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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
May 4, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
05/04/03
The spring run of kingfish is still on, and the kings are BIG! Today we fished a half-day in the morning, and the action slowed down a bit, but we did get one whopper of a kingfish, a few smaller kings and a 15-pound grouper. The big king weighed in at 42 pounds. Normally kingfish make one long screaming run, and then a shorter run when they see the boat. This kingfish made three really long runs, and when we got him next to the boat, we found out why. There was a 10 ft hammerhead shark chasing him relentlessly. It was quite the sight to see the kingfish outrunning the shark. After the third run, I figured the shark would get him, but luckily we got the king before the shark did.
The whole week was action packed with kingfish. We weighed in several fish in the 30-pound class, and numerous in the 20 pound range. We also have been getting one or two blackfin tunas per trip, and on Friday we caught a real nice blackfin tuna that tipped the scale at 36 pounds. Besides kingfish and blackfins, we caught a few sailfish and a few dolphin as well. The dolphin fish we have been catching have been on the edge, but there have been some dolphin caught offshore in the Gulfstream. The dolphin offshore were better during the early part of the week, and seemed to get more spread out as the week went on.
Swordfishing was also better early in the week. Friday was the first trip since February that we actually went home without a swordfish in the box, or with an official release, although we did have one on for a short time. We got a hit on our shallow tip rod, and as we were winding it in, hoping the swordfish would follow, that was exactly what happened. Not a big fish, but a swordfish nonetheless, followed the injured bait right up to the boat. We tossed the bait out again, and I felt the swordfish whacking the bait with his bill at least a dozen times. Finally he took the bait, we set up the drag, and line start peeling off the reel. Unfortunately the hook pulled, but at least we got to see this apex predator up close and watch him eat the bait. We had three other baits stripped off, but did have any drag taken. As with all types of fishing, conditions are key, and the conditions that night were not quite right. Although we had light winds, we had a strong offshore current, that didn’t allow us to stay in our target zone long enough. I didn’t fish last night, but I did hear from other swordfish anglers, that the current was getting back on track. We have two sword trips this coming week, and the moon phase is right. With the current coming back on track, the swordfishing should get hot again. Looking at last year’s logs, we caught 111 swordfish last year, and I am hoping to catch that many if not more this year.
Swordfish trips are really starting to book for this summer, as are Bahama trips, so book your trips now.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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