We had an easy half-day charter Today
I had 2 folks who were on a Cruise ship that made a short Port of Call in Key West. They were not interested in taking any fish to eat. There wasn’t enough time to take it to a restaurant and they had no place to keep it on the ship. for that reason, just going for bites was the plan of the day.
One of the easiest fish to fish for this time of year is the Barracuda. They are fun to catch, they fight hard, and are prone to jump during the fight. Barracuda does taste good, but because of the coral reef, they can have Ciguatera poison, so it is best to catch and release. There had been some Black Fin Tuna and Sailfish offshore the last few days, but That can be hit or miss and I didn’t want to take a chance of a slow day. The weather was less than great. Cloudy with a “spitting” rain all morning, but my customers did not let that dampen their spirits.
Because the ship will not wait for Stragglers
I had to make sure I was back at the dock exactly on time. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin someone’s vacation. Straight South of Key West are 3 reefs in close proximity to each other. Eastern Dry Rocks, Rock Key, and Sand Key. Sand Key has a lighthouse you can see from Key West. Barracuda can be found anywhere, from the shallows and flats around Key West to 20 miles offshore, but they seem to concentrate around the shallow reefs. So when you want to catch a bunch, that is a good place to try.
The Color of the Water on the Reef
was not ideal. Extremely clear can be bad, but too murky is not good either and because of the outgoing tide, the reef was a bit murky. Regardless, we managed to catch 8 or so nice barracudas including some good-sized fish. My customers owned a restaurant and apparently, they were having some sort of “Rooster Crowing” contest. She explained it to me. but I’m a little fuzzy on the exact details. one thing is for certain, of all the pictures I have posted over the last 30+ years, Her picture is unique for obvious reasons and will be one of the ones people remember! I like it! Life is short, you gotta have a little fun with it!