2011 FISHING REPORTS

Written and edited by Capt. Gregory Mercurio on 2/8/12

 

September 25 2011Temperature 90 Degrees Winds Southeast 5 knots

What a way to start the year here in Key West. Great weather, great people, steady fishing and everything went nice and smooth. I have mucho to talk about so here we go.

The fishing was very good. Muttons ruled the totes with most anglers getting their limit. Most of the muttons were large. Many fish over ten pounds. Some nick black grouper mixed in two. We had 3 fish over thirty pounds with some 25 pound class also. I was happy to see those fish and also a little surprised as I thought it might be a little early given the water temps. Yellowtails were everywhere in the shoal water but since we spent little time there we only had a few. Most of the trip was spent in 30-40 fathoms. Almost all the catching was done at night. Although we did pick a few during the day. it was fair at best. I stayed deep and tried to focus on yellow eyes and grouper. On some spots the red snappers were very numerous, in fact on one edge they were everywhere. We played catch and release for a while but floaters were common as the big ones do not vent well from the deep water. I am not going to go on a complaining tangent in my first report but if we could keep some we would have been done, tied to the dock sooner, much sooner.  The picture below is a small bump with a big show of reds. In 20 years since I found that spot I have never seen any amount life on the pimple but the reds have found it.    

Getting back to the main subject, at the end of the trip we were out of ice, very little room for fish. I lost count at 30 totes coming off the boat. As I like to say, "Everyone caught dinner". A perfect way to start the year.

Plenty of king mackerel around. In fact in was the preferred bait for the muttons. Runners did well also. It appeared goggle eyes were not worth it, especially the frozen ones in the bulk cases.

The weather was spectacular. Never more than 5 knots of wind. Without a doubt the temperatures was very uncomfortable. High's in the lower 90's with a heat index well above that. If you booked on a upcoming trip make sure you bring plenty of liquids. The galley is now fully staffed (Thankfully) and serving full meals. The menu is the same and the service is what you have come to expect. Also I and proud to report the new crew did excellent. Plenty of energy, always there with a smile and getting the work done. I know everyone will like them, I and Capt. Matt were most pleased. I expect some customer's posts from different fishing forums. Soon as the links are up I will get them up.

As I put the cod season in the rear view mirror for a while I will still be working on the 2012 schedule. I am still working on the schedule as I am waiting to hear from some charters. Expect a similar schedule and remember your looking to get out when a charter is booked I can most likely get you on it also. Send me a e mail and I will do my best to accommodate you.

Next trip is Tuesday afternoon, private charter. After that we head out again on Friday for a 2 Day Limited Load Mutton Marathon, that trip still has some room. In fact the only trip that is light is the trip scheduled over Fantasy Feast weekend, as of today it only has 2 anglers booked, click here if your interested. 

Lastly I am happy report the boat performed flawlessly. We spent a good amount of the summer fixing and updating things. Thankfully all the work we did held up. The new generators are performing well. The A/C's kept everything very comfortable in the bunk rooms. I was nervous given the air temperatures we have been having here in Key West. Hopefully we have put all those projects behind us for another 10 years.

Thanks for looking. September 25 2011Temperature 90 Degrees Winds Southeast 5 knots

Capt. Greg

September 29 2011Temperature 90 Degrees Winds Southeast 5 knots

Steaming home as I type at 1300 DST. Another hammer job. Back boxes full with mostly muttons. Private charter with 20 anglers. We had size as well as quantity.

More later.

Capt. Greg

Update 2100 DST.

First of all here is a link from the first trip. Please click here.

Our trip was a tale of two different days. The first day and night we caught the bulk of of catch. Very steady bites with a great run of size. Muttons ruled the totes but enough red grouper, scamp grouper and yellow eyes to make a very respectable fish box. The second day and night was much slower, the bite was just not the same. However at the end of the trip we had the white box and most of the blue box. 25 totes for 20 anglers. The biggest fish of the trip was caught by "Big Dave", a stunning 45 pound black grouper. Again I and Capt. Matt were most pleased. 2 for 2 so far, no doubt a great way to start the year and continue.

Our next trip is Friday night at 5:00 PM, a 2 Day Mutton Marathon. Weather again looks spectacular and still plenty of room. Please click here if you would like to go.

Thanks for looking, more on Sunday.

Capt. Greg

October  3 2011 Temperature 90 Degrees Winds East 5 knots

Mother nature shows her muscle just a bit. We started off just as we left off on the previous trip. The first night was very steady, we managed to fill half of the white box. Muttons were the main bulk of the catch the first night. During the day the current was ripping to the northwest. Why? Because of the approaching cold front. It is a common occurrence as the gravitational forces create this regardless of the tide stage. Finally late in the day it subsided and we scratched away putting a few decent fish in the box. The night shift started out fine but when the cold front came through at 9:00 PM it slowed the catching down. By 2:00 AM the wind was down again. The bulk of the catch at night was steady pick of muttons and yellowtails. When the dust settled the white box was full. Again plenty of quality. Thinking back we could have gotten into the blue box but we lost many fish to the predators. The man was hungry and he took his bounty, especially at night.

This week we are taking a breather. I have a few small projects to attend to but I am focusing on getting organized. I have yet to unpack my bags since I have been here two weeks. Also I am working on the 2012 New England schedule. It has been slow and painful but progress is being made. When? Maybe by the end of the week I will have a preliminary outline to look at.

Next trip is Thursday night. A 4 day trip. Still some room. Weather looks breezy, I hope and pray it stays reasonable. This trip always seems to have weather issues. Sweating the weather every trip has always been the worst part of this job, this week in particular.

Thanks for looking, more later.

Capt. Greg

October  5 2011 Temperature 90 Degrees Winds East 25 knots

This weekends 4 day trip has been cancelled. My stress level is high enough these days, I did not need to sweat this weather forecast too. The weather maps were simple enough to read. Windy till next week. The high pressure in the northern part of the country will pump hard easterlies through the straits of Florida. A typical weather pattern, just not for this time of year.

So next trip is next Friday, still loads of room. Please click here if your interested. Looks like it is going to be a ultra limited load trip.

Personally I am going to take a step back and go on a mini vacation with my family. I need a break as I have been going full throttle since March.

 Thanks for looking, more later.

Capt. Greg

 

October  7 2011 Temperature 90 Degrees Winds East 25 knots

Thankfully the decision to cancel last night was the right on. The ocean is not fit for humans. I am glad I am not out there, you should be too if your were scheduled.

So next week we are still very light. Hope fully we can get another 6 anglers to go. Like I said in the previous post it will be a ultra limited load.

Lastly pictures speak a thousand words. Do not forget about this trip. Always a winner!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 13 2011 Temperature 90 Degrees Winds East 5 knots

A very quiet week here in Key West. I have picked away at some small projects on the boat and around the house. Honestly it has been hot out and anything that can wait, will wait till things cool off. That being said I have dedicated a portion of each day working on the 2012 New England schedule. To say it has been moving slow is a understatement. The charters are slow to commit and that keeps the process to a crawl. Thankfully the commitments are there and we are in the home stretch. I, more than anyone want this done ASAP. My plan is to dedicate more time to this today and hopefully have a shell schedule to post sometime weekend.  I know for most of you it is early but some customers need to know for vacation reasons. Thanks for your patience.

This weekend will be a our first 2 day trip of the season. We are leaving at 10:00 PM. Thankfully the weather looks fantastic. We still have plenty of room, click here if your interested. Also we have a  Limited load private charter leaving Monday night. It still has a twp openings left. Please click here fro all the information.

Lastly a trend is emerging the season. Everyone waits till the last minute to book a trip. Last week I wondered if we were getting out. Today we have 20 anglers. I am having a tough time embracing this trend as it is difficult to plan the logistics for the day to day operations. Also the constant calls and e mail from anglers that are booked is frustrating as they want to know too. That being said we always seem to get off the dock with enough anglers. My point? The trips the next few weeks have loads of room including stern spots. If your thinking about going you have plenty of options. The fishing has been excellent and should continue. November and December have always been my favorite time of the year. This year shows the same promise.

Thanks for looking, more later.

Capt. Greg

October 19 2011 Temperature 80 Degrees Winds Southwest 15 knots

Sorry for the delay, I have been in the backyard building my ark. Incredibly we have not floated away or drown. On Monday we received just under 10 inches of rain. Today we expecting the same. The island is under water in most places and on my street I can see water to the top of my rims on my truck. Schools are closed. Thankfully we did not go on the schedule charter. No way the ocean was fit for us. Although all the weather reporting stations are down I did talk to a boat that came in yesterday. The captain talks my language and the weather report was short and sweet, "It sucks, glad your not out there". This was coming from a steel long liner that is just over 60 feet. So I tool solace in the fact that I did the right thing. Better days are coming. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I for one am looking for some yankin' and crankin' on some muttons. The shows of fish this are great but getting to them has been the issue this year. We are now in the best time of the year for having big trip. Mother Nature needs to cooperate!

Our last trip was a tough one. The trip started fine but as the conditions went south so the bite. By Saturday night we basically shut down. The wind was up and the forecast was not good. We had to hole up by the island to have reasonable night. Since the trip was nothing like a normal trip I decided to comp everyone another 2 day trip. If you were on board please contact Alana in the office so you can rebook.

Next trip is Friday night. The weather should be fine and we do have plenty of room. Please click here for a spot.

Next week we are offering something very special and different. The last week of October every year here in Key West they do a event called Fantasy Fest. What is it? Basically a public drunk fest. With public nudity the norm. The island swells to 75,000 people for the big parade on Saturday night. Is it a good time? Hell yes! If you like to people watch this is your Super Bowl!

You can expect this-

    

or if this. I know for some of you this fits your style more-

I will be out and about looking and watching. Tour services can be arranged.

Did I forget to mention about the fishing trip before? Click here for all the particulars. If your looking for a spot to crash Saturday night I will have the boat open. With hotels in the $400 range per night we are offering a great convenience at a great price. Please contact me directly.

Lastly we have a new page on the site, news and other BS. More than one person over the years has asked me to do this. People ask me all the time about my opinion on things. Why? I have no idea as I think I am a very simple person. Hopefully this will be some type of value to the site. My hope is to keep it fishing oriented but I could add some good stuff from time to time. Please click here.    

 Thanks for looking, more later.

Capt. Greg

 

 

 

 

 

October 24 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 25 knots

Well this past weekend was a pleasant surprise. I thought for sure the bite was going to be tough and secondly I was not excited about the forecast. Thankfully I was completely wrong about both things.

Capt. Matt got us started on Friday around 11:00 PM. The was very consistent right from the start. Muttons ruled the totes. After the dust settled on sunrise Capt. Matt made 5 stops and filled one side on the white box. When I stumbled out of the bunk I was greeted by a couple of customers who plainly said, "We got them". I said I know and promised not to screw up the day bite. However in classic "Capt Greg" fashion we struggled through out the day. A couple of spots produced good yellow eye fishing as well as a pick of muttons. I knew it was a night bite and was not worried. The night crew again worked their magic and at the end of the trip we filled the back boxes and were out of ice, perfect. Just perfect. 

Mutton limits were more than common. Coolers looked fantastic at the dock. Also as mentioned before the weather was better than expected. We never had more than 15-18 knots wind. Thanks fully the strong winds stayed back to the east around Key West. Posts from anglers on the trip will be up shortly. I will post the links as they become available.

So this weekend we have the Fantasy Feast trip. The long range forecast looks better than the last few weeks. This is the time of year if we get the conditions fishing can be a real slammer. Shows of fish are excellent, much better than last year at this time. In fact the only thing that has slowed us down this year has been the weather. I was hoping for better but I more than anyone know the reality of the weather situation. It is what it is.

The trip this weekend still has plenty of room. Not sure what Fantasy Feast is? Check the post above!   

Thanks for looking, more later.

Capt. Greg

October 26 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 20 Knots

This could very well be the favorite part of my job. As usual the media is getting the public all spun up because of Hurricane Rina. What will it do? No one knows! I do know this. I have on the Yankee Capts satellite TV, satellite weather, HF weather fax, Navtex weather and weather with Julie! This storm will not sneak up on us and we will get up to the minute reports. So as off today, Wednesday October 26 at 0700 EST the trip for this evening is a go. The local weather is going to be fine till at least Friday night. After that we will deal with what we get and know. As you know fishing has been hot lets hope it continues. See everyone tonight.   

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

P.S Looks like this trip slipped through the cracks. The trip on November 4-6 has only 3 spots taken. 5 sterns spots are still available! Please click here. Looks like another limited load open boat trip.

Headed out tonight, back on Saturday or even sooner if the bite holds.

 

October 31 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 5 Knots

Happy Halloween! Another very good trip over the weekend so lets get started.

As usual when the weather is "iffy" and the media circus ramps things up the phone rings in my office, especially when a tropical system is in the mix. Overall the weather was decent.   We did have one strong storm cell that went through Saturday that shut us down for a few hours. Other than that we plugged away doing our thing.

The bite was steady during the night, anywhere between a half a tote to a tote per stop. During the day we struggled as usual. Some stops were OK other not so much. The tide was a headache too. The new moon is with us this week so that was not surprising.  When the dust settled we managed 21 totes for 14 anglers. Plenty of mutton limits too.  Not too shabby!

The thing that I was most surprised with this weekend was NO ONE stayed for Fantasy Feast! NOT ONE CUSTOMER! So I was forced to go down to the "show" myself.  Suffice to say I saw plenty of sights and sounds. Although I stayed up way past my bedtime it was worth it. It is the party of the year. I am already looking forward to next year.

Next trip is Friday night, hopefully. Unless we get some serious reservation action it is in danger of not going. The trip leaves at 10:00 PM so if you need to work on Friday you could still make it. Please click here if tour interested. If you are interested please let us know sooner rather than later. I will be home all week so if your interested and have any questions I can get back to you quickly.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

PS. This past weekend was a classic example as to why I reserve the right to cancel the day of the trip. Had I listened to the forecasts day before the trip we would not have sailed. I know it stinks when the trip is in possible limbo but if you know anything about me I will not beat you up to get the trip in and take your money. I know a bunch of you travel long distances to get here so remember stay in constant contact with office and make sure we have your cell phone if we need to get a hold of you if your travelling!

 

November 1 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 25 Knots

Here are the links I promised from the previous trips.

Click here for the FL Sportsman report and here for the Fishing United report.

It would appear the trip this weekend is going to sail. The interest has picked up and some reservations have been taken. However I need everyone who has told us they want to go to make a firm commitment with a deposit. Sorry with so few people I need people to put their money where their mouth is. If this does not happen I cannot gaurantee a trip that will leave the dock.  Please contact the office or make a online reservation ASAP.

I will update the status of the weekend trip on or about 1400 DST on Wednesday. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

November 2 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 25 Knots

 A couple of things to report. First of all the trip on the weekend still needs a few more anglers to make me feel better about the financials. I believe that if we get off the dock it will be a light load with less than 20 anglers. Great for you, plenty of room. Thankfully the weather looks fine and we are on a good moon. Traditionally November is a great month for muttons. So far this year the same is still true.

Secondly check this link out. A nice story about a trip we did in New England. As the business model changes for us you can expect to see more trips and reports like this. Remember if you want to  fit one of these charters into your schedule we usually have room and can accommodate you.

I am still tweaking the New England schedule for 2012. Thankfully things are finally falling into place. We should have something soon. Thanks for your patience.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

 

November 7 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 25 Knots

Only one trip to report. Overall it was fair. We had a very light load. Catches ranged from a full mutton limit for some to just a few fish for dinner for others. Unfortunately some anglers suffered from upset tummies.

This week we have a full schedule. We are leaving today on a charter and then out again Thursday night for a Limited Load Mutton Marathon. Still some room, please click here. Even a few stern spots too.

Lastly I received all the information and charter commitments to finish the 2012 New England schedule. I will be working it this week and will have a finished schedule this week. Thanks for your patience. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

November 14 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 15 Knots

Very quite around these parts. We lost the trip over the weekend due to the cold front and associated wind so no recent trips to report. Frankly I am tired of all this wind. I am not sure if I remember it quite this windy for this time of year, I am over it and am looking forward to some decent weather in the coming months. What frustrates me the most is the simple fact we are missing out on some excellent catching. Plenty of sign around just need the damn conditions to get it done. Enough of my rants here are some customer links from past trips-

This week we only have one trip, a two day leaving on Friday. Still some room for that trip. Hopefully the weather will be good. As of today the long range forecast is favorable.

Lastly I am pleased report the 2012 schedule is done. Here it is-

2012 Gloucester Schedule

All trips leave the night before at 10pm unless otherwise noted 

1 Day Weekend Special $237

 6/16 Fathers Day Special. Take Dad fishing Friday night and be home for Sunday! 7/7, 7/15, 8/11(Saturday), 8/26

1 Day Cashes Ledge Special $235

 6/25, 7/7, 7/23, 8/20 

Bait and Haddock Express  $185

 6/8, 6/20, 7/18, 8/15  

Marathon - Leaves 5:00 A.M. day of trip, returns 5:00 P.M. Same Day. $80

7/8, 7/26, 8/5, 8/25 

2 Day Skippers Choice $375

 6/2-3, 8/9-10  

2 Day GOM with Night Hake Fishing $385

 7/12-13, 8/16-17 

2 Day Georges Bank  $375

 6/21-22, 7/19-20  

2 Day Cashes Special $375

 6/14-15, 8/2-3   

 At first glance you will probably realize that we do not have many open boat trips. That is true since charters have taken up much of our schedule, almost 50 percent. However some of these trips will have room to the general public. I will post these links as they become available as most are run through fishing forum websites. Remember though most if not all of these charters will be close to capacity. If your looking for a trip with more room the open boats trips generally offer this. Strange but true.

This summer schedule has been condensed into a 12 week marathon. Plenty of time on the water with hopefully some quality time for us with family.  

A couple of quick explanations to the schedule-

Soon as I find out from the office when these trips will be available for booking I will let you know. If I would venture a guess it would be by the end of the week. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. I will be around all week.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

November 21 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 25 Knots

Another weekend in the books. Overall we scraped away. The wind and sea's were up and down all weekend. Seemed liked the wind came up with sun, slacked off a bit during the tide change and came up during the middle of the tide. As you can see we had it all.

As far as the bite goes you needed to be at the rail putting your time in. Those who did, fished hard and smart did fine. High hook on the muttons was either Bobby Diaz or Cesar Allen. I think they had close to the 2 day limit. As far as the boat goes we had just about the white box full. For 20 people and the conditions I thought it was fair to good. I will post the links as they become available.

For the sake of sounding like a broken record  the conditions are getting me aggravated. This is the time of the year to have big catches routinely. The shows are there but the winds kills any chance of getting a sustained bite going. What we need is the high pressures to stop getting a stronghold over the Carolina's Not sure why this is happening as this normally does not happen till March. God it is tiring.

Enough of the past the future is what we focus on. Only one trip this week, the annual Florida Sport Fishing Thanksgiving Special. Only a few spots left but we still have some room. Please click here for all the specifics.

I received this e mail from the publisher this AM.

-----Original Message----- From: Capt. Mike Genoun
> Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 12:08 PM
> To: Capt. Gregory Mercurio
> Subject: Re: Help?
>
> all set on my end, over the weekend we made up 40 gift bags which
> include a copy of FSF Mag, one yr gift subscription, FSF t-shirt, box of
> hooks, T-shirt from hook company, hat from hook company, a few decals
> and more...

Mike has assembled a great gift bag for all the anglers. I will be passing those out at check ins on Friday. Many thanks to Mike for setting you guys up!

Hopefully till Friday we will have a quite week with family. I have a couple of issues with the new gen set that needs to be addressed but I plan however to lay low and get comfy on my couch and watch some football. I hope you can too.

Lastly the 2012 New England Schedule is available for booking. Please the office at 305 923 3926 or you can book online here.

More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

November 22 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 15 Knots

I have the link for the trip over the weekend, please click here.

If you take note on that link you can see a discussion about crew gratuities. Please take the time to read it and think about it. If you have any comments please contact me at greg@yankeecapts.com.

Lastly I have updated all pages on the website with regards to the 2012 New England season. All the calendars are current and also include the 2012 Cod Charters as well. As I said before I post the links for the open boat forum charters as they become available. As usual we have great groups that are fun to host, I look forward to them all except maybe one? LOL. If your interested in one of those trip please contact me directly.

Otherwise quiet around here, laying low and waiting for the bird to come out of the oven.

More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

 

November 24 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 15 Knots

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What could be better that family and friends on this great day. My best to you and yours, have fun!

Capt. Greg

November 27 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Winds Northeast 20 Knots

Back in from another adventure. We got off the dock later hoping the wind would back off. Thankfully it did for awhile. We had a decent ride down with 15 knots of wind for the most part. Most of the wind was from the Marquesa to the east. From the start to the finish the wind was up and down. It seemed it would pulse with tide change. Overall the bite was slow. We did manage a few decent stops but it was not enough. As soon as I get some posted reports I will get the links up on this page. Many thanks to the guys from Florida Sport Fishing magazine. Everyone went home with a great gift bag!

We are back out tonight on another charter. Looks like  we will be fishing the weather again. A cold from will be pushing through on Monday and I expect to lose 15 to 18 hours of fishing time. Thankfully will be hanging out at Fort Jefferson till the wind subsides. The weather however before and after the front looks good. I hope so, this season so far has become a real chore. It is only late November and I am already physically wiped out. I could sleep for a week.   

Next open boat trip is Thursday night, a Limited Load Mutton Marathon, still loads of room. More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

December 5 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind East 25 Knots

Mother Nature is still showing us who is boss. Overall again very slow. The wind was up and down between 15 and 20 knots form the start of the trip till Saturday morning. Unfortunately from sunrise Saturday the wind came up to sustained 25 knots with much higher gusts. At that point I called the trip and headed home. The catch was not very good, only one half of the white box. Many thanks to those on the trip who stuck it out, fished hard. Hope fully next time you will get them. Please contact the office for your credit.

Thankfully the wind is going to start to let go tonight. I have a ultra limited load charter leaving Tuesday at noon. All indication are the wind will be down by sunset on Tuesday. The high pressure that has been killing us this past week should be gone. I can not tell you how excited I am. This has been a one crappy stretch of wind!

So two trips this week. The chatter does have some room if your interested. Should be crazy amounts of room as the group only has 10 people. If you interested please contact me. Also the weekend open trip is very light also with only 9 spots booked. If you are interested in the weekend trip please click here. 

More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

December 8 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

I am a dweller. I dwell in the past most days thinking what should have been with regards to my fishing career. The fall and early winter are traditionally some of the best trips of the year. The weather is good and we see plenty of fish no matter where we go. Generally the catching is easy too. Unfortunately we all know all to well what has happen since the end of September. It just drives me nuts knowing what should be going on during trip but the relentless wind have curtailed that. That all being said I just knew when we left the dock this past trip things were going to change and they did.

We threw the lines of the dock late Tuesday morning. After a short ride to a new piece of bottom we got things started. From 3:00 PM till dark large muttons were the norm. Conditions were perfect, light tide with 5 knots of wind. Just enough to hold the boat without any swing. We developed a good pick every stop. The night bite was a steady bite, getting at least a tote every stop. In fact the day fishing was very good. I only made 4 stops all day on my shift. We had a mutton every 5 minutes on every stop. When it slowed it was time to move. This continued right through sunset.

After sunset Capt.Matts first stop was excellent. Large muttons, 30 pound class black grouper and even a 35 pound cuberra snapper. 4 totes in just under a hour. The bite was really starting to tick as the barometer was dropping like a rock. Then as usual Mother Nature still needed to show us who is boss. A cold front went through at 10:00 PM. That ended the fishing for the trip. We spent the night in the Quicksands waiting for the wind to drop. At 4:00 AM I ended the trip and we headed for the dock. When the dust settled we managed the white box and the blue box for 11 anglers. Mutton limits were the norm plus we had plenty of quality grouper. No yellowtails either. I will post the links as they become available. We have some great pictures to share also.

Back out again on Friday night. In fact we only have 9 anglers. Since the weather forecast is good I have decided to go so the crew gets a pay check this week. If your interested please click here.

Finally I am at peace. More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

December 12 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

Here is the link I promised from last week, enjoy!

The trip over the weekend was split into two different modes. The first part from the start till sunset on Saturday night was steady. We fished the same edge moving east and west. It did not seem to matter what we did we managed a decent pick of quality fish. Muttons were the norm with some decent black groupers mixed it too. The conditions for the most part were OK. The tide was up into the wind and that made anchoring correctly a chore. However I did manage to land where I wanted. Just before the sun went to down we managed one side of the white box for 12 anglers, overall I was most pleased.

Sadly from the sunset Saturday night till it was time to go home the conditions changed. We were forced to move from the area we were fishing. The wind came up another ten knots too. So the rest of the trip we chipped away catching yellowtails, red groupers and muttons. Back the dock I counted 14 totes plus coolers for 12 anglers. High hook was Jarbas Lima with a full mutton limit. His partner RV, also had a limit too.

So just one more trip before Christmas. We will be leaving on Friday afternoon for a 2 Day Mutton Marathon. Still plenty of room. After the holiday we will be doing our annual 3 day trip just before New Years. Still loads of room on that too.

The rest of the week I will be picking away at small projects on the boat and hanging out at the house.

 More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

December 15 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 25 Knots

Last one till Christmas! I have been hanging out all week. Fixing little projects on the boats and coming up with a capital improvement for the Yankee Capts that everyone will enjoy, more later when the plans become final. I will say this however, I never thought I would be able to do this given some restrictions we have had in the past due to mechanical restraints. Those issues are now gone so I will be pushing forward. I am excited and as it will effect all customers I have no doubt everyone will enjoy it.   

I have also been watching the wind blow all week. Thankfully the wind is starting to let go and the weekend trip looks great.  The wind is coming down and my reports indicate 10 -12 knots of wing by Saturday morning. With only a handful spots booked and even a stern spot available it should be a great way end things before we break for the holiday. Just think a stuffed mutton snapper on your holiday table instead of a turkey or ham. Of course spreading some holiday cheer into my check book would be nice also. Please click here if your interested.  We will be leaving on Friday at 5:00 PM so see you then.

More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

December 20 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 25 Knots

The last trip was a nice way to end things till after the holiday.

The weather was great but ended on a sour note. More on that later. We started out with a steady bite on most stops. Small and medium muttons ruled the totes. Capt. Matt grinded away all night and ended with just short of one side of the white box at the end of his shift. I have no doubt we could have filled the white box during his shift however sharks ,kings and runners were hungry and we were made to pay the price. That being said I was most pleased when I got up and saw the what we had caught so far. My shift during the day was excellent. A good steady pick of muttons with some decent black grouper mixed in too. In fact I only made four stops all day and one of those stops yielded 5 totes of muttons. In fact I had to go back to the 2003 "Thanksgiving Massacre" to find a stop like that during the day. To say I was pleased is a understatement. So on Saturday night at sunset we had filled the white box plus some coolers. Capt. Matt plugged away at night with a slow steady scratch of muttons and mixed. Unfortunately the wind decided to increase from midnight on. The cold front that was NOT supposed to go through the straits of Florida did. At 4:00 AM I was awake and blurted out to Matt "Is it too much to ask for more that 12 hours of decent "effing" weather this year?". Matt said something I could not hear and just made another stop. At 5:30 AM I called the trip. We were flopping around pretty good and it was getting uncomfortable. Plus I wanted to get across the channel before the wind really started to crank. Thankfully the wind and tide were together so it was manageable. We only lost one stop and at that point half of the blue box was full. Overall mission accomplished.

Back at the dock I counted 26 totes. Mutton limits were the norm and I believe overall Jarbas Lima was high hook. many thanks to Jarbas for giving me some filets to give to family and friends. I am a very popular guy this week!

This was sent to me from a customer on the trip. You might remember him from a cod trip this past June. A little goofy and long winded but it is a enjoyable read. We love our newest field reporter Cameron Sleep!

Subject: Santa, all I want for Christmas is a Mutton Snapper
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:39:08 -0400
Yikes, only a few days till Santa Ho Ho, and no snow to be seen anywhere. I spent the weekend on the Yankee Captains, hauling in mutton snappers and sharks, next to Kurt, our German friend from the campground. On the five hour boat ride to the Dry Tortugas, we had a thrilling encounter. As we cruised along at ten miles per hour, the sea suddenly erupted with what we thought were huge, shiny raindrops, but nobody was getting wet. Soon it was obvious that thousands of small ballyhoo were leaping from the water, escaping the approach of our boat. As far as you could see into the darkness, shiny fish splashed and jumped. Dip nets were deployed and held near the surface of the water as it rushed past, snaring baggies full of bait sized ballyhoo. This phenomenon continued for almost an hour! Imagine, millions upon millions of small fish covering the space of a large city, shining in the night like jewels. No one on the boat had seen that before and may not see it again! Several smaller schools put on a similar display for us, but the first was the most intense.

The weather was perfect for fishing, warm and calm and the fish should be biting, as an approaching cold front had the barometer dropping. Kurt was eager to graduate from catching yellowtail snappers and learn how to get the big, feisty mutton snappers this trip. He had a determined look in his eye and had even practiced casting with his new rod, at the campground pier before the trip. I've been gleaning tips on how to catch mutton snappers from Willie, Christian, Caesar and Jarvis, on previous trips and imparted some of my new knowledge to Kurt on the drive to Key West.

I pulled into an early lead on the fish catching and after only three stops had seven muttons, more than anyone else on the boat at that point. That news went to my head and instead of just enjoying myself and continuing to hook fish, I had attention on setting a record or some silly notion. You guessed it, I didn't catch another fish until much later in the day. Huge muttons were hitting the deck all around me, but my bait must have smelled like skunk or something, nothing would bite for me. Kurt caught a massive mutton and finally had the look on his face of a man who had just fulfilled his dream. He now has a memory to replay in his mind, on cold German nights far away from the Florida Keys!

Daylight turned to darkness and I was still in my funk, trying to snap my drought. Finally I abandoned my must-have on catching and got back to basics. A few small muttons complied with my new attitude. We call the small ones "muffins". Myself and my fishing mate to the left of me, Patrick, were uncertain if we had hooked a shark or snapper on several occasions, so we invented a new species, the mutton shark. "What do you have hooked, another mutton shark?" became the question of the hour. That way, no matter what species actually made it to the surface, we were covered.

He quietly listened as I narrated a fish bite in progress; "Bait is on the bottom, fish just tapped it. Don't set the hook, too soon ,,, tapped it again ,, hit it hard that time, but left it behind,, seconds tick by. He's swimming around, tasting the tidbit he nipped off. He'll be back, I know he liked it, it's fresh. Another sharp hit, WHEW, he's back! He did like it! Still has not running off with the bait, so don't set the hook. A few more hard taps, maybe chewing it down to a size he can swallow, then finally, a strong hit and the line is running from my free spooling reel. Set the drag to, "strike", reel like crazy, FISH ON!!!!!" Once the medium sized mutton was safely gaffed and on the deck, Patrick said, "You called that perfectly!" I felt good, it doesn't always go that way.

Increasing winds ended our trip a couple hours early and I collapsed on my bunk, noticed that every fifth wave or so lifted my body an inch or two off the surface, then I soundly went to sleep.
Back at the dock, Kurt's small cooler rapidly overflowed and his bigger fish had to go in mine. We each had a twenty five or thirty pound amberjack, too much for our coolers. My new Jeep would smell like a fish plant for weeks if slimed by an amberjack, so Kurt and I reluctantly gave our catch of AJ's to Caesar, he comes fully equipped to handle big fish. Kurt out fished me on this trip, but wait till next time.

Another great trip is in the books and now we have Janice's brother David and his wife Janet coming for a few days, my birthday, Christmas, then a three day Mutton Marathon on the Yankee Captains!!!! What a lineup to end the year!!!!

Merry Christmas every one!!!!

Cameron

Not much going on this week. I have a couple of small things going on but nothing of particular interest. My plan is to enjoy the holiday as much as possible.

Our next trip is a 3 Day Mutton Marathon, leaving on December 27 2011. Still loads of room! Please click here if your interested.

More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

December 25 2011 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. I hope you had a great day like I did. Spending time with my family is what makes the day special.

Not much to report down here in Key West. I spent the past week hanging out and laying low. Exactly what I wanted to do. Just perfect!

I did find this link from a previous trip this month, enjoy. A classic example of a getting some decent conditions. When this happens we usually show you some exceptional fishing.

We are back to work on Tuesday, still loads of room. In fact I almost passed out when I saw the extended forecast, so far so good. If your interested please click here.

More later. 

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

 

January 4 2012 Temperature 55 Degrees Wind North 20 Knots

Happy New Year! Greetings from the Yankee Capts vacation command center. I am going to keep it short and sweet this time.

Our last trip was very good. Again as the weather was decent so was the bite. Muttons ruled the totes again with enough large yellowtails and decent groupers to make Capt. Greg and Capt. Matt happy guys. When the dust settled 24 totes were taken of he boat  or we had had the white box full and half of the blue box. Overall a nice way to end the year. The weather was a bit snappy at the start but ended with great conditions. High hook again was Jarbas Lima with a full limit of muttons and groupers. Also in his group Adel and Hilton had just short of full limits too.

This sent to me the other night-

From: cameronsleep@hotmail.com
To: cameronsleep@hotmail.com;
Subject: Granny loves grunts but not grouper head soup.
Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 17:29:53 -0400
Happy New Year!!!!!!

Things are rocking and Rollin in the Florida Keys. Lots of our camping friends are arriving at the Jolly Roger Travel Park, for their winter stay in paradise and there's talk of fishing trips in the air.

I got back Friday afternoon from yet another Yankee Captains trip, a near perfect one at that. A weak cold front rolled through Tuesday night, before our departure, but the ride out was enjoyable by cold front standards. It led to reducing winds that made this my most weather friendly trip of the season. It was calm, clear and warm, by my reckoning, even though some of the Florida boys were bundled up like they were expecting snow.
Many familiar faces were present at the dock, friends I had met on this very same trip last year. We brought each other up to date and voiced our expectations for the upcoming days. With visions of muttons and groupers dancing through my head, I tried to sleep on the way out, but excitement once again kept the sandman from successfully allowing me to sleep.

I was fishing the stern next to Wilton, a new friend I met at the rail of the Yankee Capts late Tuesday night. We just kind of looked at each other and after deciding not to throw each other overboard, voila!, we were about to spend the next three days together fishing. It happens like that every trip. New friendships, then lost fish, caught fish and shark attacks that all become shared memories.

Fresh bait was one of the foremost things on my mind as it becomes more and more obvious that it's a key to success to Tortugas fishing. I had cast netted several dozen ballyhoo before the trip and some small flying fish from the Yankee Capts. Jarbas summed it up quite simply by saying; "What you see on the surface is what the fish are eating at the bottom." Makes sense, ballyhoo, squid, king mackerel and flying fish get attacked at or near the surface and chunks of their remains sink and become snacks for the bottom fish. He has a million such observations that have made him a very formidable fish catching machine. I watched in awe as his simple suggestions to my fellow fishermen at the stern very quickly led to gaffed muttons and groupers hitting the decks.

At one point I hooked something big and before I could get it safely up off the bottom, it ducked under a rock. Hauling mightily on my rod finally dislodged it and soon I was the proud owner of a five pound grouper head. Apparently what started as a fifteen pound fish, left his ass exposed and a large, hungry shark swallowed up what would have been a tasty dinner for eight. Wilton, who looks a lot like Eddie Murphy when he smiles, offered to relieve me of my unpleasantly incomplete trophy, with plans to make fish head soup from it. I complied and later in the trip let out a whooping cry of success when I landed a twin scamp grouper to the shark bitten one.

Wilton had a few struggles, gear failures and lost fish until finally, he had a huge mutton snapper at the surface awaiting a good gaffing. Chad, the mate was on the way to get the gaff, when to our horror, the fish became unhooked, sank three feet and started drifting past the stern. Urgent prompting convinced Chad to quickly arrive and with time for only one swipe, leaning far over the rail, he neatly hooked the trophy mutton snapper and high-fives were exchanged all around.

Jarbas showed me how to catch king mackerel and on my first try, I caught a barracuda, which quickly became bait for myself and several others. I know of five big fish that were landed using my barracuda for bait and felt great about it, even though I was not able to land one of my own. Later in the trip I caught two decent king mackerel, bait for my next outing.

Wilton and I were hauling in big "flag" yellow tail snappers and dropping them in five gallon buckets in front of us, when I caught and released a grunt. He looked at me in disbelief and said, "Don't do that, Granny likes grunts." So I complied and helped him fill his granny bucket with grunts and blue runners, all the time making granny jokes. It was obvious that he takes good care of his grandmother. Near the end of the trip I asked him, "So Wilton, is granny going to get some of the grouper head soup?" He smiled his Eddie Murphy smile, shook his head side to side indicating Hell NO! "Well, doesn't granny like fish head soup?" I asked. "Oh granny loves grouper head soup." was his reply. I completed his sentence by saying, "But you don't plan to give her any." He just smiled. Now I know why granny has to like grunts!
Next trip is the Iron Man, a four day fishaholic dream come true. Looks like a bunch of us are going from the Jolly Roger so it should be a blast!
Cameron

Next trip is the annual "Ironman". Too far away to worry about the weather but I have been saying prayers and lighting candles. Still loads of room. please click here.

More later.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

January 10 2012 Temperature 55 Degrees Wind North 10 Knots

Ultra limited Load Ironman on Thursday night!

Weather looks pretty good, who is coming?

Capt. Greg

January 17 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind North 10 Knots

Another Ironman in the books. Overall I was most pleased. Please click here for a trip report from a customer.

Next trip is Friday night with a incredible weather forecast. Still a few spots available!

Sorry for the short report but everyone wants or needs a piece of me today, more later.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

January 18 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind North 10 Knots

Just received this e mail from our newest field reporter.  

To: cameronsleep@hotmail.com;
Subject: IRON MAN 2012 !!!! Many muttons, big muttons.
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:16:19 -0400This trip is a go

A four day, grueling, all you can eat buffet of mutton fishing madness is the only way to describe the annual Yankee Capts spring fishing marathon. About twenty fishaholics set out last Thursday night, five from the Jolly Roger campground, to test our stamina against both fish and Mother Nature and overall, WE WON!!! Nothing can replace the expression on Bill's face when he hauled in his first ever mutton snapper, a thirty three inch, twenty pound beast that shook him until the moment Josh gaffed and decked it. I have the pictures, but don't know how to download as my wife is still at home in Nova Scotia helping with the new grandson. While the wife's away,,, I go FISHING!!

I've been on five Yankee Capt trips in a row, heading for numbers six and seven. What a rush, hauling in mammoth fish, praying that your gear holds and that nothing with sharp teeth grabs your line or fish before it hits the deck. I had caught my share of huge muttons, but five times in a row my gear let me down in the middle of a fight I had won. Was it bad leader, or bad knots? I changed both and my winning streak resumed.
Weather conditions deteriorated, the wind picked up, just as Capts Greg and Matt predicted and the fishing went downhill with it. But it was too late, we had caught enough fish to fill thirty three totes, thousands of pounds of mutton snapper, grouper, yellow tail snapper, porgies and a dozen other species.

My buddy Charlie had the most interesting catch, a conch shell with an octopus in it. Bobby had the two biggest fish, a huge black grouper and a cuberra snapper. My rail mates Robert, Lee and I probably had the most intense fishing streak. In two hours, we manhandled about twenty five muttons over the rail. I had five and they each had about ten. They were aided by a quick gulp of five hour energy, and I was handicapped from lack of sleep, but I felt I had done my share.

It was an intense, action packed experience, everybody caught fish, the crowd that gathered at the campground was in awe and I'm addicted!!

Thanks to the crew of the Yankee Capts, I'm sure the pictures are spreading far and wide!!

Two days to catch bait then out we go again.

Cameron

You have to love his enthusiasm! I will be the first to admit I am not a good writer so when I can I let the pro's tell the story.

Couple of quick things. First the trip over the weekend still has some room, weather looks fine. If your interested please click here. Last we have a Ultra Limited Load charter leaving on Monday January 30. This trip is a go but still is looking for a few more. All anglers on this trip have been with me many times so it is a very experienced group. At this point it looks like it will have under 12 passengers. Best part about this trip you will still be able to take grouper in Gulf of Mexico. If your interested please e mail me at greg@yankeecapts.com.  

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

January 23 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind North 10 Knots

Another good one. This weekend proved yet again with decent conditions the bite is good. Overall just about every stop was a good pick with at least a tote of mixed snapper and groupers. Some stops at night even produced as much as 6 totes of muttons. As a pleasant surprise we even saw a great showing of black groupers. Nothing huge but everything in 15-25 pound class. This was our best grouper trip in quite a while. Not to sound like a broken record we were again invaded by red snapper. Thank fully this time we would get some at the start of a stop and then they would back off. Then the muttons and groupers would come. Since we spent our 90% time in the gulf this trip I have no doubt the spread of these fish is quite large. Had we been able to keep and target the red snapper trip time could easily be cut in half. Thankfully a pattern has emerged so I can for the most part stay away from the big bites. Imagine me having to state that! Maybe someday we will get a reasonable season and bag limit.

I was able to get a few shots of the sounding machine. Not the best quality but you get the idea.

      

                Big show of red snappers.                                                         Christmas tree show of mutton snappers  

                                                                                     

                   Muttons, yellowtails and groupers.                                                          Red snappers and yellow eyes. 

    

                  Wreck loaded with life                                                         Black groupers on the edge of the hard button.                                             

When the dust settled we managed yet again to fill the white and blue box. Out of ice with everything full. Some asked how did it rate against last weeks 4 day? This trip we had more numbers but last trip the muttons were bigger. We also had double the amount of passengers. On this trip high hook was Jarbas Lima with Bobby Diaz close behind. Many mutton limits were reached. Grouper limits too. I will post the trip threads as they become available.

We are now in a very busy stretch. Between open boat and charters we have the next two weeks booked. I am praying and hoping for good weather. If your looking top make a trip and one of the charters fits into your schedule please contact me at greg@yankeecapts.com. Every trip can be seen here.

More later.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

January 24 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

News from the office-

In our upcoming schedule, we were offering a 2 Day LTD Load Gulf Wrecks, with Towers and Hard bottom fishing, scheduled to depart on February 3rd at 5pm. Right now there are only 6 reservations listed for that trip. Obviously not enough to make a go of it. So what are we thinking? Well, it would seem that this style fishing that we are offering is just not peeking people's interest. We want to repost this trip as just a regular 2 day limited load trip, forgoing the special deep water wrecks with towers fishing, in an effort to spike some interest and hopefully gather a few more reservations. The concern, however, is that restructuring this trip might discourage the 6 who are already booked. Well, the fact of the matter is, that the fishing in areas that we hit on a regular basis has been great in the last few weeks, so a regular style trip would really go a long way to ensure that everyone is offered a fair opportunity to catch. For a trip like this, we need at least 15 paying fares to make a go of it. Right now, with 6, the trip is danger of being cancelled. So spread the word, tell your friends, click and sign up if you haven't already. The light load of this trip is alluring enough, but the fishing has been so great that really, what have you got to lose? Oh, its a busy weekend for you? DO NOT WORRY! We were thinking the same thing, we are HUGE Patriots fans around here! This trip returns to the dock by NOON on Sunday. You will make it home in plenty of time for Super Bowl! Click to book or call the office, 305-923-3926.

If your interested in this trip please contact the office or contact me at greg@yankeecapts.com.  I will be out on a trip until Thursday but will get back to you early Thursday afternoon. The trip can be viewed here. Still loads of room and many stern spots too.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

P.S.

If you have any interest in our fight for fair and just fisheries regulations please consider attending this-

Bus trips to Washington will be coordinated from all states on the eastern seaboard. Please contact me and I will get you the information.

 

January 29 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

Another outstanding week! We just finished up 6 straight days. On the first trip we managed the white box and half the blue box. On the second trip we filled the boxes in the back.  Plenty of mutton limits with some great grouper catches too. Best fish this week was a 45 pound class cubera snapper. Also of note was a 40 pound wahoo caught by Anthony Mas. Here is a link from last week. Please click here.

We are on quite a roll here. Although their is no guarantee in this business I see no reason why this bite should not continue as long as the weather is good. That being said we are still trying to get enough fares for this weekends trip. Interest is starting to show however we still need some more bodies. Surprisingly we have 6 stern spots left. If your interested please click here. You can also call my most excellent office manager Alana at 305 923 3926.

Sorry for the quick report but I am out early in the AM and need to get some rest.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

January 30 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 30 Knots

Cameron strikes again! Enjoy!

From: cameronsleep@hotmail.com
To: cameronsleep@hotmail.com;
Subject: What goes around comes around!
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:33:02 -0400

Oh my goodness!!!

I just got in from the three day "grouper closing special" on the Yankee Captains. Another fantastic trip; my hands are sore, I walk like a drunken sailor and I have a smile on my face like a kid locked inside a candy store for the night. This was my seventh Yankee Captains trip since Thanksgiving, and I'm thinking of moving some of my furniture in, just to feel a little more at home!

There were oodles of strange events on this trip. An African Pompano came on board that was huge! It completely dwarfed the three foot long tote tub it was supposed to fit in. Someone caught a 40-45 lb wahoo, another caught a mahi, on a chicken rig! A monster moray eel was hooked on a king mackerel rig; a big mutton snapper, a huge red grouper and a twenty odd pound blackfin tuna were also chicken rigged to submission. For those at home in Nova Scotia who don't know what I'm talking about, none of the above are supposed to happen the way they did. It's comparable to casting a fly into a salmon stream and coming up with a halibut or something.

My trip started the way it should, three decent groupers in the box after only a few stops. The scamp became dinner last night, after a brief basting in a marinade of oil, garlic, salt and lime and a quick grilling on the barbeque! Fresh green beans from our garden, cukes and tomatoes too! Yummy!!

I landed a few mutton snappers through the day on Friday and witnessed the most prolific yellowtail snapper catch I've ever seen. About fifteen of us hauled in hundreds of them in a couple hours. I quit after filling up a five gallon bucket, meanwhile getting totally immersed in barfed up freshly chewed bait, compliments of our yellow tailed guests. It was deep water and as the fish are hauled to the surface, their swim bladder expands, causing the stomach and it's contents to involuntarily exit the fish through the mouth. Much of the barf winds up back in the water, feeding the next batch of tails and causing a further feeding frenzy, but enough got on me that even Chad, the mate was plugging his nose when he came to de-hook my fish.
 
I had my fill of the slaughter so I quickly showered, changed and moved to the bow to fish for muttons, like a gentleman. Meanwhile the primitives at the stern continued to wear out their reels and arm muscles on "tails".
Daytime Saturday was running along smoothly, I hooked a decent mutton and Linden, the mate was standing by waiting to gaff my fish. It was about ten feet from the surface when my line broke for some mysterious reason. EGADS!!! My fish was lost. Linden didn't give up, knowing that sometimes the inflated swim bladder will float the now helpless fish to the surface. He ran to the other side of the boat and returned in a moment, grinning a big North Carolina smile, with my mutton, hook AND bait!

The bite slowed to a crawl so I put a steak of cero mackerel on for bait, to see if it would work. I soaked it awhile with no results and decided to only give it ten more seconds and started to silently count backwards from ten to one. I got to three and a gentle tapping began on my bait. A small fish perhaps? The tapping continued for a minute or more then developed into a couple of quick tugs. I resisted the urge to haul back and after another minute, line rolled off my reel as the fish swam away with my mackerel. After a tug of war, a huge mutton snapper erupted through the surface, like a mini submarine, to be gaffed and decked for all to admire. After measuring and weighing, it proved to be my biggest mutton yet! Thirty five inches long and an even twenty pounds!

The bite slowed through the night and I moved to the less crowded, but bouncy bow. In only a hundred feet of water, baited with a flying fish head, a big fish took off; perhaps a shark? Linden and I leaned to watch as orange color appeared, confirming a big mutton was coming up. He reached for the gaff and as the fish reached the surface and laid flat, a big wave hit. In a split second, the hook came out of it's mouth and it swam toward bottom as the gaff grazed it's side. It's swim bladder was not inflated and down it went, no fault on the fisherman or mate, it wasn't meant to be.

After all, I got one earlier that shouldn't have been landed. Sometimes, what goes around comes around!

Cameron

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

P.S.

If you have any interest in our fight for fair and just fisheries regulations please consider attending this-

Bus trips to Washington will be coordinated from all states on the eastern seaboard. Please contact me and I will get you the information.

 

January 30 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 30 Knots

Found a post from one of the customers from last weekend. Please click here.

Still on the fence about the weekend. Hopefully we get a few more.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

 

February 2 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

Mission aborted. This weekends trip has been cancelled. The weather forecast sealed the deal. I played with the idea of going if we had decent weather but that is not going to happen. A big high pressure over the Carolina's will pump 20-25 knots of easterly winds through the Florida Straits, no thanks I say. Better days are coming.

So looks like quiet weekend at home with some football. If only my Eagles were playing.

More later.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

February 8 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 15 Knots

Greetings from our floating boat yard. This past week no fishing but plenty of work going on. We are painting, updating, welding, cleaning and 30 other things that would take too much time to type. Thankfully we have 6 people working and me running around trying to keep everyone with materials and projects. It is quite a circus. The end is in sight and we have done some nice work. I am most pleased.

I am however looking forward to getting back out fishing. Next trip is Friday night with still some room, even a stern spot is open. So far so good with the weather forecast. Also we have added another weekend trip in March. It has always been on the schedule but the format has changed. Please click here. Also another 3 Day Limited Load Mutton Marathon has been added the end of February.  It appears we have little interest with regards to the deep water wreck trips. If and when we ever need to head that way the numbers are always handy. Besides it is great to have options, especially if and when red snapper opens.  Please check back for the new links and explanations.

More later.

Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg

February 9 2012 Temperature 75 Degrees Wind Northeast 10 Knots

I have reformatted the new trips for February and March. Links and trip explanations have been changed.

Back out Friday night, look for a report on Sunday. Thanks for looking.

Capt. Greg