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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
April 29, 2002
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
4/29/02
Fishing this past week has been pretty good, with good numbers of blackfin tuna and sailfish being caught daily. The best bite has been in the late afternoon, and for those staying out late, the bite has been very productive.
Last week was topped off on Friday with our catch and release of a blue marlin.
With very little wind, we put up a kite with a helium balloon attached, and set out a live goggle eye on the long bait, and a large threadfin herring on the short bait. On the other side of the boat we had 4 flatlines and deep lines out. Although we had a decent north current and blue water, for the first two hours the only bite we had was a bonita. Things were not looking good. I made a move up to the North, were the water was looking a bit better. While I was messing with one of the flatlines, I looked over my shoulder and watched the rod tip of the short bait bounce quite a few times. The kite bobber now started moving quite well. I got my angler to the rod, and seconds later the head and shoulders of a blue marlin came out of the water. For whatever reason, this fish kept his head and shoulders well above water for what seemed like an eternity. My bet is that he wanted to let us know, that he wasn’t a sailfish, but with a short pointed dorsal, he was clearly a marlin. After a bunch of spectacular greyhounding jumps, he went down deep. The guy on the rod was determined and quite a good angler. We slowly started pumping him back towards the surface. All of a sudden the line started coming up, he cleared the water about 5 times and then ran straight back at the boat. The angler got all the line back and was tight on him again, when this marlin dashed down the side of the boat and then practically jumped over one of the outboards. He sounded again, but not for too long. We got him back up again and grabbed the leader for our official release. Approximate weight was about 100 –125 pounds. The fish was short, but quite stocky. The fight lasted about 45 minutes on 20 pound test line. The best part is that they got the whole thing on video. After previewing the video, it actually looks like ESPN, but the best part is that it is their memory engrained in film forever. We caught sailfish that days as well, but the blue marlin that didn’t get away was on the top of everyone’s mind.
Over the weekend, we went over to Bimini on the first trip across on the new boat. I was glad I was on a 34 ft SeaVee on Saturday, as the wind and seas kicked up a bit. The ride over was worth it, as my charter caught plenty of yellowtails, grouper, quite a few muttons and some cero’s. With all the warm weather we had, I was hoping the muttons would bite a bit earlier in the season, and bite during April’s full moon. Luckily I was right as we caught quite a few muttons. Next months full moon should be perfect. I expect the mutton bite to be very good during the next full moon. That full moon falls on Memorial Day weekend, and due to a cancellation, I have that prime time open right now. If you want to experience mutton madness in the Bahamas, as well as yellowtails, groupers, cobia, jacks, etc., give me a call and lets set up a Bimini trip. Don’t wait to long, as hotels book way in advance.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
(954)805-8231
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