Florida Keys

[5th Tuition]

It looks like Mike and I picked a good week to visit Don in Marathon. I envy his ability to get up in the morning, walk thirty feet to the boat, and fish as long as he wishes

Mike has a bunch of photos and will probably add to the thread later.

We fished all five days the weather was perfect (80* and light winds). We did have a slight shower the day we arrived, but other than that, it was perfect.

Here is an example of the weather.

[5th Tuition]

That first day, we caught a bunch of good eating fish. I think the photo will show a Mutton Snapper (we caught so many different species that I have forgotten which name goes to which fish).

We kept the larger fish and had a local restaurant cook them and we had a wonderful first day.
I think we kept snapper and yellowtail for dinner.

[5th Tuition]

We fished both backwater and ocean water. Many of the fish we caught in the gulf side were eclipsed in size by the same species in the ocean side.
This is a photo of a small Hound Fish (I think) from the gulf side.

[5th Tuition]

Mike and I each caught one of the following species. Mike was overboard swimming and using his GoPro camera in the water. It takes amazing video in such clear water. While he was swimming, he lost some money (bills) out of his pockets. The money was floating away and we started yelling to Mike, trying to tell him his money was floating away. When he finally heard us yelling, he hightailed it back to the boat. Never saw Mike move so fast

[5th Tuition]

The highlight of the day was when we saw birds working, fish busting, and bait leaping out of the water to avoid being eaten
Turns out there was a large school of these chasing bait.

All our fish were caught on light tackle, mostly 12 pound line with 20 pound leader. A few, were caught on 17 pound line. Luckily, Don did have one rod set up with 30 pound line and I caught this fish on that rod. I was able to muscle this one in knowing I had enough tackle to get the job done.

[5th Tuition]

Mike has a bunch of photos taken with a better grade of fish caught off a reef in the ocean. I'm sure he will post a couple pics.

Stay tune to see what Mike hooked up on 12 pound test and fought for about 20 minutes. It is a species you normally associate with catching while trolling


In the mean time, here is a photo of a small grouper. We caught many of them, but they are out of season (unfortunately).

[mark1234]

You guys picked a good time to go. Wonder if Don will ever be willing to leave?

Yes, the bigger mutton are out deeper, but it's still only about 8-10 miles off the beach.



Did you guys have trouble with the dolphin stealing your fish off the hook?

[5th Tuition]

We had very little problem with bait stealers. What little problem we had, we thought was caused by Triggerfish. They have such a small mouth. We would downsize and catch them

We caught Grunts, Yellowtail, Snapper, Grouper, Triggerfish, Parrot Fish, Squirrel Fish, Hound Fish, Sharks, Amberjack, Bonita, and several other species.

One day, we caught 14 different species

Mike or Don will have to fill in the others I can't remember

5th

[bhl]

Originally Posted by 5th Tuition

We had very little problem with bait stealers. What little problem we had, we thought was caused by Triggerfish. They have such a small mouth. We would downsize and catch them

We caught Grunts, Yellowtail, Snapper, Grouper, Triggerfish, Parrot Fish, Squirrel Fish, Hound Fish, Sharks, Amberjack, Bonita, and several other species.

One day, we caught 14 different species

Mike or Don will have to fill in the others I can't remember

5th

I didn't mind chipping ice, shoveling snow, freezing my a** off and sitting behind a desk while you were catching 14 species, driving a convertable in 80 deg. weather and drinking Coronas. No,I didn't mind at all .
Sounds like you guys had a great time. Welcome back to reality

bhl (Bruce)

[5th Tuition]

Originally Posted by bhl

I didn't mind chipping ice, shoveling snow, freezing my a** off and sitting behind a desk while you were catching 14 species, driving a convertable in 80 deg. weather and drinking Coronas. No,I didn't mind at all .
Sounds like you guys had a great time. Welcome back to reality

bhl (Bruce)

I just remembered; add both Spanish and Cero Mackeral to that list

Watching the Mackerel rip through bait fish, with pelicans diving, is a sight to see
Another neat sight was watching big sea turtles slowly swim past the boat, and eat Portuguese Man of Wars. It's no wonder that plastic bags or boloons are a danger to turtles
We saw so many neat things out on the water. It was a great trip.
5th