Great December Fishing
Capt. Bouncer Smith
December 25, 2008
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
December has brought us some great fishing. Our first trip of the month brought us 2 sailfish, 2 big mutton snappers, a 30 pound amberjack, 3 dolphin and a king mackerel.
We fished with Bob Bulack and his friends on the 5th from 4 to 8 PM. They caught a king, 2 mutton snappers and a amberjack offshore and then moved to the inlet to catch a snapper and a snook.
On the 6th into the 7th we fished the winter swordfish tournament out of Hillsboro Inlet. We hooked up in the first 20 minutes and brought a 112 pound swordfish aboard at 6 PM. We were lucky enough for this fish to hold on for second place. Our Cayman Island fishing team, represented by Buster McLean, Continued their winning ways. They won the Summer Swordfish Slam in June with that beautiful 546 pound swordfish, caught a 425 swordfish in September and now took second place this time. Of course Pumpkin Eater Steve and John play a big part in their success. We also released another swordfish and a night shark during the evening.
We shot a TV show and some "how to" tips with Mark Sosin over the 8th through the 10th. With howling winds this show will feature big jack crevalles in the bay.
We had a tough day with the Boehringers on the 11th. Rough seas and almost no fish made this our worst day of December.
We fished with Jeremy and fish fishing buddies the afternoon and evening of the 12th. Fishing stayed slow, but much calmer. The guys caught 3 amberjacks, a small almaco jack and a king mackerel during the day. Then fishing got great as the sun disappeared for the night. We started tarpon fishing at 6:07 and quit at 6:47. The guys had hooked 6 tarpon and landed 4 in just 40 minutes. That was fast action.
The Ron Stone group continued the hot fishing on Saturday with 1 sailfish, 4 dolphin, 5 kings, 5 mutton snappers, a couple bonitos, a barracuda and several smaller bottom fish.
Paul Storti and his friends had a rough Sunday, but while only fishing a few hours they did catch a sailfish, a 9 pound mutton snapper, a bonito and 2 sharks.
Jay and his son Buddy Smith have fished with me for 12 years, Jay even longer. Buddy's choice for 18th birthday trip was a couple days fishing with us. the Smiths and their fishing friend Ryan fished on Monday the 15th as we targeted sailfish. Things started slow, but we did have a great day with 5 sailfish, 3 barracudas and a tarpon. Tuesday we targeted swordfish and the first drop of the day Buddy fished by IGFA rules to catch a 263 pound, 10 foot 3 inch swordfish. We added a nice dolphin and a shark to fill out the day.
Wednesday was a busy day for our frequent anglers Sandy and Don Blake. We fished the patch reefs and while Sandy was busy reeling, Don got writers cramp from keeping score. His notes recorded 19 red groupers, 17 yellowtail snappers, 5 dog snappers, 2 lane snappers, 2 black groupers, 3 bar jacks, 1 king, 7 ceros, 5 mutton snappers and 8 mangrove snappers. We didn't count the grunts and blue runners.
Our next adventure was Friday evening. Rick Zimmer and his guest caught 3 tarpon, 3 kings, a ladyfish and a bluefish.
The 20th Jorge Benitez and friends had a bottom trip to remember. They caught 22 and 28 pound black groupers, 3) 9 pound mutton snappers, a couple nice yelloweye snappers, a big scamp grouper, 2 bonitos and 12 amberjacks.
The 21st we had Dave Gale and Paula and another Dave out for fishing lessons with catches allowed. They caught a nice scamp grouper, a mutton snapper, a couple kings, 6 almaco jacks, 6 amberjacks and then had a nice fight from a sailfish that got away. The next sailfish that ate a live herring hanging from the kite was taken by Paula. She was in big trouble as this was the baddest sailfish of the year. It fought for 3 hours before we got a grip on the leader and sent that mean fish on her way. That was one tough fish and one tough lady angler.
Bill Sholk and his son fished on Monday and caught a sailfish, 4 dolphin and an almaco jack.
My good friend Mat Tambor took me fly fishing for Christmas on Wednesday. We caught 4 grey grouper on Fly including an 11 pound beast that I was lucky enough to beat. 6 year old Tyler joined us in catching about 10 on bait. It was a great Christmas present for a fly fishing fan.
The year is winding down and we look forward to great fishing adventures in the coming year. Join us in some of those dreams. Just e mail me at [email protected]
Miami Fishing Forecast:
January means great sailfishing and swordfish each best according to weather at the time.
Tarpon will be good most evenings.
Wrecks should offer jacks and grouper.
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