Still, the green water persists, but don’t let that get you down.  The Bonitas continued to eat the transom out of the boat, the Kingfish in the gully between Sand Key Lighthouse and Western Dry Rocks reef were the biggest we have seen in weeks, and of course, we caught a Sailfish!

Clay Leavell did a fine job (considering the eyeball melting hangover he arrived with) of keeping the line tight and bringing this feisty fish to the boat.  And, this time I did my job and made sure that I had fresh batteries in my camera.  Like Capt. Steve says, “If you don’t have a picture, it didn’t happen.”

We really can’t say that it is Sailfish Season yet, but as we all know here in the Fabulous Florida Keys (and especially Key West ) anything is possible at any time of year.

Yesterday, Sailfish and Blackfin Tunas.  Today, same conditions, another Sailfish in the green water and all the Bonitos you could stand.  You literally could not keep a bait in the water for all the Bonitas.  Only one Kingfish, but plenty of Macheral and Barracuda.

Oh, I know you are all expecting a photo because what would a blog entry by Capt. Craig be without a photo?  Sort of like getting a Playboy Magazine with just the articles…  well, unfortunately with all the work, skill and luck that goes into catching a Sail, it all came down to two AA batteries that decided to go dead right as we boated this fish!

They always fish two days because as Tom Smith says, “I have plenty of off days at work that are followed up by a fantastic next day ”

Well, even in the case of fishing, Tom is right!

We spent the first day doing as close to nothing as you can get.  Green Gulf of Mexico water had been driven out of the Gulf and into the Atlantic by a fierce cold front the night before.  But, give it 24 hours and a half dozen tide changes and the sea returned to normal.  Some charters figured that one slow day meant another slow day.  Not so here in Key West.  Things change…  and quickly.

We caught Bonito, Barracuda, and Kingfish right off the bat.  Then moved out to 300 feet of water and caught 5 Blackfin Tunas (unfortunately not pictured) and this hard fighting Sailfish.  Tom showed us how it is done and whipped this fish on 25 lb. test to be released quickly.

My early morning trip did show up pretty much on time, having closed down the Duval St. bars at 4 am, it’s no small feat!  We had rough conditions with green water and a very cold North wind.  No Blue water fish, but plenty of Cero, Spanish, and King Mackerel, we kept the action going and tried not to bore anyone.  There were a couple of chummers between the boats, but one lucky angler locked onto a 40 pound hammerjack and took the overall largest fish award.

The afternoon went a bit smoother.  Craig Cope, from NY, NY celebrated his nuptials with fiancee Shanti with a half day of wreck fishing.  The Copes’ have fished with us now for 5 years.  In fact, I believe my first blog entry is about them catching Sailfish in shallow water, landing three and chalking up several near misses in as close as the Key West Ship channel.

Seven-year-old Brandon Cope, Craig’s nephew, caught the biggest fish of his life.  On a Shimano high speed 30-pound reel packed with light braided line, he worked for more than 20 minutes, keeping the braid tight, following Capt. Steve’s directions to the “T” and finally putting about a 40 pound Hammerjack in the boat for a great picture.  The fish was off-gassed, releasing the air in its bladder, revived at the side of the boat, and released unharmed to fight another day! 

Way to go Brandon, you made us look like heroes at the dock!

First, a 6 hour charter with live bait fishing.  We have 12 Anglers, so we split the charter with our sistership (the other 46.6 Bertram in Key West) the “Triple Time.”  We plan on leaving the dock at 7 am…  However, I did receive a text message from the charter at 4 am telling me, “We’ll be there!”  I’ll let you know

Second charter of the day leaves the dock this afternoon at 1:30 pm, just a 4 hour trip.  These anglers should be well rested and the afternoon should be productive as the Gulf Stream has moved way North and into our half day range. 

Tonight, my son, Zachary, plays baseball beginning at 8 pm.  He got “player of the game” last Tuesday, so I pretty much have to go tonight.

And to start the day, a big cup of coffee…  and this view out my condo window.  My version of psycho-therapy!

The Atlantic Ocean water temperature doesn’t drop as much since it is partly regulated by the Gulf Stream temperature from the loop current bringing warm water from South America, up into the Gulf of Mexico, and then twisting its way around the Dry Tortugas and along the fabulous Florida Keys!  Sounds complicated…  and it is.  Suffice it to say, that the Gulf Stream current, with the fish in it, moves from Southwest to Northeast, and unless the fish sneak by Key West in the middle of the night, we get first shot at them.  There’s just nobody West of us!

So, with the low Gulf of Mexico water temps, the big Barracudas that normally live on the WWII wrecks and big shoals make like snow birds and move further South into the Atlantic Ocean.  They congregate on the reefs and wrecks and are definitely hungry after that long swim.  Lucky for them, we have plenty of baitfish just waiting! 

We look for “showering” Ballyhoo on the reef.  That’s the baitfish all moving as one pack tailwalking across the water to avoid a predator and it looks as if you just turned the lawn sprinkler on in the backyard   Lately, this has been a dead give away that the big ‘Cudas are on the reef, but it could certainly be one of many species that shower bait on the reef.  Like our Sail that was caught a couple of entries ago in 13 feet of water…  go down a few blog entries and read about it…

Here, Tom Stevens poses with one of many Vandenburg Cudas that inhabit the 600 foot wreck.  He was released unharmed and we expect him to do his job and be there again tomorrow!

Gordon and Tonya Lewis spent the day on the “Mr. Z” and couldn’t have been more relaxed and friendly.  Believe it or not, the more relaxed, friendly, and low-key the charter is, the more the crew feels at ease and can put on a better show.  Sometimes this results in smoother interaction all around and a better showing at the dock.  In this case, a big blue and white Sailfish flag hanging from our rigger as we backed into the slip!

Tonya did an outstanding job of keeping the line tight on this full-grown Sailfish that happened to be showering bait in the poco agua near Western Dry Rocks.  In other words, she did one hell of a job catching a Sailfish!  And a picture speaks.

 Jerry Jeff Walker (Mr. Bojangles), Mac MacAnally (wrote most of Buffett’s biggest hits), Cowboy Troy (of Big and Rich fame) and several other country players got together at one of the Florida Keys’ biggest campgrounds and put on a full day of music, food, and booze.  I was lucky enough to be invited by one of my bestest music playin’ friends, Mark Burris, to sit in and fake my way thru with some of the top talent in the country…  I’m just not sure which country

Our Federal Fish and Wildlife has decided that all shallow water species of Grouper must be released this time of year so, yep, we still catch ‘em, but we just can’t keep ‘em.  Now, if you want to go catch “keeper” Grouper, we can run a little farther, break out the high voltage power reels and deep drop for Snowey Groupers, Warsaw Groupers, and Golden and Grey Tilefish.  Absolutely delicious!  You know us, we always have a back-up plan!  See our previous “Deep Drop Fishing” article.

Friday, our Blue Water Gulf Stream returned and brought with it some nice schoolie Dolphin and Joe Morrisson reeled in this respectable Wahoo just a few hundred feet from where a group of divers were entering the water to dive the “Vandenburg,” our 600 ft. artificial reef (fancy name for a “sunk on purpose” wreck).

We caught Bonita, Kingfish, Jack Crevalles, and alligator-size Barracudas too!