Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light

Double D Charters 12/08/03 This fishing report is going to be dedicated to one group of anglers (father and son and some of their friends) that fished with me on Friday night and again on Sunday. Friday night, we saw a window of opportunity to try to catch a swordfish. A strong cold front was going to push through, but not until midnight. We figured we could get in a good 5 or 6 hours and the conditions looked right for a good night. We were greeted with flat calm seas and made it out to the grounds in less than an hour. I set up our lines and we waited. We didn’t have to wait long. About 25 minutes went by, when the deep tip rod bent over and our first fish was on. A short fight and we boated a nice 54” (Lower Jaw to Fork Length) swordie. No longer than 10 minutes later the far jug comes off and lines starts emptying from the spool. This was a bit better and after a half hour or so, we caught a real nice one. It weighed in at 142 pounds. We reset and 10 minutes later, our far jug goes off again. This fish came right up to the surface. We got tight on her, and then slack. We kept winding, and fortunately she was still on. After three different anglers and a full hour and a half later, we had the leader up. With still more than 15 feet of leader, I could get a shot at her with the flyer or the harpoon. Although I didn’t get a great look at her, from her outline, I can tell you that she was much bigger that the 349 pounder we caught last month. After we got the leader up, she immediately dropped down 500 feet. We got her up one more time and off she went again. We now had 5 different anglers on her, including myself. She played a seesaw battle with us at 500 to 300 ft. We were in it for over 2 and a half hours. It was now 10:30pm, and the front had rolled in. The seas went from flat calm to 8 foot within 30 minutes. We had to make a decision as it was going to get pretty nasty soon. We had fought this gladiator with 25 pounds of drag the entire fight. We put the drag up to 32 pounds. We were either going to break her, or the hooks would pull. Five minutes of intense pressure was enough to weaken the line and we popped her off. Now it was a rush to get our gear in and head home battling 8 foot breaking seas. We did get a legal release on her, but we didn’t get to see her true weight. With that being said, by no means was anyone disappointed. Swordfish are the true gladiators of the sea, and this one won, although we also won for having the opportunity to do battle with her. Next time may be different. The same father and son combo, teamed up with 2 different friends, and on Sunday we gave a shot at sailfishing. The weather was brisk. The temperature in the morning was in the low 50’s and there was a crisp breeze in the air. After we caught live bait in the morning, I decided to start off at Key Biscayne. The reports from the day before were not that good for this area, but I figured lets try there, and if wasn’t any good we would head farther south where the reports were a bit better. As we set up on our first drift, we had both kites out, and minutes later we had our first sailfish on. It ate a live herring on the short kite bait. A decent size sailfish, and after 15minutes we released our first of the day. The rest of the day was a flurry of action. We went 6 for 6 on the sailfish, caught 7 kingfish and 5 dolphin. I was so busy between rigging rods and chasing down fish, that I didn’t even have anything to drink until noon. The weather was perfect and the company was great. Everyone on board had a great time. As we were heading back to the dock, the father told his son and me “ Do you realize that we just caught 3 broadbill swordfish and 6 sailfish in one weekend.” This weekend was quite an achievement. Guiding has its rewards, but it is fishing like this weekend that makes my job so much fun. I wish every day could be like those two days, I’m sure there will be more – Lets make it happen! Tight Lines and Good Fishing, Capt. Dean Panos Double D Charters (954)805-8231 P.S. If you don’t know what to buy that special someone in your life, how about a gift certificate for a fishing trip. I doubt any fisherman would not like that as present.