Captain's Blog: Key West Fishing Reports

Rule Number 1, Never Run Past Fish to Catch Fish…

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:52:02 +0000

Dave and Cindy Allen, from Michigan, brought their sons out fishing aboard the Mr. Z today and weren’t disappointed. We started on the reef just to get some quick action with Macheral, Barracudas, and a Grouper. As we went to head South (like every other boat running past us) Capt. Steve noticed a wooden pallet floating in 189 feet of water. As we began to get close to it, I could see the little “V’s” on top of the water circling the wood. “There’s fish here!” I screamed and all of the lines went down. It looked like some sort of odd mating dance from up on the bridge as the Allen family tried to keep the rods and lines straight and untangled. Capt. Steve was the dance leader, directing with his gaff, and one by one the Dolphins ended up resting comfortably in the cooler. 23 in all ranging from 6 to 17 pounds. We caught so many that Capt. Steve got out my son, Zachary’s, little 6 pound spinning reel for the Allens to try their ultra-light fishing luck with! Always better lucky, than good! and “Don’t run past fish to catch fish!”

Big Cow Dolphin!

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:38:26 +0000

Tom Banks whipped this 24 pound Cow (Female) Dolphin last Friday. The smile says it all!

So… We Drive by a Floating Truck Tire…

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:34:22 +0000

I know, it sounds like the opening line from a bad joke, but it’s true. We spent the morning with Dan Fillenwarth and the boys trolling South and not doing much at all. We stopped and did some drops with the electric reel and did manage to put a couple of Tile Fish, Rose Fish, and a nice Snowey Grouper (off the bottom in 820 feet of water!) in the box, so dinner was taken care of. As we started to troll back to the North, the deep troll went off and the reel started screaming my favorite Wahoo tune. At the same time, the shotgun rod went off and we wound in a World Class Rainbow Runner. This is a clue! Rainbow Runners never hang out in 800 feet without something to hang around. Both Capt. Steve and I said the same thing at the same time, “There’s something floating around here!”

A few wide circles around the general area revealed a huge truck tire floating low in the water surrounded by the most outstanding pile of baitfish, Dorados, and 2 out of 4 Wahoos!

God Bless our repeat customers… Again!

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:07:04 +0000

Walter Mills is one we can count on every year to come fish and bring some luck. He and Tim Hensey, from Sarasota, Florida, come down each spring and we spend a nice day offshore. Mostly they like to eat fish, but Walter didn’t seem to mind battling this Sailfish through 6-8 foot seas just to give us something to fly a release flag for!

Capt. Steve ain’t scared!

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:02:36 +0000

Today, when I asked the charter if they wanted to pose with their catch, they declined. Something about being in the witness protection program… But, ever the good sport, I got Captain Steve to hold up the catch. One Wahoo was caught in 320 feet of water, the other caught 30 minutes later in 530 feet of water.

They are where you find them!

Grouper for dinner!

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 19:57:45 +0000

Jim Tyznar from Long Island (where they make the tea) was so excited about fishing with the Mr. Z that he and his two friends stayed up all night before they showed up at the dock. Fortunately, there are alot of entertainment establishments in Key West that allow you to do just that! Here’s a pic of Jim with his supper… a Black Grouper!

What’s With the Kite?

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 19:51:57 +0000

Kite Fishing…. Yep, we do it. In fact, there aren’t many fishing styles that we don’t do.

Simply put, the kite is just a big out rigger. It allows us to keep the bait (usually a live bait, but not always) out away from the boat and the leader, swivel, and line, up out of the water so the fish sees nothing but the bait struggling on the surface. A pretty simple concept and usually deadly effective.

We kite fish for Sailfish, which is the common technique but, we also have adapted kite fishing for Sharks. When fishing for Sharks we usually anchor the boat. And anytime you anchor, you worry about which way the current is going. If the current is going against the wind, the chum and baits go up under the boat and that can be a real problem. With the kite keeping the baits out away from the boat, suddenly the direction of the current isn’t a problem :) It’s one of those “easier to show you than to tell you” techniques. But, on the Mr. Z, we got it down!

The Boyz (and Carol Ann) from Boston!

admin — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:54:04 +0000

Never more than now are our repeat clientelle so important. Fuel is through the roof ($4.60 a gallon first of May) and with the economy down, we need our “repeat” customers to come back.

Jerry Tatton and the boys from Boston are just such a group. I can count on them each spring to patiently wait for the fish and love every minute of it! This year we spent the first day offshore trolling and deep dropping for Tile Fish and the second day shark fishing. We landed several Black Tip Sharks, Sand Sharks, and the ones we just call Yellow Sharks on account of, well, you know…

To Jerry and the boys, Steve and I say, “Thank you.”

True American… Red Snapper.

admin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:34:06 +0000

Florida resident, Bruce Musselman brought his boys to Key West for some offshore action. We set up the kite and live baited for Sailfish, but that didn’t work out so awfully good, so off to plan B… Dropping live bait over a 300 foot deep barge wreck. I hadn’t fished this wreck for almost three years, so I really didn’t know what to expect. The boys landed Amberjacks, what we refer to as “Wreck Donkeys” because of the terrific down and dirty fight they give, especially with a 300 foot head start! On the last drop of the Day, Chris hooked into a True American Red Snapper. A pretty rare fish for the Keys since they tend to like cooler water and when they are caught here, they are usually found very deep. Pretty work Chris!

Ain’t Over ‘Til it’s Over…

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:24:27 +0000

Rachel and Tim Blackmon came for one thing. A Sailfish. They brought themselves and about a 50 gallon drum of patience. And we used most of that drum during our full day of catching bait amongst a dozen other boats, trolling in the rough seas, live-baiting on the color change, and then finally going back to what we do best; slow trolling dead ballyhoo down sea. That’s when the largest Sailfish of the day popped up behind my bridge rod and I let him eat! At the same time I wound tight on the Sail, the downrigger rod bent over and we had a 25 plus pound Kingfish on too. Rachel grabbed the Kingfish rod and Tim went to the chair to fight the Sail. After about 10 minutes, the Kingfish was resting in the fishbox and we were in full reverse backing down on the Sailfish as he went nuts jumping and peeling line from Tim’s 30 lb. reel. Capt. Steve billed the big Sail as Tim grabbed his tail. We took the payoff picture and released the fish to end the day!