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Weekly Florida Keys Fishing Update from Capt. Dave Schugar and Sweet E'Nuf Charters
Posts Tagged ‘swordfish fishing’
Monday, October 26th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — Fall has been falling short of last year’s phenomenal fishing. We really never got a dolphin run this fall like we usually do. This year has definitely changed for the worse. Not only has the economy hit us charter boat captains hard, the fish seem to be on strike as well. Compared to last fall, this fall has fallen short of normal. Water temperatures have been on the cooler side as was the air temperatures as well. The offshore fishing has slowed to a halt.
With the offshore fishing slow, we have been fishing the reef and wrecks to show our clients a fun filled day of catching. The muttons have been biting well, no size to them but plenty of fish from the 6-10 pounds. One day this week we caught over twenty muttons on a half-day charter. It was blowing over twenty kts. So, we stayed close to shore, fishing Hawks Channel and the patches, which have been full of snappers. The yellowtail snapper have been chewing really well, with some large fish being caught. While fishing for yellowtail snapper we have been catching a few muttons on the bottom as well with a grouper here and there. Always bring some live bait while your fishing on the reef to catch some of the bigger fish off of the bottom. Live bait such as ballyhoo, pinfish, grunts, and even small legal lane snappers work great for the groupers and muttons. Remember when fishing for muttons, a lighter leader is best, but if a grouper eats your bait you will most likely loose him. I will try using a heavy leader first to get the groupers, and as the day goes on, I will drop the leader size.
Wreck fishing has been on fire with amberjacks swarming over most of the wrecks. There are a few African pompanos and muttons being caught. I have been using mostly pinfish and small grunts to target all of these fish. I will use a split-tailed ballyhoo also, it will sometimes be the secret bait which most people overlook. When fishing the wrecks for most of the bottom dwellers I prefer to use a 15-20 foot leader from 40-60 pound floro carbon leader. One other important thing you must get down with dropping long leaders to the bottom is that you have to have the boat moving forward while dropping the bait down to the bottom. This will allow the line to scope out a bit and will prevent tangles while dropping down 150-250 feet of water. This past couple of weeks I have caught, cobia, muttons, amberjacks, jack crevales, grouper, African pompano, mangrove snapper, white margates, yellow jacks, and barracudas. I really have been doing well on the deeper wrecks from 180-250 feet of water.
Deep dropping this past week was a little slow with a few tilefish and barrel fish being caught. I have heard a few people got into a few queen snappers but for the most part the deep dropping has been slow except for the tilefish and an occasional snowy. The sword fishing has been great although the weather has been dictating the days, which we are able to fish for them. I went one for three at the beginning of last week. It wasn’t really big one but a keeper never the less. Sword fishing has been taking most of the attention of a lot of people these days, getting a big one can really change your outlook of the offshore fishing. Fall through the winter the sword fishing should be great as the fish from the North East migrate south to warmer waters. We are in a great place down here in the Keys to catch these fish only 30 miles from shore. If you have never though about it, you should, it is some great fishing and can produce a lot of meat for you meat hunters.
Have a great week and hope to see you down here, stay warm until you get down here.
Tags: African pompano fishing, amberjack fishing, ballyhoo fishing, barracuda fishing, barrel fish fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, cobia fishing, deep drop fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, Hawks Channel, live bait fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, queen snapper fishing, reef fishing, snowy grouper fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tilefish fishing, wreck fishing, yellow jack fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, September 21st, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — The season has been slow lately, but I did get out a couple of times this week. One day we went offshore for tuna and dolphin. The tuna fishing was so good we only fished for two hours and got ten fish from 20-30 pounds. Live baiting was the key, with only a couple of other boats out there the fish seemed to never go down. The current was only about one knot, which meant we could have some long drifts. Watching the tunas busting and sky rocketing on the freebies was absolutely awesome, it reminded me of a Guy Harvey T-shirt. Fresh sashimi was on my mind once we hit the dock.
After the tuna frenzy on the hump we shot out to the edge of the wall looking for some dolphin, and it didn’t take long to find the first of many schools of dolphin. They weren’t too picky. I have caught lots of sardines lately and they scarfed them up like Scooby snacks. There were lots of fish from 3-8 pounds and we did manage to get a few in the twenties too. There was scattered grass all over out there, just enough to keep an eye on the baits while we were trolling so that we weren’t dragging grass skirts on our naked ballyhoos.
A few days later we went sword fishing and on the first drop we landed a 150-pound pumpkin. We made three other drifts only to get our baits all beat up, but since we got one on the first drop we were satisfied with what we got. The fish were a little shallower than usual, we kept getting bites around 1500 feet. Usually we get bites as soon as we get down there at 1890 to 1780 feet. The new rig I am using has two hooks on it like a chicken rig with long leaders. It seems to be working well for all the captains who are using it. When we got back to the dock we took some photos and when I cut into it, there were two dozen freshly eaten squids in it’s stomach. The squids were in such great shape we bagged them up for later use. Once I cut into the fish we realized that this fish was a pumpkin. What we mean “pumpkin” is that the meat has an orangeish color and it is far superior to the ones, which have white meat. I believe it is the result of lots of food and the fish have been fattening up. Fish don’t really have fat around their bodies like we do, they have a fat sack in their gut which will swell as they store energy as fat for their long trips up and down the east coast of North and South America. They also store fat in the form of oil in their meat as well. This high concentration of oil in the meat will cause the meat to turn orange in color. Thus, someone named it after a pumpkin’s color.
From what I here the reef has been very productive, many guys who did get out didn’t have any trouble catching, yellowtail, mutton, AJ’s, and a few grouper. There has been some great current and it has caused the big yellowtails to turn on. One of my friends got his limit of four to five pound fish, which if you didn’t know, that is absolutely as good as yellow tailing can get. We really don’t get fish in any numbers bigger than that, so excellent job Don.
So if you are looking to visit during the next couple of months, take advantage of the fishing as you are with the hotel rates for this time of year. You will almost cut your hotel accommodations in half during this time of the year. Click on over to the helpful links page and get hooked up with some of the best facilities down here for the money. You can stay at one of our big resorts and get pampered as well, but it will cost you a bunch more, and in these troubled times I am sure everyone could use a discount. Good luck and if you don’t charter me out, I will see you out there.
Tags: amberjack fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, live bait fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, reef fishing, sardine fishing, sashimi, squid, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tuna fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, September 14th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — The statement that I hear all the time that confirms the notion that fishing can lead to great enjoyment is, “A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work” Just imagine coming back from a fishing trip with a cooler full of fish. The people who have been fishing have indeed been filling their coolers.
The dolphin bite has been great, with many fish in the 20-pound class and bigger. There haven’t been very many small dolphins, which isn’t a bad thing, but this concerns me though. This time of year we should have seen thousands of schoolies all summer long. From what I have seen and what I have been told by other captains is that this year there has been a shortage of schoolies. You see the problem is that the schoolies that we see this year will become the 20-40 pound slammers that we will catch next dolphin season. It just might be that they may have migrated closer to the other side of the Gulf stream, we will just never know, or maybe if we have a bad dolphin season next year then maybe we have some concerns about our future stock of migratory fish.
This week the dolphin were scattered under birds from 900-1100 feet of water which would put them from 22-30 miles from shore. There were some reports of some dolphin activity inside of 700 feet, but too much. There were very few small fish with some reaching fifty pounds. The tuna bite has been hot when the current was running, but in the middle of the week the current just died to nothing.
With the current slowing down, deep dropping has been really easy with lighter weights being able to hold the bottom. This would be the time to hand crank for a chance to break an IGFA record. The deep dropping has been good. Snowys, tilefish and many more deep species are the common catch out in the deep. While you are out there deep dropping, keep a bait ready to pitch to a dolphin that might just swim right up to your boat.
Sword fishing has been really good with many fish being caught up in the 200-pound class. With the light current, dropping down 2000 feet has not been a challenge. The favorite baits for sword fishing has been fresh tuna and dolphin plugs. Although the universal bait “squid” always works too. The new gimmick has been adding a squid skirt over the bait, and depending who you talk to the color of the squid changes. The most common colors have been, glow-in-the-dark green, and dark colors, such as black and red or purple and pink. Looks like sword fishing has continued to evolve, as this is the one reason why people love to fish. Changing times, fish getting smarter, or it may just all be in the complex mind of all of us fisherman.
The reef has been ok, with yellowtails and a few mangroves thrown into the mix. Muttons have been around as with plenty of AJ’s. The better mutton bite has been in the 145-180 foot wrecks and live bottom. Searching the edge of the reef can lead to a few muttons and as well as some grouper too. Get your grouper now before they shut it down. Well actually, it will not affect recreational fisherman, except for the fact that you will only be able to keep one black or gag grouper and two of any other species. But for us charter boats, we will not be allowed to keep any grouper from January 1st through April. Unfortunately, they have made this new law for all of the states in the southeastern region. This will include South Carolina down to Florida. This new law has a few flaws, because they wanted to protect the grouper spawn, but here in Florida the spawn doesn’t occur until April through all of May and some late bloomers in June.
Come on down, the weather is great, a few showers, but what’s with a shower here or there, got to get the fish blood off of you somehow.
Tags: amberjack fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, deep drop fishing, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, mutton snapper fishing, reef fishing, snowy grouper fishing, squid, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tilefish fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — With the opening of the lobster season Marathon has been very busy. A lot of people mixing it up with diving and fishing, this is what the Keys is all about. I haven’t been diving for lobsters yet, but I will soon because the season is starting to wind down and with this pause in business I will have the time to get a few bugs for dinner. I have noticed a few people not following the rules of safety and this is one of the reasons why people are dying while lobstering. When divers get to far away from their boat they become a statistic, which can be avoided by staying closer to the boat, or have someone on the boat keeping up with the diver.
The offshore bite was hit or miss at the beginning of the week with mainly small catches of decent size dolphin. As the week progressed the dolphin bite got red hot with some schoolie action and larger dolphin being caught in abundance. Most of the big dolphin have been averaging 20 pounds with some up to 40 pounds. The tuna bite has been consistently good with some really big ones in the 20-35 pound class. Most of the dolphin action has been from the 600-foot line out to the 650’s, which is 12-17 miles from shore.
Deep dropping has been hit or miss, but really the current has kept me from dropping. When the current exceeds 3 kts I will try it, but usually it is too fast and you have to venture in closer to try and get out of the main current. The optimal current for deep dropping is from 1-2 kts; you still need some current to cover the ground. Sword fishing was a little slow lately, but last week there was some great catches and some great stories of the one that got away. The daytime sword fishing has been where the best bite is. The nighttime bite was slow and plenty of sharks to keep things interesting.
The nighttime snapper bite slowed down recently due to the full moon, but as the moon gets smaller the bite should increase. I have been averaging 2-5 pound mangroves and really small yellowtails. During the daytime the yellowtails have been great and decent fish from 1-3 pounds. I have been doing much better on the reef further to the west, somewhere around the Bahia Honda area. I haven’t heard about the mutton bite around town, but I have been tearing up the amberjacks, kingfish, and got an African pompano. Wreck fishing has been hot, but the sharks have been eating their share. I don’t see things changing much out on the wrecks, except for maybe some muttons catches to rise a bit.
PS: Greg, Chris, and Robert, you guys rock I had such a great time fishing with you guys, can’t wait to get those photos and hope to see you guys real soon.
Tags: African pompano fishing, amberjack fishing, Bahia Honda fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, deep drop fishing, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, king fish fishing, kingfish fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, sharks, snapper fishing, spiny lobster diving, spiny lobster fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, wreck fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — As hot as it has been here more and more anglers are fishing at night. There has been lots of action for anglers on the reef for mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, muttons and groupers. The bite is great from 10:00PM to 2:00AM as the moon slowly comes up the bite will dwindle the higher the moonrises. When fishing for these snappers you will see that the fish will hold back beyond the light from your boat. Try to keep the light from shining into the water and try to keep the intensity of the light down as well. You should find many other boats out there as well, so use caution while running in the dark and make sure that you can be seen as well. Test all your lights before you get out there and make sure all of your flares and emergency kits are up to date. There has been plenty of bait around, so you don’t need to bring too much with you.
The dolphin bite has been on simmer lately, but all of a sudden Sunday and Monday were phenomenal dolphin days. Many fish reported with some reaching over fifty pounds. We caught a couple of slammers after reef fishing. The dolphin have been far out but there seems to be plenty of them under birds and trolling blind too. The area, which you need to start looking for these beautiful creatures start almost 18 miles out. There really hasn’t been much dolphin inside of this area but there were a few cases where we saw some fish but many. I wouldn’t waste your time running from birds to more birds with only skipjacks and bonitas inside of 18 miles.
The sword fishing and the deep dropping bite are ok, not great but just ok. The current has been really tough to deal with, but what I have heard since I haven’t been lately that the fish have been biting only on a few drifts. Making many drifts for swords can take a toll on your patience. I have been hearing lots of captains having a hard time hooking the fish, not that they are not getting the bites. Sometimes the swordfish will attack a bait and not eat it. Sometimes you think a swordfish has eaten the bait onto have him wrapped up in the leader and then the hook pulling. It’s not an easy way to fish with 2000 feet of line out and getting small bites, which can transform into a 400-pound fish. Sword fishing has been one of my favorite ways to fish because not everyone can do it. It takes talent and experience to recognize what’s going on down there almost 2000 feet down. One day you can do everything right and still you don’t get one, it’s definately the hardest way to fish because it has so many variables and if something can go wrong it will.
Have a great week and I will see you out there.
Tags: Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, mangrove snapper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, night fishing, reef fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, July 13th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — Man it’s been hot out there, with the lack of wind the only way to stay cool is to keep trolling or stay inside in the AC. The offshore bite has dwindled a bit. The dolphin have been sporadic and very inconsistent. Most of the fish have been on birds and debris. I have seen some nice big dolphin in the 25-35 pound range along with some big schoolies on debris. As for going out there and catching some of these fish is almost like flipping a coin. I have been out there this week where I could not find any either. I listen to the radio very carefully to see what’s going on while I am out there and many captains and locals have been having a hard time finding the dolphin. The only advise I can give you is to just keep trying and hopefully you will be lucky enough to come across some dolphin while your out there.
Although the dolphin bite has been off, the tuna bite is going off. There are many boats at the humps because the dolphin fishing is slow. You can wear out your angler’s arms pretty fast at the hump either by, jigging, trolling, or live baiting. It doesn’t matter how you’re fishing for them you can catch all the tuna your heart desires. Just remember that you can catch all you want, but only keep what you can use or give to friends.
The sword fishing is still on fire, with many boats getting multiple fish everyday. Of course, some days are better then others, but generally the bite is red hot. With the full moon the nighttime bite should be smoking. Fishing at night requires some discipline and a nap during the day. Being aware of the ships that frequently travel right through the swordfish grounds, it’s not necessary to have radar, but I do think it is wise to use one if you got it. Sometimes the ships are all lit up and it can be hard to tell which way he is going because the navigational lights get hidden by all the deck lights.
Reef fishing is hotter than the weather and will continue for some time yet. I have been slaughtering the yellowtails, muttons, and getting a few groupers too. We got some yellowtails on a few days that were 27 inches and most of them from 18-20 inches as an average. I have many yellowtail spots that are just over run by people. I have given up on those spots now, because I have found some new ones, which no one else is fishing. It is good to have plenty of people fishing a yellowtail spot, but to have twenty people all in one spot is a little much. I have been catching my big yellowtails on whole split-tailed ballyhoos on a 1/4oz Z-Jigs, which is now been repackaged by Calcutta, who is owned by Henrys, and who supplies all the tackle shops. I learned this trick a few years ago when I was commercial fishing. We have caught lots of muttons this way and got smoked by who knows what more times than I can remember. I have been using 15-pound test with 20 pound pink Yozuri floro-carbon leader. I also love the Stren floro-carbon as well.
Nighttime reef fishing is hot, yet cooler temperatures. I went out the other night and was averaging 2-5 pound mangrove snappers, mahogany snappers, and lots of yellowtail too. I highly recommend getting out there especially as we are getting closer to the new moon. One rule of thumb on nighttime snapper fishing is the darker it is the better the fishing. You also do not want to have too much light shining from your boat into the water. The snappers will shy away from the light. I prefer to use a soft florescent bulb that only shines inside my boat, not letting too much light extend out into the water. Bait is all over the place, I would bring some bait but catch some fresh pilchards and goggle eyes with sabiki’s and cast nets. You can get the gogs just off the bottom or right at the chum bag. They react differently in different areas, so change the depth of the sabiki’s and change the motion of your jigging as well. Sometimes keeping the sabiki still you can trigger the bite also.
Get out there and enjoy our great fishery, but be responsible all the way around.
Tags: Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, grouper fishing, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, night fishing, reef fishing, snapper fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tuna fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
Monday, June 29th, 2009
MARATHON, Florida Keys — With the warmth comes scattered thunderstorms. The dolphin action has been really great, but the mile traveled doesn’t seem to be letting up. The majority of the dolphins have been ranging from 20-35 miles with some scattered from 12-15 miles as well. The big dolphins are out there, mainly on five or less birds moving fast to the west. This time of the year you will find large flock of birds, but if you’re looking for that trophy you wont find them under the large flocks of birds. Instead, smaller flocks of birds from two to five birds are all you’re looking for. When you find those larger flocks of birds you will find mostly skipjack tuna and blackfin tuna. Now they are great fun for the family but don’t get too close, they spook really easily. I like to put my baits way back. This will help you get your baits over the busting fish without your boat spooking them down.
Sword fishing has been really consistent. Mainly small fish around 100-150 pounds but usually someone gets one over two hundred pounds almost daily. That’s fishing though you just never know when you’re going to get the big one. The deep dropping has been pretty consistent too. We have been getting snowy grouper, tilefish, queen snapper, yellow eye snapper, rosefish, barrel fish, and the ever-elusive mystic grouper. The currents have been good running about 1.5 to 2.5 kts, which is great for deep dropping. While we have been deep dropping either for swords or bottom fish we have had plenty of dolphin swimming up to the boat. So while your dropping keep a couple of pitch baits ready when those dolphin show up.
The yellowtails have been very consistent with some larger fish eating more regularly. When fishing for the larger flag-yellowtail you might only be able to fish one rod at a time. These larger fish are wearier of lines in the water. It’s not the hook that scares them, it’s the line you have in the water. So use new line, because the older line refracts light and causes the yellowtail to see it with ease. The muttons have been biting and it seems everyone in Marathon has been cashing in on this. It has taken longer for the bite off of Marathon to arrive but it’s here now. When a species takes longer to show up they will tend to be around longer than in other areas, which got the bite earlier.
Watch the weather and I’ll see you out there!
Tags: barrel fish fishing, Capt. Dave Schugar, dolphin fishing, Florida Keys Fishing, florida keys fishing charter, Marathon fishing, mutton snapper fishing, mystic grouper fishing, queen snapper fishing, rosefish fishing, snowy grouper fishing, Sweet E'Nuf Charters, sword fish fishing, swordfish charter, swordfish fishing, tilefish fishing, yellow eye snapper fishing, yellowtail snapper fishing
Posted in Offshore Fishing Report | No Comments »
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