Double D Charters Fishing Report - Aug 25

[Captain Dean Panos]

Aug 24th, 2005

Sorry for the long delay between reports, but I have been swordfishing for 12 out of the last 15 nights and was in the Bahamas before then. Swordfish that many nights in a row definitely takes you out of your normal routine and I am looking forward to two or three nights to get back to normal pace. Either way we had a blast fishing all those nights and were successful on 10 out of the 12 trips. Even the trips we didn’t land a sword we had fish on.

I’ll start off with the Islamorada Swordfish Tournament. The tournament was last weekend and we took the boat down on Thursday so we could pre-fish and scout the waters Thursday night and fish the tournament Friday and Saturday night. I had never fished the Keys for swordfish before and was a bit apprehensive as to whether we could find the fish. I spoke to a few other captains and anglers and some offered advice, but many were fishing the tournament as well and kept their spots well guarded. A week or so before the tournament I studied depth profile charts of the area and saw a spot I thought and hoped looked good. Thursday night we headed out to the area and within 20 minutes we hooked a swordfish and shortly thereafter we landed her. We set again and this time we caught a shark, which there are way too many in the Keys. We set again and caught another swordfish. It looked like we found a good area to fish in.

The next evening started the tournament and we caught 3 out of 5 swords that we hooked and we released all three (after taking pictures with the swordfish and that evenings T-shirt to show the tournament committee). We also caught a few sharks and a decent thresher shark in the 300 pound range. By the end of the night we were in 3rd place. The second night we started off with a swordfish that we pulled off while there was still sunlight out. Unfortunately we lost too many swords that night as we ended up 1 for 4 on the swords and at least 4 or 5 sharks. About ten minutes before lines out, we hooked up with another shark, but while we were fighting the shark, I looked up and saw the long rod bend slightly and then saw the electric light racing on the surface. We got tight and caught that fish which helped us keep our third place standing.

All in all it was a great tournament, which was run very well. The accommodations at the Cheeca Lodge were exceptional. Although I wanted to get first place, I was very pleased with third placed. After all, we may swordfish a lot, but we had never fished these waters before. I am looking forward to next year’s tournament. On that note, we also have the Miami Swordfish Tournament coming up in a little less than a month (Sept. 15-18th). We have the same people fishing this tournament, but if you are interested, I have plenty of other captains that would love to fish this event.

That’s it for now. Keep in mind that sailfish season will soon be approaching and I am already getting bookings for as far away as April. We also have plenty of sailfish tournaments this year and I am open for most of them.


Tight Lines,
Capt. Dean Panos
Double D Charters
(954) 805-8231

[Shark Tagger]

Captain Panos - do you think this minor hurricane will turn on the bite like the last one that brushed our coast? The bite was great for a few days after that.. I wonder how the fishing will be once this moves through...Might be a hot bite for a few days agaiN?

THanks

[Double D]

A lot of it will depend upon the barometric pressures after the hurricane.
We'll be out testing the waters ourselves after this one.

Good Luck

[Broad Bill2]

Captain Panos are you heading out tonight? Please post us a report if so, we are heading out tomorrow night.. the wind may be out of the west .. not sure if I like the sound of that.. but I'll get it a try.

Bill

[Double D]

Trip we had got cancelled, I may venture out tommorow night, but not quite sure yet. Let us know how you do if you do head out.

[Mike]

Bite was real good last night Capt. Panos. We boated 1 after he was hooked deep... but were tight on a nice one that we lost at the boat...

Question? - When you have a fish follow the bait up, do you freespool it back to him or put a little heat on it when he goes to grab it..

I have been in the situation about 3 times, and each time I freespooled it and the fish took off and then I pushed the drag up to strike to have the hook pull very shortly after...

Thanks

Mike

[Double D]

Nice Going on your trip.

As far as feeding them on the surface, almost every situation is different. If he is just whacking the bait with his bill, you need to keep gentle pressure on the line until he gets the hook. Sometimes we actually tease it away from him. Once he has it and turns, you need to lock up and reel. Hopefully the hook will find him in the mouth.

Its such a thrill to watch them up close, but can be frustrating as well.

As with every kind of fishing, some guys may do it a bit different and have good results. Either way, you'll get him next time!


Tight Lines