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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
February 26, 2001
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
2/26/01
The Bob Lewis Sailfish Tournament took place this past weekend. There were 62 of South Florida's best boats competing. There were 197 anglers competing and the fishing was red hot. 217 sailfish were released in the two-day tournament. It is a pleasure to announce that we finished 5th place overall, and most Importantly, we won TOP Overall Angler. Ariel Pared, owner of SeaVee Boats was our lead angler, and released 8 sailfish to win Top Angler. Overall we released 9 sailfish in two days and missed 4 others.
The sailfishing was definitely hot down towards the South. We practically fished in waters off of the Keys. Our first day, we ran to Triumph Reef. Just south off Triumph I spotted a nice rip in 140 ft of water. As soon as we put out our flatlines and were setting up the kites, both flatlines got hit and we had a doubleheader. We got both sailfish quick and were starting the tournament off in a good way. Last year was almost identical, were we caught a triple early in the tournament and had the lead until the last half-hour of the last day. Last year we finished 2 place. After we caught our double, we stayed in that area for a while longer. The bite turned on to the South as we could hear the releases being called in over the radio. By the time we ran farther south, we hit the tail end of the bite and caught 2 out of 3 more sailfish.
On Sunday we stayed in sailfish almost all day and caught 5 out of 8 sailfish. We fished just south of Pacific Reef. We had on triple, which we only managed to catch one. The second fish was within 1 foot of the leader touching the rod tip (considered and official release). Just before the leader touched the rod tip, the fish spit the bait and threw the hook. This was a great tournament, and a lot of sailfish were caught. The fished were moving in pods, and you could see boats hooking up all around. If you were in the right place at the right time, you would hook up also. A good thing for Ariel Pared as Top Angler, We were in the right place at the right time.
I did fish today also with a very good client here from Connecticut. The wind laid down quite a bit from yesterday, as we had to resort to helium to fly the kites. We ran all the way to Pacific Reef again, and were rewarded with a sailfish, a shark, dolphin, a huge cuda, sharks, kingfish and a 40 lb. bull dolphin that crashed a goggle eye on the kite, but jumped loose close to the boat. The fishing should remain good, but you need to find the right place, and be there hopefully at the right time!
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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