Once again, we're all back home in Miami, so I reached out to Davis and Milan to make a plan to head down to the keys to catch up and catch some fish. We'd gotten up and left pretty early in hopes of getting to the bridges early, which was a good idea even if not everything worked according to plan. I picked them up before heading down south, stopping at the last stop bait shop in Homestead right before crossing over into the keys, since we were going to take the Card Sound road this time. Milan said he knew a good bridge by Alabama Jack's that we would try out. However, planning on potentially later heading to Channel 5, we got two blue crabs as bait as well. When we got to Alabama Jack's, we saw that a place Milan knew to hold fish was fenced off. However, we parked along the side of the road and walked over to the bridge to see what we could catch. At this point, it was low tide, so we were somewhat skeptical about whether the fish would really hold in the shallow water. We tried it anyways. Once we dropped our baits, we started feeling nibbles. It was truly great to be back at it, fishing in the Keys with some good friends. I was the first on the board with an undersized Mangrove Snapper. Next up was Davis with a Bluestriped Grunt. While we started off catching fish, most nibbles resulted in clean hooks. We bought three dozen shrimp, but Davis was unsure at first about whether they actually gave us three whole dozen. This unfortunately became an issue quick as we were running through our bait. Due to the uncertainty of the parking situations (signs next to the road warned that there was a fine for parking there) and since we had the crabs we were hoping to get to other bridges anyways - so we packed up and moved on. We drove down to Channel 5 and got there at around 9:30 AM. Not very early like we'd hoped, but not too late. We got lots of nibbles on the bottom again, but nothing very substantial. We brought in a few snappers and a LOT of Slippery Dicks. Milan had stayed behind to fish the seawall under the bridge while Davis and I had fished the bridge, and after a while of getting our bait stolen and just catching the same fish, we moved over to Milan's spot. There, he had caught a lobster with a net which was just out of season. We also reeled in a few snappers on the edge of the seawall, but nothing much. Back up in South Florida, I'd heard reports about how bad the sargassum piling up on the beaches has been getting. It was apparent for us here too; while the current at the middle of the bridge had swept away any sargassum, it had clumpoed up toward the edges of the channel. Thus, when I casted out my crab on the heavy surf rod, which was rigged on three feet of leader attached to a three way swivel, with about a foot of line attached to a bank sinker on another eye, it would get caught up in the weeds. Thus, partially in frustration, I just dropped it next to the seawall, not expecting much. At one point, I noticed the line moving a bit so I picked up the rod and reeled in some slack. I thought it may have been caught on a rock, but whatever was on the other end took a big run once it was solidly hooked. I fought the fish steadily and brought it up, with the help of Milan netting the fish at the surface. Replacing the crab on the hook was the beaked mouth of a Rainbow Parrotfish, a beautiful new species for me. We kept on fishing, catching a couple more snapper before getting lunch since the fish were clearly hitting their midday siesta and we were getting hungry. We went to Robbie's, at this point becoming our tradition, with a great view and great food. It was less packed than we'd expected, which allowed us to get a table right next to the water with no wait. We saw some kids fishing in the water surrounding the docks with the famous tarpon which can be handfed with herring. It may be morally fishy, but where else can you find a better spot for hard fighting Tarpon? After eating we decided to fish over by the bridge on the side, away from the docks, to see if any snapper would bite. Milan had some leftover frozen shrimp he had caught months ago when the shrimp had pushed inshore in the winter. They didn't look or smell too great, but it was bait. Without moving the car, which was convenient, we got our rods and walked over to the spot next to the bridge, which actually seemed to be set up for fishing with a path and a garbage can. We spent the next two hours catching snappers and trying to avoid the needlefish. We didn't target them, but someone had clearly caught a Tarpon there because we could see dried tarpon scales on the ground. Unfortunately we didn't catch any keepers, with the biggest snappers being in the 8-9 in range, short of the 10 in minimum. We also caught one of the biggest Tomtates I'd ever seen. The time went by quickly though as we were having fun, and we packed up to head back home at around 3:30-4 or so in the afternoon. We spent the ride back reflecting on the keys, looking out over the colorful reefs and water on each bridge we crossed. It's really amazing how close we live to such a prime natural beauty. The fishing here, even when it isn't a particularly good day, is almost always surprising. You can almost count on pulling up something unexpected, as we did today with the parrotfish. With every cast or drop, you never really know what you're gonna get. The rest of the ride was spent catching up more and talking about boats, as Milan had gone to college in the keys learning boat mechanics, and life in general. It was reminiscent of the trip we took down here after graduating high school, and it was cathartic now that we had all graduated college. It was great to keep the tradition alive with this Keys trip and I look forward to many more.
For as long as I can remember, growing up as a kid extremely interested in fishing without much experience, I had dreamed of one day when I was older going sport fishing out on the ocean in pursuit of some of the most fascinating pelagics. I'd do research, watch videos, and read up on how to target these fish, anxiously waiting for the day I'd have the money and ability to use tried and true methods to catch the likes of the vibrant colored Mahi Mahi, or Dolphinfish, hard fighting Blackfin Tuna, and elegantly adorned Sailfish. These three species are the premier trademark offshore species in South Florida, and catching all three in one day is an achievement known by the IGFA as the Offshore Grand Slam. Having such a day has been on my bucket list since those days when I could only dream of catching any of the fish. Now, Marcus called me and said he was trying to put together a group to go on a fishing charter before we head out for law school. While I do not have much money right now, and honestly should really be saving, I had a feeling about this one. Given the chance to go fishing for these species with my friends, I wasn't going to turn it down. I'd always thought growing up that when I had money to spend on my discretion, I would use the opportunity to do this kind of fishing. So, I told him I was down and we got a group together to go offshore.
We booked a 6.5 hour trip with Double D Charters, very near to my house. Marcus picked me up along with his sister Raina and friends Nick and Akksayan and we headed over to Keystone Point Marina to meet up with Captain Dean and deckhand Billy. We loaded up the boat and left the dock shortly after, eager to try a new method of fishing for big fish. There is always a sort of innocence you feel on the way out on a fishing trip. Captain Dean warned us that we'd be dealing with a little bit of chop, ad he wasn't kidding; even leaving the dock we could see that the bay was pretty wavy. Going out to through the inlet, it got even crazier. The boat battled the waves, driving and slowing with each passing one, as we went southeast. The captain was driving from the flybridge while the rest of us stayed on the bottom. Marcus and I were sheltered from the spraying water by the center console, but it was a rough ride. It didn't take too long, though, until we were at around 150 feet of depth, a bit past the ledge, and we set out the kites. The north current helped us too, and we were going to try to pick off the fish traveling along the reef system by the ledge. We had two fishing kites attached to electric reels and looped through a ring on each outrigger. On each kite line were three clips, evenly spaced out, that would hold the line from a rod. This way, the line from each rod would go up to the kite line and drop down to surface of the water, thus keeping the baits far out, spread out, and suspended near the surface of the water. The goal is to keep the baits near the surface; not too deep in the water column, because then the fish might get tangled up in the line or notice something wrong with the presentation with extra line around, but not too shallow to the point where the bait is brought out of the water too much due to wind and waves pulling it up. This time each bait was kept about a foot or two deeper than usual since there was a decent amount of sargassum floating around and we didn't want any to get tangled with the hook. We had 6 baits in the water, all live goggle eyes, at any point in time. We could keep track of each line with an orange bobber attached to each line near the surface. The baits were all bridle rigged, which means they are pierced with a needle and wrapped with a rubber band, keeping the entire hook exposed yet attached to the baitfish. The hooks were circle hooks so that the fish would get more easily hooked themselves from the tension. All the lines were set out, and we began to play the waiting game.
Apparently, kite fishing is around 90% of what they do on this boat. It is a very common and popular fishing tactic employed by sport fishermen here in Florida, and I was glad to be able to really focus on it and experience it this time. I've been on boats that put out a kite line before, but I'd never been strictly kite fishing before and had never gotten a bite on one. The wind is necessary for it, and it was a windy day, hence the waves. However, we made it just in time; the wind should die down in the next week, and after that the boat would be focusing on Mahi fishing by trolling further offshore. Kite fishing can work for them too though, as we saw with our first hookup of the day. While we first saw a big Barracuda jump through the water and cut a line while stealing the bait, we got a real hooks soon after. Marcus, who put the trip together, was handed the rod, and as he was fighting the fish, we saw a nice sized Mahi jump out of the water. This was a fish that Marcus had been aiming to catch. He fought it very well, making sure to keep the pressure on the line and working the fish up the boat before Billy gaffed it and brought the fish on board. It was a really big Mahi, especially for Miami, and beautifully colored. We were ecstatic to have caught our first fish of the day so early in the day. It was a great start. We re rigged the lines and set them back out.
Not long after, we had another hookset on the kites. This time Akks took the rod, beginning an epic fight. Out in the distance we saw a Sailfish on the other end of the line jumping out of the water. It was an epic fight with some solid give and take until he finally brought it closer and closer to the boat. At each interval in the fight the fish would jump, allowing us to see all of its length. At one point, when Akks reeled up to the leader, Billy noted that we were 1/1 on Sails on the day. In tournaments, bringing a Sailfish to the leader officially counts as a catch, at which point the line is broken off and the fish is released. This time, however, Akks brought the Sailfish to the boat and Billy grabbed its bill to pull it next to the hull of the boat. Looking at the Sailfish right in front of us an absolutely surreal experience. I'd always dreamed of catching a Sailfish in the waters off my hometown, a paragon of Florida sport fishing. It is a really unique fish too, with a long bill used for separating baitfish from schools to make it easier to hunt, and a sail for the purpose of herding and corralling prey as well as steering during short bursts (Sailfish are considered the fastest fish in the ocean) and possibly temperature regulation. I was now able to cross "any kind of billfish" off the bucket list, which had been at the top of it for as long as I've had it. We took pictures and released the fish safely. What a fight, and what a fish. It was an unreal feeling to have brought a Sailfish to the boat, but it was not even 9 yet. We kept on fishing.
After a while, sargassum clumps started to get in the way of our lines, so we moved to another spot further south down the ledge. Talking with Billy about the fishing seasons around here, I found out that while Sailfish and Mahi can be caught year round, Mahi season is supposedly best in summer and Sailfish season is normally best in February-March, although April was the best month for Sails here in south Florida this year. Apparently they were still here by late March. Apparently there are also more Sailfish here in the waters off Miami than there are in the keys, since they are normally found in 100-200 feet of water, and the area in which the water is that depth is thinner in Miami; thus, the fish tend to get funneled into an area where it is more easy to find them.
At one point, we saw a Kingfish come and bite a hook off the line. They, like barracudas, have very sharp teeth and are liable to speed at a baitfish and cut the line off with their teeth as soon as they take the bait. Soon after we had a barracuda bite, and Raina took the rod. As she was reeling it in, the fish unfortunately got away. But we re-rigged and tried again. Soon after, we got another hookup and Raina reeled a Blackfin Tuna all the way to the boat. With that, we had caught the offshore grand slam! All three species before 10 AM. At this point it was solidified as a dream come true as a legendary trip, but we still had more time to fish. I wouldn't be able to wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day, and the feeling of joy and relief now that we had brought in all three species was insurmountable. However, our achievements of the day were not over.
We moved to a few different spots to try to avoid the sargassum. When we had finally settled down at one and set out the kites, we just continued watching all the lines hoping for a bite. Asking about the patterns in bites they've observed when it comes to time of day, I learned that Mahi and Sailfish do not usually change but Blackfin tend to be more fickle by midday unless it is windy, as it was today. At one point, Nick spotted one and quickly went up to take the rod. He fought it expertly, bringing in another Blackfin Tuna. While he was reeling in, the captain saw a Sailfish chase after one of our hooks. Unfortunately, however, the hook had no bait on it since a Barracuda had just swooped in and took the bait off the hook. The captain was pretty pissed, and Billy agreed that we would have hooked it if we still had bait on there. Such is fishing though, and you can't catch them all.
Not long later, though, we got another bite on one of the kites. We disconnected it from the latch on the kite line, and I took the rod to begin the fight. The fish fought really hard. When I was pulling the rod tip up in order to then reel on the way down as I lowered it, line would peel off the reel, leading to a general stalemate. I was then advised to raise the rod tip more slowly and to place my thumb on the line as I raised the rod in order to keep line from coming off as easily. Following Billy's advice, I made some more progress in getting the fish to budge. We were using around 20 lb test, and especially with lighter line like that, I couldn't put on too much pressure. Because of this, I had to carefully bring the rod tip up while keeping the thumb on the line before lowering the rod tip and reeling in "slack." After about 5 minutes of battling, we started to see color - we could tell it was a big tuna. At one point we brought the leader up to the boat, but the fish went on a run before we could gaff it. I reeled the fish in more to give us another chance to secure it, and Billy was able to stick it. We brought it over the gunwale and saw just how big the fish was - it was absolutely massive. By far the biggest Blackfin Tuna I've ever seen, it was maybe more than twice the size of other average Blackfins we'd caught before. I was covered in fish blood after bringing it in and handling it, but that was completely worth it. It's a sign of success.
We kept the lines out a bit longer, but with no more bites our time was up and we headed inside. Thus concluded one of the truly best days of fishing I'd ever had, and it was with a great crew and great company. When we got back to the dock, driving through beautiful blue water and past the Miami Beach skyline, Captain Dean filleted the fish. Before filleting the big tuna, I asked him to measure the fish's length and weight. I wish I got pictures and more proper documentation of the measurements, since I later saw that the world record all tackle length record is officially 33.5 inches (although Blackfins in the 40 inch range have been documented). This fish measured at a whopping 35.5 inches and 26 lbs. Technically, if properly documented, it could have been a world record, although it was not the biggest Blackfin Tuna catch recorded. Regardless, it was a great catch and a legitimately huge Blackfin. For reference, the meat of the other two tunas we caught fit in one ziplock bag while the meat from this one fish had to fit in two. We said our goodbyes and headed over to Marcus' building, where a chef by the pool deck was expecting us. Marcus invited his parents and grandparents, and we had a feast. The mahi and the tuna were absolutely delicious - the way the tuna melted in your mouth was unreal, and fresh caught mahi is always so much better. We were glad to be able to feed everyone, and we ate all of it up with some raw tuna meat still left in the fridge. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day on the water.
