Happy days

Cell phone camera did not do these nice gaffers justice or much for my smiling face. The two hanging behind me were at 20 lbs, holding tuna, and a nice cow with a partial bull head (u figure). The fish were scarce and the radio was silent. Peanut dolphin at the reef but good fish were well offshore. We had a 3/4 day and got good fish at 35 off the beach. By the time we caught these, it was time to come home. However, I have never had a charter that would complain about catching these nice fish. Lots of people are conditioned to the fact that with a North to Northwest wind the fish won't bite this time of year; wrong again. You just have to be willing to go the extra mile to find them. Lots of weeds inside and some lines with bait on them. All the right conditions, but no fish (except thousands of tuna). For those wanting tuna, drop your lines back, kick up the throttle and run those rascals down. Billy baits and "tuna killers" from Dave's tackle will do the trick.

The Capt. Pips team strikes again with this award winning catch. The "run & gun" method is what it took to find big fish Thursday. Schoolies were on the reef and a few were scattered at the edge of the gulf stream but the gaffers were well offshore in 1500 to 3000 feet. The Campbells' will eat more than soup for the next few months. Pictured L-R; 1st mate David, Rosey, Capt. Gator, Ron Campbell.

Wahoo were the big game fish of the day for Capt. Bobby Manske along with some schoolies and triple tail.

It does not matter where you are from or what kind of fish you usually catch, you have had a great day on the water when you bring in a catch like this (we released half as many as we brought home). Come to the Florida Keys and join in on the excitement.

Bragging rights is what it's all about at Capt. Pips Marina and Capt. Gator "slams" them again. You saw Ron & Rosey with last years dolphin a couple of articles back. Well, they brought Ron's good luck charm Suzanne and sure enough, they topped last years catch. Ron & Captain Gator are holding the 28 lb bull while Rosey shows off his nice gaffer. Suzanne shows one of her many catches of the day and 1st mate David is all smiles with this big triple-tail.

Amazing how the bite changes. The other day we were catching keeper schoolies in 65 feet of water while snapper fishing and today we had to go 33 miles to find a big fish (that's what they ordered). Stay tuned; we will be at it again Thursday and have to top what we did today. Gee this group is a lot of fun...

THE NEXT DAY:

I just got a phone call (noon) from Ron checking on the type of grouper he just caught on the spot 1st Mate David gave them on their guide trip Saturday (pays big dividends to use a guide). The Peanuts (tiny mahi mahi; dorado; dolphin; tiny schoolies) were more abundant than the yellow tail snapper while bottom fishing. Now you know why people come here year-after-year for vacation. These folks KNOW how to have fun...

Tina's trophy as promised. Did not have my camera on board, so we had to wait for the phone photo. Missed Tina's smile, but you can rest assured it was ear to ear. This sail is a bit larger than our normal winter variety and is going to be a lovely mount for Tina.
Offshore in the Florida Keys is always an adventure. This bad boy hit our DDD on the flat line in 650 feet of water, with the lightest tackle of course.
Capt. David Hoffman got the tail end of things here but still caught the biggest dolphin of the day.
Captain Gator & David thanks our guests for one of our most exciting offshore trips.

"SLAMMERS" keep on coming. According to the radio, fishing was tough; and it was. It took 3 1/2 hours and a lot of running and gunning to find enough bait to hold fish. We started with triple tail on a nice floater (smiling Pete is showing you). Another 5 miles out and the schoolies finally showed up but did not "school" behing the boat like they are suppose to. Had to catch them 1 & 2 at a time on the troll. 5 more miles out and we ran down some tuna (Blue Devil Alex got the skippy and Larry got the black fin). 5 more miles out and we finally found enough bait to hold some big fish and red shirt Larry finessed the big bull. They put me in the picture to let me show you that the schoolies were legal size.

Captain Gator does love bragging rights and has been blessed this year with more than his fair share. Again, I thank Dave Herberholz for the fine rigging and gaffing and our guests for their fine angling skills.

For those folks that brought their boat and the fine folks in the rentals that can't understand that the fish may be in 100' one day and 1,000' the next need to "rent a guide" to enhance your trip. It's a big ocean and a guide can teach you what signs to look for other than "run for the birds" and fish the weed lines. Knowing where the charters and guides caught fish today will NOT help you find fish tomorrow.

Thanks Johnny & Barbara at Captain Pips for letting me use all that fuel today; we needed it to find the fish. They do what it takes to keep their clients happy.

True Adventure in Paradise

The dolphin adventure began with over 100 "Flipper" dolphin (porpoises) jumping and nudging at the bow of the boat just off the reef. What a sight in the crystal clear blue/green waters of the keys. The next show was put on by hundreds of "peanuts" (less than 20" mahi mahi dolphin) greyhounding after flying fish, then following the 2 that bit on our outriggers and schooling behind the boat lighting up the water with their Florida Gator blue, yellow, and green colors.

We kept looking and the next school we caught were "slingers" (keeper dolphin too small for the gaff). Then the aerial show began with Bens big bull. His 1st dolphin trip and He is now "hooked". After catching lots of "schoolies", we ran offshore to 1,000 feet (the wall) for the big one. Pictured L-R; David, Charlie, Ben, Capt. Gator.

Day 2 with Charlie and Ben took us the reef for some bottom fishing (Ben wanted a big shark and some yellow tail snapper). Saw a couple of birds just off the reef in about 150' water and could not resist the temptation to try for a tuna. It took all of 10 minutes to find and catch a tuna before we went and anchored. The Yellow tail were out in great numbers as were the hungry sharks. Ever seen a "scorpion fish"? These guys were amazed at the number of different species we catch (8-10 on an average day). Back to the sharks. Ben pulled in a 6 footer in only 30 minutes while Charlie took almost an hour man handling an 8 footer.

Thanks to Captain Pips for their special rates on fishing and lodging that lured these two great fishermen to us. Part of their package was a rental boat they took and caught bone fish the day before their charter on PaPa Pip.

Captain Gator and crew strike again. Better be careful for what you ask for, especially when in the Florida Keys. Tina Felton (holding the flag) asked for a "wall hanger" and we obliged with a 70+ lb. sailfish. She earned bragging rights and took almost an hour landing it. Capt. Dalvid Hoffman just wanted some Mahi Mahi for supper and landed a 20 lb. cow and 18 lb. bull. Like to thank them for feeding the employees at Porkys Bayside with the extra schoolies they caught. #1 mate (David) also shown.

As for the "how to do it", I can simply say, "different ways for different days". Conditions change daily and the more you fish an area the better your "educated guess" is going to be.

When the Gulf Stream is in close (10-12 miles) you can almost guarantee fish will be at the edge of the stream. Visit "Captain Pips" for more on Capt. Gator and charters.