Despite keeping my virus checker up to date, I still got hit with a virus that wouldn't allow me to open my web browser. Despite everything we tried, the end result was a debug, reformat the hard drive, and start over. I am now back up to about 98%. Lets get to the fishing reports. We fished the Mayor's Cup Tournament aboard the big boat on Saturday (1/24) and Sunday (1/25). The event itself was very well organized and the dock parties were great. For us, the fishing was way less than satisfactory. It seemed like that we were always either just north or south of where the fish were biting. Congratulations to all the winners. Monday evening (1/26), it was back to tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet. Live shrimp is still the bait of choice and it has been working wonders with getting numerous tarpon bites. We started the evening out with 2 strikes on the first 3 drifts. The bad news was that it seemed like we were using rubber hooks as the tarpon were throwing the hook on the second or third jumps. The third strike gave us the same results as the first two. By now it was, is this going to be one of those pay your dues nights? Then came the good news. The next three strikes were solid hook ups, landed, and released fish. The end result for the evening was 3 for 6 tarpon, all caught on 12# line. The weather on Wednesday (1/28) and Thursday (1/29) was less than acceptable for my customer and resulted in cancelled trips. Friday (1/30) evening, we managed to get out and get in some fishing before the front and rains came through the Haulover area. One of the presents that Dave Gates gave his wife Kim for Christmas was a gift certificate for an evening of tarpon fishing. Both Dave and Kim are very avid tarpon addicts. In less than a minute after setting up the first drift, Kim was hooked up to a very upset tarpon. Kim hung in there despite some usual tricks that a tarpon plays as it gets close to the boat. With one release, we quickly set up and once again in what seemed like less than a minute, Kim was hooked up again. As we finished the release of this tarpon, it started to rain and it was decided to head in. As soon as I got to the ICW, the rained stopped and we turned around and went back out. Drift three took a bit longer (about a minute and a half) before the strike took place. This fish made a long run and several jumps. We started moving toward it and the next jump did the trick. Dave wound in the thrown hook and we quickly set up again. The fourth drift took about as long as the third did before we got another strike. The fish jumped immediately and threw the hook. Then the RAINS came. This time we definitely headed back in to the shelter of Spinnaker Marina. Saturday (1/31) I ran the vessel Boatnick, owned by Fabio Nick from North Miami Beach. He and his son Jason were fishing for the South Florida Fishing Club in the Rod & Reel Interclub Sailfish Challenge. We got an early start and bought GI's and pilchards. Next we ran to Government Cut and added about 2 dozen herring to the livewell. We ran south until the 8 AM start time and set up about a 1/2 mile south of the Monument Buoy. We started with a dolphin (kept for the dinner table) and a slashed up GI by a kingfish. I stayed outside of 130' most of the morning. Jason was the featured angler and by 10 after noon, we had released 3 sailfish, all in the 140' range. Two on GI's on the kite and one on a flatline herring. The three sailfish were good enough to take the Top Angler, Top Boat, and 3rd Place Club awards. After the fishing, the get together at the Rod & Reel Club was a feast. There was more food and drink than an Army could consume. Congratulations to the Miami Sportfishing Club on taking first place club, the Rod & Reel Club on coming in second, and the South Florida Fishing Club (SFFC) on placing third. Thanks Rod & Reel Club for putting on a great tournament. We're looking forward to next year. Sunday (2/1) evening, the tarpon fishing appeared to be on its way to another great evening at Haulover. Once again it only took about a minute for our first strike. The fish ate coming toward the boat and jumped with plenty of slack line that resulted in a thrown hook. Then the wind died and we stopped drifting. We watched loads of tarpon rolling around us. We marked loads of tarpon swimming under the boat. The only problem was that they had lockjaw. Floats were put on the lines to hold the baits off the bottom. No matter where we went, the results were the same. The tarpon were not feeding. That's how the evening ended, 0 for 1. Once we get some wind back so we can drift better, I expect the tarpon action to pick back up. It seems like we have the two extremes, either to much or to little wind. I'll keep you posted. Captain Dave