Swordfish and Sailfish to Remember
Capt. Bouncer Smith
December 3, 2008
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
We know why high winds are bad for swordfish. High winds make getting baits to the right depths for swordfish can make fishing very tough, plus the fact that 3 knot north currents against 15 knot north winds make for very rough seas.
If we had 20 knot northeast winds on November 13th, we would have been tied to the dock with our angler Michel Marchandise. Michel had booked us for 3 days of swordfishing. However, during the night before the wind switched from northeast to southeast at 20 knots. We decided to give the fishing a try.
On the way out we caught a spanish mackerel, a dolphin and a skipjack tuna which we threw in the fishbox for bait. When we got to 1600 feet of water I rigged the skipjack on our 70 Penn International and we dropped it to the bottom.
On the first drop of a 3 day charter we caught, tagged and released a 160 pound swordfish and the pressure was off the captain to produce fish for IGFA Belgium representative Michel. It was a slow day, with only the one bite. Michel had requested that we fish as long as possible that day and evening, so we fished through the afternoon as the wind died.
When the sun set we switched to our evening spread of baits suspended from 75 to 400 feet below the surface. Between 6 and 9 PM we had 5 bites and caught and release 2 more swordfish, tagging one. We even ended the evening with a night time dolphin.
The next day we still had winds of about 15 knots from the southeast. We hooked 3 swordfish through the day and caught and released 2 of the 3.
On Michel's final day we finally had calm seas. Our first two drops produced a 30 pound swordfish and a 70 pound swordfish each of which were tagged and released. Our third drop produced a strike after only 5 minutes. Michel worked the fish to within 100 feet of the boat and then it returned to 1000 feet below. This up to within 100 feet of the surface fight took place two more times. We knew we had a big swordfish this time. Unfortunately the win was not to be Michel's. After 2 hard fought hours the hooks pulled and we headed home. Michel fished with us for 3 days and had 12 swordfish bites. He brought 7 boatside, tagged 4 and released all 7 to grow bigger and catch again another day.
On the 16th we fished with our friends Don and Sandy Blake. Once again pursuing IWFA awards required Don to keep the records and Sandy to do the catching. This girl needs rollerskates. Sandy caught and released 15 king mackerel, 11 spanish mackerel, 25 gray snappers, 11 red groupers, a gag grouper, 3 amberjacks, a mutton snapper and 8 bonitos. She fished 4, 6, 8 and a little 12 pound tackle for all this catching.
And then we spent 5 days at the dock as the wind blew for 3 days and no customers were booked for 2 more.
We fished with our old friend Hank Dinardo on the 22nd. He caught 2 nice dolphin, 4 kings, 3 mutton snappers, 4 bonitos, 2 barracudas and a sailfish for a fun day.
Sandy was back again on the 23rd. She had a slower day, catching only 10 king mackerel, 13 spanish mackerel, 1 mutton snapper, 1 yellowtail snapper, 1 gag grouper, 1 mangrove snapper, 5 bonito and 8 blue runners. Boy! are we spoiled.
Monday night we were scheduled to fish with Henry Inserra, from West Palm Beach. He was hoping for snook, but by November our snook catches are usually pretty slow. Henry said he would settle for tarpon if the snook were slow. We fished live shrimp along the jetties and to our surprise we ended the evening with 11 snook from 18 inches to 18 pounds. Henry and his pals had a great evening .
We had been scheduled to fish with Sean Grady, his sister, mom and dad on Monday, His sister, Riley found the ocean too rough, so we rescheduled for Tuesday. On Tuesday Sean had a ball catching a couple king mackerel, a dolphin and 2 out of 4 sailfish he fought. He fought two of the sailfish for over 30 minutes each, only to have to hooks come out after all that fight. The dolphin dinner at Monty's was great.
Kohler brought his father ,Jim out fishing on Wednesday. They had a great day catching 7 of 11 sailfish, 6 mutton snappers, 3 dolphin, 2 cudas, an amberjack and a small shark.
Our Thanksgiving traditional family fishing trip went well. My nephew Keith, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia was the guest of honor. We caught 4 dolphin, 1 king, 1 mutton, 2 small amberjacks, a red grouper and a couple amberjacks. The best catch was a 8 pound amberjack on light spinning gear.
Friday was very slow with light winds and currents. We caught 1 king, a nice sized rainbow runner, 2 amberjacks, 1 almaco jack, 1 mutton and a red grouper for Carlos and his family.
Saturday was another slow wind, plus slow current equals slow fishing day. We caught 1 sailfish, 1 dolphin and 2 mutton snappers.
November has gone into the fishing log and December's pages are ready to take on some great fishing reports.
Email me at [email protected] or call me at 305-439-2475 and let's plan a day of fishing. Sailfish, tarpon and swordfish should be out there waiting for us.
Miami Fishing Forecast:
sailfish, swordfish and tarpon are the guest of honor over the next few months. Windy days take on the sails. Windy nights go for tarpon. And when it's calm day or night make it swordfish.
Target Species:
sails, tarpon and swordfish
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