Common among Captains in Key West is to congratulate each other on the release of a billfish. It is an accomplishment that is recognized by the words “pretty work” over the radio. Many things go into why this is meaningful , not the least of which is how many billfish just go away for one reason or another , some reasons you never know. I want to recognize a little pretty work with a cell phone camera taken by Steve on the boat the other day and all I can say about this picture is “Pretty Work”.

In conversation with a dear (and I dare not mention the years) friend , it was forcefully brought to my attention that everybody and their cat had their picture on my site. She also believed that since she was one of the early explorers of Cuba , and that the reason her picture had not been posted then was because she was taking the pictures. She should be recognized with her big Dolphin that she caught right before she caught her first Key West Sailfish.

So here you go Kay: “featured angler of the day”. Nice Dolphin too.

When you are young playing with kites you never would guess that the skills to catch large wary Sailfish are being perfected. This 7 & 1/2 foot beauty was caught (with a huge fight ) by dangling live bait from a kite over the fish’s head. There is nothing like the close up view of the bite when the bait is stuck on the surface 20 feet behind the boat. Huge Sailfish tournament this week and if this fish is any indication the action will be red hot.

  You can always tell when the Sailfish bite is going to take off in Key West. The NCAA basketball tournament is the early signal that the fish are coming and then the dead give away is 30+ knot wind. I just love trying to decide what to hold onto. Well I guess the good news is they still bite pretty good when the wind calms down some. The bite is on though and if you want to catch Sailfish the time is now in Key West.

Last Week we had the pleasure of taking Mark and Karyn and friends fishing here in Key West. It was a little rainy in the morning, but nothing serious , with sunny skies by afternoon. The Dolphin were the first to show and a few fish latter and a nice Wahoo was in the boat . More fish and it was adding up to a very good day. Late in the afternoon we spotted some birds and we hooked up a larger than normal Sailfish for this time of year. Mark and Karyn are traveling the country and recording their adventures on there blog. For a completely different look on how this trip went check out their entry on Key West Fishing Trip. http://www.mytripjournal.com/ev/286311