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Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light
Capt. Dean Panos
June 24, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
06/22/03
I spent the entire week in Miami – no Bimini trips this past week. I had a few day trips and a few evening swordfish trips. The day trips consisted mostly of dolphin fishing offshore in the Gulfstream in the morning and returning on the reef for the afternoon. The dolphin have been between 12 – 15 miles offshore, although we found a nice school 8 miles out the other day. Most of the dolphin we have been finding have been under birds. The size has ranged from really little guys that we catch and release, to 5 – 8 pounders, which are a blast to catch on light tackle. After we have had our fun catching dolphin, I have been coming in to the reef. We have caught a sailfish on every trip we have drifted the reef. Besides the sailfish, they have been some kingfish around, some bonitas and cudas. I haven’t seen or hooked up to a blackfin tuna for the past week. Targeting tunas is probably best for a late afternoon trip (after 4:00pm).
I had three swordfish trips scheduled last week, in which one of them was cancelled. The two trips that I did have both produced swordfish. What is amazing is the fact that even after all the swordfish trips that I have done, I am still amazed at these fish. My heart races every time one of the big reels starts singing. These swordfish are impressive both in speed, strength and stealth. I say stealth, because you would think that when a fish as big as a swordfish takes the bait, that line would sizzle of the reel and drag would start burning instantly. That is not always the case. Our trip on Thursday night did exactly that. I saw the rod twitch for a second, and within seconds the jug came off, and the fish was on the surface (bait was 200 foot deep) jumping. It is quite the sight to be in darkness and hear a big fish jumping on the surface and watching your glows stick (in our case an LP light) dancing on the surface. The fish wasn’t huge; it measured 50 inches LJF (lower jaw to fork of the tail measurement). Our next sword trip was Saturday night, and braving considerable rain, we were rewarded with a nice fat 140 pound swordie. Unlike the fish we caught the other night, this fish messed around with the bait, as we heard just a little bit of drag go off. Then almost a full minute later, drag started to come off the reel consistently. As we got tight on him, the fight was relatively light for a fish this big. I honestly thought that we were hooked up to a small 50 pounder. As the fish got closer to the boat, it must have realized something was wrong and started pulling off line. I guessed I smiled a bit, knowing that this fish was a biT bigger than I originally thought. Even then though, I still thought it was below 100 pounds. Towards the end of the fight, this swordfish also did a lot of jumping very close to the boat. With the swordfish’s head out of the water, you could see his mammoth bill slashing the air and water. Then he proceeds to jump across the surface a few times. When we finally got him to the boat, I estimated 140 pounds. I was 65 inches long – LJF length, but had a really large girth all up and down the body. The official weight was 138 pounds at the scale in Keystone Point Marina. We had a good crew both nights and catching swordfish is something I truly love to do.
So whether it is dolphin fishing offshore, Bahama trips, or evening swordfish trips, give me a call and lets get em!
Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Capt. Dean Panos
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