 
Here's the report: The Bubba Blade is extremely sharp (I'm not sure yet when I'll need to sharpen it). This one has a flexible blade (great for what I do most). Skinning fish seems to be easier (maybe the Teflon blade makes it slide easier).
Next report; when it's time to sharpen it.

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Weather Stays Mild

 Even though the weather has stayed mild and the fishing is different than it usually is this time of year, some of the catches are pretty good!


It may take longer to find the fish but when you do, your patients pays off!

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Mild February

February gave us some unusual winter weather. Hardly any cold fronts passed through. We had some unusually calm days fishing in South Florida's beautiful waters, along with some of the usual rough stuff we expect in the winter. In the beginning of the month the Kingfish vanished and some nice Dolphin showed up. We caught a few Sailfish during the month, but not the numbers we've been seeing the last few years.

I believe the weather has a lot to do with the lack of Sailfish. Normally the cold front pushes through, the wind clocks around S-SW-W-NW-N-NE, and while it's blowing out of the northeast and the Gulf Stream is moving rapidly to the north the Sailfish are migrating to the south.
This last month we had too many days when the Gulf Stream edge was way offshore, there was no current inshore, the Gulf Stream was running slow, or on some days the current was running to the south until you got 6 or 7 miles offshore. All of this affects fishing!

One calm day we caught this big Barracuda while live baiting for Sailfish.(a circle hook & mono leader)

Toward the end of the month the Kingfish showed up again. We caught some big ones.




Hopefully the weather will become a little more normal and our fishing in Miami will become a little more normal. 
The last big run of Sailfish was a month ago, I'm ready for it to happen again, now!              www.oldhat.com