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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
May 27, 2001
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
5/27/01
WORLD RECORD!
Before we start off with the story of a world record, let me state that fishing has been very good. We have caught sailfish on every charter this week. Dolphin fishing has been very good offshore as well as on the reef. Blackfin tunas are biting well as evident in story below and tarpon fishing in the evening is on fire. Now is the time to go fishing, so whether it is offshore or tarpon at night - call a local captain and have a blast!
But now keep reading for the story of a WORLD RECORD.
Yesterday 5/26/01 was a trip that was planned for almost a year. Last year I donated a trip to the MET and angler Pam Marmin took the trip. When she purchased the trip, she contacted me and we decided to wait a while and do the charter when the blackfin tunas show up. For various reasons we missed the closing of the MET, but the tunas have shown up in Miami. Pam was seeking to break the World Record blackfin tuna on 12-pound test. The current women's record is 30 pounds.
The day prior to our trip, I took another charter out and we got a 34 and ½ pound blackfin. I called Pam that evening and told her the big blackfins where here, but catching two blackfins over 30 pounds two consecutive days was going to be a challenge.
On the day of the trip, I got up early (3:00am) to go and catch plenty of pilchards. We would need to live chum with pilchards all day so I was hoping to get ~500 pilchards for the day. I caught about 250 pilchards in the morning and then went back to the marina to pick up Pam and Mike. We went to one of the local bait spots and we caught another 100 pilchards and herring.
There was a nice color change in 225 ft of water so I decided to give that a shot. We put out the kite and flatlines and just as we finished setting up a free jumping sailfish jumped right through our kite spread. A few seconds later a 25-pound bull dolphin ate the short kite bait and Pam had her hands full on 12-lb. tackle.
Although we had action on the color change, my gut instinct was to go inside into the green water and fish for the blackfins between 130 and 160 ft. As we were coming off our second drift at 155 ft of water, the flatline started singing. Line was coming off the spinning reel and the fish was going deep. It seemed like it was a blackfin, but according to the fight, it was probably not a world record. Ten to fifteen minutes later Pam boated an 18-pound blackfin tuna.
As we set up again, the rear flatline took off and a sailfish was attached to it. After some spectacular jumps and tail walks we leadered the sailfish and released him to fight another day.
The next drift was paydirt. Right around 150-ft depth, there was an explosion underneath the rear kite bait. A blackfin and a big one at that ate the goggle eye. I believe that women anglers are great anglers, most time better than men are, since they seem to have more patience. With that being said, Pam Marmin is not only a female angler, but an exceptional angler overall. The fight lasted over an hour, and Pam fought this fish perfectly. Once it was next to the boat, it was obvious that it was a world record. We quickly wrapped the fish in a towel and stuck him in ice. We raced to shore to weigh him on certified scale on land and to have witnesses to the weight. On land he weighed 32 pounds 8 ounces, breaking the record of 30 pounds. We filled out all the necessary paperwork, and along with pictures, application and sample of the line used, it will be submitted to the IGFA as a pending World Record. Congratulations to Pam Marmin and a thanks to Mike for helping me out with the tackle and the boat. A true team effort and a wonderful memory that won't be forgotten.
As a note, almost two years ago to the date, I guided Joel Guzman to the Men's 12 Lb. division World Record.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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