Now that summer is in full swing and I am back in south Florida, finally able to fish, some college friends and I decided to book an airbnb for the weekend in Tavernier to hang out and do some fishing. After some planning and packing, including a boat rental set up for Sunday, we made our way down on Friday to get settled in the apartment. It actually had a very nice view of the ocean from the balcony, from which the sunrises and sunsets we saw were beautiful. That night we took some beers out to a cabana on the property as the sun went down, and kicked off a great weekend.
Saturday, May 31st
On this trip was Wenger, Ryan, Chopp, Jake Katz, and myself. We woke up early in the morning to get shrimp, since I knew from experience that live shrimp is hard to come by in the keys in the summer. Luckily, we found a place and got about 3 dozen to start our day. Fishing at the docks near the apartment wasn't working because the water around the jetty was too shallow, so we made our way to Channel 5 bridge. There, we encountered some very hit or miss fishing. We dropped our shrimps to the bottom, either with egg sinkers a feet or two above the hook, or with sabiki rigs. The first one to catch was Katz, with a bright colored Slippery Dick. A classic Florida reef fish to get us on the board. Next, Chopp caught a Mangrove Snapper. So far the catches were relatively standard, until our inevitable Keys surprise bit Chopp's hook again. At first what he twas thought was a rock or something, became, as he pulled it up, a huge Porcupinefish. Luckily, since it is covered in spines that can be pretty annoying to deal with, it came off the hook about halfway up the bridge after we were hauling it up my hand after it broke the surface. The fish was truly incredible; I'd caught Porucpinefish before, and I've seen some pretty big ones while snorkeling, but never one THIS big. Apparently, the IGFA record is 9 pounds - this one must not have been too far from that record. It was a shame we weren't able to take any photos with it above water, but at least I was able to shoot a video.
Reeling from that catch, we all sat back and relaxed while trying different spots on the bridge to fish. The sun was getting hotter as it approached midday, from a surprisingly comfortable and breezy morning to a searing hot, humid, cloudless noon. Some of us moved over to the side of the bridge, dropping into deeper holes next to the structure to see if we could get anything to bite. We felt a lot of nibbles from big Parrotfish we saw schooling up. At one point I had one on, but it came off mid-fight; it probably was just not hooked well enough. Regardless, we decided that we would finish the shrimp soon and head back to the apartment. But before that, we were lucky to have Katz catch a Lane Snapper, adding another species of reef fish to our total. Wenger also caught a Yellowtail that unfortunately fell off before he was able to rebook it, so I was not able to take pictures.
Today was an average day at Channel 5. It was hit or miss, with a few different species and a surprise or two. Although we weren't able to catch one, the fishermen next to us hauled in a Hogfish - a very unique and good tasting fish that's more often speared than caught with rod and reel. I think next time I come here I will try to use a dropper loop or chicken rig to keep the sinker under the hook, instead of being placed in between the sinker and the rod tip. This might make it easier to hook into fish that are trying to steal bait, and keep more tension on the line - especially necessary with circle hooks). We also saw big Sharks attacking some of the Snapper under the bridge, which was spectacular to watch. Again, the patch reefs were beautiful from the bridge, and it got us even more excited for the next day, during which we would rent a boat and drive out over them to fish.
Later that day, we did try to go under a bridge by Jewfish Creek for more Snappers. On one hand, we did feel solid nibbles as soon as we got there. On the other hand, we got absolutely swarmed with mosquitos. So much so that my legs were burning and it was impossible to fish as I had to devote all my energy to swatting the bugs. We left the spot almost as early as we came, but I had never seen anything like that before. The promise of potential fish under that bridge hurts in hindsight, but we simply couldn't fish it. Jewfish Creek became an inside joke for the rest of the trip.
Sunday, June 1st
We woke up early today to get ice, beer, and bait before heading to the marina to pick up our boat. We rented a center console with bait wells, and for such a great fishing boat for our purposes, it was quite affordable when split between the five of us. I made sure to pick up a chum block, a rope, and a net to attract fish while we anchor up on a reef. Wenger had done some research on specific spots by looking at satellite images for changes in color and patterns of clusters indicating depth changes. After setting out and arriving at Pickles Reef, where we found many promising sites, we anchored the boat and positioned ourselves. We put the chub block into the net and dropped it out, shaking it up a bit to release pieces to attract fish. Sure enough, schools of Snapper and other fish on the reef came up to the chum. We each hooked a live shrimp and let it floating out, slowly letting out line, into the chum slick. This was a successful method that led to quite a few catches. On Wenger and Ryan's first drops, they both doubled up on Blue Runners. It had been a while since I'd brought one in before, and I enjoyed the sight. They are a truly beautiful and sleek fish. Chopp, then, also on his first cast, brought in a Mutton Snapper. Ryan followed up his fruitful cast with a small Yellowtail Snapper and another very big Blue Runner before the spot started to slow down. We pulled back the chum block to put on the back of the boat, and set off for a few minutes to another part of the reef we had marked out on the map. This proved to be a good decision. I was the first one to catch a fish after placing the chum block back in the water, tied by rope to a latch on the boat. I brought in a nice Mutton Snapper. I still think that Mutton Snapper are my favorite kind to catch. Their elusively, beautiful colors, and size remain very intriguing to me, and I am always happy to see one at the end of my line; especially since it took probably longer than it should have for me to catch my first Mutton. Wenger and Ryan also caught more Mutton Snappers before we moved to another spot. At this point we were using Yellowtail jigheads I'd purchased at the bait and tackle shop before, and they were working quite effectively on these patch reefs.
The next spot saw lots of fish come up to the chum block once again. However, we were having a tough time actually hooking on to them. In the meantime, Wenger took a piece of cut ballyhoo we had and cast it out with a jighead and let it hit the bottom. After about 10 minutes at the spot, the rod doubled over and a fish started taking line. He fought the fish well, all of us excited to see what it could possibly. We handled it when it was close to the boat, and we pulled over a big Bonnethead Shark! A new Shark species! The Bonehead Shark is a really cool looking fish, with a trademark scalloped head. They're known for being frequent on these south florida reefs, and I was really excited to finally have brought one in. Soon after releasing it, Wenger did the same thing and soon caught another big Bonnethead Shark! By then, we were all very happy with our catches, having experienced such thrilling fights and catches. We tried one more spot, but it didn't pan out; Ryan and Chopp were starting to get sick, too. Although it was not a particularly rough day on the water, waves did cause the boat to rock, which unfortunately resulted in seasickness. It reminded me to be thankful for the fact that I am not very prone to seasickness, as I can imagine it being such an awful blow to any fisherman to have a trip ruined by unavoidable nausea like that. We spent the rest of our time fishing in calmer, inshore bay areas, but we weren't able to catch any more fish. Relaxing on the boat after our great day of fishing was an ideal way to cap a really fun weekend in the Keys. After dropping off the boat, which Katz kinda accidentally hit against the piling when trying to dock, we made our way back up into Miami.
