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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
November 29, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Double D Charters
11/29/03
Last week was all about sailfish. Every trip last week, and the trips we had this week, we caught anywhere from 1 to 5 sailfish per day. The sailfish have been on the small size, although we did catch a few decent fish. We have been livebaiting with goggle eyes, threadfin herring and pilchards, and the smaller baits seem to be working best. Besides sailfish, we have been catching kingfish (we caught a nice 35 pounder yesterday), dolphin, and some bonitas. I did hear of a few wahoo caught as well this week. With the cold front passing today, the sailfishing should improve even more in the next few days.
This week was all about swordfish. I had one client fly in from California to try to catch a broadbill. This angler had caught every species of billfish, with the exception of a swordfish. He had tried a few times in Venezuela, but no luck. He had told me that if we didn’t have the luck of catching one in Miami, his next stop was going to be New Zealand. He had booked me 3 nights, so if the weather cooperated, I felt we had an excellent chance of achieving our goal. We to say it simply, we achieved our goal and then some. The first night we were greeted with calm seas. There were some swordfish caught from the fleet, but we managed to have one run off with the jug coming off and we caught one large shark. Night number two was different. Within 30 minutes of setting up, we had a TRIPLE HEADER of swordfish. That’s right, three swordfish on at one time. Since this fish was very important to this angler, we concentrated only on one fish, and let the other two jump off. After 45 minutes, we landed our first swordfish of the night. It was a beauty at 130 pounds. After a series of high fives and congratulations, we set up another drift. We had one more and then we had on the big one. The long jug rod got hit and immediately came up and then out. It stripped 400 yards of line on its first run. I got the angler in the harness, we got a few cranks on him, and then the fish pulled another 250 yards of line out before the hooks pulled. This was obviously a big fish, and big swordfish have been around all week. I personally know one angler who fought a swordfish for 7 & 1/2 hours, only to have the hooks pulled. Unconfirmed, I also heard of one boat hooking a swordfish at Gov’t Cut, and losing him in Palm Beach 13 hours later. This is obviously a good time for the bigger swordies. Our next night was even more exciting. As we were setting up our baits, I was bridling the third bait, when I looked up and saw the 2nd rod twitch, the jug cam off, and the fish was on the surface. After 20 minutes we caught and released that one. The rest of night we had excellent action and we ended the night catching four swordfish out of four bites. We kept one for the table and released the rest.
Trips for both swordfish and sailfish are booking pretty well. The two weeks around the Christmas holidays are almost booked, but I still have some days open. With the passing of this cold front, the sailfishing should get real good. I have a few days open early next week, including tomorrow, so if you want to catch a sailfish, the chances should be good in the next few days.
Also, if you don’t know what to buy that special someone in your life, how about a gift certificate for a fishing trip. I doubt any fisherman would not like that as present.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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