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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
September 21, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Double D Charters
09/21/03
Well, we have finally been doing some day trips. Surprisingly, the day fishing has been pretty good. To start off, there have been acre size schools of sardines along the surf and in the open water. One throw of the cast net is all you need for a very full livewell. I haven’t seen many predators under the schools of bait, but that should change quickly. If you do see big pods of sardines offshore, there is a really good possibility of a few sailfish under the schools, balling them, and picking off the strays. There was one boat last week that ended up catching 7 sailfish under a pod of sardines.
The reef has been holding kingfish, blackfin tuna, a few wahoo and a few dolphin. The kingfish are still intermittent. One day they show up good, and the next day they are there but not as abundant. That is pretty much typical of early fall, and is an indication that the fall kingfish bite is right around the corner. We also have seen quite a few blackfin tuna in the edge. They are not as big as the spring tunas, but still a blast to catch. Dolphin fishing has been decent both offshore and on the reef. The reef seems to be holding some of the bigger dolphin.
The evening swordfish trips this past week were excellent. We went 3 for 3 one night, 3 for 5 the next and 2-3 last night. The biggest fish we caught last week was a very respectable 180 pounder. Live bait and squid have been getting the bites. The night we went 3 for 5, we had 5 fish on and pulling drag, and caught three of them. We also had at least 5 other bites that can’t say for sure what they were, but you would think at least some of the were swordfish. Either the bait was missing, or the rod would bend over on a hit, no drag would pull, and when you reeled up the bait, it was obviously hit by something. Chances are those were probably small swordfish, which are much harder (Good) to hook. The past few nights, we have caught at least one short fish per night. What is amazing is that even these smaller swordfish pull quite a bit of drag. Not quite like the big ones, but still impressive. The bigger fish we caught, actually had the angler(s) going for almost an hour and a half and had dumped out a considerable amount of line. We had that fish to the surface three times, and after each time we had him up, he would dump 300 ft of line almost instantly. I’ll tell you, if you haven’t fought a swordfish, you are missing out on one heck of a fight. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for us, they are delicious as well. My angler from Friday night shared some of his catch with me and I cooked it tonight. All I got to say is that it was delicious. I am including a recipe (link) that was actually really good http://www.chef-recipes.com/grilled_swordfish.htm.
I have a few weekday evenings open for swordfish trips, as well as day trips open. Swordfish evening weekends though are booked pretty solid. The only swordfish weekend opening I have is for Saturday, Oct 4th. The next opening during the weekend is well into November.
So if you are interested in either day fishing or fishing for the mighty gladiator at night, give me a shout and lets set it up.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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