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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
August 1, 2002
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
07/29/02
The two types of fishing that get me going during the summer are swordfishing and trips to the Bahamas. During the past week, we got to experience both of them and the outcome was good.
The latter part of last week, I had two swordfish trips back to back. On our first trip, I fished with a doctor from Jacksonville and his son. The night was perfect for swordfishing, with calm seas and clear skies. The moon was full which meant fishing your baits down deeper for the swordfish. With a well full of goggle eyes and blue runners, we headed out to the swordfish grounds off of Miami. Starting our drift in a bout 1200 ft., we were optimistic in catching a swordfish. Swordfish bite during every moon phase, but I usually get bigger fish, but less bites, during the full moon. Our first drift didn’t produce any swordfish. Setting up a little bit deeper, we got our first hookup, but unfortunately missed him. Less than 20 minutes later, we were solidly hooked up to a good-sized fish. What gets me about swordfishing is how surreal it seems. You are drifting in the dark in clear blue water light up by the moon with cyalume sticks lighting up your jugs that are holding your baits at the desired depths. Sometimes you notice the rod tip bouncing, the jug moving, or the lightstick moving in the water. For this strike, we heard the drag first moving off slowly then slowly ripping line. I got the Doc into the harness and belt and soon we were doing battle with a good-sized swordfish. Watching the swordfish come up to the surface as evident by the lightstick attached to the leader is truly a sight not to be forgotten. During the evening, the charter wanted to release the swordfish if we caught one, and that is exactly what we did. The swordfish we released wasn’t a small fish either, but every bit of 150 pounds (at least 6 foot long without the bill). Although I have no issues with boating a legal fish, it is truly inspiring to release one. This fish will hopefully breed and we can either fight him again or one of his descendants. According to biologists, a male breeder is between 41 – 51 inches, and a female breeder is ~70 inches. Knowing that regardless of the sex, the fish we released was a breeder. The next evening wasn’t as good. The wind was up just a little bit and was rainy and squally most of the evening. We did get two solid hootk-ups, but missed them both. The charter was determined and vowed to get him on the next trip.
Next day we were off to Bimini for two days. We were hoping the muttons would bite. It was three days after the full moon, which is prime time for the mutton bite. It was the end off July and it was definitely the tail end of the mutton season, but we were optimistic in catching a few muttons. Well we caught a few and then some. We mutton fished both Saturday and Sunday. We did very little of other types of fishing, although the reports of yellowtail fishing were good, especially off of the Gingerbreads. We also deep jigged for groupers on Saturday and did manage to catch a few nice sized red grouper. The weather on Sunday was perfect for our run back to Miami.
Summer is going to start closing out, so book your Bahamas trips now. As far as swordfishing goes, it is good year round, but summer offers the calmest and most comfortable evenings. Don’t let the summer pass you by!
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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