January 25, 2005 - January means Sailfish!

[Captain Bouncer]

Boy has this been a hectic month! Certainly no lack of wind around here lately. Of course that wind can add up to some great sailfish action. We had one trip without a sailfish. That trip we caught a 35 pound wahoo and spent a lot of time fishing for them and wreck fishing.

Early in the month, the sailfish were frequently in very shallow water and very small in size. Some were 8 to 12 pounds. Then last week the sails were out in 200 to 400 feet of water. Now they are back where we expect them. That is around 120 feet.

That wahoo wasn’t the only nice bonus this month. We caught a 35 pound yellowfin tuna on the kite one trip. Some of the boats fishing a little further north have caught quite a few trolling in 400 to 600 feet of water this month. We have had some very nice dolphin as well. Rick Azipuru and John Mahoney caught a

John and Rick enjoyed this double header


double header of dolphin that were a 28 pound bull and 23 pound cow. Yesterday a school of dolphin invaded our kite spread and produced 5 fish about 8 pounds each. A few big amberjacks have been found on the wrecks. Lots of small kings have been feeding off South Beach the last few days.

Yesterday we fished with Brett Gelber and a friend of his, Jan from New Jersey. We spent the morning searching from 180 feet of water out to 400 feet. We had that dolphin invasion and a couple remoras to show for our efforts by 2 PM. We relocated off South Beach in 100 feet of water. In 2 hours we caught 3 king mackerel and 7 out of 8 sailfish that ate our flat line herrings. One of these fish was tagged 369 days ago off Key Largo Florida. When you see a 6 inch growth hanging off the side of a fish you catch, you should bill the fish, get a firm grip on the growth and cut it as close to the fish as possible. Release the fish. Clean off the tag and follow the instructions on the tag. There was a time when sailfish were thought to live 3 to 5 years. A fish recaptured after 12 years at large changed all the thinking along those lines. That was very instrumental in encouraging catch and release for sailfish.

Jan and Brett released 7 of these ballerinas


If you know me, you know I am a major advocate for circle hooks. We are involved in a hook study for NMFS. We were asked to use J hooks to capture 30 sailfish, so the results could be compared to our circle hook catches. Out of the first 15 fish we caught on the J hooks, we felt that 8 were severely injured. 4 were gushing blood and 4 more were gut hooked. If you enjoy catching fish, USE CIRCLE HOOKS to allow some fish for tomorrow.

We are booked for all the major sailfish tournaments except the Miami Billfish Tournament. We have won this one twice. Let’s make it 3 times. Call to book the tournament, your dream trip to Chub Cay in May or a day off Miami. The schedule is filling up. We want to fish with you, so get those reservations in. E mail capt.bouncer@att.net today.