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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
August 27, 2002
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
08/27/02
August fishing continues to be good. The action and the place to be is on the reef. There have been a decent amount of sailfish caught. We have now caught a sailfish on every trip this month. The kingfish bite has also been pretty good. Most of the fish have not been huge, but have been a respectable 10 – 15 pounds. As typical for this month, the bonitas are everywhere. If you happen to be live chumming, it won’t be long until the bonitas will find you. At that point, you can catch them in every line class you want, including fly. We also caught a cobia or two this week, and heard of some other boats doing the same. The wahoo bite seemed to have slowed down a bit in Miami, but continues to be fairly good up to the North.
Swordfishing last week, for us anyway, slowed down a bit last week, but thankfully picked right back up last night. Last night was a beautiful night for swordfishing. Although there had been some rain inshore, the swordfish grounds were clear, with little if any wind and no rain. After an hour of setting up, I was telling my guys, how sometimes you get a swordfish up on the surface, and that if you pitch a bait to him just right, you can get to watch him eat right next to the boat. As the story of how this has happened in the past was ending, here comes Mr. Swordfish. Not a giant fish, but either way, definitely a sword. Swimming up to the lights of the boat, the swordfish look like a white ghost. I pitched out a live blue runner, which definitely got his attention. Everyone on the boat was watching as the swordfish was circling the bait and getting ready for the kill. A few seconds later, he swatted the bait with his bill, meanwhile you can feel it and see it in the rod movement. Then he came from the side and ate the runner. What happened next was strange. He ate the runner, and just stood there. I told my angler to reel up, but he was already to the swivel. I leadered the fish and grabbed him by the tail, knowing that that would get him pissed off, and sure enough it did. As he went nuts next to the boat, he then darted about 100 – 200 feet straight down. At least now we had a fight. After about 20 minutes we got the swordfish boat side, took some pictures, measured him, and then let him go. He measured 50 inches, which is definitely legal (legal is 47 inches), but the angler elected to release him, which is always cool to watch.
After about an hour, we had the 200 ft rod get hit, but not enough to get set up. Reeling in that bait, there was the tell tale sign of a swords bill. The other 200 ft bait was also brought in and the runner was all twisted up on the leader, which is usually another sign that a swordfish was swimming through you spread.
By this time it was time to go, and everyone was still feeling the energy put on by watching this great fish eat within feet of the boat and then after doing battle with him. As you can probably tell, swordfishing has become a passion for this captain, and I can’t wait to go out for another trip (next trip scheduled is 2 evening from now).
If this kind of fishing sounds interesting, give me a call, as I have a few evenings open during this Labor Day long weekend.
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
Look us up on the web at www.doubledcharters.com
(954)805-8231
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