Sport Fishing Key West

Fishing Report and Key West Blog

March 9th, 2010

Conditions are lining up for an early Sailfish run. Strong East current pushing up against green water from the Gulf Of Mexico are causing a beautiful color change. There have been some Sailfish tailing along the edge as well as all the bonito you could ask for to keep you busy. A few King Mackerel and an occasional Black Fin Tuna are also being caught. On the Green side of the color change we're starting to see some Cobia migrating through and outside the color change in the Blue water there are still a few small dolphin being caught. NOW is the time to go fishing. These conditions are normally seen in April. Hopefully they will stay until then and if they do, we should have a fantastic Sailfish season.

March 1st, 2010

Weather still erratic, hot and sunny one day, Cool or even cold the next. Fortunately, the offshore fishing has been good. Black Fin Tuna have been around, although predicting where and when they will bite is not easy. We've had a couple of days where conditions were perfect for a good Tuna bite. The Moon, Water color and sea state were just exactly what you would want and very few Tuna biting. Then other days were the conditions were not great and you can't get away from them. That's fishing! There have been a fair number of Sailfish around and the reef action is still good with Cero Mackerel, Cravalle Jacks and some King Mackerel. Moon is full or near full so I would expect to see a few Wahoo caught over the next few days.

Friday, February 19th, 2010

This Weather Sucks!! I know pretty much everyone else in the country is experiencing colder weather than we are here so I don't expect much sympathy. But This Weather Sucks. It's been cold down here since about he middle of December. The last 4 days the temperature hasn't gotten above the low 60's. Now that may sound like a heat wave to many people in February, but it's not supposed to be this cold here.........EVER!! Where YOU live, it IS supposed to be cold. It is February after all. But not here in Key West. Here it's supposed to be warm and sunny. Not all the time. Sometimes it's really hot and sunny, but it's not supposed to be cold and cloudy. And if it gets cold and cloudy it shouldn't last for 1 or 2 days at most, Not 8 weeks. Most years I rate winters by how many "sock" days there are, that's how many days I have to wear socks to keep warm. Some years there's no more than a dozen or so. I can't remember the last time I didn't wear socks, or didn't wear a sweatshirt, Long sleeve shirt AND a jacket. I don't own ear muffs........but I'm thinking about them. Pass the Rum and  Thanks for letting me rant. Oh yea, Reef fishing is pretty good, lots of  action. Offshore is a little slow. Occasional Tuna, Wahoo or Sailfish.

Sunday, January 30th, 2010

Fishing has been excellent the past week. Lot’s of bites and lot’s of fish  on the reef and offshore. The cold weather  we had in early January seemd to have affected the fishermen more than the fish. The offshore water never got below 70 degrees so whiile the fishing may have been uncomfortable, the fishing remained good.

There are still large schools of Ballyhoo on many of the reefs and the action is outstanding. Many large Barracuda, Cravalle Jacks and  some Cero Mackerel have been tearing up the bait schools on he shallow part of the reef with bonitos and Sailfish coming up on the edge to feed as well. Trolling dead ballyhoo can be effective, but if you can catch some ballyhoo live the bites come fast and furious.  It is not uncommon to see “ showers”  or “sprays” of bait of bait as the predators go through the schools and feed. Look for Birds, especially Frigate birds hovering low on the water as this is a sure sign of fish feeding. That’s where you want to be with your live (or dead) bait. There has been some a decent bit of King Mackerel on the deep edge of the reef with a few fish in the 30 lb. range.

Offshore, there have been some quality fish caught on the troll. Wahoo and Black Fin Tuna  are still  to be found outside the reef. There have been two Blue Marlin caught in the last week and another one missed. Two of the fish were in less than two hundred foot of water, which is unusual. Dolphin, (Mahi Mahi), normally more common in the spring and summer, are being caught mostly just outside the outer reef and along the trap lines. I don’t fish the flats, but I’ve heard that the water in the shallows has warmed up with the weather and the fish in the flats are biting again. Fishing should continue to be good. The weather looks like it will cooperate for the next few days a the very least. We’ll see you offshore.

Capt.  Richard Houde

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Being a charter boat fisherman is a great job. Basically you take a group of people, who are in a good mood, out on the tropical waters of Key West, Florida and try to catch them fish.

The vast majority of the people are fun to be around, Most of the time the fishing here is good and usually we have great weather....................but whenever you're on the water, things can go very bad very quickly.

 Yesterday that point was made very obvious when a 65 ft boat called the Gulfstream III caught fire and sank about 10 miles SW of Key West. The Gulfstream III had been, for many years, one of the bottom fishing party boats that docked at Charter Boat Row. It was recently taken out of charter service by the owner when they downsized to a more economical and faster fiberglass boat. My understanding was that the boat was being used to commercial fish. It was anchored in about 60 ft of water and we were fishing about a mile west of her yesterday, around noon,  when a friend of mine half jokingly came on the VHF radio and asked if it looked like the Gulfstream was on fire. I looked up and there was some smoke coming from the boat, but it had old Detroit 12-V92 motors. Not uncommon for old diesel motors to smoke a bit when they started up. Unfortunately this was not the case. Before I could answer my friend, one of the 2 crew on the Gulfstream III got on the radio and called for help A fire had started in the galley and they couldn't put it out. All the boats in the area pulled in their lines and sprinted toward the Gulfstream III, As I was doing this I put in a call to the Coast Guard. The Charter Boat Eva Marie was the first on the scene and by the time it got there, the the crew had abandoned ship. The Eva Marie pulled the crew from the water as the boat quickly became engulfed in flames. Not much could be done but watch and when we learned there ware a couple boxes of ammo and some propane tanks aboard, we put some distance between us and the burning boat. We finished our day of fishing and headed home a few hours later. As we entered Key West Harbor I could still see the smoke rising in the distance to the Southwest. I later learned the boat finally sank around 5 pm in about 300 ft of water. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. There was some personal items and gear lost by the crew  and the boat owner may have a big loss, but under the circumstances, it could have been a lot worse. I can only  imagine the chaos if the Gulfstream III was still carrying passengers and had 20-50 people on board instead of 2. Yes, it could have been much worse!

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Fishing has been great both offshore and on the reef. Lots of Ballyhoo on the reef are causing the Mackerels, Bonitos, Barracudas and some Sailfish to go into feeding frenzy mode. Large "showers" of bait fish come out of the water to avoid the predators charging from below. It's a great show and if you have live Ballyhoo, (we did), the action can be great.

Bait being chased by predators jump out of the water trying to get away

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Cold weather has finally eased up a bit. Temperatures were in the high 70's yesterday and it's warm again today. There is another cold front expected tonight, but the extreme cold, (40's -50's) we've been experiencing the first part of January are not expected. The "cold" part of the front should only be in the 60's and then back up into the 70's in a day or two. That's the more normal weather pattern for this time of year. There is a tremendous amount of bait schools on the reef right now and lots of activity. The Sailfish we caught on Friday was in 20 ft of water on the reef. Sailfish, Bonito, Black Fin Tuna and other fish are up on the reef feeding on the Ballyhoo. It's an exciting time to fish. I have a trip this afternoon and it should be good!

Tuesday, January 13th, 2010

The unusually cold weather has continued all week but it's finally starting to ease up a bit. The air is still cold and  it has definitely cooled the waters down. Most notably inshore. The channels and the harbor have  water temperatures down in to the 50's. There have been reports of fish kills up and down the keys. Any of he fish in the shallow water that could not find their way into deeper water as the shallows cooled down are at risk. In early December the water temperature was in the mid to high  70's. A drop of close to 25 degrees in just a few weeks is too much for many of the fish to survive. Boats that use pilchards may have a very difficult time finding bait.  Fortunately (for me) the offshore water has stayed warm. The water is still in the low 70's. The cooler weather has moved some of the schools of bait off the reef, but there are still a few schools and more should return quickly. Sailfish are starting to come up on the reef to feed on the schools of ballyhoo and the Barracudas are ravenous. We had a good day on Tuesday with Black Fin Tuna but the boats that went to the same area today didn't catch any. The weather is supposed to gradually warm up to near normal temperatures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I expect the next few days to be excellent fishing 

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Been very cold by Key West Standards, Temperatures have been in the 50's  all week. Normally we get a bit of a post-holiday lull in business and the cool temperatures aren't helping. People come to Key West to be warm. They want to fish the "Tropical" waters of Key West, not the North Atlantic. They; could stay home and do that. So we haven't been fishing all week. We have a trip later today so hopefully I'll have something to post tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Karma Bank- Had an interesting series of events happen this week. Makes me think my karma bank is fairly full. On News Years Day, My girlfriend and I went for a mid morning bicycle ride down Duval St,( scene of all the New Years Eve Madness). Down around Sloppy Joe’s Bar, I ran over a piece of glass and got a flat tire. My girlfriend rode her bike home and got my pickup truck, came back down and got me and we went home. I put the bike on the front porch, where I always put it, but, because I had planned on fixing the tire that day, I didn’t lock it up. Well, I got busy with one thing or another and also had an afternoon charter that day, so it never got locked up. Now, I’ve been here 28+ years and I’ve never had a bicycle stolen, but then again I ALWAYS LOCK IT UP. I figure it’s easier to lock it up, than have to buy a new one and always lock that one up.   On Monday evening, my girlfriend and I went out at about 10 pm to see some friends in a band play at the Hogs Breath Saloon. We stayed until about 2am and when we got home, yup, you guessed it, no bike! It was gone, My Trek, my old faithful ride, the one with the Comfortable seat, the bike I’d been riding for close to 15 yrs was GONE! Pissed me off! Not only loosing the bicycle, but the fact that some scumbag was up on my porch tends to make you feel like your space has been violated. This town is known for bicycles being stolen, I’m one of the few (long term resident) people I know that hasn’t had a bicycle stolen. I was kinda’ proud of it. I had been outsmarting the bike thieves for 28 years and now, one of them had gotten the better of me! Sucked! I walked around the neighborhood a little, figuring whoever stole it, couldn’t ride it with the flat, so they would probably have stashed it in the bushes nearby and come back later to get it with a truck or a bicycle pump.  Good idea, but no such luck.

On Tuesday, I was driving in town when I see a man and a women walking over by the cemetery and he’s pushing a bicycle………a blue Trek……..with a seat just like mine………and a light mount just like mine. He was headed up a one way street and I would have had to go the wrong way to get to him, so I quickly went around the block and waited for him at the top of Solares Hill, (Yes we do have a hill in Key West, Just one and it’s about 12ft above sea level. Altitude is sickness never a problem). It’s been cold here, like the rest of the country, and I was wearing a nice leather jacket I bought in Spain this year. So I took it off as I waited at the top of the hill. I didn’t know what would happen when I confronted my (alleged) bike thief buddy, but I figured it’d be stupid to ruin a $400 new leather jacket to recover a $250 15 yr old bicycle.

So there I stood, at the top of the hill, ready to rumble. I had my cell phone in one hand trying to call the police, (I had filed a report), but they put me on hold. Now, I have a small caliber gun in my truck, but I left it there, didn’t want to go “wild west“ over a bicycle, there were other people around. I always carry a pocket knife, (I’m a fisherman, it’s a tool not a weapon) and that where it stayed in my pocket. But I’m just under 6 ft and I weigh around 240, (with a bit of a belly). I’m not real big, but I ain’t real small either. My approaching (alleged) bike thief buddy was much younger, thinner and probably in better shape……….but much smaller than me.  As I stepped in front of him and the bicycle, he looked kind of surprised. When I accused him of stealing my bicycle in a tone that let him know I wasn’t F#@king around he took a step back and hesitated. He denied stealing the bike and said he found it in the bushes but if it was my bike I could have it back. Smart move. Now, if we had to start swinging for me to get it back, I was willing to go there, but if he was willing to give it up without a fight, that was fine too. Over the years I have found bicycles in and around my yard before. Bikes that I figured were stolen and dumped there, so he could have been telling the truth. I don’t know. He didn’t look like a dirt bag but he didn’t look like a choir boy either.  He didn’t like it when I took his picture with my cell phone. Too bad. But he gave it up without any arguments or violence so I let it go. All that matters is that I had my old ride back and I wouldn’t have to spend a couple hundred dollars on a new bike. As he and his lady friend headed off, I put the bicycle in my pickup and headed home. I can no longer brag that I’ve never had a bicycle stolen in the 28 years I’ve been here. But I can say I’ve never LOST a bicycle in 28 yrs. And the best thing………….He was only walking the bicycle so he could talk to the girl he was with, ...........It had a New wheel, New tire and New tube!

Friday, January1st, 2010

Happy New Year to all. It's been a very busy week here. Traditionally the week between Christmas and New Years is the busiest week of the year. The last few years have been off a bit. I still had good weeks, but not completely full. I was nervous about this year because at Thanksgiving I didn't have a single booking  for the week. Fortunately, the bookings started coming and I filled the week up completely. Even had to turn a couple of trips down, (always hurts). Fishing was pretty good all week too. The offshore was hot and cold a bit. Some days were good with Wahoo, Black Fin Tuna, a few Dolphin and a Sailfish. A couple of days the bites just weren't there.  The Reef action was excellent. Lots of Cero Mackerel, Barracuda, some Yellowtail Snapper and some nice Mutton Snappers. Caught a lot of fish on spinning tackle which is always more of a challenge, but also more fun. All in all, it was a great week and a great way to end the year. I know many boats as well as many people around the country struggled this year. I know I was very fortunate. I had a good year business wise and fish wise. We ran well most months and we caught some good fish. Here's to hoping that 2010 is a better year for all. Happy New Year!

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Some times life just isn't fair. After 17 years of getting salt spray in the face on almost a daily basis, I finally broke down and had an Isenglass, (clear plastic) enclosure made for the flying bridge. It was installed on Saturday, just in time for today's trip. A strong cold front came through Key West this weekend. The air was cold , but it wasn't real rough. Still, I threw a little water as I headed east this morning. I was really enjoying NOT feeling the salt spray and NOT feeling the cold north wind................right up until I ran over a floating rope and got it tangled in both propellers. I tried to maneuver the boat to the reef , but the vibration the rope caused made it unwise to keep the boat in gear. SO we dropped anchor  right where we were and , After staying warm and dry all day up to that point behind my nice new Isenglass, I had to jump in the water and cut the rope out of the props.  Just not fair!!

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

More seasonable weather finally blew through the Keys on Saturday. The artic blast that the upper 48 have felt the last few days pushed our unseasonably warm weather away and temperatures are in the high 60's today. While it's not as pleasant as the warm and sunny weather we've been experiencing, we do need the cold fronts to make the fishing work. Last week, the water temp was 78-79 degrees. That's much too warm for mid-December. Fortunately, this cold front is strong enough it should cool the water down relatively quickly. The cold front brought a lot of wind with it. That's to  be expected when extremely warm air meets artic cold air. So it's been rough the last few days, but the wind should drop off by Monday or Tuesday and I would expect fishing to be good. There were some  Black Fin Tuna around before the weather changed and cooler weather and water should make them bite even better. There was a fair amount of bait on the reef, (mostly Ballyhoo), but this weather should push even more bait out to the reed and expect the action to improve. There have been some Sailfish coming up on the reef to  feed on the ballyhoo and this weather should bring more Sail in to feed, especially if the schools of bait increase. There were a fair number of Wahoo around on the last full moon, but that slowed down as the moon faded. I think the cooler water may make the Wahoo more active too. I didn't catch any, but last week I heard of some decent Dolphin, (Mahi or Dorado not Flipper). This weather will have an adverse affect on the Dolphin fishing. But if everything else improves than I'll take. Fishing tomorrow, we'll see if I'm right

Tuesday, December 15th.2009

Unusually warm weather is taking it's toll on the fishing. There are a few Sailfish around and some if you're fishing a full day, there are some Black Fin Tuna down to the west biting late in the day, but other than that it's generally slow in the blue water. The reef is fairly active, a decent amount of Ballyhoo available, but even the reef action isn't what it should be. The fish just seem lethargic. The water on the reef is 78 degrees, much too warm for this late in December. I know the central part of the country has had some bitter cold weather, but it hasn't made it's way down here yet. Cold fronts are a pain in the butt when they pass through, Cold, Windy, Rainy and just generally miserable conditions for fishing, but you need them because they create the conditions that we need. Besides, after sweating from April until October every year, we need a break from the heat. It will be in the high 80's today. I'm still using my AC in the house. I know I'm not going to get much sympathy from anyone in sub zero weather, but I'm ready for some cool weather. I hope it's soon.

Thursday, December 9th, 2009

Fishing has been good most of the week. There have been a good number of Wahoo around and the Black Fin Tuna are biting early and late. The Wahoo bite will probably fade a bit as the moon does, But I expect there to be a resurgence on the full moon at the end of the month. Black Fin Tuna should continue to bite, especially first thing in the morning and right before sundown. Sailfish have started to come up on the reef chasing ballyhoo and hopefully this should continue for the next couple of weeks as long as the bait stays strong. I've seen some good size schools of bait, but they're mostly small baits and not on as many of the shallow reefs as I would expect this time of year. It's been unseasonably warm, so perhaps a good cold front will push more and bigger ballyhoo out to the reef.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

                  George Boyer

I received sad news this morning. George Boyer, who started fishing with me my first year in business, had passed away. He was 81 years young. George was the first customer to take me up on my 3 day Sport Fishing package and has been back many times since. I still remember him saying he didn't want any fish for dinner after our first day. He didn't eat fish. So his buddies only took enough cobia for 3 of them. They made the mistake of letting him try some at dinner and the next day they were all complaining he ate so much there wasn't enough for them. In later years, George would never tell me when he was coming down. I'd be backing the boat into the slip and look up and there he would be, smiling, but expecting to see some fish come out of the fish box. I remember one time when George was in his mid 70's. As always, before the trip he told me it might be his last time because he was getting too old to go. But later that day, there he was, off shore in 4 ft seas, running lines up and down the out rigger, bringing in lines that need to be re-baited and generally moving around like a second mate. Oh Yea, I forgot to mention we caught a big Spearfish that day! .........not bad for a guy that was "too old".  One winter we were fishing for King Mackerel. Trolling along at about 4 knots and a 25 lb King skyrocketed the outrigger. When it was at the top of it's jump, George pointed to it and exclaimed, "What the hell is that?"   "That's your fish", I replied and about that time the rod next to him doubled over with the drag singing his song! I had a lot of good trips with George and caught a lot of good fish with him. I will miss him. Thank you George

Wednesday, November 24th, 2009

As I write this, I'm sitting on a jet liner headed to Annapolis Md., for a family Thanksgiving gathering. Traveling was a bit hectic up to this point as our flight from Key West was delayed because of the weather. We sat in the "new improved" Key West terminal for about 2 hours because our flight diverted to Ft Meyers on its way to Key West. It's has been raining all day and apparently there was too much water on the runway for the pilot to land. In effect, our flight was delayed because of Puddles! Yup that's right, Puddles. The little "Puddle jumper" planes that some of the smaller airlines fly into Key West made it in just fine. But we were on a big fancy high tech modern jet. I guess you would have to call it a "non-puddle jumper". Anyway after a two hour delay, we took off and about 90 minutes later we landed in Atlanta about a half hour before our next flight........plenty of time, right? Nope. we landed alright, and sat on the runway for 10 minutes while the other plane that was using our gate was moved, then we waited while they brought the gantry way up to our aircraft and then we waited while............I don't know why we waited, might have been a card game in the cockpit and somebody had a hot hand, or not, but either way, we got off our first flight about 4 minutes before our second flight was scheduled to depart. We looked to see where our next flight was departing from and you guessed it, we were departing from the furthest possible terminal and gate from where we arrived. We busted our butts to get to the next gate just in time to see the walkway moved away from the plane. Three of us, Ema, myself and another passenger from our first flight stood at the window, short of breath, looking at the pilot shrugging our shoulders.
 The pilots were looking at us... and shrugging their shoulders. We looked at the ground crew and pointed to the walkway. The ground crew looked at us....and pointed to the walkway. This pantomime went on for about 3-4 minutes. Us staring at them, them staring at us. Pointing, waving, we looked at the ramp and they looked at the ramp. Finally the holiday spirit or maybe a little guilt prevailed and they brought the ramp back up to the plane and we were allowed to board. We just rushed on the plane, very appreciative of the flight and ground crews kindness and we didn’t have time to find out who decided to take pity on us. I wish I had their name so I could thank them in person. We’re on Delta flight 1058 and we left from gate T-1. So, to whomever it was that got us on board and made our Thanksgiving happen, thank you, you just got a whole bunch of karma points from us. Put ‘em in the bank.

Of course, I know that there is no chance my luggage made it too

On to the fishing report. The weather has been pretty nice, but to be honest the fishing has been a bit slow. The water is warmer than it should be this time of year. Its’ still a little over 80 degrees. There are some Sailfish around, but not a lot. We should be seeing Black Fin Tuna and Wahoo showing up. We’ve seen a few, but not like it should be. There is a cold front that is supposed to pass though the keys on Friday and while it might make conditions difficult for a day or two, in the long run it should help things. I won’t be back until Sunday and my next trip is next week sometime, but if the water cools off a bit, as we come up on the full moon, I’m betting we’ll see some Wahoo bite and probable some Black Fin Tuna.  The cooler weather won’t hurt the sailfishing either.  We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted

P.S. Luggage update- I was wrong again, It made it too!

Thursday, November 19th.

Time for TLC!! On a boat, it's not uncommon for the windows to leak a little. The front windows of the Southbound used to leak quite a bit and try as I might, I couldn't get them to stop. Finally, I removed them and fiber glassed over the  openings, then I painted them on. Now they don't leak. It actually makes the cabin cooler because the windows would cause a "green house" effect and make the cabin warmer. Unfortunately the side windows still leaked a little. So on Tuesday, we replaced the side windows and that should take care of any leaks there. Monday morning, I opted to fish and make money instead of paint and spend money, not too tough a decision. But, the painting still needs to be done. The Passenger area of the boat hasn't been painted in two years and it needed it. We've spent the last two days sanding, priming, filling and taping. The boat is all ready to paint, and weather permitting, we should painting our way around the boat today. Should take most of the day, and then about a half day to put everything back together tomorrow, but it'll be worth it just to see the difference. When you work on the boat every day, you don't notice the gradual change. Everything loses it's shine at the same pace. But when you paint, you bring it back in one day and the difference is dramatic. It's a lot of work to do it right, but it's worth it.

Monday, November 15th, 2009

Sitting on the dock this morning, getting ready to do some painting and annual TLC on The Southbound when 4 folks from So. Jersey walked up and asked if I could take them fishing. Well I had the choice of spending money and working on the boat OR stopping what I was doing, going fishing on a beautiful day and MAKING MONEY! Not a tough choice ;-)

We just fished the reef looking for Mackerels, Yellowtails and  Barracudas. Mission accomplished! We'll be painting tomorrow. We actually have a few days of maintenance scheduled. I have new side windows arriving today. They should be installed by tomorrow. A charter boat is just constant maintenance. You fix it up, work it all year, beating it up and then fix it up again. Same process year after year.

Sunday, November 14th, 2009

Sailfish are starting to show up in our waters. It's normal to get a "Fall" run of Sails. It's different than in the spring because we don't usually have the pronounced color change and strong east currents we see in April. Also, we tend to see a good number of smaller Sailfish this time of year. We've caught two Sailfish this week when only fishing for them a limited time. One was over 7 ft and weighed 40 lbs or better, the other was probably 4 1/2 - 5 ft and probably only weighed 12-15 lbs. Both put on a great show and there is no such thing as a "bad" Sailfish. We should be seeing some more Wahoo than has been the case, but conditions are getting "right" and I think there will be some good catches of Wahoo in the next week or two. I only hope I'm booked so I can be out there catching them.

Saturday, November 13th, 2009

Fishing has been up and down the last week. We started off the week with strong SE winds and rough seas on Tuesday. I knew it was going to be rough, but I hoped after 4 days of strong winds, ( it blew 30-40 mph from Friday to Monday), that there might be some good fish out there. It's November, but we haven't had any significant cold fronts and the water is still warm, so I hoped there be some Dolphin around, (Mahi or Dorado, Not Flipper). I went out to 600 ft deep water on Tuesday to no avail. Didn't see any bait, Weed of signs of fish. All in all it was a very slow, rough day. Wednesday, we changed game plans and went to the reef for action and it was great. There are lots of ballyhoo on the reef so netting them for bait was easy. The Cero Mackerels, Barracudas, Mutton Snappers and Yellowtails were hungry and the fishing was easy. There hasn't been much offshore besides Sailfish and we've gotten on each of the last two days. This time of year there are a fair number of small Sailfish around. We got on of those trolling on Thursday afternoon. We had  just started fishing and barely gotten 4 baits out and one popped up and ate.  On Friday, We got a full sized Sailfish using live bait. We had been live baiting for about 2 hrs and not much was happening. My customers were getting bored and at about 12:15 they asked if we could live bait until 1 pm and if nothing had happened by then, could we go to the reef and try to get some dinner. Patience Pays!! at 12:46 up popped a full sized Sailfish and the game was on! We caught this one on 20 lb Spinning tackle in about 35 minutes and the fish put on a fantastic show. Tail walking, Jumping and just generally going crazy! We got a great picture and sent it on it's way.  Hope we can find another one tomorrow!!

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

What a difference a day makes!!! The last two days were great and today was the complete opposite. The wind did pick up a little bit, but it wasn't rough. The water color looked good. We fished the same area as yesterday, We used the same bait and rigs, We trolled at the same speed - everything was the same.......except the results. Today, the fish did not bite.  It's frustrating when it happens like that. This morning I was anxious to get out on the water, because I was looking forward to another day like Tuesday. The great thing about being a charter fishing Capt. is that the vast majority of mornings I wake up and look forward to going to work. For me, even after over 20 yrs, it's still fun. I like the water, the fish and the people. So, when fishing gets good for a couple of days and you get all excited about being out there and then everything goes South, it really kinda' sucks. I especially feel for my customers, the folks I had today were great. They had fished before and they understood everyday is different and the vast majority of people are the same way,  but as the Capt and owner of the boat, a slow day still  bugs the H€ll out of me. But you've got to let go. Tomorrow is another day and it might turn right  back around again and be red hot. Just got to be ready and give it our  best and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Fishing was excellent today. This time of year Wahoo and Black Fin Tuna are normally biting. and that's been true lately. We got 2  Wahoo yesterday, the biggest was 43 lbs and 1 Wahoo today. Today we got 7 Tunas total, 4 Black Fin and 3 Skip Jack Tuna.  You troll fast for both of these, usually faster than I like for Sailfish, but today, the Sails didn't seem to mind chasing their dinner because we caught (and released), 3 Sailfish and missed a couple of others while buzzing around at over 7 knots. The weather was beautiful, the fishing was great ! Don't you just love it when it all works the way you planned ....and then some!

After the day of fishing, I had a Sunset Cruise. One of my best Customers came down to KW for a few days of Birthday Celebration with a group of her childhood friends, so we went on a short Sunset/Moonrise cruise. To be honest, the Sunset was obscured by the clouds a bit, but still beautiful. The moon rise was awesome. My digital camera is not good enough to take a good picture at night from a moving boat, but just imagine a big orange glowing ball ( 1day past full), rising up from the  water. Absolutely beautiful. I was tired after a full day of fishing, but just the sight of the moon coming up made it worth being there. Sorry I don't have a picture of it, you'll just have to come to KW and see it yourself.

Sunset Birthday Toast on the Southbound

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

 I came home from fishing yesterday and my sweetheart, (who is wonderful) met me on the front porch with a tall cold Rum & Coke. Usually this means some things up, Last time she had painted the Kitchen without asking my opinion, (she’s got good taste, it looked great), so some sort of major decorating change was my first suspicion. I was wrong. Lo and behold she had acquired two inflatable "fat, pink Ballerina" costumes for fantasy fest and we were going out for the Friday night “local’s parade starting in 45 minutes. There is no doubt that I love this woman. I would not go out in public as a fat, pink Ballerina for anyone else in the world. Anybody that knows me and saw me was surprised as I am known for wearing the lamest costumes if any. Many, Many pictures were taken...........................there goes any hope of every running for political office!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

It's the slow time of year in the fishing business so we haven't been fishing much. I've been playing "landlord" and getting a vacant apt ready to rent. We did fish today on a 6 hr trip. We caught live ballyhoo for bait easily and a few nice Cero Mackerels while we were anchored getting the bait. Drifted for a while looking for a Sailfish but never saw one and we weren't getting any bites from other fish either so we decided to go to the reef and get some action. It was not red hot, but decent, got a Mutton Snapper, some Yellow Tail Snappers, some more mackerels and released some Barracudas and Jacks. We've got 4 trips this week so we should have more to report.

Saturday, October 18, 2009

It's the slow time of year for charter boats, so we haven't been going out too much lately. We fished yesterday for the first time in a week and had a good day. It started out a beautiful day, light west winds and calm seas. Fishing was slow at first, but we finally got into some Black Fin Tuna around 10:30 and picked up a nice Wahoo too. We finished the day with some bonitos and a Cero Mackerel then had to run through the leading edge of a squall line being pushed by a cold front. There were some impressive water spouts all along the leading edge  and then some torrential rain we had to run through, but that's what they make foul weather gear for. Gave the boat a good washing and it was sunny again by the time we got to the dock.

 Dan, who has been mating for me this summer has finished up his "tour of duty" with the Southbound and I thank him for a great summer. We caught some really good fish and had a good time doing it. Ben, who has been working with me for the last 2 winters returns on Wednesday. He's been in Portland, Maine since May working his boat and business, Go Fish Charters, catching stripped bass and other "cold" water fish. Usually, Ben's "summer" is from Oct. - May when he's in Key West, 'cause it's warmer here in the winter than it is in Portland most  summers, especially this past summer from the reports I've heard. Wouldn't you know it, but it looks like Ben is bringing the cold with him. We had our first cold front pass through the Keys last night. We needed it as temperatures in the high 80's and low 90's is too hot for this time of year even for Key West. Woke up this morning and it's a "frigid" 68' outside........where the hell did I put my parka? The nice thing about "cold" weather in Key West is that even if it's cool/cold here, it's still usually warmer than anywhere else in the country.  Looking forward to another great winter of fishing with Ben

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Been back in Key West a few days and today was my first fishing trip since we returned. I could not have asked for a better day. The weather was beautiful, and the seas calm. We started out fishing for yellowtail snappers and at first I was a little nervous. We could see the bottom in 65 ft of water and usually that's too clear for yellowtail. Fortunately, we chummed heavy and the fish bit well. We caught over 30 nice yellowtails and also a 12lb Cubera Snapper. Around noon we decided to troll and see if we could catch a Wahoo, Tuna or Sailfish. It was just one of those days where everything worked as planned. We caught a Wahoo, a Black Fin Tuna, 3 small dolphin AND a small Sailfish. If everyday went like that, my hair wouldn't be near as grey!! It felt good to be out on the water again

Saturday, Sept. 26th, 2009

Arrived in Llafranc, Spain yesterday. We drove from Barcelona. It’s about 90 Kilometers; I’m not sure what that is in miles. Thank god for GPS. We would never have made it without one. Llafranc is a small resort town on the Brava coast in Northeastern Spain. Beautiful rocky shoreline coming down to beautiful blue Mediterranean waters. Our hotel is right on the beach and we could hear the waves from our room all night. I get the feeling this is one of the places where the rich and famous of Spain and France come to play. Many incredible houses all up and down the steep rocky shore line. Ema stopped in to talk to a local realtor just to compare prices to Key West. From what we could tell, it’s still cheaper here.

We got up early this morning and drove to the town of Cartdedue to go on a Globus, or as we call it,  hot air ballooning. It was great. Perfect day for it. We drifted gently from one end of a valley to the other, at times we were treetop level and at another point we were over 2,000 ft high.  It was a great way to see the Spanish country side after spending most of the earlier part of our vacation in Madrid and Barcelona.

                                           
                                        The  balloon is starting to inflate                                                                                                                            Ema and I are ready to go!

                                                                   
                                            Here we are as were preparing for takeoff                                                    This is the view from the balloon at the highest point of our trip

Going Diving this afternoon. Looking forward to it, but the water is cold by KW standards.

Tomorrow we got to the coastal town of Sitges for our last night in Spain       

Friday, Sept. 25th, 2009

Leaving Barcelona Today. We’ve been here for 3 nights and it’s a great city. It’s smaller in terms of population than Madrid, but it feels bigger, more “city-ish” if that makes sense. Our hotel, once again is in a great location. We’ve been walking through many of the old city streets and shops and restaurants. The Food in Barcelona is the best of any place we’ve been so far. Maybe we just got lucky, but we’ve eaten in Tapas bars, the local market counter and nice restaurants near the port and all have been very good.

                                                                                     
                        Two views of the Sagrada Familia. This section was done by Gaudi.

You could stare at it all days and keep seeing something new in the details

                Part of the Facade of The Segrada Familia.            

We spent yesterday touring some of the more famous sights in Barcelona. We started at the Sagrada Familia, an amazing cathedral that was designed by Gaudi, a famous architect/artist. The building has been going on decades, with long periods of inactivity during WWII and also the 60’s. Gaudi is long dead, but construction is in full swing and I’ve never seen a “half- built” building that was so impressive. When it’s done, and that’s estimated to be another 20 yrs, it will be one of the most amazing buildings on earth. Pictures don’t do it justice, but I’ve got a few anyway.           

We also visited La Pedrera, a famous apt building also designed by Gaudi. The man was ahead of his time and had a style all his own. Again pictures don’t do justice, but they help

We didn’t have anything scheduled for yesterday, (no tours) so we took a day trip to Montserrat, a monastery built on a mountain. Incredible feat!! To think of building large stone buildings in the days of horse and buggy or donkey carts is amazing enough, but to do it thousands of feet up a very steep and rocky mountain is simply amazing………..I can’t say Why? But it’s amazing none the less.

         
                                Looking up toward the Monastery as we ride the cable car.                                                             Ema and I with the Monastery in the background

                                 
                            To give you an idea of the scope of this place. If you look at the first picture,  you can barely see the Cross in the distance. The small center picture shows it better.

We leave for the coast today; we have a hot air balloon ride on Saturday. We should get some great pictures on that.

Monday, Sept. 21st, 2009

Hello from Marrakesh, Morocco!

We left Spain yesterday, (Sunday) after 3 great nights in Madrid  and arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco around noon. Sunny, warm and dry. I feels like a very nice winter day in Key West. The sun is hot, but very comfortable in the shade. My Sweetie and I have been traveling a bit lately. Going to new places and really enjoying it. But Morocco is by far the most exotic place we’ve ever been. So totally foreign compared to living in the U.S. No, I take that back. Living in Key West is foreign compared to living in the rest of the U.S. Morocco is worlds away from anything remotely close to Key West. Different language, Arabic and French. I haven’t found many people that speak English. Different money, still haven’t figured out the exchange rate yet. I THINK its 8 dirhams to the dollar. Only the coins don’t all have numbers you can read, so you have to know the differences by size and color. The bills are Ok, varying in size and value like Euros so they’re not bad. It’s still a bit confusing especially since I was just getting the hang of Euros.  All I know is we just spent 585 of them for dinner!!

                                         
                This is one of the nicer looking market stalls with a variety of treats for sale                       This is the "Parmacy" The man on the right makes the medicines from the contents of the jars        

Anyway, we spent the afternoon at the central square of Marrakesh. Guys in turbans, women in Burkas, (sp?), Beggars, Merchants, A guy with boxes of live monkeys, snake charmers, real cobras no less. Oh yea, did I mention the people on scooters? They’re everywhere, darting between people in the narrow alley ways between the stalls of merchandise. It’s crazy!! It was very crowded as today is the last day of Ramadan. At 7 pm this evening, after a month of fasting from sunup to sundown, everyone, (Moslem) can chow down again. The Square was bustling with merchants setting up grills and food stands hoping to make a profit when the sun goes down. Everything from oranges to goat’s heads and I mean real goats heads….Yummmmmm!! The mixture of smells of all the different foods with different spices was totally foreign but very interesting.

                
              Old Woman                                                            These guys sell water to locals and the daring on hot days                                                 Real snake, not a cobra

Not too many Americans around as far as I can see and I get the feeling Ema and I kinda’ stand out as Yanks. (Of course, My NY Giants T-Shirt might have been a giveaway). Definitely got our share of attention from the beggars on the street.  This place like something out of an Indiana Jones movie

On Second thought, Beggars, Street performers, people dressed in bizarre clothes……….maybe not so different from Key West after all?

One more day and night in Morocco and off to Barcelona on Tuesday

Saturday, Sept, 19th, 2009

Hello From Madrid, Spain. Very cool city, We arrived Yesterday, (Thursday) and are still a bit jet lagged due to the 6 hr time difference. Flights all went well but American Airlines has nothing on Air France. Last May we went to Greece on  Air France and there is no  comparison. Seats were big and relatively comfortable, service was great..... and the drinks were FREE!!   American Airlines had a smaller, less comfortable plane, Flight attendants were pleasant and the drinks were more expensive than many bars in Key West. But we made it. Didn't get much sleep due to the uncomfortable seats so we crashed pretty hard when we got here. Fortunately, Madrid is a "late night" City,  (I've heard all of Spain is ) Things don't really get going until 10 or 11 pm. Many restaurants don't even open until 8:00 pm. I don't know when  they start winding down, 'cause I'm not much of a late nite person. Too many years of leaving the dock at 7 am I guess.

Spent the day on Friday in Toledo, the original not the one in Ohio. We took the High speed train from Madrid to Toledo. Europe's mass transit system is excellent. Clean, comfortable and efficient. Had no trouble finding our way around. Toledo is an amazing little town. We had a private tour guide, only way to go. You would miss so much with out a guide and I don't like being headed around like Cattle. Our Guide, 'Nando, was incredibly knowledgeable  and passionate about Toledo.  Built on the side of a hill and  surrounded on 3sides by a river, the town, had great strategic importance in ancient times. At different times, it has been run  by the Romans, the Visagoths,(sp?), the Moores, (Moslems) and the currently Christians. I'm not much of a church go'er,  but, the Cathedral was breathtaking.  The architecture, the carvings,, the artifacts and icons, the art work were all beautiful. I don't know anything about art, but even I recognized the names of the master that painted some of the pictures,  Rafael, Greco and many others. Unfortunately, your not allowed to take pictures inside, so I can't show you what it looked like, but I doubt pictures could do it justice anyway. If you ever get the chance to go to Toledo, (again the original, not the one in Ohio), I suggest you go.

         
                                    Main gate of Toledo, Ancient walled city in central Spain                                                                                Emalyn and our guide, 'Nando, at one of the city gates

                                        
                        Partial view of the Cathedral of Toledo front entrance                                            Side entrance of the Cathedral known as the "Clock Entrance" because of the clock above the arch.

Unfortunately the city  is so closely built, you can't "stand back" far enough to fit many of the buildings in the pictures

Saturday Morning- had a guided tour of  Madrid. Not near as old as Toledo in many respects, but a very cool city. Very nice mix of old an new. We've done a lot of walking around the area  near our hotel. We lucked out in that regard as we are near many of the shops, squares and sights you would want to see as a tourist. There is some sort of big festival tonight called la Noche en Blanco, or the White Night. Not sure exactly what it's about, but we're going to enjoy it just the same. We haven't been parting very hard at all, but I have noticed that there are not a lot of rum drinkers  here, must  be a tropical thing. Not a big deal, besides the wine is very good ;-)

We leave  for Marrakesh, Morroco on Sunday.

Sunday, Sept.14, 2009

Not much going on right now. Business is pretty slow, but that's to be expected in Sept. There won't be many fishing pictures to publish for the next few weeks because Emalyn, my sweetie, and I are going to Spain and Morocco starting Wednesday. I'm going to try to keep the website and Blog updated via my laptop during the trip. I don't know how how the internet connections will  be, especially in Morocco, but check back and see how we're doing

Sunday, Sept.6, 2009

Welcome to a new feature on my website - The Southbound Fishing Report and Blog. I decided to make it both a fishing report AND a blog because I've got so many regular customers who want to keep up on what's going on with the fishing in Key West and also what's going on in Key West itself.

Fishing has been fairly slow in recent weeks, both business-wise and catching-wise. Business-wise, it was a good season. I didn't count how many trips I ran, but I know I ran better than most and for that I'm grateful. Many, Many thanks to my regular customers. Your repeat patronage and faith in me has sustained me for another year. That's good enough for me, in this business you just gotta' take one year at a time.

The best fishing as of late has been anchored up and yellowtail snapper fishing. Yellowtails are a relatively small snapper, 3 lbs is a large one, but it is one of the best eating fish you'll find anywhere, white, flaky and not fishy tasting at all. Sharks have been a bit of a problem because they like Yellowtail too. We've had to refrain from using our 12lb spinning rods, they're more fun, but you can't boat the yellowtails before the sharks get them. 20lb spinning gear seems to have enough "umpff" to muscle them in .....most of the time. We haven't been fishing for the sharks much, but if anyone wants to catch a shark, this is a good time to try. Mostly Caribbean Reef sharks, Lemon sharks and a occasional Bull shark. They are a lot of fun on 50lb tackle.

School has started and Key West is very quiet right now. It's Labor Day Weekend and I've only had one call for one seat all weekend. To be honest, I've got plenty of projects to keep myself busy between now and when things start picking up.

That's all for now. I'll try to keep posting on a regular basis ;-) promise!

Back To Southbound