Well charter or no charter when the temperature is 78 and the wind is calm and the skies are blue bird clear we can’t just sit at the dock – life is too short. So we took a break and went fishing for a few hours. Randy caught this Dolphin near a palette and a couple of nice Tunas under birds. That all was just a bonus , because the weather was what really made the afternoon in Key West.

Randy's Dolphin Key West

Molly's First Sailfish

Key West is a big time destination for weddings. We do a lot of bachelor parties and it is always a great time , with everyone in the party mode.

Molly and Kurt changed it up and went fishing on their Honeymoon. I know that they are going to have a long and healthy relationship when they can go fishing in Key West the day after they got married.

Molly caught her first sailfish and Kurt was very nice and watched .

Good luck and much happiness.

Check out this link to underwater streaming web cam at the Dry  Tortugas National Park. See fish , mermaids , who knows?

Nicest day you could ask for. The wind was light,  the sun is getting tolerable and  the fish must be feeding at night on the full moon. Beautiful debris ,  clumps and lines of Sargasso weed gave up only four small Dolphin. After it finally sunk in that we weren’t  going to limit out on Dolphin today we went to Plan B. Out came the deep drop rigs and up came Snowy groupers to 25 lbs and Tile fish.  With the box showing a  much more respectable catch we trolled in catching small bonitos that will make excellent bait tomorrow.

These last few days of September have been blessedly calm with no impending doom on the horizon – yet. However the fish could care less . Bait is thick on the reefs and more Ballyhoo than we have later in the season. This is setting up some great Tuna and Sailfish action  in the coming weeks . Blackfins are being caught deep already and a few Sailfish that got the memo on the Ballyhoo are moving in on the reef already. The Gulfstream despite what NOAA says is in close (10 miles) and is producing Dolphin and Wahoo, especially around debris for the hoo’s.

I  really want to go Swordfishing . I would make a couple of guys who like to fish  a pretty good deal on a noon to midnight trip. If your interested call me  at 305-295-0774 . We want nice weather and any time in Key West in the next month.

Although the Key West Marlin Tournament was in July it has taken me this long to boil down my thoughts. I was included in a great team of seasoned anglers and crew on the REEL FAST . This boat takes it’s name seriously and I truly enjoyed being able to change fishing locations at 30+ knots.

The first day we caught a nice Dolphin that put some points on the board against one Marlin caught. The second day we changed locations and landed in the sweet spot.

In the first four minutes Scott Meister caught and brought to the boat a Sailfish , the 80# gear was kinda overkill .

Five minutes later we hooked the ONE we wanted . The Marlin had other ideas and took off and with about four minutes of line clearing , spending the winnings and general mayhem the fish straightened the hook.

What can I say the mood kinda sank , except we had another sailfish bite about ten minutes later , then nothing for the next seven hours. Marlin Fishing !

The third day we went back to our sweeet spot , however the fish did not get the memo and were somewhere else. this became obvious and the boat got to show her speed and we moved South to a secret pair of sea mounts . Quickly we were engaged with THE FISH, it jumped , looked right and was dutifully called in . It was still THE FISH right up to the moment Greg Sage wired the fish and it rolled on its side and transspieced on us into a BLUE SAILFISH.

And so ended our fishing in The Key West Marlin Tournament. It was a let down to not get the fish we wanted , however being in contention to the last minute and actually having the chance to win, plus a good payout in the calcuttas made for a a lot of good discussions over the next few days.

Fishing this July for Dolphin has been a little hit and miss offshore in Key West. At the first of the month a lot of small summer schoolies were everywhere, then by mid-month bigger fish showed up and I guess ran off the small dolphin. Patience was the most important tactic and as you can see these nice fish caught by Ashley, Tracey and Greg made for some fun fishing in Key West.

Key West Dolphin Fun

My friends Darlene and Joe and associates fished with us this last week. Fishing in Key West for them has always been fantastic. Whenever they come down for fishing we catch lots of big fish. This year the pressure was really on and the main theme was ” Yeah it’s Fun to catch them , But it is even more fun to EAT them”.  The big fish were very wary and we were having a time trying to find a trophy for every one , or anyone for that matter. This was when Darlene reminded me about the eating fish part of our theme and we got to work catching a limit of perfect size eating fish. All in all the the charter was perfect, with clam sunny skies , good friends and lots of fish to eat.

Summer may not be official but the temperature and the fishing sure feel like summer. The water temperature inside the reef is over 90 degrees and in the Gulfstream it is about 86. The fishing around Key West has been a lot less big Dolphin and a whole lot of schooling Dolphin in the just legal range. The really calm summer weather lets you see all the free jumping billfish and there are a lot. We have not caught any this week but other charter boats have. Swordfish are being caught at sundown and this makes for a nice trip that beats the midday heat . Leaving late in the afternoon and returning long before last call on Duval.