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May 18Tournament Fishing Aboard the Blue Yonder
Well the day started with a full bait well, overcast skies, and zero wind. Our plan to kite fish the edge for meat fish for the tourney proved to be a failure. A win required the 3 biggest dolphin, and the calcutta win meant the largest kingfish, dolphin, wahoo or tuna. Since the tuna have been so thick lately (and pretty large), thats what we targetted. Lines were in at 630, but with no breeze, Feder worked like a dog to keep even 2 kite baits in the air (3 would sink the kite line). While he worked that angle out the rest of us set up an assortment of flatlines up and down the length of the Blue Yonder. For maximum coverage, we had two baits fished off the bow, 5 from the stern, and 2 kite baits. We found a heavy rip in 160 just off fowey, but started our drift shallower in 110 due to the tuna's prevalence in shallower water. We had barely begun our wait when our rookie angler Spencer came tight ...
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May 12Catching Sailfish with No GPS
Had a private job on a 36' Contender for a morning half day, but the boat had no electronics. Catching sailfish is no straightforward matter, but catching sailfish with no GPS or depth finder is not an easy task. Sailfish are so in tune with depth that not knowing the areas contours can drastically affect your results for the day. The owner made the call to purchase some bait and we headed out. The electronics had just been replaced and the sounder had not been hooked up. In addition we had one electric reel and one manual reel for the day. Fortunately, we still managed to catch a few fish even though the depth remained a mystery and an Okuma 50 wide on a full length rod served as our makeshift kite reel on the north side... We set up just south of Fowey in ??? feet. We were shallower than most other boats but i knew we weren't too tight on the reef and the conditions looked right. Lots of bait ...
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May 10Big Blackfin Tuna off Miami
Spring time is an excellent time of year to specifically target big blackfin tuna off Miami. Using lighter leaders and thin wire hooks, anglers can ensure that their terminal gear is practically invisible to the keen eyed predators. Today we left the dock early and headed to Bug. Bait was slow so we hit another spot and threw the net and loaded up on cigar minnows and spanish sardines. We ran to the edge and did a long drift from 130' out to sea with the southwest wind. In about 300' a sail came up on the left mid, and inhaled the spanish sardine on 30 pound fluorocarbon (We were targetting blackfin so everything had a fluoro trace). The fish was very acrobatic and danced around the boat in circles. We got the release after a few minutes. After a few more minutes we reset in 125' off of Fowey. There was a decent lull without action but then it picked up. One of the mid lines started singing and the ...
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May 1Deep Sea Charter Fishing in Miami
Today a father and son came aboard for a full day of Deep Sea Charter fishing in Miami. It was the first day without rain after the 4 days of torrential downpours. Bait was very tough in the chocolate milk water in the cut and off Key Biscayne. The edge was very dirty (often see this after days of hard east wind) and the water was green as far as the eye could see. (attributed to the rainfall more so than the rain) We ended up popping the kites up and just south of Fowey as the water color was a bit better after a difficult morning. The ice breaker was a bonehead... We had a cruising hammerhead eat a thready on the long and bite through the leader after a couple minutes. After a while longer we hooked into the meanest sail ever caught aboard the Blue Yonder. It was a small fish, about 35 pounds but it wasn't pleased about consuming a 3 inch pilchard and finding out it had ...
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Apr 28Sailfishing with the Billfish Foundation
We left the dock at about 7:00 am and headed off into rough seas and rainy weather excited for the day ahead. Today we were accompanied by Andrew Cox from The Billfish Foundation and 3 of his friends. Needless to say we were excited for a day of sailfishing with the Billfish Foundation. We headed to Bug light where there were mats of pilchards on the sounder. We loaded up with enough bait to fish the whole day and live chum a little bit as well. We headed to the edge and popped the kites up in about 150'. We soaked baits for about 45 minutes without a hit. We were fishing just to the south of another boat who hooked up and slid right offshore. Just after, we scooted behind them and to the north then instantly hooked up in 160'. Andy was on the reel with his first sailfish. The sail put on a show greyhounding in circles but he was eventually subdued. We were now 1/1 on sails. We moved south and reset ...
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Apr 24Sailfishing in Miami
It was a gorgeous morning to spend the day Sailfishing in Miami. We left the dock at 7:30 with Johnny, Blake, and Steve on board. Winds were blowing about 15 knots out of the north and it was a cool April morning. If north current was present on the edge the late cold front would hopefully get the sails chewing. We headed to bug to catch bait. The pilchards were about an eighth of a mile south of the mark and were moving very fast. We had to move around at 6 knots until we painted them on the sounder and drop sabikis on the bait ball. As soon as you got a few strings, the bait moved and we got to chase them again. After about an hour of bait fishing, we ran to about 130' just south of Fowey. The current was moving north at 2.5 knots and the water color was good, although there wasn't a defined edge.We put the kites up and it didn't take long... While i ...
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Apr 10Chub Cay Marlin Fishing
Chub Cay Marlin Fishing The morning of Thursday April 5 was nasty. A big squall of thunderstorms moved its way eastward and the wind was blowing about 20 knots out of the south. We waited out the storms and headed off into bumpy seas. We were at Chub by 6:30 pm and spent the night on the hook. The following day, (Friday) we cleared customs and left the dock. The spread riggers were dropped and the spread was out as soon as we hit blue water. Unfortunately, this "blue" water had a gnarly tint and was more of a dark green. Conditions were pretty terrible with the hard west wind. One boat plucked a blue pretty deep off Rum but otherwise, the radio was quiet. We caught a decent blackfin and 10 or so dolphin. We did a little jigging off the Jolters and caught our share of strawberry grouper. We spent the night in a secret anchorage/mutton spot and got a 12 pounder. We also pulled on some sharks with barracuda ...
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Mar 31Charter Fishing in Flamingo
As usual, the day started nice and early with a drive to the west. We launched the boat and noted that once again, the wind was blowing out of the west.This is an unfavorable wind direction because it ends up churning the water up to a disgusting color. Chocolate milk water would plague our trip once again but we knew we would catch fish regardless. Thankfully charter fishing in Flamingo sees a lot more fish than areas in and around Miami. We threw top water plugs, bucktails, and soft plastics. The conditions were piss poor but we still produced a solid mixed bag of fish. There weren’t any trophy fish but the quantity was there. We missed the 2 biggest snook of the day which was a bummer… This is a great time of year in Flamingo and the conditions should improve as an easterly flow begins to prevail in the coming months.Catching a mixed bag of fish in tranquil waters is soothing to say the ...
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Mar 27Releasing Sailfish in Miami
We left the dock at 7 and headed to Bug. Pilchards were thick on the mark and we loaded up pretty quick with a few cigar minnows as well. Conditions have been a bit better south so we made it to the edge and began trolling south. We put out a spread of swimming ballyhoo and feathers and started to make way. The wind was blowing about 15 knots out of the ENE and there was a decent water color out front that improved as we headed south. Conditions looked perfect for kitefishing, and we were exctied to start releasing sailfish in Miami. About 45 minutes after deploying the spread, we had a double header of dolphin in about 350 feet. One fish measured 19 inches to the fork and was thrown back and the other was about a 10 lb bull. The current was pushed in shallower down south and the conditions looked excellent for kite fishing. The current was ripping to the north at 3 knots and there was dark blue water pushed onto the ...
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Mar 25Patch Reef Fishing in Miami
Snapper Fishing with a Small Boat Extending from Key Biscayne all the way South to the Northern most Florida Keys, anglers can expect a variety of species while patch reef fishing in Miami. Due to relatively shallow water and close proximity to Biscayne Bay, even small boats can get in on the action that these limestone areas have to offer. The bite is heavily tide oriented depending on the location of the finger channels relative to the reefs, and the moon phase and seasonal changes can affect your luck as well. Armed with a serious amount of chum and live shrimp, our plan for the day was to target mutton snapper. These bright pink fish are particularly difficult to fool, but with enough chum they can be enticed into an aggressive feeding mode. The number of other species that show up competing for your baits also helps to drive the snapper closer and closer towards the boat. Yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, jacks, mackerel, grouper, porgys, grunts, hogfish, permit, cobia, and ...
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Mar 24Wahoo Fishing in Miami
Left the dock at 7:30 and headed to the cut for bait. We netted pilchards on the flats then caught a few threads and headed out. There wasn't enough wind to fly the kites and the conditions looked terrible on the edge (helium on the kites was the back up plan). Further south it was better but the decision was made not to run due to time constraints. We bump trolled livies while we looked for current and decided to do a bit of trolling instead. We put out a spread of swimming ballyhoo and feathers then began trolling east until we found current. There was blue water outside of 350' so we headed south and zigzagged the contour from 350'-600'. We heard reports lately that the wahoo fishing in Miami had picked up, so we decided to pull natural baits instead of our typical artificial spread (wahoo are much more likely to eat ballyhoo and mullet at slower trolling speeds). The first hit was a solid strike on the shotgunned ...
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Mar 17Snook Fishing Charters in Flamingo
Snook Fishing in Flamingo We left the ramp pretty early and headed west to Flamingo. We had to do some searching for clean water because the past few weeks of wind had things pretty murky. We finally got away from the chocolate milk buy hiding from the wind and went to work. We threw an assortment of lures but as usual, the homemade bucktails produced the most. We had pretty solid action and put together a mixed bag in no time. The biggest snook ate a shrimp tail on a jig head. Snook More Snook Redfish Nice Snook Big Trout It was blowing pretty hard the whole time and it was pretty warm. The action and weather should continue to heat up during the coming months. Monster snook are on the prowl during the warmest months of the year, making sight fishing possible, and lunker snook incredibly likely to bite. Landing a beast on light tackle is something you're not soon to forget on one of our snook fishing ...
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Mar 14Full Day Miami Fishing Charters
Full Day Miami Fishing Charters give us our best shot at finding the fish, especially when everyone has tight schedules. Today we left the dock at first light and headed to the cut for bait. We loaded up on pilchards and a few threadfin then headed out. There was green water out past 300 so we made the decision to troll south. We picked up 2 dolphin and caught a bonito along the way. (a 5lb dolphin and one was released) We eventually made it further south then popped up two kites with 6 baits. We had a couple cutoffs then missed a sail on the short kite bait. After a few more minutes we started catching dolphin. We ended up catching several mahi and a remora before moving back south and resetting for a final drift. We had now caught 4 dolphin (3 in the box, 1 released) as well as 2 bonito. On our last drift we ended up catching another bonito, 2 keeper dolphin and we released one more. In addition, we caught a 12lb ...
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Mar 9Half Day Miami Fishing Charter
We left the dock at about 1:30 for an afternoon half day fishing charter. The trip started at about 1:30 with us looking for bait. Bait had been tough all day so we went to government cut and started looking around. Ended up getting about a dozen threadies at a range marker. Also got about 6 runners and 4 cigar minnows. We had enough bait for the 3 hours of sunlight and ran south. We set up about 1/2 mile south of the can in 100'. We knew the fish would be pushed in after a week of 25+ knot east winds. We popped up 2 kites with 6 baits. There was about 2 knots of north current and 2-4 foot seas. Wind was laying down and only blowing about 15 knots. We slowly started bumping out and hooked into a sail in about 120'. David Grossman was on the reel and after a few minutes he caught his first sail. Midway through the fight, another sail demolished a cigar minnow but missed the hook. David's First Sail We ran right ...
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Jan 21Charters for Sailfish Tournaments in Miami
Sailfish Tournament Fished a club tournament aboard the Blue Yonder. Charters for sailfish tournaments in Miami are always a blast from beginning to end. It was a one day event with sailfish being the target. There were 42 total boats fishing. There was a south breeze at about 5 knots and a trickle of north current. We popped up 2 kites with helium right off Fowey and began the waiting game. Our first fish was a 5 pound dolphin that one of our gogs couldn't escape. We bumped out to 190' after seeing a free jumper and this fish managed to find our spread. We popped him off as he swam at the boat for a quick release. After another long lull, we plucked another fish in 175'. (most boats were fishing shallower) We got a pic of this guy, though we didn't boat him. We kept at it and caught a 3rd little rat in 150' right off the can. Pulled him to quickly untangle the mess he made, then revived and released him. ...
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Jan 9Charter Fishing in Miami
Charter Fishing in Miami allow for many different species to be taken with a variety of methods. Today we expected to bottomfish, kitefish, and drift fish for species like sailfish, dolphin, tuna, wahoo, and kingfish. We left the dock at 7:00 and headed to bug. We made quick work of the bait and got a few dozen threadfin and a bunch of pilchards in the well. We then made our way out to about 130', just east of Fowey. The wind was out of the east at about 15 knots and there was a trickle of north current. We popped up 2 kites and began the waiting game. After about 30 minutes, a big turtle surfaced in the middle of our spread. We had an instant double header of gaffer dolphin (they were following the turtle). We lost one near the boat, then gaffed the bull. Ralphie was ecstatic with his biggest dolphin to date. (25 lb bull.) We reset both kites with fresh baits and after a while longer, we had a nice sail inhale ...
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Jan 5Kite Fishing with Bullbuster Monofilament
Kite Fishing in Miami After spending the night before prepping our tackle for a day of practice fishing, we once again were going to be kite fishing with Bullbuster Monofilament. The first real cold front of the season moved through that night and the plan was to capitalize on what we hoped would be some excellent sailfish conditions in the morning. After everyone arrived at the boat and stashed away their personal items, we started up the engines, un-cleated the dock lines and headed out. Catching Bait in Miami Bait was once again thick at bug light and we loaded up with big pilchards, threadfin herring, and a few hard tails. When the wind is blowing greater than about 15 knots, we prefer to put in the time necessary to catch larger baitfish. Even though sailfish may prefer a different sized bait on any given day, we like to hang larger baits on our furthest kite clips to grab the attention of a passing pack of fish. We had not heard ...
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Dec 21December Fishing For Sailfish
December Fishing For Sailfish Not too many boats had been out this week. The winter rush of business or "peak season" usually begins around Christmas and lasts until the 4th of July. Either way, we got booked for a midweek half day and were hoping to make a report rather than hear one. The wind was blowing 15-20 knots out of the east and was pretty warm for late December. The plan was to get a solid amount of bait to kite fish for sails and maybe live chum a little bit. We went out of government cut and loaded up on big pilchards then got a few threads as well. The livewell was blacked out so we punched it to the edge. We went right out front and set up on a hard edge in 110'. There was zero current. Worked our way out to 190 and back into the edge which was now in 140'. Had one window shopping small sail and had a king sky our bait. With ...
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Sep 11Early Season Sailfish
Early Season Sailfish Sailfish are always a trip maker. Regardless of the time of year, these fish are always a welcome surprise. Between their long runs and acrobatic displays, sailfish are definitely one of the premier gamefish off of Miami. Below is a story about an early season sailfish bite. Sailfish on the Troll Like most trips, we started with a bit of bait fishing. We went out and picked up some hard tails at bug shortly after first light. They aren't our favorite bait but they'll do. After making bait we traveled to the edge and put out a trolling spread. The spread consisted of six swimming ballyhoo, two of which off planers. We started fishing in 190' on the dirty side of a color change, the shotgunned swimmer doubled over then went slack. Seconds later, the fish came back and this time I was on it for the drop back. I expected a bonehead but a nice sail started greyhounding. We handed the rod off to one ...
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