3-31-06 Offshore Report- Dolphin and Sail

[Captain Joe McGivern]

Today i had the pleasure of fishing with Keith from Iowa. This was going to be his first offshore trip in Miami. We met at 7am and by 7:15 we were at bug catching bait. After sifting through all the leather jackets we managed some baits for the day. We ran out to Fowey and started our dift. As soon as we got the kite baits out, we had our first dolphin of the day on, Keith landed his first dolphin ever, a stout 26lb bull. We quickly got the baits back out, and in no time we were covered in dolphin.




For the next 4 drifts we caught probably 15 or so dolphin ranging from 5-14lbs. Having a stellar day so far, we were hopeing to get a sailfish or two. We ran back down off of Fowey, and put the baits back out. We caught a few more dolphin and finally Keith see's a "Mini" sail on the far kite bait. The sail was so small, it couldnt even eat the threadfin. Keith winds and gets tight on her, but after a few jumps the hook pulls.




We run back out and set up. Right off the bat i throw out two flatlines, and as i am letting then out, Keith spots something jump right behind the boat. A few seconds later we are tight on a sailfish. He comes up charging the boat, and finally makes a nice long run to the north. I quickly clear the other lines, and give chase to the sail. After 10 minutes we have the sail boatside for the release. After a quick "High-five" we run back out and make another drift. We catch a few more dolphin, get a couple of cut-offs and call it a day.




Finally tally for the day was 1/2 on sails, at least 20 dolphin, keeping only 7,including a 14lber and a 26lber,and a few cut-offs. All in all it was a great day on the water. Keith had a great experience catching his first sail, and many dolphin. I am sure we have another offshore fisherman on our hands. i am fishing all weekend long with 2 swordfish trips in the mix. I hope that the fishing will remain the way it has been, and we can catch a few swordfish as well. I will post my reports when i get some time.


Tightlines,

Capt Joe


[/img]http://www.swordfishingcentral.com/albums/dolphin/MaiMai.jpg[img][/img]