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

Kingfish, Kingfish and more Kingfish

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The cold fronts stopped coming. The Sailfish stopped coming. But the Kingfish have returned. For more than a week all we can catch is Kingfish. I'm glad they're here but I would like to see a little more variety.

Record Sailfish Catch in Palm Beach

The West Palm Beach Fishing Club recorded 1,174 sailfish releases among 46 boats fishing the three day 75th annual Silver Sailfish Derby! Get ready, they're heading our way.

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Just like Clockwork

It happens almost every time. The cold front passes through then the Sailfish start passing through. 
We took a lady angler from Australia (Karen) sailfishing. She had caught Striped Marlin, Black Marlin and Blue Marlin. But for the past ten years, she had never caught a Sailfish! 
The weather was perfect, but the western edge of the Gulf Stream wasn't. I was hoping for a distinctive blue/green edge but instead, there was a gradual color change. I trolled south until the color got a little better and then found a slight current rip in 265' of water. We put the kite up and the baits out and after a short wait we had 2 Sailfish on. Karen fished standing up and her friend Jennifer fished from the chair. The fish cooperated. They were each on different sides of the boat. Jennifer's fish came to the boat first, but took a long run after seeing us. Finally, Karen's sailfish came to the side of the boat. We brought it in to take out the hook and record video of Karen and her first Sailfish. Jennifer's fish was stubborn but eventually posed for a quick photo. 
                                                                                                                                        www.oldhat.com

We put the kite back up in the sky, the live baits back in the water and started all over again. We waited a while until a Sailfish ate one of the baits, then it charged the boat, leaping and looking menacing, heading straight for the cockpit with 2 lady anglers terrified. I pulled the boat ahead quickly, before the fish could jump in. The fish shook his head and spit the hook. An adrenaline rush for everyone on board. A little while later we hooked up #4 Sailfish. This one was Karen's second Sailfish catch & release. We also caught a Dolphin and jumped off another Sailfish before the day was over. Everyone had a great time, all the fish were released unharmed except for the Dolphin which became a delicious meal.