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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
August 22, 2000
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past weekend we fished the third leg of the Mercury Pompano Beach Saltwater Tournament Series. To compete in this tournament, you had to place in the top 25 in one of the first two legs. We had placed fifth in the second leg. Ten additional boats were chosen for a total of 60 boats.
The day started off well. After winning the Bimini start (Go Mercury, Go SeaVee), we ran across a school of dolphin. We caught a half dozen or so, but all were under the minimum weight of 10 pounds. After we set up our first drift, we caught one weighable kingfish and a zillion bonitas. On our second or third drift we hooked up to a nice kingfish. This fish ate a goggle eye off the kite, and went around thirty pounds. We had him next to the boat and stuck him with the gaff. As I stuck him, he surged and turned, wrapped the line around the gaff tip and the rod tip, and busted us off. After a few choice words and the realization that we may have lost the winning fish, we regrouped. Not too much longer, another kite bait gets nailed, and soon after a 22lb kingfish is in the boat. After several more kingfish and close to 100 bonitas, we headed back to the tournament weigh-ins.
We just missed out on the top 10, and if we would have landed that one kingfish, we would have gotten 3rd place overall, and largest kingfish of the tournament. At least we had the shots. Chances are, if the same situation existed, nobody would have done anything different, and that one fish would have been in the boat. But just in case, we will have a second gaff man ready at all times!
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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